Hidden Potential

by Volt712

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance
Length: 8545

Waking up in a humanized Equestria, the Main 6 and I embark on an adventure to figure out why I ended up there and we stumble upon something bigger than we could ever imagine...

I've always been alone and had nobody to talk to. I would sit in my room all day doing nothing but playing video games and surfing the web. Until the night before my 17th birthday. After going to sleep I experienced what I thought was a dream. Waking up in a humanized Equestria with a strange symbol on my hand and not knowing why, Twilight comes to my aid. Little did I know that the symbol on my hand was the gateway to an immense power hidden within myself...

Meeting the Main 6 along the way, we embark on a journey to find out what's really going on. Unbreakable bonds are made, secrets are uncovered, and potential is realized!

Please, tell me what you think and be honest. I'll take the criticism and use it to make my writing better.

Published 2015-07-29 22:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-08-05 20:45:31 UTC

1. Same Old Stuff

I was always life's punching bag. Ever since middle school, everyone would bully me just because of the fact that I was on the nerdy side of society. However, I stand my ground and fight back. If there's someone else being bullied, I step in and tell the asshole to get lost. I spend my time watching anime, playing video games, researching scientific theories, and I pretty much never go outside. My mother always told me to go outside and get active, but I didn't really see the point in doing so. I wasn't overweight at all. I was pretty slim. My life was boring, sure. But it had its perks. I learned many skills over the course of my life, and one of them comes in handy a lot more times than you would think. Comebacks. The people at school who bullied me were always kind of stupid. They would always try to put me down with insults at first. I'd laugh it off and somehow redirect it at them. And that's what leads to the physical bullying. The bullies would get angry because I had a comeback so they would try to punch me while being enraged. That never turns out good for them, because I'd step aside and they'd run head first into a solid brick wall. The principal saw the bully lying on the floor holding his head in pain, and gave me detentions even though I never started the fight. However, the staff there were idiotic and I was always able to slip out unnoticed. And then there was tech. I could figure out how an electronic device like a phone, or a computer worked. I picked up these skills because I was on my laptop a lot when I was at home.

My life at home as a teenager wasn't so great for a while. My father was a complete and total dick. He always came home drunk and started arguments with my mother. And since he did Truck Driving for a living, he would always tell my mom that he was hauling some stuff across the country when he was really in the bar down the street, flirting with some other woman. He even cheated on my mom and told her it was because 'she cheated first.' I knew for a fact that wasn't true because my mother had always tried to set things right at home. She always took care of me and helped me whenever I needed help. My father never did that. Not even once. And that wasn't all. Whenever I played a video game or watched a funny Youtube video, he would say things like:' You actually watch this shit?' and 'This is fucking stupid.' Finally, we had enough of his bullshit and kicked him out. I haven't seen him ever since. After he left, he still found ways to harass us. He started driving by and stalked our house. My mom would get messages from him and they were absolutely awful. The messages he sent were so hurtful and unforgivable. One day he went too far. He drove by our house and gave us the finger and I finally snapped. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and called him.

"Oh hey, Nick!" He answered happily as if nothing even happened. I went off.

I started throwing curses and insults at him. He must have been shocked because he didn't say a word after I was done. I wasn't surprised that he was speechless. I just let out all of the anger I had bottled up inside, and directed it right at my own father. I was even shocked at myself. I never would have expected myself to be so brutal to one person.

"Now, do yourself a favor and die. You don't belong in this world." I said firmly and hung up the phone. I was still angry. Acting on impulse, I turned around and punched a hole through my wall. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

It was the day before my 17th birthday. The weather was hot and sunny and I decided to play video games for the day, like always. As the day passed quickly, I became increasingly tired. 12 AM rolled around and I decided that I should go to bed. I turned off my TV and my PS4 and got up off my chair. As I was slipping into my pajamas, I wondered... 'What am I going to do with my life? Some tell me I should be a counselor. Others say I should be a game designer. But It's hard to choose... I would love to do both of those things. I always want to help people with their problems, but then again, video games are my passion. I guess I'll have to start looking into the two occupations.' I jumped into bed. 'Why can't we live in a perfect world...?'

I'll never forget what had happened that night. It was like a dream, but it felt real. I was in a pitch black room and the only visible object in it was a white button. I walked up to the button and, upon closer inspection, I saw that it had the main six's cutie marks from My Little Pony on it. I was instantly confused. "What the hell..." I thought to myself. I used to watch 'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic' a lot, but got bored of it and just dropped it completely. What were their cutie marks doing in my dream? I reached my arm forward and reluctantly pushed the button. The button lit up and an extremely bright flash burned my eyes. I had to cover them for a couple seconds. When I uncovered my eyes there was what looked like a mirror in front of me, but instead of seeing my reflection, I saw the vast emptiness of space. I touched the mirror with my index finger and the mirror rippled like water. I stood there, watching it for a couple of minutes. After giving it much thought, I made the best decision of my life.

I entered the mirror.

2. Completely New Stuff

I woke up with my head feeling like it was going to explode. My body hurt all over and I felt paralyzed. I could move but just barely. My eyesight was blurry and sounds were muffled. I managed to gather enough strength to sit upright. I let my senses adjust to the lighting and sounds. My headache started to go away when I sat up. Once the headache was gone, I was able to think clearly. I took a look at my surroundings and immediately started freaking out. This was definitely NOT my house. The walls were lined with books and the walls looked like they were made of wood straight from a tree. However, it seemed very familiar.

"Finally!" said a voice to my left. "I thought you'd never wake up."

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl who looked about my age sitting in a chair reading a book. She had a purple streak in her hair and was wearing glasses.

"W-Where am I?" I asked, still trying to comprehend what's going on.

"You're in my home." Said the girl. "I found you lying in the middle of the road at two in the morning."

"The middle of the road!?" I replied, surprised. "How the hell did that happen? I clearly remember going to bed at twelve in my OWN house."

"Hey, I'm as confused as you are." She said. "Do you remember anything about last night? Anything at all?"

"I was just in my room playing video games and then I went to bed... And that's pretty much it." I answered. "I don't recall anything that would have caused me to end up in the middle of the road."

My stomach growled as if it was going to digest itself.

"You sound hungry." She giggled. Well she wasn't wrong. "Let me fix you something to eat."

"Thank you." I said.

I thought to myself. 'This is insane. I definitely went to bed in my room and this feels too real to be a dream. Wait a minute... The dream that I had last night... was that even a dream? It sure looked like one, but it didn't feel like one. Normally, my dreams are

The girl came back with eggs, bacon and a glass of milk. "Here you go, eat up. You look like you need to replenish your stamina." She was right. I felt extremely weak and I was barely able to move.

I ate like I didn't see food in weeks. For some odd reason, I felt really, really hungry.

"Wow, how long has it been since you ate?" She asked, tilting her head a little.

"It's only been a day." I replied. "I ordered a pizza yesterday, so I don't understand why I'm this hungry."

"Pizza? What's that?" She asked. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"You can't be serious!" I exclaimed. "Pizza is one of the best foods in the world!"

She looked at me like I was insane. "Well whatever it is, we don't have it here."

'This is crazy.' I thought to myself. 'Who doesn't know what pizza is? Even more so, what kind of place doesn't even serve it!? The other thing that's crazy is the fact that I have no idea what in the world is happening. Actually, I think I'm more scared than I am confused

When I finished eating I had many questions that needed answering, but before I could say anything the girl spoke up.

"So, what's your name?" Asked the girl. "If we're going to figure out what's going on, we need to at least introduce ourselves first."

'My name?' I thought.

I didn't know if it was a good idea to tell her my name. I'd never seen her in my life, I was sure of it. I For all I knew, she could have drugged and kidnapped me. However, she was the only one I'd seen since I woke up so I had no other choice than to trust her. Not only that, I was curious to know where I was.

"My name is Nick. How 'bout you?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle."

3. Confusion Everywhere

I was dumbfounded.

' That couldn't possibly be true.' I thought. 'Twilight Sparkle is a character from My Little Pony. Although it would explain why my surroundings seem so familiar.'

"T-Twilight Sparkle you said?" I asked just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind.

"That's right. Why? Is there something wrong with my name?" She replied.

I explained how My Little Pony is a television show where there are talking ponies that go through crazy things and how it all comes down to the magic of friendship. I told her about some of the episodes as an example and she looked at me like I had crabs coming out of my ears.

"What in the world are you talking about, Nick?" She asked, confused. "That's not at all what My Little Pony is about."

Twilight grabbed a TV remote off of the coffee table and turned on the television. I didn't even realize she had one because my thoughts were racing, and they weren't reaching the finish line anytime soon. She flipped to a channel called Cased Crimes, also called CC. A show called My Little Pony was on, but it wasn't the one that I knew. It was about 6 male ponies solving murder cases and the case in this episode was pretty brutal.

"See?" Twilight said as she turned off the television and looked back at me. "Although, my friends and I have done a lot of the things you just said. Another thing I don't understand is why this show even exists. Murder almost never happens here."

"This is crazy." I rested my head in my hands. "Just what the hell is going on...?"

"Nick, do you remember anything at all that might have happened that would have caused you to end up in the middle of the street?"

"Well, I did have this dream." I told her about the button and the mirror that looked like it was reflecting space itself.

"A button and a mirror..." She pondered.

'Wait a minute.' I thought The Cutie Marks on the button. I had an idea.

"Twilight, would you happen to know anything about something called Cutie Marks?" I asked, hoping for a 'Yes' or 'Of course.'

Instead of answering 'Yes' or 'No,' her cheeks turned bright red and she asked in a shaky, yet confused, voice, "Y-You don't know?!"

"Kind of." I replied, not knowing what she was getting all worked up about. "In the My Little Pony that I was talking about, every pony has a specific talent. Their Cutie Marks represent their talent and are on each flank of that pony."

Twilight calmed down and gave it some thought.

"It's pretty much the same case here, but... our Cutie Marks are located in a different area of the body." Said Twilight. "They're above our, well, our privates." She blushed even more as she explained. "You mean to say that you don't have one?"

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a creep." I said, apologetically. "But no, I don't have a cutie mark. At least I didn't the last time I checked."

"This is so weird..." Twilight said.

'I think I'm very slightly understanding what's going on.' I thought. 'The MLP that I know and the MLP that she knows, seem to be completely opposite of each other.

"If Cutie Marks exist here, then I'm going to take a guess and assume that magic must exist here as well." I said.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Twilight beamed at me, clearly excited. She stopped blushing right after I said the word 'magic.' "Magic is essential to everyday life here in Equestria!"

Looks like my intuition was right.

4. Immunity

If Twilight could actually use magic, she might be able to use some sort of spell and see what happened to me overnight.

"Twilight, is there any way that you can figure out what happened last night by using magic?" I asked, feeling extremely hopeful. I was getting the feeling that last night's 'event' wasn't a dream at all.

She thought about this for a moment. "I suppose I could try a mind reading spell, but I'm not sure if it will help since you were sleeping when I found you."

"I'm willing to try anything at this point." I said. Twilight stood up and gestured me to do the same. We stood face to face and she started doing lightning fast hand motions. Her hands stopped and they formed a triangle. A purple glow began to form in the middle of it. I started feeling light headed, but relaxed at the same time, so I closed my eyes. I was letting Twilight go through my memories like they were in a filing cabinet and it felt relaxing for some reason. Like there was a warm blanket over my head. But, as soon as the feeling came, it was gone. I heard a loud 'THUMP' in front of me and opened my eyes to see Twilight sitting on the floor, staring at me wide-eyed and holding her head.

"What was... How did you..." Twilight scrambled, trying to find the words to say.

"Whoa, what happened Twilight?" I asked, reaching my hand out. She grabbed my hand and I pulled her up. She took a seat on the chair and I went back to the couch that I woke up on.

"This... This has never happened before." She said, clearly shocked. "I couldn't get through all the way. Some sort of barrier knocked me off my feet and I'm certain that it wasn't magic. It just felt like pure energy..."

"A... barrier?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"When I dove into your mind, it felt like it was trying to keep everyone out." She went on. "There was something in your subconscious, hidden from everything else, but I'm sure wasn't a memory. It was like a caged tiger, ready to let loose at any second. I started to approach it, but before I could reach it, I felt a feedback in my magic and I was forced out."

"Any idea as to what it could have been?" I asked, extremely curious about this 'barrier.'

"I have no clue. I've never encountered anything like that." She replied.

"So, I guess this means I'm immune to magic." I said, feeling stumped.

"It sure seems like It." Twilight replied. "At least my magic, anyway.

This couldn't all be just a coincidence. There had to be something more to all of this. Then, I remembered a particularly interesting scientific theory that I researched when I was on my laptop a couple weeks ago.

"Twilight, do you know anything about the Multiverse Theory?" I asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" She said. Then, she had a sudden look of realization. "You can't possibly think you're from a parallel universe!"

"Think about it, Twilight." I went on. "The My little Pony you showed me is all about murders. And like you said, crime very rarely happens here. On the other hand, the My Little Pony that I know is all about friendship and stuff like that. But, where I'm from crime always happens. I'm thinking that my MLP represents your world, and your MLP represents my world."

Twilight looked as if she was in deep thought. She sat there in the same pose for what seemed like hours.

"Well, It's the only thing I can think of so far that makes sense. And I'm very curious about that energy barrier that knocked me back." She stood up. "We don't have any choice but to take this to Princess Celestia."

5. The Fashionista

"Alright then, what are we waiting for?" I stood up. "Let's hit the road." I started walking towards the door, but before I reached it Twilight grabbed my shoulder.

"Wait, Nick." She said, giving me a look of annoyance. "If we're going to see Celestia, you need to at least look decent."

I had no idea what she was talking about until I looked at my outfit. I realized I was still in my pajamas from last night and unfortunately I don't have a change of clothes. Twilight must have been thinking the same thing because she grabbed a tape measure off of one her bookshelves and started to take my measurements.

"Hold on, isn't this Rarity's specialty?" I asked.

"Yeah." She answered, putting my arms into a T position. "However, I saw her take someone's measurements in an instant and I wondered how she did it so quickly. I asked her about it and she showed me how to do it." She knelt down to measure my legs. "I never thought that sort of skill would come in handy for me, but here I am measuring you." She stood up and wrote down my measurements. "Alright, that should be it. I'm gonna take your measurements to Rarity and she'll be able to stitch up some clothes for you. It shouldn't take long but if you need something to do, the TV remote is on the table and I have plenty of books." Twilight opened the front door and as she was walking out, she turned around and looked at me. "One more thing before I go. What kind of clothing and color do you prefer? Rarity will go on and on about how you don't have a fashion sense if I tell her to just make you anything and I really don't want to go through that."

I thought about this for a moment. "Normally I'd just go with jeans and a T-shirt, but if that's the case I guess I'll take a black and red overcoat as well." I've always liked the way overcoats look.

"Got it." She smiled and walked out.

Once Twilight left, my mind started to wander. I wondered if all of it could have been a prank, but I didn't have any friends so there wasn't really anyone who would prank me. I looked over at the bookshelf and an idea hit me. There was an unimaginable amount of books so there had to be one on parallel universes or different dimensions. I started scanning the bookshelf for anything close to my theory. At first I didn't find anything but I decided to go through the books a second time. Still nothing. I decided to give up and flopped on the couch. I didn't know what kind of TV shows there are in Equestria so I took the remote off the table and turned on the television. However, flipping through made me realize that I had no idea which channels had which shows. I must have taken longer than I thought because Twilight opened the door and walked in. And then someone else walked in behind her, holding a bag. She had curly purple hair, a sparkling red dress, a sunhat with a feather on it, and an extremely expensive looking necklace. No doubt about it, that was definitely Rarity.

"Why, hello there!" Rarity said as she walked up to me and held out her hand. "You must be Nick."

"That's right. It's nice to meet you Rarity." I reached my hand out and shook hers.

She handed me the bag. "Here are your new clothes. You're going to absolutely love them, darling."

"Thanks, Rarity. I owe you one." I said, smiling.

"Oh, think nothing of it, dear." She replied, smiling back.

Twilight pointed me in the direction of the bathroom. In the bag were jeans, a T-shirt, socks, boots, and the overcoat that I asked for. I changed and put my pajamas in the bag. I looked at myself in the mirror and the overcoat looked awesome. The design was flawless, it was super comfortable to wear, and it even had a hood. I walked out of the bathroom and went back into the living room. Rarity looked at me expectantly.

"Well, what do you think?" Rarity asked me with anticipation.

"What do I think?" I said, looking down at my outfit. "Hell yes is what I think! Your craftsmanship is outstanding!"

"I told you that you would love them!" She exclaimed and smiled happily.

Twilight started giggling. "All right you two. Nick, we should probably get going." She pointed towards the door.

"Oh, right." I remembered, we had to go see Princess Celestia. "So how are we getting to the castle?"

"I'd teleport us there, but the mind reading mishap earlier did a number on my magic. We're going to have to drive there."

Rarity gave Twilight a look of confusion. "But, Twilight you don't own a car." Rarity said, puzzled.

Twilight must have already thought of this because she immediately responded. "We know somebody who does though."

"Applejack." They both said in unison.

"Cool. Let's get going then." I said.

"Agreed." Said Twilight. She gestured Rarity and I to follow her.

Once we were outside, I took in the beauty of the town. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and everyone walking around had smiles on their faces. However, something felt...off. Like something bad was about to happen.

"Um, Nick?" Said Twilight, getting my attention. "Has that always been on your hand?" She pointed to my right hand.

I took a look at the back of my right hand. "What the hell!?" I yelled in surprise. There was a glowing symbol on it. The symbol consisted of a circle with an X through it and a sword striking from top to bottom. It started to glow brighter. But before I could even try to figure out what the symbol was doing on my hand, there was what sounded like an explosion a couple blocks away. I looked to my left and there was smoke rising from where the sound came from.

"You guys see that too, right?" I said, in shock. They nodded. "Let's go!" I said and ran to the explosion site. They quickly followed after me.

6. Awakening

It turned out that the smoke was coming from the market district. Everything was destroyed. People were screaming and running away from the site. And then I saw it. It had four giant arms and moved like a gorilla. When it roared, its whole face opened to reveal a gaping hole with tiny little blades on the inner walls, which I assumed was the mouth. The thing that caught my eye though was the person it was holding in its hand. She had pink hair, a green skirt, and was screaming for help. The monster opened its face and started to lower the girl into it.

"Is that-" Before I could finish, Twilight cut me off.

"Oh no, Fluttershy!!" Twilight yelled in fear.

That's who I was afraid it was. Suddenly, my hand started to burn. I looked at the symbol and time felt like it stopped. A voice echoed in my head.

"It is time to release the power locked within yourself." The voice said. "Rise, Nick. Realize your destiny!" Then, the voice vanished. I started to feel... like I could do anything. I felt like my abilities were limitless. And in my right hand, was a black-bladed double-edged sword wrapped in a dark red aura. The hilt was smooth and easy to hold and the whole sword felt almost weightless is my hand. I knew what I needed to do.

Time went back to normal. Without thinking, I dashed forward and ran as fast as I could with my sword leaving a red trail of light behind me.

"Nick, what are you doing!?" Twilight yelled after me.

"What needs to be done!" I shouted back.

I sped up and jumped right before she was about to be eaten. I held the sword in both hands and sliced right through the monster's arm, catching Fluttershy on the way down. The monster started wailing in pain. I set her down behind me. She was shaking in fear.

"Fluttershy, listen carefully." I went on. "Twilight and Rarity are over there." I said as I pointed to them. "I need you to run to them as fast as you can, can you do that?" She gave a very hesitant nod. "Good. I'll take care of whatever this thing is." As Fluttershy ran to her friends, I turned around to face the beast. It looked at me with extreme anger in his eyes.

"My arm!!" Shouted the monster.

"Oh look, it knows the trick 'speak'. That's a good boy!" I said, as if I was talking to a dog, trying to get a rise out of him.

"How DARE you mock me!" It said, swinging one of its arms at me.

"How dare I? How dare YOU terrorize these innocent people!" I shouted back, dodging out of the way of its attack and hitting it with a barrage of slashes.

"ARRGHH!!" The monster cried in agony. "I'LL CRUSH YOU!!!!" It screeched and raised up the three arms that it had left.

"That seems very unlikely!" I replied. I jumped right before it brought its arms down and landed on its head. Without thinking twice, I drove the tip of my sword into the monster's skull. As soon as I did, it stopped moving. All life seemed like it just drained from its body and it hit the ground with a loud THUMP. I pulled the sword out of its head and hopped off of the lifeless corpse.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." I said. I started walking towards Twilight and the others until I heard a voice behind me. The monster's eyes lit up a bright white. The voice that I heard was different from what the monster sounded like.

"You have walked right into our trap, Nicholas." The eerie voice said. "That mark on your hand has sealed your fate."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I replied. "And how do you know my name?"

"All will be revealed in time." The voice let out a sinister chuckle. "Goodbye for now. Oh, and happy birthday."

The corpse turned into mist and was swept away with the wind. I loosened my grip on the sword and it fused back into the symbol on my hand. Sighing, realizing I turned 17 today, I headed back to Twilight and Rarity. They both stood there with their mouths open. Fluttershy peeked her head out from behind them.

"Is...Is the monster gone?" Asked Fluttershy, in a shaky voice.

Twilight and Rarity looked like they were still trying to comprehend what happened, so I answered Fluttershy's question.

"Yeah. He's gone for good." I answered. She fully stepped out from behind them.

"A-Are you sure?" She asked, still shaking from what just happened.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. He won't be coming back." I said, smiling.

She stood there for a couple seconds and before I knew what happened, she ran at me and hugged me. The sheer force of the hug knocked me back a couple steps.

"Thank you! Thank you so much, I was so scared!" She said, teary-eyed.

It surprised me at first, but I hugged her back. I felt a wave of warmth flow through my body. It was then that I saw that Fluttershy had wings. 'So wings exist here too, huh?' I thought to myself. I pulled back from the hug and gave her a friendly smile.

"You alright, Fluttershy?" I asked just to make sure she wasn't injured.

"Y-yes." She said, nodding.

"Nick, we need to hurry up and get Applejack's car." Twilight said. "Whatever's going on here is far more serious than we thought, and I have a feeling that this is all connected to the symbol on your hand."

Suddenly remembering what we were supposed to be doing before that monster showed up, I nodded at Twilight and she lead us to Applejack's farm.

7. Rainbow Rodeo

We ran as fast as we could to Applejack's farm. When we arrived everything was quiet. A little too quiet. We looked around for Applejack and her family but found nothing. I started to feel a tingling sensation on my hand and it started to glow a little. Suddenly the barn door opened and an light-orange haired girl walked out. It was none other than Applejack. However, something wasn't quite right about her. She kicked the barn door behind her but before it shut, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a person sitting in the back-right corner of the barn.

"Well, howdy there pardners!" Said Applejack. "What can I do ya for?"

"Hi Applejack, I have a huge favor to ask you." Said Twilight, as she stepped forward. "I need to borrow your car."

"Sure thing!" replied Applejack. Her eyes fell upon me. "Well, who is this fine hunk of man?"

"Whaddaya say you and I have some fun?" She said as she walked towards me. My hand started to glow brighter with every step she took.

"What did you have in mind?" I said, cracking a half smile.

"Well, we could go to my room and 'play' a little." Said Applejack, seductively. She started to run her index finger down my chest. My hand was practically on fire at this point.

"Mmm, sounds good." I said, gently running my fingers through her hair. "But only if you answer one question."

"What's that, Sugar?" She asked as she eyed the symbol on my hand.

I grabbed her by the neck and pushed her (or it) against the wall of the barn, cracking it a little. Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy were clearly shocked at me.

"Where's the real Applejack?" I asked firmly.

"AHGHH!!" Yelled the fake Applejack, struggling to get away. Its transformed into a short humanoid-looking creature and the pitch of its voice changed into a high-pitched whine. "H-How did you know!?"

"The real Applejack wouldn't come on to a person she just met. Now answer the question!" I raised my voice.

"If I tell you, my master will kill me!" It cried.

"And I'll kill you if you don't!" I replied, strengthening my grip. "I'm not going to ask again. Where. Is. She?"

"O-Okay, Okay!" It finally spilled the beans. "She's in the b-back of the barn! Please let go of m-me!" I tossed it to the ground beside me.

"Don't ever let me see you again." I said, glaring. It nodded and stood up. A beam of light surrounded the creature and it disappeared. I wondered if I made a mistake, sparing its life...

I went over to the barn door and opened it. I gestured for Twilight and the others to follow me inside. Once we entered, Applejack was immediately visible, as well as Big Macintosh and Applebloom. They were in the corner, chained to the wall with their mouths taped shut. We ran over to them, only to realize that we didn't have the keys to the chain locks. They looked up at us, with hope in their eyes.

"Damn, how are we going to free them?" Twilight asked. I gotta admit, it was a little weird hearing Twilight curse. "We don't have the keys and nobody here knows how to pick a lock..."

I pondered on this for a moment and decided to summon my sword. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all took a few steps back.

"Nick, do you really think that will work?" Asked Rarity. "The chain looks like its made of titanium."

"We won't know unless we try." I said as I raised my sword. Applejack flinched as I sliced through her chains. I was surprised at how easily the sword went through. I did the same to Big Mac and Applebloom's chains. They started taking the tape off their mouth. Applebloom immediately started crying and ran into Applejack and Big Mac's arms. I started to get angry from hearing the pain and fear in her voice. Whoever did this to them was gonna pay.

"It's okay, Applebloom..." Applejack said, cradling her little sister. "They're gone now."

I knelt down in front of Applejack. "Hey, are you guys alright? You're not hurt, are you?" I asked, hoping that they weren't injured.

"Just a few cuts and bruises... But we're fine." Replied Applejack. "We tried to fight them off, but there was so many of 'em."

"Who's 'them'?" I asked, curious.

"We don't know..." She said, sighing. "They were so fast and looked like livin' shadows."

Suddenly we heard rumbling coming from outside. I stood up, looked out the barn door, and saw what seemed like hundreds of the creatures Applejack described heading towards us. They were terrifying. Their bodies were pitch black, they had red, glowing eyes, their arms were blade-like, and there was a dark aura surrounding them all. They were getting closer and closer by the second. My hand had that burning sensation again and the symbol started glowing once more.

"Oh no, that's them!" Whimpered Applebloom. She was terrified at the mere sight of them.

"Twilight, how's your magic right now?" I said, still watching the horde of shadows.

"It's much better than it was before. Why?" She asked, with a look of confusion on her face.

"As soon as I walk out that door, I need you to put up a magic barrier around the barn." I said, gripping my sword tighter.

"T-That's suicide! Ya can't take all of 'em on yer own!!" Applejack yelled in disbelief.

"I'm not going to just lay down and die." I replied. "I at least have to try."

I walked out of the barn and signaled for Twilight to put up the barrier. Once I made sure it was up, I walked toward the attackers.

"It's showtime!" I yelled and dashed forward. They ran towards me, all of them attacking one after another. As I was blocking, dodging and swinging my sword, I felt... alive. I've never had a rush like I had in the midst of battle. The shadow creatures wailed before each attack, so It was easy to anticipate when and where they would strike. However, my attacks weren't connecting. The shadows were able to detach and reattach themselves to evade my blade.

"Damn it!" I said as they started to overpower me. I leaped backwards in an attempt to put some distance between myself and them.

'Wait.' I thought. 'Shadows. Light erases shadows. But where the hell am I going to find a source of light powerful enough to get rid of all of them?'

"Woo Hoo!!" A voice yelled from behind me as a rainbow streak whizzed past my face into the Shadows, lighting them up and leaving the them vulnerable to attacks. I used the opportunity to launch my self into the Shadows and take out as many of them as I could. I was only able to take out about half of the horde before they turned dark again.

"Hey!" I yelled to the flying beam of light. "Do that again! The only way to kill them is with light!"

"With pleasure!" Said the rainbow blur as it sped up and dashed into the Shadows, leaving a blinding light. The Shadows were once again vulnerable and I destroyed as many as I could. There was one left and it turned back into a Shadow as it approached me. There was something different about this one though. It had a pitch-black crystal on its forehead and was bigger than the other Shadows I fought.

'This must be the leader.' I thought. I signaled for one more flash and as soon as I saw the light, I lunged forward putting all of my strength into my arms. When my blade struck the leader, it took a little extra effort to fully slice through, but when it did it was really satisfying.

"It's over." I said under my breath. The Shadow turned into mist and disappeared. But it left something behind. I knelt down and got a better look at the object. It was the leader's crystal. I went to pick it up, but before I even touched it, it fused into the symbol on my hand. "What the-" Before I finished my sentence, I started to rise off the ground. My body was becoming wrapped in a dark substance and before I knew it, I was back on the ground. I observed my body and the substance was gone. I looked at my sword. The blade was now letting off a black aura, much like the Shadows did.

I fused my sword back into my hand and stood up. As I started to walk back towards the barn, I signaled for Twilight to take down the barrier. Before I went inside, something, or rather someone, landed on the ground behind me. I turned around and instantly knew who it was. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the girl with short rainbow hair who was standing in front of me was Rainbow Dash. She was wearing jean shorts, a blue tank top, and a wristband that said 'Bring It.'

"So, you were the one kicking ass without me." Said Rainbow Dash with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, I guess. You're Rainbow Dash, right?" I asked.

"That's right!" She announced proudly. "I'm the coolest girl in Equestria and don't you forget it! How about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Nick." I nodded my had at the barn. "Follow me." I walked inside and Rainbow Dash followed. Applejack, Big Mac and Applebloom were all staring wide-eyed at me and Rainbow Dash.

"Ya...ya did it. Ya really did it!" Said Applejack, relieved at the fact that she and her family are safe.

"Hey," I replied. "I can't take all the credit. If it weren't for Dashie, I probably would have ended up dead."

"Don't ever call me that again." Rainbow Dash said, annoyed.

I looked over at Twilight and she looked like she was ready to collapse. I rushed over to her.

"Hey, Twilight, you okay?" I asked, concerned.

She replied in a quiet voice. "Yeah... I'm alright... I'm just really... tired... " Twilight started to fall towards me. I caught her and her head rested on my shoulder. My heart sped up and I felt my cheeks turn bright red.

"She must be exhausted from putting the barrier up." I said. "Let's all head back to Twilight's house." I picked up Twilight in both hands and started to head outside of the barn.

"Big Mac, can ya watch over Applebloom until I get back?" Asked Applejack.

"Eeyup."

8. Preparations

As we were all walking through town to Twilight's house, people walking by kept looking at me and whispering. I was able to hear some of what they were saying. Some said things like: 'Even though he got rid of the monster in the market, I still don't trust him. He looks like somebody who just wants to start trouble.' Others said things like: 'He's a hero! If it wasn't for him the whole town would have been destroyed. Some are even starting to call him The Dark Guardian.'

"The Dark Guardian?" Said Rarity. I must not have been the only one hearing what the townsfolk were saying. "I think it's a fine name considering your outfit and how you saved Fluttershy."

"I gotta agree, it's a pretty rad name." Said Rainbow Dash. "Speaking of which, where is your sword? You definitely had one when we were fighting those... things."

"I'm able to summon my sword at will whenever I need it." I replied.

"Whoa, that's wicked! Can you do it right now!?" Asked an excited Rainbow Dash.

"I would, but I kinda have my hands full right now." I looked down at the sleeping Twilight. She was quite cute when she was asleep.

"Oh, right." She said as she let out a slight chuckle.

We arrived at Twilight's house. Everyone walked in and took a seat. I set Twilight on the couch and put a blanket over her. There were no more places to sit, so I sat down on the floor and got everyone's attention.

"Alright. Now, you're probably all wondering what the hell is going on." I said.

"Yeah, like what in tarnation were them things back at the barn?" Asked Applejack.

I explained everything. How I woke up on Twilight's couch, my other universe theory, my new powers, the town market, and our plan to ask Princess Celestia if she knows anything.

"Wait, so yer sayin' that ya have no idea why ya have powers?" Asked Applejack. "But when ya fought them shadow things, it looked like you've been practicin' your whole life."

"It's funny you say that because it even feels like I've been practicing for my whole life." I replied. "When I'm fighting, my movements feel natural. I don't know, maybe it's because I've played video games for pretty much my entire life. What I do know, is that everything that's happened today is in someway related to this symbol." I showed them the back of my hand. And then I remembered something else. "Another thing that's been bugging me is what the monster in the market said before it disappeared. It said 'Happy birthday' and it can't be a coincidence because today is my seventeenth birthday."

All of a sudden a girl burst through the door and we all jumped at the noise. She had pink, bouncy hair, jeans, and a really colorful T-shirt. It was the party animal, Pinkie Pie.

"Did somebody say birthday!?" Pinkie boomed.

The others told Pinkie to hush and pointed to Twilight lying on the couch.

"Oh no, what happened!?" Asked Pinkie, clearly worried. We explained the events that happened today and how Twilight and I plan to go see Princess Celestia.

"*GASP* Yes, we're going on a road trip!!" She exclaimed and started jumping up and down in excitement.

I interrupted Pinkie's jumping. "Hang on, Pinkie. I don't think Twilight wants to have to take all of us with her."

"No way." Said Applejack, catching me off guard. "Ya saved our lives. We're not just gonna let ya go alone, right guys?" She looked at the others.

"Yes," Said Rarity. "you've ensured the safety of the town. We must repay you somehow."

"Well let's just wait for Twilight to recover and we'll ask her." I said.

"It's alright, Nick." Twilight said as she sat up, stretched, and yawned. She must have been feeling better. "They want to help, so I say we let them come with us."

"...alright. I just didn't want anyone to get hurt." I replied. "I guess Applejack's car is out of the question then because of the number of people. Any ideas?"

"Um, what about the train?" Asked Fluttershy in a soft voice.

I looked at the symbol on my hand. "No, I can't risk that." I said, balling my hand into a fist.

"Risk what?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"For some reason, I get the feeling that these monsters are looking for me, or at least drawn to me." I explained. "If that's true, then they'll most likely follow me and attack the train, putting the other passengers at risk."

"Oh oh oh!" Yelled Pinkie waving her hand. "I have an idea! We can use my RV!"

I was really not expecting to hear that. Especially from Pinkie Pie.

"YOU have an RV? Why is this the first time I've heard this?" Asked a shocked Rainbow Dash.

"Yup! I never really used it after I moved here, so I put it in one of those self-storage thingies." Said Pinkie. "It's gonna take a lot of work to get it out and fill up the gas tank."

"Well what're we waitin for?" Said Applejack. "Let's get goin!"

We all started heading across town to the storage garages. I was still the talk of the town because people were pointing and looking at me. 'Hey check it out, it's The Dark Guardian!' I heard someone say. 'He really does exist! I thought he was just a rumor.' I was never the type of person who wanted attention all the time. Whenever I drew attention to myself at school, it was mostly because I was pushed against a locker by some asshole who thought he was better than everyone else or something like that. But the attention I was getting here made me feel warm and welcome.

"Nick?" Twilight's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and brought me back to reality. "Are you okay? You look troubled."

"Oh, it's nothing." I replied. "I'm just thinking about something."

"Alright, just checking. Oh, I forgot to ask you something." She said, remembering something. "When you got rid of the last Shadow at Applejack's barn we saw you pick something up. When you picked it up you started floating and something absorbed itself into your body. What exactly happened to you?"

She was right. The leader of the Shadows dropped the crystal that it held on its forehead and when I went to pick it up, my symbol absorbed it. But I didn't know what it did to me.

"The leader dropped some sort of crystal. I was about to pick it up, but it fused into my symbol." I explained. "I have no idea of why that happened, but I have a feeling that whatever happened wasn't bad. I felt stronger, like something unlocked inside me. I also noticed that the blade of my sword started giving off a black aura, much like the Shadows did."

Twilight thought while we walked through town. "Well whatever the case, Celestia must know something about all of this."

I sighed. "Yeah... I sure hope so."

"We're here!!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly. I never would have thought that a place like this would exist in Equestria, even if it was humanized. We all walked to her storage unit. Pinkie got the keys out of her pocket and unlocked it. The door opened and just like she said, there was an RV inside. It was in pretty good shape for not being used in a couple years and it was definitely big enough to hold all of us.

"Okay, so how are we going to get this out?" Asked Rarity.

"I have an idea." I said. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash, you go behind it and push it. I'll pull it out from this side." They nodded and went around to the other side of the RV. They started pushing and I pulled at the same time. The RV started moving out of the garage slowly, inch by inch, but if we continued to do it like that it would take forever. "Applejack, push against the wall with your hands and use your legs to push the RV!" I yelled to her. "Rainbow Dash, flap your wings as hard and as fast as you can!" They took my advice and it was moving much faster now.

"Whew... " Said Rainbow Dash catching her breath. "That was heavy as hell."

"At least the labor is over." I said. "Now step two: Fill up the gas tank."

"Oh, we're not gonna have a problem with that!" Said Pinkie. "I have a lot stashed inside!" She pointed to the RV.

"Good, that means we can head out sooner than we planned." Said Twilight.

"Come on, Nick." Pinkie said as she opened the door of the RV. "Help me bring out the gas cans."

"Gotcha." I said and followed her inside. The interior looked amazing. There was a fridge and a freezer, an oven and stove, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a couch, and even a flat-screen TV. "Whoa!" I said in awe. "This RV is insane!"

"I can see that you like it!" Said Pinkie. "The gas cans are in the cabinet under the sink." She grabbed a couple and went back outside. I did the same and helped her fill the tank. One the tank was full, we still had some gas cans left so just in case we ran out, we'd have more.

"Alright, is everyone ready to head to Canterlot?" Asked Twilight.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yuppers!" Said Pinkie. "Let's stop by Sugarcube Corner first so we can stock up on food and drinks for the road." Pinkie looked very excited about the trip.

"Yeah, if we're goin' there with the RV, then we're gonna need stuff to eat and drink." Said Applejack, in agreement with Pinkie.

After the garage door was closed, we all got inside the RV and Pinkie started it up. The idea of Pinkie Pie behind the wheel at the time was enough to send chills down my spine, but she was surprisingly a very good driver. We arrived at Sugarcube Corner and got a mountainous amount of snacks and drinks. The RV was now packed with consumables, from apples to cupcakes and juice to soda.

"Well now that we're all ready..." I said. "Let's begin the road trip!" Everyone cheered and Twilight gave me a warm smile.