Rising Hope 2: The Harmony Of Equestria.

He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.

Lao Tzu.

The quaint, little town of Ponyville was known for many things. Being a peaceful and welcoming town, home to many colorful and unique figures. Being a epicenter for one of the self-proclaimed best places In Equestria to have the freshest and exquisite apples this side of Dodge Junction. In the wee hours of the morning: ponies got to and went to work, conducted business, engaged In friendly conversation and made the day go by. As for the nighttime: most went to bed snuggled up with a book, a nice cup of late night tea or a loved one. All In all: Ponyville seemed like any other town. However, one day 6 mares and a baby dragon were going about their day when a sudden and unknown species came to Equestria not only on a whim, but with a target on his back. The human had no Idea that what he Idolized, almost worshipped to a degree turned out to be real. Stepping through a trans-dimensional portal with no Idea of where his destination took him, the small town of Ponyville out of endless possibilities just seemed to fit the bill. With nothing but the knowledge he received In school, his wits, phone, and the human's Imaginary friend: a lot happened. In a part of town, the blazing sun shone on the library In the distance, blanketing the town with a heat wave that seemed hot enough to cook flesh. Sitting on the balcony and utterly paying the heat no mind as It actually helped the human to better get a well done tan going. Alongside him was a baby dragon with a green scaled coat that covered the back of his body and spines that reached up to the tip of his head while the front was adorned with purple. Short, stumpy claws, small feet and a pair of slick shades on his face, a sigh came out.

''This Is the life.'' The dragon welcomed the blazing heat that reminded him of an embrace with his surrogate mother, Twilight Sparkle.

''Yea, just feels good to relax and unwind.'' A soft voice laced with laziness spoke. Next to the dragon sat another human, more specifically the embodiment of a voice turned human after a turn of events. Wearing a wife beater and pair of well fitting pajama shorts, the human wiped a wave of sweat from his forehead and wiped his hand to the tangled mess of his black shoulder length hair and smiled. Aiming his blue eyes to the horizon ahead, familiar sights were In his vision.

''For you maybe, I hate the heat.'' A third voice sounded, though this was of complaints and annoyance. Sitting besides his best friend and apprentice that he's been training for a few months was the one that this all started with. Legs crossed, face In a book, and wearing a pair of swimsuit trunks and a umbrella behind him, a male with a smooth and young face that showed signs of much faster growth than others around the facial area and black hair contorted In the way of a fauxhawk and deep brown eyes sat In a small pool In an effort to combat the heat and cool down. As with the current times, he chose to take his time In looking at a book that reminded him of the best seller book he loved: Harry Potter. Reading Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet, the book enthralled the human and had glued his eyes to the current page he was reading. In all, a few months ago: quite a lot happened. With first arriving with no real sense of self and purpose: the previous life left nothing for him to grasp as he wanted a better place to go to. Constructing his weapons with the aid of a Earth Pony smith and obtaining the know-how to adapt to this new world: he was ready. Defeating king of the Diamond Dogs, Yevon: he was next In line to take over as the next king as some type of hierarchy system. He was killed, so whoever else the position could be filled by eluded him to this day. Along with that the magic of Equestria as well the ancient and mystical power of the strange, but powerful Affinity gems changed the human's life by granting him the ability to cast and even to a degree resist some forms of magic.

After meeting a strange unicorn who came to the humble town came out of nowhere seemed nice to the human. Him and Azure Light got along as a older sister and her younger brother would. Which brings another point to his life In Equestria: the undying and steadily growing love for the 6 mares and two princesses that not only bonded with him from pure romance, but the feeling was In the air and can heavily Influence the  most fragile of hearts, no matter who they may be. Their love has been tested a few times before, but something In the human's gut told him that this was merely the beginning to prove himself. Through his life going by a moderate pace, he soon encountered a 'demon' In his past that he was forced to confront and vanquish. Another friend of the human, Yasu Tsukiko or 'Yasu-kun' as he Is only referred to be the human was somehow the start and end of his troubles. Following a stray lead on a Internet forum talking about a 'package' of sorts at the Detroit Model T plant and checking out the source, the least that was found was a dirty composition and two strange coins: one golden coin with six plated stars surrounding a Image of of the sun while a blue one with the same features, only a moon and a jump scare In the form of a Intruder, the human played the hand he dealt himself and found It to pay off and to a thorn to his side.

Sometime after attending the Grand Galloping Gala, the human soon found out that the Lord of Disharmony, Discord broke out of his stone prison and somehow possessed Yasu's body due to a spell by Starswirl The Bearded that was performed centuries ago that was able to change a state of matter to another and transport It somewhere else, but the spell was Incomplete following Starswirl's death and ended up doing something completely different. Worming his way on Earth, taking control of Yasu and going back to Equestria to force the human fight against his friend. It happened.

''Wait, Yasu-kun!'' Jamir yelled, not accepting the fact of what just happened. Growling and then formulating a coherent sentence, he spoke In pain, but nevertheless portrayed a tinge of happiness and slight regret.

''Y-You were my only...friend. W-would have done t-this for no other!'' He shouted, the rest of his body disappearing. A few seconds passed by until a massive burst of magic shot up towards the heaven and travelled upward, lost to the stars In the exact same spot Yasu just was.

And that was not the worst: Discord turned Yasu Into a monster...a werewolf and forced him to fight, though by a slim margin: he broke free and sacrificed himself to save his friend. Those same words rung throughout his mind and threatened to destroy a bit more of his soul every time the thought came to him. For the time being, he would have done the exact same thing, but nonetheless wished for It to not happen at all. Purging the thought from his mind, he focused back on the sentence he was reading and bookmarked the page. Standing up out of the water and grabbing a towel to dry off, he sat back In the chair and let the sun braize his skin just right to get that golden complexion he wanted.

''You guys okay up here? It's hotter than those cupcakes Pinkie made when Twilight came to Ponyville.'' A tomboyish voice called. Looking over, It was the speedster pegasus who pulled off the legendary Sonic Rainboom: Rainbow Dash.

''Fine, I'm actually ready to come Inside: Celestia's sun Is nice and all, but I don't want to be freshly cooked bacon.'' Frank got up and proceeded Inside.

''Yea, bout ready to pack It In: been out here for 2 hours, so that's my excuse for the day.'' The drake followed after, leaving the human to his own devices.

''Aren't you coming In? We got Ice cream.'' She offered.

''I'll pass for now, just tell Pinkie to save me some: girl's a mess when It comes to sweets.'' He chuckled. Turning back and joining  the rest of the girls, the human contemplated his life so far and what It meant to him.