Chapter 1: The Beginning
The Beginning
Hello reader. What you are about to read is a story of dimension jumping, time travel, and a little bit of violence. This will cover the tragic story of a certain changeling that many have come to hate and the discovery of a secret operation. If you cannot handle tragedies, then I highly suggest that you be on your way and find some other story on this particular website. How could someone like me post a story on a website like this? Well, I won’t go into much detail, but let’s just say that it involves a certain draconequus. Why are you even reading this? Shouldn’t you be reading some other story on some other website instead of reading a story in the dark corners of this so-called “FIMFiction”. But no matter, I might as well begin.
It started with a flash. I managed to escape those wretched ponies, but I never imagined I would end up in a place like this. Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Illusion Storm. The story goes like this. I have recently been on the run from a group of ponies that are out to get me. The reasons behind them trying to literally kill me, I do not know. All I know is that this group has bullied me for quite some time. Now, I’m not talking your average name-calling and punches. I’m talking full scale beatings from time to time. Anyways, they had hunted me down and tried to dispose of me for good. So I ran. I ran and ran and ran and ran, until I came to a cliff. Two ponies in the group had me cornered. I myself happened to be a unicorn and used a spell to teleport away. Unfortunately, during my anxiety of near death, I did not calibrate the spell properly to teleport me to a desirable location. Where I had teleported was unknown to me, but I did recognize one thing…the Equestrian flag.
‘I don’t think I’m on the island anymore.’ I thought to myself.
I recognized that flag because while I was on the island of the Solis Occasum Beaches, I had read up a lot on other islands. I had heard of the land of Equestria, a big island where most ponies tend to reside. The island that I am from is not like this though. About 1,000 ponies live on the Solis Occasum Beaches, but it is quite a popular tourist attraction. The reason behind that are the sunsets. On the island that I am from, the sunsets are abnormally beautiful. Many ponies believed it was the work of a god, but that was proven false. Also some rumor about sea ponies, but who cares. Anyways, the Equestrian flag was in the book I read. Knowing what happened in this area before I was born, my kind would not be welcome here. The fact of the matter is, I am actually not a unicorn like I mentioned before. I am actually a creature known as a changeling. Changelings have the magical ability to shapeshift into any type of pony that they desire, with the exception of an alicorn. The only known changeling to be able to do that was Queen Chrysalis herself. But I must move on from my pitiful ranting. Changelings are a unique creature because they have to feed on love energy. Love energy is made when two ponies fall in love with each other. During this, love energy is made. Changelings must use their shape-shifting powers in order to disguise themselves as a pony and take their place in life. Once their place in life is taken, that pony’s best friends and family will not notice any change and continue to create love energy which can then be absorbed by the now happy changeling. Unfortunately, some changelings are easily picked out because of a shift in the pony’s personality. For instance, let’s say that some pony was all happy and nice, but then a changeling took their place and that pony now appears to be angry and mean. Ever since that incident in Canterlot with the Princess’s wedding, changelings have not exactly been welcome. There has been a rebellion though. Many ponies believe that changelings should have equal rights. Changelings need love energy to survive, and ever since they were cut off from it during their banishment after the wedding, ponies realized that it was wrong. But not everypony thinks that. Many think that changelings are vermin and that they should be wiped out, but of course, not all of us are evil. Now in my case, I have a way to get around town without having to take somepony’s place in life. A while back, I designed myself a new pony that I could shift into at will…but there was a flaw. Since the pony that I shift into did not exist in the universe, he could not have a cutie mark. That, and I chose not to have a cutie mark since I am quite confused about who I am emotionally. To cover up my blank flank, I had a cloak made for me to shroud myself in darkness should that become necessary at some time. Its other function was of course covering up my blank flank since seeing a teenage stallion without a cutie mark is very rare.
Moving on with the actual story, I soon realized that I had appeared in a small town. I analyzed my surroundings, and sure enough, I recognized this as well. This was a small town called Ponyville. I had read up on this town during my time at the Solis Occasum Beaches, and it looked just like it had in that book. I stood up, dusted myself off, and curiously gazed at the ponies surrounding me. There was a marketplace nearby, so naturally there were ponies of all ages purchasing items from different booths. After reflecting upon how sudden this change was, I realized that I had no place to stay. Now I know what you are probably thinking, “Why not just teleport back to the Solis Occasum Beaches?” Well you see, that island is a long ways away from Equestria, and one cannot just simply teleport there. How did I end up here then? Well, that’s simple…I somehow teleported onto a ship in the middle of the ocean before my horn malfunctioned and teleported me here. Dear lord my life is weird. Moving on with the story, I remembered that I had left all of my bits on my dresser at home. Discovering that I was royally fucked, I began to contemplate on what to do next. My thoughts ranged from becoming a bounty hunter to stealing bits from other ponies. I kept on thinking, but then the most abrupt thing happened.
“Hi there!” A loud and obnoxious voice called out.
I was startled by the sudden sound, and turned around to face who the voice had come from.
“Umm…hi?” I said, quite nervous.
“Sorry if I startled you, but I could not help but notice that you were looking a little gloomy here at the market, so I decided to give you a personal warm welcome to Ponyville!” The pink mare exclaimed with a gleam in her eye.
“Yeah ok, I am a little down in the dumps but…wait, how did you know I was never here before?” I asked, quite disturbed.
“Oh, I see everyone that comes in and out of Ponyville! Some people say I’m a psychic, but that’s just silly!” The pink mare said.
“I see…anyways, I must be going now…” I said, now more disturbed than ever.
“Hold up there! You really think I’m gonna let you leave without me introducing myself?! My names Pinkie Pie, and I work at the
Sugarcube Corner! What’s your name?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“…Illusion, and I’m from…well, let’s just say a long way from here.” I said in a quiet voice.
“Illusion, that’s a nice name! Although I feel like I have seen it before in some weird Discord X Celestia fanfic. No matter!” Pinkie Pie said with a wide smile.
“Ok, well, I REALLY think I should be going…” I said, slowly trying to step around the pink mare, but she quickly stepped right in front of me once more.
“Wait! Maybe I can help you with whatever it is that’s troubling you!” Pinkie Pie suggested.
“Maybe…do you think you could help me earn some bits?” I asked, now re-considering leaving Pinkie behind.
“Oh, OF COURSE I CAN DO THAT! You need to take lessons on how to be a little less silly! Follow me, I know a friend that can definitely help you with that!” Pinkie said before turning around and motioning me to follow her.
I was quite confused, and a little concerned for this seemingly insane pony, but I followed anyway. Pinkie Pie led me out of the marketplace, and to the households of Ponyville. The design of the buildings were very different from what I had on the Solis Occasum Beaches, and they interested me. I had seen these types of buildings in the book I read, but to see them in person is a whole other story. I peered over some of the roofs, and saw something that shocked me. There was a massive castle right in the middle of this quiet town!
“What the hell is that!?” I asked, shocked.
“Oh that?! That is Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle! Surely you know about her!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“No, I actually don’t. Can you explain?” I asked Pinkie.
Pinkie Pie stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to look me in the eye.
“You mean to tell me that you have NEVER EVER EVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS heard of TWILGHT SPARKLE!!!??? Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t from around here! Princess Twilight is the newest alicorn princess in Equestria! Her proper name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship! She and her friends go around Equestria and solve friendship problems. I happened to go on some of those trips, and they were fun!” Pinkie explained to me.
“Ok, thanks for the info. Might as well continue on our way, the sun is going down.” I told Pinkie.
“Oh my gosh, your right! Quick, this way!” Pinkie said before dashing away down the street.
“Hey, wait up!” I shouted before darting after her.
She began laughing, and ran even faster. Being the kind of pony/changeling I am, I sped up. We ran and ran, until eventually she took a sharp turn into an alley. I turned into the alley as well, but she was nowhere in sight. I looked around, knowing that she was messing with me. A trash can fell over, and I turned to face it, only to find myself staring straight into the eyes of Pinkie Pie.
“AAAAAHHHHHH!” Pinkie screamed at me.
I jumped back, obviously very startled by that.
“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WOOHOO! I JUST KEEP GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!” Pinkie said before doing a little dance and saying, “Go Pinkie, go Pinkie.” Over and over again and again.
“Yes yes, I get it, but can you please proceed with leading me to your friend that can help me?” I asked, quite annoyed at the mare’s actions.
“Yes indeedy! Come on, she’s close by.” Pinkie said before gesturing me to follow her once more.
We walked on and on, and I began daydreaming. I thought of the Solis Occasum Beaches’ sunsets, and how I would miss the place so much. I thought of my good friend, Horizon, who had also been in the same fight as me that one fateful day. I then realized that I would probably never see either of those things again, but my daydreaming was interrupted by me hitting my head on a very hard surface.
“Watch where you are going, silly! We are here!” Pinkie said.
I looked up, and as soon as I saw where I was, my jaw dropped. I was standing right in front of Princess Twilight’s castle.
Chapter 2: Tea
I stepped back, but continued to stare up at the large structure before me. Never in my life have I ever laid my eyes upon a building this magnificent. I was a little confused though. All I asked for was help in getting bits, so I assumed that Pinkie would be taking me to a place to apply for a job or something like that. I was definitely not expecting to be brought to a freaking castle! Anyways, Pinkie knocked on the large door and it slowly began to open. A very bright light shone through the doors, so I covered my eyes with my left hoof. As the door continued to open, I could swear I felt some sort of shift in the environment. It was as if I was about to get into something that could end very badly, or end in an insanely good way. At this point, I was pretty sure I was losing my mind. The door was fully open now, and my jaw dropped so much that I thought it unhinged. It was beautiful! The pillars holding up the castle looked as if they were made of some sort of crystal, there was a lovely carpet on the floor, and I was just speechless. Pinkie told me to follow her inside, but I could not move.
“Well, come on! If you want bits you might wanna follow me inside!” Pinkie Pie said in her usually bubbly voice.
“Uh…OH! Sorry, I was just admiring the interior. I have never seen something this beautiful! Well, with the exception of the Solis Occasum Beaches’ sunsets!” I said, but soon realized I said something that I most definitely did not intend to.
“The what?” Pinkie asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Nothing! I’m just rambling…” I said, trying to keep my original home a secret.
“Ok…well, might as well move on! To the Cutie Map!” Pinkie said before darting into the castle.
I rolled my eyes, but followed her. The doors seemed to be shut behind us by an unknown force, but with all that has already happened, that’s the least of my worries. As I made my way further into the building, I could not help but notice that it seemed quite bigger on the inside than the outside. It felt like the room expanded, but as I stated earlier, I was certain that I was just losing my mind. Soon, I noticed something that blew my first look at the castle out of the water. There was a large room with a total of seven chairs and a large table with what appeared to be a map of some sorts. Pinkie was already in that room, so I decided to enter as well. Once inside, I took a look around and noticed a large structure above me. It appeared to be tree roots coming out of the ceiling with strings of colorful lights hanging from it. I was amazed at how mystical a princess’s castle could truly be, but my state of amazement was shattered by the voice of Pinkie Pie.
“TWILIGHT!!!” She shouted.
“Dear Celestia, Pinkie Pie! Can at least try to be a little less loud?” I said with a slightly raised voice.
“How do you know about Celestia if you have never been to Equestria?” Pinkie instantly asked me.
“I read about Celestia and her sister, Luna, in a book back where I’m from. I also read up on bits and pieces of Equestria and its history, but that’s not the point. The point is my eardrums can only take so much, so could you please do whatever it is you’re doing a little more quiet?” I told Pinkie while looking her straight in the eye.
“Whatever…” Pinkie said, but she just continued shouting.
After what seemed like hours of shouting, I heard a different set of doors opening followed by rapid hoofsteps. The hoofsteps continued, but then a lavender mare came crashing into the room with messy mane and an angry look on her face.
“WHAT, PINKIE?!” The lavender mare shouted.
“I found this stallion on the streets! He’s new here, and he asked me if I could help him find a way to earn bits! I told him that I could, so I led him to you! Maybe he can help you solve some of those weirdo friendship problems!” Pinkie said.
“Are you serious? You could have just looked in the Equestria news for job applications and helped him pick one out! Why lead him to me of all places?” The mare said in an annoyed voice.
“My Pinkie sense told me to!” Said Pinkie Pie.
“I hate to be one to interrupt, but can someone tell me why this is happening!?” I said before falling back into one of the chairs by the table.
“You see Pinkie? Even our guest is confused as to why you brought him here. Since he is already here though, I guess there is no point in sending him out.” The messy-haired mare said.
Pinkie put her head down, sighed, and sat down in the chair with party balloons engraved on it.
“I’m sorry for all of this. My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight. Would you care for some tea?” Twilight asked me.
“I guess, but I can get it for myself if you just direct me to the kitchen.” I said.
“Nonsense! You’re our guest, so you deserve the best.” Twilight said before running to what I assume to be the kitchen.
As Twilight left the room, I decided to just keep quiet and think about all of this. Comparing what I already knew about Equestria to what is happening now, I came to the conclusion that the book I read needs some serious updating. Then, I began thinking about my friend back at the Solis Occasum Beaches. His name was Horizon, and we were some of the closest friends you could possibly imagine. We would hang out at school, play video games together, and whenever someone tried to put us down, we would simply ignore them. Yeah, they would keep bugging us, but we just pretend that they don’t exist. Then one time, it got severe. There was this whole group of ponies that wanted to see me get emotionally hurt. Don’t ask me why, but they seemed to hate me a whole lot. As far as I could remember, I never did anything wrong to them. Maybe they were just insecure and needed to release anger, but still, that’s no excuse to be excruciatingly awful to somepony. Then one night, Horizon called me on my phone and asked me if I wanted to go and hang out on the beach. I told him yes, and left the house. As I arrived on the beach, I noticed that Horizon was in an argument with some ponies. Upon further inspection, I realized it was the group from school. I noticed that things were getting pretty bad, so I decided to man up and walk over there. As soon as they saw me, they all just smiled. What followed was a violent fight with spells, punches, and a few stab attempts. Yes, one of the ponies in the group brought a knife. Horizon and I had managed to win the fight, but someone must have phoned the authorities because we heard sirens off in the distance. We both looked at each other, did a simple nod, and darted off in different directions. I ran into the jungle on the island, but I have no idea where Horizon went. Little did I know that that was the last time I would see Horizon for quite some time. As I frantically ran through the jungle, I could feel the adrenaline in my body pick up to speeds I had never felt before. I could hear fast hoofsteps behind me, and I knew that they were right on my tail. Flashlights shone through the branches and leaves of the jungle brush, and as soon as I realized that I had come to a cliff, I knew that it was all over. I was right at the edge. They had me cornered, so I had nowhere to go but down. There was water below me, but you never want to jump into water before knowing how deep it is. Although, during my terrified state of mind, I jumped. The air rushed passed me, my cloak flew in the wind, and my mind raced. I had to think of something fast, or else I was certain that I would fall to my death. Quickly, I did the first thing that came to my mind. My horn lit up with a yellow aura, and as quick as lightning, it all stopped. In case you did not know, I used a teleportation spell. Where I ended up appeared to be a ship in the middle of the ocean, but then my horn malfunctioned from the adrenaline, and I was teleported to Equestria. Why did it malfunction? Well, whenever I’m extremely anxious, nervous, or excited, my horn can very rarely do something I cannot control. This happened to be one of those times.
“Tea is ready!” Twilight’s voice shouted.
As I was ripped from my flashback and random thoughts, I got up and followed Twilight towards the dining room.
“So, everything going alright?” Twilight asked while we walked.
“Yeah, I’m just a little mind boggled right now.” I replied.
“I understand. Nothing a little tea can’t fix…hopefully.” Twilight said.
Soon after, we arrived at the dining room. Twilight used her magic to open the doors, and gestured me to take a seat at the table. I did just that, and Twilight sat next to me. I grabbed my tea, took a couple of sips, and started conversation.
“So, what’s it like being a princess?” I asked.
“Tiring, boring, stressful, and not as fun as all of those fairy tales say. It’s a huge responsibility having to go around Equestria solving friendship problems.” Twilight said.
“Yeah, I can imagine what that must do to your state of mind.” I said.
“Actually, it’s quite simple how I get rid of stress. My sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, taught me this breathing trick.” Twilight told me before demonstrating the trick she mentioned.
“That’s interesting.” I said.
“I get that a lot.” Twilight said before giggling a bit.
Just then, Pinkie Pie walked into the dining room and sat across from Twilight and I.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to confuse you, Illusion. And Twilight, sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night.” Pinkie said.
“It’s ok, Pinkie. It’s not the first time I’ve been woken up like this.” Twilight said.
“Thanks Twilight.” Pinkie replied.
“So, your name’s Illusion? Heh, I like it!” Twilight said to me.
“Thank you, I like your name too.” I replied.
“So, where are you from?” Twilight asked.
“Far away.” I said.
“Can you specify? If I know where you are from I might be able to help you more.” Twilight said.
“I’d rather not say…” I replied.
“Pleeeeeeaaaaase?” Twilight asked with a smile.
“Why are you suddenly so eager to help me?” I asked.
“Well, it’s kind of my job as a princess to help ponies in need. Also, I just feel that we could be good friends!” Twilight said.
“Me of all ponies? There’s no way. Back where I’m from, I only had one friend because nobody else wanted to be around me.” I said in a depressed tone.
“Hey, I wanna get to know you! You seem like a nice guy!” Twilight said in a comforting tone.
I sighed, but gave in.
“Alright, we can be friends.” I said before giving a small smile.
“Good. Well, since we are friends now, can you tell me where you’re from? I won’t tell a soul.” Twilight said.
“Fine.” I said before leaning in and whispering, “The Solis Occasum Beaches.”
“Never heard of it. I’ll check my library tomorrow and see if I have anything on it.” Twilight said, winking at me.
“I’m getting tired, I think I’m gonna head out and see if there is anywhere for me to sleep.” I said before standing up and making my way to the door.
“Stop! You can sleep here! I have a guest room upstairs.” Twilight said.
“Wow, really? Are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble…” I said while looking off to the side.
“Yes I’m sure! We’re friends now, so you can sleep here!” Twilight said before getting up and walking me out of the dining room.
“Let me show Illusion to the guest room and I’ll be right back.” Twilight said to Pinkie as we walked out the door.
Twilight and I walked through the room with the map, into a hallway off to the side, up some stairs, and into the guest room.
“Well, here we are. You have a bed, a desk, a cabinet, and a whole lot of other stuff! Make yourself at home!” Twilight said with a great big smile.
“Thank you Twilight. You most certainly are a good friend!” I said before giving Twilight a full smile.
“No problem! If there is anything you need, just ask.” Twilight said.
“Alright. I think now is a better time than ever to get some sleep.” I said before walking towards the bed.
“Ok then, goodnight!” Twilight said before smiling and closing the door.
I was alone now. I removed my cloak, hung it up in the closet, and crawled into bed. I laid my head down on the pillow and closed my eyes, all the while thinking of what tomorrow will bring.
