Chapter I - The Bright Beginning...
"So, what's my first job Luna? I need something to do if I'm going to be your student." Asked Natsu as he and his new teacher walked through the long halls of their castle.
"Your first task, my student, is to get acquainted with our guard." She replied calmly while Natsu slumped down.
"Do I have to?" He asked with worry in his voice.
"You are worried about what our guard will think of you?"
"Little bit. I mean, you've seen your citizens and how they act around me. Who wouldn't be scared by a six foot tall freak that can use ancient fire magic that is made to kill drAGONS!!?" He shouted suddenly, clasping his palms onto his burning buttocks.
"You are no freak Natsu, and if we catch you calling yourself that again, you'll receive much more than a small spark spell to thy posterior." She commanded, flashing her student a cocky smirk. Natsu looked back to his friend and flashed her a similar smirk, but out of annoyance and planned revenge.
The rest of the time they spent walking to the barracks, Luna and Natsu traded stories of each other's homelands. Natsu talked about his guild and how strong they were, and Luna in turn, told him about how Equestria came to be. Unfortunately, all the historic knowledge seemed to have went in one ear and out the other when Natsu heard the words “many moons ago”, much to the ire of Luna.
"Wait here until we call for you." Said the lunar princess as she stood outside the wooden doors that separated the castle from her guards' barracks.
As Natsu was left waiting in the hallway of the castle, he couldn't help but wonder about his nakama back on Earthland. Part of his thoughts included how they'd react to being in a world full of pastel coloured ponies with magical powers.
I bet a hundred Jewels that Lucy, Wendy and Erza would just have a field day here. Wait, no, scratch Erza. No way that monster could ever find anything here cute. Thought Natsu, shaking his head at the thought of Titania acting like a little girl around the ponies.
"You okay there?" Asked a sudden voice from nearby, breaking Natsu from his thoughts.
Looking beside him, Natsu saw a young midnight black stallion wearing a set of black armour that was just noticeablely different from his darker coat. His silver eyes were much like Natsu’s own whenever he activated his magic; slitted like a cat's, and his ears were much more fluffy in comparison to any other pony’s. Then there were his wings that were tucked into his sides. They were nowhere near that of a normal pony’s, they were leathered bat wings.
This was Natsu’s first time ever meeting a pony like this, never had he seen such a pony since coming to Equestria a few days ago.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just got some things on my mind." Natsu replied to the stallion with a tone that hinted sadness. The guard must have spotted this, as not a moment later, he sat down next to Natsu. His armour softly clattered as he sat down and leaned against the wall.
"Wanna talk about them? It helps to get things off your chest, rather than keeping them to yourself." Said the armoured pony, offering his help to ease the weight off Natsu’s chest.
Natsu sighed. "I'm just thinking about my friends back home. If it weren't for that asshole, Rogue, I'd still be with them, having laughs and fighting with Gray about every little thing. It's funny, I never thought I'd actually miss that icy jerk..." Said Natsu as he looked at the marble floor in front of him.
"I feel that pain my friend, I have family all the way on the other side of Equestria. I haven't seen or heard from them in almost four years." Said the stallion, his own sadness from the experience coming forth.
"Yeah, well, at least you can visit your family. Mine is on a completely different world that's a bit too far away for my liking." Said Natsu, still holding onto the doubt of going home ever again.
The young stallion thought and thought about the different ways he could’ve cheered the human up, then he remembered something. "There's this kid I've heard rumours about, he calls himself ‘The Great and Powerful Starswirl’. Word around the castle is, he's been looking into theories of spatial displacement or whatever. Maybe he can give you a hoof back to your world if he actually manages to crack the theory." Said the guardspony as he fiddled with the straps of his armour, making sure they were tight.
"Maybe, just maybe." Said Natsu, his voice now holding a slither of hope in it. He looked at the pony with a smile on his face. "Thanks dude. What's your name?" He asked.
"Corporal Silver Shadow of the Lunar Guard, at your service." He replied, extending his hoof for a shake.
"Natsu Dragneel, member of the Fairy Tail wizard guild." Said Natsu as he took the hoof with his own hand and shook it with stride.
There was a pause as the two shook hand and hoof before the corporal asked what should’ve been the very first question to ask. "So what're you doing down here in the barracks?" He asked the pink-haired man.
Natsu was about to answer to soldier, but a voice the both of them recognised stopped him telling Silver his story. Luna’s voice.
"Natsu, come, you too soldier." She said as she beckoned the two over. Seeing his ruler and employer almost made Silver jump out of his fur. He practically raced towards the lunar princess and proceeded to beg for forgiveness.
"Princess Luna, forgive my rudeness! I had no idea that you were intending to visit our barracks." Said Silver Shadow as he bowed deeply at the princess’ hooves. Luna just giggled at his performance.
"Tis not any trouble Corporal, now go line up inside with your fellow soldiers." She said to him, to which he immediately complied with his order and went inside to the other members of his troop.
Luna followed close by as the corporal went inside. Just as she had seen just minutes prior, she saw all three hundred of her lunar guards. Each one of them stood straight at attention, their faces stoic and frozen in place like statues. Each of her soldiers filled Luna with great pride and accomplishment at how loyal and determined each of them were for her. While it was small compared to her sister’s +500 guards, it was still a sight for her.
"Members of the Lunar Guard, we have someone we would like to introduce." Announced the princess to her legion. Looking to the door, she said ‘come in’ to the one who was behind it and it opened, revealing the new addition to Equestria and the royal castle.
As Natsu entered the barracks he noticed that all of the guards looked exactly the same as Silver. All of them were a mixture of bats and ponies with golden, slitted eyes and bat wings. While they made no noise, Natsu could tell they were judging him based on their looks of shock, fear and apprehension. The only ones without that look were Luna and Silver.
"This man is Natsu Dragneel, from this day onwards, is my student and personal guardian. This means he also your superior officer, and We expect you to treat him with the same respect you treat us with." She said to the lunar guards, and this explanation actually caused some disturbance amongst the guard.
Amongst the commotion, one guard stood to the front. "Princess, pardon my rudeness, but how can we trust him? I mean, look at him, he's a beast. And our superior officer? I'm not going to accept him as my leader just because you say so ma'am. For all we know, he could be a spy for the Gryphons." He said, explaining his reasons for the mistrust towards Natsu. Natsu took offence from this however, and had his own words to say to the pony.
"Hey, I didn't come into your house and piss in your coffee. There's no reason to say I'm a spy when you don't even know me asshole!" Barked Natsu to the guard as he walked up in his face and they both stared daggers into each other. Shortly after though, Natsu gained a smirk on his face. "Besides, if you don't recognise my abilities when Lulu does, why aren't you her personal guardian instead of me if you think you're such hot shit?" He said, taunting the guard, who in turn tried to attack the human for mocking him and his abilities, if his fellow guards had not restrained him. "What, you mad bro? Come on, 1v1 me bro. Fight me, fight me." He continued, the taunting only making somepony else agitated.
“Natsu, that is enough. Apologise to him immediately, such behaviour will not be tolerated in the barracks.” Luna said sternly to Natsu, her expression turning into a fierce one.
“Fi~ne. I’m sorry for insulting you.”
"I say we give him a chance." Said Silver as he stepped ahead of the troops and next to Natsu. He bumped his hoof on Natsu’s chest and looked out at his fellow soldiers. "I had a little chat with this guy outside a few minutes ago and he seems alright. His only difference to us is his appearance, and even then, it ain't that scary. So I say that we-"
"I guess freaks of a feather, stick together." Interrupted another, older sounding guard. Coming from the front row, a bat-pony walked up to Silver and almost butted heads with him. "Why should we have to listen to a low-ranked monster like you? You're not the boss around here Corporal Shadow, I am." He said in a deadly threatening tone to the younger gaurdpony. Surprisingly, the pony didn’t even flinch under the other’s gaze or threat.
"Captain Pierce, hold your tongue. You're in the presence of Madame Luna." Growled the corporal back to the captain, his own voice turning threatening.
"The fuck's his problem?" Natsu whispered to Silver, confused and curious as to what happened. Silver, knowing full well about the conflict between him and the captain, just kept his mouth shut, but Natsu could see something in his eyes. Pain.
A cough from Luna caught everyone’s attention and they all looked to her. "Tell us, faithful stallions, how many of you do not trust our choice?" She asked the ponies in the room. Every hoof with exception of Silver’s was raised. "How many of you wish to see an example of his strength?" She asked, and every hoof was raised this time. They wanted to see the strength of a dragon and they were going to get it. "There's a faux pony made of straw, show the guards what you can do Natsu." Luna said to her student, gesturing the fake pony in question that was a few metres away.
Taking that as his cue to make his demonstration, Natsu walked towards his straw opponent. Positioning himself into a fighting stance, Natsu prepared one of his signature attacks to burn the scarecrow to cinders.
"Karyū no-" He said, readying his attack. However his performance was cut short as what felt like a tonne of potatoes in a sack collided with the back of his head and sent him flying forward and into the straw pony. The sound of the crash was enormous and the sight was spectacular and painful. Currently, Natsu’s body was upside down with his ankles dangling above his head with his posterior blatantly showing to everypony in the room. “Ow.” He said flatly, spitting lengths of straw from his mouth.
"Princess Luna! Urgent news!" Yelled a new voice in the room. Managing to see past his ankles, Natsu saw another lunar guard flying directly where he previously was. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened just moments ago.
"Calm thyself, noble guard." Said Luna in a calm tone as looked at her heavily panting and sweating guard. The stallion did as he was told and took a moment to reorganise himself, and shortly after, he was breathing normally again. "Speak now, what news dost thou bring forth?" Asked the princess.
"There's been an attack on a settlement due west of here, it has been occupied by a large group of rogue, bandit gryphons. I'm sorry to say that the residents have been held hostage." Said the guard, his voice lightly in fear for the hostages.
Luna rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Gryphons, they never quit. Squadrons A and B, grab your weapons! We're moving out!" She commanded with a mighty voice, leading the guards out of their barracks. Natsu followed close by, shaking the leftover straw out of his pants and sandals.
~~~~~
"There's the settlement." Said Luna as she and her troop stood atop a large hill, looking down on the couple of dozen wooden buildings a few hundred metres away. "Natsu, what can you see from here?" She asked her student who was next to her, looking down at the town with her.
When she got no response, she saw Natsu with his eyes closed. He honestly looked like he was sleeping, until he reopened his eyes and they had actually changed from his regular, onyx black eyes into brown, slitted, dragon eyes. His new eyes darted all across the landscape every split second, scanning in every detail.
"There's twenty, twenty five... No, thirty gryphons, but even then I can't be sure if they aren't any hiding. All of them are armed to the teeth, the smell of iron is strong with them." Natsu said as continued scanning the settlement with his draconic eyes.
Switching to his heightened hearing, Natsu cupped his ears with his hands to maximise any sound coming from the settlement. He heard a sound that wasn’t like the sound of clinking metal: sounds of muffled cries and pleas, and then shouting to silence the screams.
"The villagers are stuck in the fourth building on the left and the sixth on the right, both of them have two gryphons on guard. I'm gonna cause a ruckus and draw their attention, while I'm doing that, send a couple of guards to each building with the hostages and free them." He said, explaining his plan to rescue the town.
"You're going down there alone?!" Silver yelled, concerned for the lack of solidity in his plan. After all, he is a soldier trained to fight to formations and plans, while Natsu is a freelance fighter who fights however he wanted.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. In fact, I'm all fired up!" Natsu yelled with glee as he punched his fists together, plumes of fire bursting out from the contact.
Jumping off of the cliff’s edge, Natsu slid down the face, leaving a large trail of dust in his wake as he continued to go further and further down. As he reached the ground, Natsu trekked his way towards the town that was just in front of him. The rogues had spotted him from when he slid down the hill, and had come together at the town’s centre to greet the stranger. With the exception of the gryphons guarding the hostages, all of them stood staring at the human who had blatantly made no intention to hide from them.
Natsu cleared his throat and yelled, "Attention all bitches! You are hereby under arrest in the name of the di-arch of Equestria, Princess Luna! Give up peacefully or prepare to have all your asses kicked by me personally!"
All the gryphons began to laugh at this declaration, and laugh heartily they did. As they kept laughing, a gryphon that was slightly larger than the rest of his cohorts stepped forward. His front was covered in grey feathers that were tipped white, the fur on his back were a dark charcoal colour and his eyes were a deep, crimson red. On his side was a large mace, freely swinging and giving off a menacing display.
He must be the leader. Thought Natsu.
"Are you kidding me? One freak against a small faction of gryphons, and you say that you'll kick our asses?!" He mocked as he flew towards the dragon slayer without fear. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Asked the leader of the bandits when he was directly in front of Natsu’s face. Little did he know, he had made the worst mistake possible by being close up.
This mistake was brought to light when Natsu unleased torrents of fire from his own mouth and unto the gryphon. The flames surrounded his whole body and only seconds later, they stopped and revealed the gryphon had been turned into a charcoal chicken. Everyone was left dazed in confusion and shock at what they had just witnessed, just long enough time for Natsu to send the still floating gryphon flying back to his group with a powerful and bone crushing side kick. His body was sent from one end of the town to the other in no less than two seconds. The kick was so powerful, that it even sent the body past two or three buildings before it had come to stop with a wall falling on top of him.
"I’m Natsu Dragneel, Dragon Slayer wizard, member of the Fairy Tail wizard guild and son of the fire dragon, Igneel. Oh, and I’m also Princess Luna’s personal guardian and student." He said smugly as he introduced himself to his victims. Cracking his knuckles, he looked at the other gryphons, and they looked at him, ready to fight. "So, who's the next chicken to get roasted by me? I'm waiting." He asked to the group of bandits who had begun to encircle around him like sharks.
In one swift motion they all drew their weapons and pounced to the human’s position in attempt to take his life. They would have, if he hadn’t prepared for this and leaped from his spot and landed behind them. They all collided with each other and began to argue amongst each other for not managing to hit him whatsoever, and they were immediately silenced by the sound of surging fire. Like wind-up soldiers, their heads turn, jittering like a million jumping beans to look at the direction of the sound. What they saw was terrifying: they saw two pillars of fire stem from the human’s arms that extended for at least a hundred metres, and the sickest, most psychopathic smile on his face.
Welcome to fucked.
"Karyū no Yokugeki!"
~~~~~~
"What kind of...monster is he?" Questioned Pierce as looked down upon the blazing carnage that was Natsu’s power. Luna smirked at the reaction, knowing that many have had that same response, even herself. Although, a majority of them didn’t include the word ‘monster’.
"Natsu isn't a normal human by any means, even in his world. He was raised by a fire dragon by the name of Igneel, of whom taught Natsu the ancient arts of Dragon Slayer magic. He is one of only seven users in his world to utilise such powerful magic." She said as she watched the bursts of flame erupt within the town.
Pierce scoffed at his leader’s explanation. "A monster raised by another monster taught to kill that same monster, how redundant." He said with disgust towards the man.
"Stop calling him a monster already Pierce. He's fighting down there alone, all to help those villagers in the name of justice, and all you can do is mock him? I'm seriously beginning to question who exactly is the monster here." Retorted Silver, defending Natsu from the discrimination that was being spoken.
"Silence your tongue Corporal. As your superior, I have the authority to dismiss you right here and now." Threatened the Captain as he locked eyes with the Corporal. The younger guard wasn’t at all scared from this action, he actually smirked.
"Then do it, and this guard will lose a valuable power, and you'll have dismissed the colt who saved your life too. I'm sure you still remember that part clearly Captain, don’t you? That time when I used the abilities you hate so much to save you from that gryphon soldier who snuck up on you?" He said condescendingly to his superior as he butted heads with him, hoping to egg on the anger inside the Captain. If anger is what Silver wanted, he certainly got it when Captain Pierce raised his hoof to beat him.
"You little brat!" Yelled Pierce as he swung his hoof at the young Corporal.
"Enough! There shalt be no quarrel in our presence, dost thou understand us?!" Screamed Luna with a fierce commandment in her voice.
"Yes princess." Mumbled the Captain as he left to return to the barracks, not wanting to be around either of the ‘freaks’ as he put it.
Both the Corporal and the Princess sighed heavily at the moment that had passed. Both of them wished that this prejudice wouldn’t happen, but lots of ponies cannot accept what they don’t understand and what they don’t see as normal, and thus they fear what they don’t accept.
Pulling them from their thoughts were the sounds of the still going battle between Natsu and the gryphons. As they looked down, they could see the amount of gryphons turning the tide of battle in their favour. The sight of more than twenty gryphons ganging up on one man was not a sight Silver enjoyed to see.
"He's getting outnumbered, I'm going to help him." Said Silver, uneasy with how the battle has progressed.
"No, stay Corporal. He doesn't need any assistance." Said Luna sternly to her subordinate, but when she received no response or a simple “yes ma’am”, she looked and saw nothing but a shadow make its way to the settlement. The princess could not help but sign in annoyance. "That colt is too eager to help those he thinks are in need. Honestly, he’s just like Natsu." She said.
~~~~~
As the head of the gryphon was smacked into the ground, Natsu had two feelings. One was joy for being able to fight in what seemed like a crime-less world and the other was uneasiness from feeling it was too easy. Sure, they were all just as strong as anybody back on his own world that he had fought, but there was still something off. And then he found out, he was short a few gryphons.
That's twenty-four of them, and there were four guarding the hostages. So where are the last two? Thought Natsu as he looked throughout out the town and saw the battered and beaten bodies of the gryphon bandits. Focusing everything into his hearing, Natsu heard the sound of fast approaching wing flaps above him. As Natsu looked above himself, he saw the two gryphons he had missed.
"On your six." Said a disembodied voice that had somehow come from below the man.
Looking down, Natsu saw a single shadow that definitely was not his. It was a pony’s shadow, a shadow that had begun to bulge into reality and split apart to reveal the head of an actual pony. Natsu stepped backwards just in time as the body rocketed out from the shadow and flew towards the unsuspecting gryphons. The pony readied his wings that were adorned with fitted blades, and zipped past the gryphons, slicing through their sides like a cleaver on butter. All three bodies fell to the floor, but only one managed to stand back up.
"If you're not careful, you're gonna get killed one of these days." Said the bat-pony as he looked at the dragon slayer with a smug grin on his face.
"Silver!" Shouted Natsu as he came running to the corporal. "I owe you one, you saved my ass. I could've handled them though, nothing gets me down." He said cockily, certain that he could’ve responded to the hiding bandits in time, even without his help. Silver scoffed at the arrogance.
"Oh yeah, sure. Say that the next time when you have one of your arms missing because I wasn't there to save your flank." He said, kicking the man’s shins as he walked by. Natsu brought his leg up and hugged it as he attempted to rub the pain away. As if the pain had made him remember the reason he had been there in the first place, Natsu suddenly paled.
"Shit, the villagers!" Natsu yelled, worried about the citizens.
"All safe and accounted for." Said Luna from behind the two. True to her word, every single mare, stallion and foal had been set free and were left to see the ones responsible for their rescue. An elderly stallion came forth from the crowd of ponies and addressed the lunar guards and dragon slayer.
"We are eternally grateful to you for helping us, but however, you destroyed all of our homes because of your battle!" Shouted the elder, pointing his hoof towards all the houses that had been either completely of half-destroyed. Natsu, Luna and Silver, having only just realised this, looked around in embarrassment.
"Whoops." Natsu said simply.
"You levelled our houses to the ground, and all you can say is 'whoops'?!" Yelled a young stallion from within the crowd.
"My bad bro." Natsu replied to him, but received no response, just angry faces around the town. Now nervous by all the looks, Natsu gently lifted his hands and positioned them as if he was holding a pair of guns and said, "Aaaayyyyy." After still not gaining any response from the townsponies, Natsu ditched the farce he was trying to pull. "If it makes you feel better, I have experience in repairing and making buildings." He said, trying to gain at least a bit of slack from the mob of angry faces.
"Did this happen often back on your world?" Asked Silver with a cocked eyebrow.
"So often it's not even funny.... well, maybe a bit funny." Natsu replied, trying his best to stifle his snickering at the remembrance of all the destruction he caused on Earthland.
"What are we going to do? Winter is coming, and we barely have any homes to protect ourselves with." Said a stallion to his friends around him. The fear of the freezing cold embedding itself in the minds of the townsponies.
“I don’t like the cold mommy.” Whimpered a young foal to his mother who embraced him lovingly. The tears of the mare fell gently on her child’s mane. Seeing this, it almost broke Natsu’s heart, and he felt truly sorry for destroying their homes because of his enjoyment of battle.
"Hey old man, when is winter gonna hit this place?" He asked the supposed leader of the town.
"In two weeks, and half of our food supplies was taken and eaten by the gryphons too."
"Luna, how fast can the chefs at the castle work?" Natsu asked as he turned to the Lunar Princess.
"They can make one hundred different meals in one and a half hours." She replied.
"You guys got any building supplies? Like a hammer, nails and wooden boards?" Natsu asked the silver-eyed pony beside him.
"Yes, we keep some in a shack outside of the barracks in case there's been an accident. Even then, those occurrences are seldom." Said Silver.
"Alrighty then." Natsu said smiling as he clapped his hands, and with a mighty jump, he landed on the roof of a still-standing building. Standing on the edge, everypony could see him. He looked to the Lunar Guards and said, "Listen up boys, this village is in dire need of assistance before winter arrives. They need their homes rebuilt and can resist the cold. We need to get cracking ASAP, because I plan to have it all finished by the end of the week, but I can't do this alone. I'll need everyone's help to pull this off, who's willing to help me?" He asked with the upmost confidence, but when he was met with silence, he was shocked. Even Luna was disturbed by the lack of voices. "Nobody? I didn't expect the Lunar Guard to be full of cowards!" Natsu roared, outraged by the lack of resolve in the guard. As such, the guards all looked shocked by the outburst and insult. "It is your job as the Lunar Guard to watch over Equestria and it's citizens and to help them in their time of need. Now, when they need us more than ever, with winter approaching, you're turning your backs on them? What kind of guardians are you if you don't protect the people of your own country?! If you do this, then what would you do if this was your family, your village? Are you saying you'd just leave them to fend for themselves in the freezing cold? That you'll freely condemn them to die?!" Natsu bellowed, questioning what the guards were doing and how it was the ultimate insult to be a guard.
"No way!" Shouted back one of the soldiers of the squadron. He stepped forward and looked Natsu dead in the eyes. "I'm not the selfish colt I once was, and I am not about to let the same thing that happened to my family, happen to these ponies. You’ve got one volunteer, Commander Dragneel." Said the stallion with a smirk.
"Make that two!" Responded another guard from amongst the troop.
“Three!” Shouted one more.
Amazing. The Lunar Guard only ever listens to us, and yet, by questioning their resolve as guardsponies, Natsu has gotten them to help him when they normally wouldn't help anypony but themselves. Thought Luna as she watched her guards join the rally one by one. Soon enough, every one of them were cheering and chanting for the success of the project. Luna couldn’t help but look at Natsu and be glad to have met him and make him part of her life. He says he doesn't want to be their leader, but his skills as one are undoubtedly unquestionable.
~~~The Barracks, 6 hours later~~~
"Hey Silver, I gotta ask you somethin'. Is that trick you pulled earlier what Captain Asshole called you a 'monster' for?" Natsu asked his leather-winged friend as they sat at a window-side table, eating their supper for the night. As the question was processed in his mind, Silver’s happy chewing of his apple pie became slower and slower until he swallowed his mouthful.
"No, just one of them unfortunately." He said sadly as he looked at the rest of his meal. Moving his eyes away from his food, Silver scanned the room for somepony and when he found him, he called out, "Hey, Steel Shield!" A lone unicorn raised his head and looked towards the source of the callout. Noticing they were both looking at each other, Silver waved his hoof at him. "C'mere for a bit." He said.
"What's up Silver?" Said the unicorn when he arrived at the table.
"I want you to take off your armour." Said Silver, and the other soldier’s face immediately turned sour.
"Aw come on man, you said you and the other senior officers wouldn't bully us juniors anymore." Whined the (apparently new) recruit.
Silver chuckled at the memory of making the recruits strip and announce the names of their lovers as part of an initiation. It was all a red herring of course, they just wanted to embarrass the newbies.
"Dragneel needs to see how the armour works. You can just take off your helmet." Said the Corporal, and the junior soldier obeyed the request. Lifting the onyx helmet from his head, Natsu witnessed an interesting transformation almost immediately after it was removed.
The pony before him had completely changed. The pony he saw now had a black mane with a blue highlight, a white coat and most importantly, purple eyes instead of what seemed to be the normal golden and slitted eyes. On his flank was his cutiemark of a black shield with a white star in the middle of it.
"Magic enchantment on the armour?" Natsu asked, amazed by the trick he had just seen.
"Yep, everypony here has enchanted armour to look like this. Originally, it was meant to improve combat during night time, but the looks scare off any criminals as a bonus feature. The only problem with it is, is that it only works when the whole set of armour is on. If even a single piece is missing from the armour, the enchantment won't work and you'll look like your normal self." Explained Silver as he dismissed Steel Shield and he returned to his table.
"Then what does that have to do with you?" Natsu asked, and when he did, Silver’s eyes became more sad than they were in the beginning. Slowly, Silver removed his own helmet and the more it came off, the more Natsu came to realise the exact reason why he was the victim of Pierce’s abuse. When the helmet was completely removed and Silver’s mane went slack over his face, Natsu saw no change in his appearance, he was exactly the same as when he wore the headpiece.
"I don't have an enchantment on my armour… I was born looking like this." Silver said sadly as he looked at the helmet in his hooves.
"What happened?" Natsu asked, his voice low, as if in understanding how hard a subject it was for him to talk about.
"My ma was bitten by a vampire fruit bat when she was young, and when I was born, I was like this. I am the first natural-born, of what other ponies call 'Threshals', or bat-ponies." Silver explained as he explained his situation to Natsu. A sad chuckle escaped his lips. "It's funny, I have more bat DNA than I do of my own biological father. I really am a monster." He said, saying the words he never thought he’d say himself.
During his friend’s explanations, Natsu had moved from his original seat towards the window beside Silver. "What's so different to you from other ponies?" He asked as he looked out of the window, leaning on its edge.
"Well, my eyes can see further than a normal pony's, and I hear and smell things at a higher level. Plus there's my ability to phase through shadows." Said the bat-pony as he explained the differences between the normal pony and himself to Natsu. After his list was said and done, Silver was met with a large hit on the top of his skull. Cringing and holding his hooves to the sore spot, he looked up and saw the heel of Natsu’s sandal looming over his head.
"Then what the hell are you complaining about?!" He said as he turned to look at his friend. Silver looked back at Natsu in shock, as if he hadn’t heard a word of why he was a freak of nature. "Just because you look different, doesn't mean you are. I mean, look at me, I'm the first and only human in Equestria. How much of a freak do you think I am? Listen, just because your eyes and wings are different to a normal pony's, it doesn't make you a monster. You have a gift Silver, a gift nopony else will ever receive, not in any lifetime. The closest thing they'll get is that cheap, knockoff imitation from the enchanted armour. You're just like anypony else here: you can laugh, you can cry, you can get angry, you can love and be loved, you eat and drink, you fight, you live and you die. You are in no way, any different from anypony else. Monsters don't have hearts, and they especially don't have a heart like yours, one that is so kind and loyal to those around you." Natsu said, his voice calm and gentle throughout his entire monologue, sounding like a kind older brother.
Silver could not say a word. All he could do was think about what he had said and all the painful memories of his past that had remained in his mind since he was a child. In his memories, Silver could hear all the voices that had abused him and the faces that went with them.
You're a freak! Yelled a young colt after he had pushed a younger Silver into a mud puddle. Silver’s lip began to quiver from the horrible memories…
Get away from me you monster! Screamed an adult stallion as he pushed his family away from the young Threshal. Tears have now escaped from the ducts of his eyes.
I don't want to be infected! Screamed a mare as she ran away in fear. Now, just like his younger self, Silver wept not from the memories that tormented him, but from Natsu’s words. Four words that Natsu said made the hugest impact of his life. He said; you have a gift. Silver struggled to find his words as the tears kept flowing.
"M-my whole life, I've been ridiculed, called a monster just because I was born. I was outcasted by my own village, saying I'd infect everypony with a disease I didn’t even have." Stammered the threshal as he kept on crying in happiness for finding somepony who could tell him what he had wanted to hear his entire life. "Thank you Natsu, thank you so much." He said, with tears of happiness now streaking his cheeks.
"Don't mention it buddy." Natsu said gently, a small smile gracing his lips.
"So the monsters are still alive, are they?" Asked a rude voice they both knew too well by now, instantly killing the moment of happiness the two shared. "I was really beginning to hope that those gryphons had friends and managed to kill you off. Would've done a few of us a favour honestly." Said the stallion that had caused Silver the most grief ever since he had entered the Lunar Guard.
"Pierce..." Silver spat with spite as he stared at the stallion with all his strength. Well, until he realised his eyes were still red and his cheeks were stained with his tears and he quickly turned away to wipe the evidence off. Silver didn’t get this chance though, as Pierce had long since seen the wet fur of his cheeks.
"Aww, has the little freak been crying? You gonna cry and run home to your freak of a mother?" Pierce taunted as he got right into Silver’s face, making himself that much more imposing. But for one of them, it was the fins straw.
"Okay, you know what?" Natsu interrupted, and with that, his leg struck backwards with the force of a truck. The captain was sent hurdling dozens of feet until his body smacked into the doors of the barracks. "Fuck you, you asshole. I'm so tired of your shit."
"W-what are you doing? I-I'm the leading officer of this troop, you cannot harm me. I have to the authority to have even you removed from the castle grounds, you freak." Stammered Pierce as he tried his best to bluff his way out of the human’s rage. However, he knew nothing of what Natsu was like.
“You could be the goddamn queen for all I care, and it still wouldn't save you after insulting my friend over and over again.” Natsu growled with rage drowning in his voice. Picking the captain up by his throat, Natsu slammed his body into the wall behind him. “In Fairy Tail, if you attack us in any way, we retaliate with the most extreme force possible, and insulting one's family is unforgiveable. So go ahead, make my day. But you gotta ask yourself one question: do you feel lucky, punk?” Asked the enraged human to the captain, his face directly in front of his own. The sheer tone of his voice, coupled with the knowledge of the man’s power, caused the pony to lose control of his bladder and spill across the floor. “Hey Silver, batter up!” Natsu yelled as he pitched the Captain towards his friend.
Taking this as an opportunity for revenge, Silver turned around and bucked the pony as he fell more and more into his range. If it weren’t for the armour he was wearing, Pierce would have received broken ribs and glass in his back as he was ejected out of the barracks through a window.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!" Yelled Natsu joyously as he ran laps around Silver Shadow with his arms in the air. Silver could not help but snicker at both what he had just done and Natsu’s crazy antics. "Bevs on me tonight gentlemen!" Shouted Natsu across the barracks, the rest of the guard shouting their cheers back at him. All of them knew it was going to be a good night that night.
~~~~~~~~2 weeks later~~~~~~~~~
Word had travelled across the barracks and Equestria itself like wildfire: the news of Discord, the Lord of Chaos’ defeat to Natsu, the Lunar Dragon of Equestria. Amongst the populous, they became more fearful of the Dragon Slayer for his strength, but amongst the Lunar Guard however, they gained a newfound respect for him. They were thankful to have such a strong man, who could do the impossible, on their side. Each of them took their time thanking the human as he laid resting in his hospital bed, thanking for his service and protecting their families at home.
Now, he was out of the hospital, but not without bandages covering almost all his body and a cast on his right leg. It turned out that the fall at the end of the battle had fractured his ankle. But in any case, the doctors, telling him to stay out of combat for the next few weeks, discharged him without any further concerns. Keeping to his word, he stayed away from any form of exercise or physical activities, but with the most extreme reluctance.
As he waddled his way to the Lunar barracks, Natsu pushed the doors open with crutches. When he entered, he was met with cheers from the guards to congratulate his discharge from the hospital. But the cheers of his comrades-in-arms, well, hooves, was not the intention of his visit. It didn’t take long to find the pony he needed to see.
"Oi Silver! C'mere, I got something great to show you." He called as he began to leave the hall of the moon’s guardians, and the corporal followed close by. It wasn’t hard to follow him, not when his walking speed was halved. The journey was spent in silence aside from when Silver had asked where they were going, only to receive Natsu’s simple answer of ‘secret’. So they kept walking, all the way outside of the castle’s perimeters itself, and found themselves at a large house. It was decorated only with a board on the outside and a large symbol on the roof; a symbol the combined both Natsu’s guild mark and the moon itself. "Ta-dah!" Natsu said as he waved his arm over the building, as if showing it off.
"What is this place?" Silver asked as he continued to look at the building in front of him.
"Welcome to the headquarters of the Lunar Squadron Special Forces. Or, as I like to call it, the Equestrian Fairy Tail guild." Natsu said gleefully.
"Special forces?"
"I got permission from Luna and Celestia last week, from now on, you and I are separate from the regular Lunar Guard. We will take the missions they can't handle, the missions that are deemed impossible by normal standards. And we aren't normal now, are we?" He asked with a smile, knowing it was a redundant question. "Plus, for every mission we complete, we get payed out the butthole for it."
"How much are we talking here?" Silver asked, curious about the actual income amount.
"Celestia eats roughly 15 cakes a day. For each cake we get 75 bits, add those numbers up and that's how much we get for a successful mission." Natsu said, and when Silver had done the math in his head, his jaw had dropped to the ground. Quickly collecting himself, the threshal looked at the slayer of dragons.
"Will there be more?" He asked.
"More like us? I don't doubt it, the world needs people like us to save it from guys like Discord. If he did this to me, and there are people stronger than him, we’ll need all the help we can get." Natsu said as he gestured his battered and bruised body. As Natsu hobbled to the doors, Silver noticed something on the floor nearby the entrance. When Natsu got there, he picked it up and walked back to the threshal where he took what appeared to be a bottle and poured its contents into two shot glasses that were being held in his other hand. "Here, imported straight from a place called Neighpon. By taking this drink with me, you and I will become brothers. Are you alright with that?"
"You'll get no quarrel from me." Said Silver as he happily took the shot into his hoof.
"Well then." Natsu extended his shot towards Silver, who in turn pushed his own forward. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, brother." Natsu said as their glasses clinked together and they downed their sake in one, massive gulp. Being first-timers to drinking sake however, neither of the two could prepare for the strength of the alcohol and they both coughed and sputtered from the sudden kick.
"Holy shit that stuff is strong." They both said as they continued to choke on the alcohol.
