Chapters Chapter 2 The Mystery Deepens
Hullo again. I think I might make a little note like this in every chapter now. Eh probably not. Anyways thank all of you for the favorites and likes. I hope you enjoy the next chapter!
Twilight didn't know what to make of the green stallion that had ran into her. She was just out on a errand for Zeckora, and the next thing she knew she was tackled and insulted by some stranger. She looked down to his leg and saw a deep gash with blood still dripping from the open wound.
" Let me help you!" Twilight cried but the green stallion was already fading and falling onto the floor. Twilight repeatedly tapped her feet on the ground worried about the strange pony that had ran into her. She silently got a hold of herself and stopped panicking.
" Come on Twilight you can do this." Twilight thought to herself trying to raise her spirits.
Twilight looked down at the pony that she had once wanted to give a piece of her mind, but now she seemed to be worried for him. She began thinking rationally and came to a solution to help the pony.
"That's right," Twilight thought, " Fluttershy's cottage has to be somewhere around here." Twilight looked back to the pony.
" But why was he in such a hurry in the first place?" she thought trying to come up with an explanation for the pony's actions. Then suddenly a wild and loud roar pierced the night air. Twilight looked into the forest where she could see a very angry manticore heading straight for her and the unconscious stallion at full speed. Twilight quickly reacted and put up her best magical field to stop the manticore. The manticore,now unable to stop, smashed head on with the almost invisible field, breaking it's nose completely. The manticore staggered for a few moments and then was filled with rage yet again. The beast lashed out with its tail almost cracking the shield that Twilight had put up to protect her and the stranger.
" This won't hold up much longer..." Twilight thought. Twilight knew there was no point in trying to calm the beast down so she thought of stunning it with a bright flash of light. She willed her horn to focus its magic at the tip and as her horn grew brighter and brighter a large flash of magic surrounded her and the green stallion. She then let the magic out in one very bright burst. The manticore blinked with confusion and rubbed its teary eyes unable to make out anything with it's eyes. Twilight quickly picked up the unconscious pony with her magic and set him on her back. She then quickly made a break for it down a small dirt path towards Fluttershy's cottage and didn't look back to the howling manticore.
Twilight had made it to Fluttershy's cottage in the middle of the night. She set the stallion down next to the door and knocked on it repeatedly.
" Come on Fluttershy," Twilight thought nervously as she saw the stallion was only getting paler and paler.
" Um...who is it?" a tired and quiet voice that came from inside said.
" It's me Fluttershy!" Twilight called. The door opened and Fluttershy stood in the doorway with a tired look in her face.
" What is it Twilight? It's so late a-" Fluttershy almost got through saying but then she saw the green stallion, " Oh my what happened?" she said with a look of shock on her face.
" That's what i'm trying to figure out, he got tangled up with a manticore in the Everfree Forest." Twilight said picking him up with her magic and carrying him inside. She walked past all the animals and set the passed out pony on the couch. Fluttershy came quickly behind and examined the green stallions injured leg.
" C-can you help him?" Twilight said bracing herself for what the answer might be.
" He should survive, but I can't say anything about the leg right now." Fluttershy said taking some clothe and cleaning the stallion's wound. " The poison from the manticore's tail is already making it's way through his bloodstream. There are some remedies but only time will tell." Fluttershy said putting the clothe down and walking over to the cabinets. Twilight looked at the poor mysterious pony that had bad enough luck to get in a fight with the manticore.
" Listen Twilight," Fluttershy said coming back with an ointment, " Normally I would love for you to stay the night, but as you can see i'm going to be busy all night with him, so why don't you head back to town? You look really tired." she said rubbing the ointment on the wound. Twilight realized just how tired she really was and nodded in agreement. Carrying the stallion all the way to Fluttershy's house was no walk in the park after all.
" Thank you Fluttershy." Twilight said walking out the door and into the middle of the night towards Ponyville.
The green stallion felt something tapping on his chest and a burning sensation in his right leg. He opened his eyes sheepishly to see a bunny standing on his chest.
" That was the worst dream in the hi-" the stallion thought but then he saw that he had a cast looking thing over his leg with a long red mark seeping through the gauze,and he saw that he had a green coat of fur and hooves for feet and hands. " God damn it, it was real..." the stallion thought groggily. He looked around and saw he was in some kind of hut that was teeming with animals and wildlife. " Looks like a petting zoo for crying out loud." the pony murmured to himself as he looked around the small hut.
" Why can't I remember anything?" the stallion thought trying to jog his memory like last night, but still he couldnt remember a thing about himself or his past, the only thing he could rememeber though was that he was not always a horse, and that he had been hunted down through a strange forest by some abomination of a lion, scorpion and eagle thing. The stallion looked back to the bunny on his chest that didn't seem to be happy.
"Well, its better than whatever attacked me last night." the pony said picking the bunny up by the neck and setting him on the floor. The stallion started to slide off the couch and stand up but his right leg had a shooting pain that went through his whole body and along his spine the second he put weight on it. The pony kneeled down to the ground unable to take the pain. He got back up but had the same results as the first time. Beads of sweat started to come down from his face as he kept trying to make it to the door to the outside. Eventually he gave up and just lied on the ground waiting for whoever had taken him in and helped him.
"Well if it was anyone that wanted to hurt me they probably would've done it by now." the stallion thought as he panted,trying to regain his breath. "Maybe it was that purple talking unicorn from last night..." the pony thought recalling the strange encounter with the purple unicorn from last night. " She did seem pretty mad about me running into her though, what was her name anyway?" the green pony thought sitting up on the wall. "Twi...Twiligh...Twilight?" he said to himself forming the words in his mouth and trying to remember the name that the unicorn had tried to tell him before he passed out. " Yeah, it must've been Twilight." he thought and as he came to this conclusion a yellow pony with wavy pink hair came in and started to feed all the animals.
"Um...Hi there." the stallion said awkwardly. The yellow pony nearly jumped out of it's skin as he said this. She ran away to somewhere in the house and he heard a door slam.
"Wait!" the green stallion shouted, " I didn't mean to scare you i'm sorry!" he yelled, but the frightened pony stayed in it's room. The green pony's ears drooped down as he realized what he had done. He decided to try and make up for it by apologizing so he chanced getting up with his injured leg. Slowly the stallion put more weight on the leg as he stood up. The pain was growing but was still bearable. The green stallion limped over to the door, and when he was about halfway there, he couldnt take the pain and the stallion fell to the ground chin first making a loud cracking noise.
" Great, first the leg and now my teeth!" the pony thought sarcastically. Then he heard the clicking of a door knob and looked up to see the frightened yellow pony, except now he could see that this pony had wings on it's sides. " What they talk and fly now?" the stallion thought.
" Excuse, um, but are you okay?" the pegasus asked quietly.
" Yeah, i'm alright I just wanted to walk ove-"
" You tried to walk on your leg?!" the yellow pony squealed. " Do you want to have a stub for the rest of your life?"
" No I guess?" the green pony said startled by this sudden outburst.
" Let me help you back on to the couch." she said as she propped the stallion's leg up with her back and walked him over to the couch. The stallion sat on the couch and sighed, rubbing his injured leg.
" Thank you," he said, " If you don't mind me asking, what is this place exactly?"
" Well, its my house." the pony said looking confused at the question, " Why does it look bad?" she asked as shyly.
" No no not at all, its really pretty and all, its just why so many animals?" the stallion said trying to cheer her up.
" I love animals, they're just so precious. Don't you think they're adorable?" the yellow pony inquired showing the stallion the bunny that had been giving him an evil glare ever since he woke up.
" Yup," the stallion said with another sigh, " I could just eat her up." The yellow pony reared back in fear as he said this.
" Why would you eat her?" the yellow pony gasped.
" No, your getting the wrong idea. It's just a figure of speech." the stallion said trying to take back any insults, but the yellow pony had already flew into her closet and pulled out a crutch, and a piece of paper.
" I think you should leave." the yellow pegasus said putting the crutch in his hooves along with the piece of paper. " You obviously can't stay here since you might eat one of the animals. This is a map into town. Good bye." she said shoving him out the door and slamming it.
" But I don't even know your name! What about my leg? Will it be okay? Pretty sure you said something about a nub!" the stallion shouted from outside. No response. " Ah fine, I'll go into the town of nutjob ponies!" he said as he fit the crutch under his leg and began to walk into the town.
" Was I too strict Angel?" Fluttershy asked her small bunny friend. Angel gave her a thumbs up along with a big smile.
The stallion trotted along the dirt path looking at the map carefully,not wanting to somehow stray back into the forest.
" First, get attacked by lion, second find out that unicorns and pegasuses are real, three find out that they somehow managed to learn and speak english, and four kicked out of the only place that seemed safe." the stallion murmured to himself as he made his way down the path kicking a stone. He stopped shortly to look at the map.
" Lets see," he thought, " Make a right at the mouth of the Ursa Major Caverns," he looked down the trail to see a sign sticking out of the ground with a picture of some kind of light blue bear with a star in the middle, but what caught the pony's eye was a skull with crossbones over the small picture. He took a tiny gulp and quickly galloped away down the path into town.
The stallion soon made his way to the stone sidewalk of the town called "Ponyville". He looked around to see everyone that should've been humans, were instead ponies. Not one single human soul in sight, but the worst part of it all was that no one seemed to care. It was as if everything had been like this for centuries and no one minded it one bit.
" What the hell is going on here?" the stallion muttered to himself.
" Wow! I haven't seen you around Ponyville!" a pink pony said with really out of control hair and with a very wide grin. " My names Pinkie Pie! I love throwing parties, hey! There's a great idea how bout we throw you a party?" she jumped up and down with absolute excitement.
" Well, im not going to turn down a party." the green pony said startled as Pinkie Pie jumped up and down with glee.
" Yay! Ooo it's going to be so much fun! We'll have streamers and cake and a dance floor and even cupcakes!" the bright pink pony said jumping down the street.
" Wait! Where is it going to be?" the green stallion shouted as she jumped away, but she seemed to be lost in her own world of party planning. " These peo- ponies seem to get stranger and stranger." the stallion thought as Pinkie Pie hopped down the street and out of sight. He looked back to his map which he realized had kept rather good balance on his back. He reached behind and took the map into his mouth to look at it. He saw a large tree with a book over it circled with a name above it in bold ink.
" Well there's Twilight at least." he said studying the map even further. " Might as well see if she's home." he said as he began walking into the strange town filled with ponies.
The stallion made his way down the street weaving between all the ponies in the small town, time from time checking his map to make sure he was on the right path to Twilight's home. Just as he was walking though he heard a shriek.
" Oh dear get out of the way!" he heard a terrified voice yell. He turned around to see a white flash crash into him. The stallion rubbed his head in confusion and saw that it was another unicorn like the night before, except this one had a whiter coat, and a curly mane and tail.
" Oh im so sorry darling, I just needed to get these dresses to the other side of town before a very important client waits too long, and about that I need to get there right now no time for dilly dallying after all." she said as her horn glowed faintly and the fine dresses that had been sprawled out on the floor had begun to float in the air.
" It's fine, do you need help with that stuff?" the stallion said raising himself from the ground.
" Oh I could never make a complete stranger do something like that, especially one that has an injury like yours." the pale white pony said almost as if this idea was completely out of her wildest dreams.
" Honestly it's fine, I need something to do anyway." the green stallion said picking up a dress and throwing it over his back, "Besides my leg hurts a lot less than this morning at least."
" Well if you insist," the pony said uneasily, " But we must get a move on soon." she said as she used her horn to lift the dresses onto the stallion's back and they both started their way down the road. As they trotted down the road, the green pony realized that the look of these dresses were actually very nice.
" You know," the stallion started, " I'm not the one for fine stitching or anything like that, but these dresses look really good!"
The white unicorn blushed as she talked, " Oh these aren't that special really, you should've seen the dresses I made for Twilight and my other friends for the Grand Galloping Gala." the unicorn said flattered.
" Oh you know Twilight? I was actually on my way over to her house." the stallion said.
" Why of course darling, everyone knows Twilight. She did save the town from an Ursa Minor after all." the unicorn said, but as she looked to the stallion's blank face she could see that he had no idea what she was talking about. " Well, she also saved all of Equestria from Discord's wave of chaos." the white mare said, but still she saw the same blank face on the pony. " You're not from around here are you?" the white pony chuckled.
" You could say that." the stallion sighed.
" Well no matter, you're a fine gentlecolt if it helps." the white mare said with a polite smile, "Oh speaking of manners where are mine? My name is Rarity and thank you so much for all of your help." the purple colored mane mare said taking the clothes off of the stallions back. " Until next time!" the white mare called as she walked into the house and shutting the door.
" Well now I guess it's time to see Twilight," the stallion sighed as he looked back at the map, " I just hope she can help."
The stallion finally made it to the giant tree that was marked on the map.
" Looks like this is the place." the stallion thought as he slowly knocked on the door. " Hello? Is anyone in there?" he called as he knocked. The door opened with a slight creek and in the middle of the doorway stood a purple scaled miniature dinosaur looking thing.
" Yes?" the purple dinosaur said to the green stallion.
" I'm here fo- you know what I can't do this what are you exactly?" the stallion said looking closely at the small dinosaur.
" Everyone seems to ask that now a days..." the dinosaur sighed, " To start it off i'm a dragon , not some overgrown lizard or anything weird like that and second-" the small dragon started but was interrupted by a voice from inside the tree.
" Spike! Who is it?" the voice called.
" It's just some green pony Twilight." Spike answered but he was soon pushed out of the way by a very excited Twilight.
" Oh my, I've been waiting for you all night, although I expected you to come with Fluttershy instead of just coming by yourself." she said as she saw the stallion's leg.
" Well, we had a bit of a communication problem..." the green stallion said awkwardly.
" That's too bad," Twilight said with a frown, " But we can clear that up tonight, for now though I need you to tell me everything and anything you know."
" That's the problem though, I can't remember anything." the stallion explained as he stepped inside the tree, which he found out it had really been some kind of library.
" Amnesia? Oh we could fix that easily. They are pretty simple spells after all." Twilight said shutting the door and following him inside.
" I'm sorry did you say spells? As in magical spells?" the stallion said as he blinked in disbelief.
" Normally I would take this chance to explain to you the very foundation of everything magic, but I think I'll just show you." Twilight said as she smiled and her horn started to glow. The stallion saw a beam of magic shoot out towards the little dragon known as Spike, and had thought that something had gone horribly wrong but in a couple of seconds a mustache sprouted from the small dragon's snout and he had a look of satisfaction across his face.
" Well that's....interesting." the stallion said inspecting the mustache.
" Don't worry, we wont be working on your facial hair," Twilight said giggling " We're going to get your memory back."
HA The author's note is at the end now! Got you good. Anyways 3rd chapter, yayz. I hope you enjoyed it and I would also like to thank my proof readers, Insanepony689, least I think thats his ID on here, and others who dont have an account yet. Thank you all for reading and thank you proof readers for reading as well. Have a nice day!
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Chapter 4 Magic, Spells, and Everything else
Well all, this is the fourth chapter and the way it's looking, this is the only story that shows promise for the future. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter as I have come to enjoy all of your favorites, likes and the one guy that manages to comment. Seriously it's not like you're kicking a puppy for every word in the comment. Jeez anyways enough of that and onto the story.
The green stallion stared in shock at Twilight when she said magic and spells were real, and apparently very easy, but he still couldn't bring himself to believe her.
" So what,we say, 'One two three, give me back my memory?' for this whole spell thing to work?" the green stallion said skeptically.
" No actually, much less complicated than that." Twilight said, obviously not amused. " I just need to find the memory spell among these books in the library."
They both stood there until Twilight broke the silence.
" Look this is going to take some time, so you might want to make some small talk. Since im going so far out of my way to help you here, how about you tell me your name?"
The green stallion stood still, unsure of what he could call himself. His entire memory was blank, so blank he couldn't even remember what his name was. He kept digging further and further into his mind but he could find nothing.
" I really can't remember, I'm sorry..." the green stallion said but then everything went white.
The stallion could see everything through his eyes, but he couldn't control himself. He could see he was at some sort of courtyard sitting on a bench in front of a fountain. He had been put back in his own human body, but still he couldn't move a muscle.
" You know the more you skip class the more the chance there is for you getting held back." a voice said. His head turned to a girl who was sitting next to him on the stone bench.
" Not like there was much of a chance for me in the beginning." he had mumbled as he head tilted towards the sky.
" Don't talk like that ," the girl said something but the stallion couldn't make the word out, " Thinking like that will only make things worse."
" So thinking about the truth makes things worse?" the stallion in his human form had said.
" Is this one of my memories?" the stallion thought to himself, " I sound like a total prick."
" God your so hopeless! I don't even know why I try anymore!" the girl said standing up, " I cant help someone who doesn't want to be helped!" she yelled as she stormed off. The stallion couldn't make out her face as she yelled at him, and the memory was only getting fuzzier and fuzzier.
" No wait!" the stallion shouted but nothing came out of his human form's mouth, and then in a matter of seconds everything went black.
The green stallion woke up on the floor in a total haze. He shot up to his feet and realized he had been sweating in his sleep.
" Are you okay? You just passed out and started to yell in your sleep." Twilight said in concern.
The stallion wiped the sweat off his forehead and tried to stop his shaking. " Yeah, i-i'm fine."
" You had me a bit worried there." Twilight sighed in relief. " Are you sure you're okay thought, do you want a glass of water maybe something to eat?"
" No honestly it's alright," the stallion said, "Just a memory of what I was before, but let's just focus on the amnesia problem right now okay?"
" Okay if you insist," Twilight said, but she still looked at the stallion with concern, " Spike found the book while you were taking your, nap." she said but her eyes opened wide with the realization of something, " Wait, did you say that you had a memory?"
" Yeah it was just a flashback, nothing major or anything." the stallion said rubbing his head.
" Of course it's major!" Twilight yelped, " We have no idea how the spell might effect you now! For all we know it could make you go under a year long sleep!"
" Don't worry about it, let's just fix my head." the stallion pleaded
" I'm sorry but I cant just put somepony's safety at risk like that. Not until we can ensure that there will be no risks to you." Twilight said, walking away. " You can stay here for as long as you need to, but I don't want to hear anything else about the spell."
" What if I just do it myself?" the stallion said trying to keep the subject on the table.
" Nice try, earth pony, but you need to have one of these." Twilight said tapping her horn with her hoof. " It's getting late, your room is upstairs with the door on the left."
The green stallion sighed realizing that there was no point in trying to convince her anymore.
" Thank you." the stallion said silently then something in his head had been cleared, " And Twilight," she turned around to see the stallion starting his way up the stairs with her, " The name's Brad."
She smiled at the green stallion,
" Well it's nice to meet you, Brad." she said with a smile, they both went to their rooms and called it a night.
The stallion opened his dreary eyes. He didn't think he could even get a minute of sleep, do to his leg and the latest string of events that had happened to him in the past couple of days, but surprisingly he slept like a baby. He shook his head and stood up on all four of his legs. In the past two days he found himself using his new limbs easier and easier. He shook his legs out and started to stretch. He opened the door and made his way downstairs to see Spike lighting a piece of paper on fire and the smoke flew out the window.
" You really shouldn't play with fire kid." Brad said wiping his eye with his hoof.
" I'm not a kid!" Spike said sharply, "Besides Twilight is here to make sure nothing goes wrong, so there nothing to worry about."
" Yeah but there's no reason to set the house on fire." Brad said skeptically.
" No, no, no you got it all wrong," Spike said shaking his head, " I wasn't lighting paper on fire, well I was but, that's how we send letters to the princess."
" Princess?" Brad said not believing Spike's story.
" You know, Princess Celestia!" Spike said.
" Never heard of her." the stallion said.
Twilight came down trotting down the stairs while rubbing her eyes with her hoof, " Whats all the commotion about?" she yawned. " Spike, did you send those letters to everyone?"
" Yes Twilight." Spike answered.
" And did I hear something about Princess Celestia?" Twilight said, with her eyes getting wide with excitement.
" Yes..." Spike said silently, and he quickly made his way up the stairs into his room to avoid Twilight's lecture.
" You could have just asked me about Princess Celestia you know, so what do you want to learn about?" Twilight asked with a playful smile.
" I guess I'll just learn the basics." Brad said awkwardly sitting in a chair.
" Well it all started with..." Twilight started, and she explained the era of chaos and corruption that had befallen Equestria under Discord. Then she explained how two alicorn sisters came to Equestria and restored order and peace, and how they had been declared the new rulers of Equestria. She explained how bitterness grew in one of the sister's hearts and how she became the wicked Nightmare Moon. She started to explain how Equestria had never seen such a better peace than when the two sisters ruled. She also went on to explain how the evil sister had come back to take Equestria over, and put it under the most pitch black darkness, but her and her friends had stopped him with the sacred and overwhelming power of the Elements Of Harmony.
" Okay, wait one second," Brad said trying to take all the information in, " I heard that you also took down the Discord guy, how does that match up with the story you're telling now?"
" Well," Twilight said blushing, " It wasn't just me of course, I had all of my friends there to help me. As for the timing, Discord came back just like Celestia's sister to take Equestria back."
" Okay then." the green stallion said, and then there was a loud growl.
Twilight giggled, " Are you hungry?" she asked.
" A little peckish..." Brad said blushing.
" Well, I can make us some sandwiches if you want." Twilight said making her way towards the kitchen.
" Sounds great." the green stallion said following her.
The green stallion sat in a chair at the table and watched the purple unicorn make her way around the small kitchen. She opened some of the cabinets with her magical horn, and a frown came across her face.
" What is it?" Brad asked.
" Oh it's nothing, I just forgot to buy some bread last time I was out to the store." Twilight sighed as she shut the cabinets, " I can just go out some time today or tomorrow."
" Hey Twilight, do you want me to pay rent or something? Or at least chip in for the food?" he asked.
" Oh I could never ask you to do something like that Brad."Twilight responded.
" Well, I have to do something, it isn't right for me to just stay here,and do nothing to help." the stallion said trying to persuade her.
" It would help if we had another helping hoof around here," she mumbled, " Okay okay fine, you can help if you really want to, I'm pretty sure Apple Jack would need some help on her farm." she opened another cabinet and pulled out some sun flower bars and offered them to Brad.
" Sounds great, where am I off to?" he said taking the bar and biting into it.
" It should be on that map that you had on your back when you came in yesterday." Twilight said biting into her own bar.
" Alright then," Brad said galloping up the stairs and grabbing the map from his guest room, " I'll be back later."
" You don't have to leave this early you know!" Twilight called after him but the green stallion was already out the door, and on his way to Sweet Apple Acres.
Chapter 5 What You Would Do For Money
Welcome to the next chapter of Mysteries Behind A Pony. Hope your enjoying it so far, and I also hope you enjoy what's to come. And again please feel free to like, favorite, or COMMENT any time.
The green stallion made his way into town, eager to do something to help the pony that had been as generous as to let him stay at her home.
" I couldn't just mooch off her like that," he reasoned with himself, " Even if it means i'm going to have to get off my lazy ass..."
He sighed bracing himself for the work to come. He could remember the way farms had been worked back in his own world, and he knew that they required hard, willing, diligent, and decent workers. Which of course he wasn't any of the above. He kept on though, checking the map from time to time. On his way over to the farm, Brad looked around to all the ponies being cheerful and happy with each other, even downright friendly.
" This is going to take some getting used to..." he sighed as he trotted along.
Eventually he found himself on the dirt roads that led out of town, and with the help of the map that the yellow pegasus had given him, he could find his way to wherever this Applejack girl and her farm was.
After about 15 minutes of trotting along the dirt trails, Brad finally found Sweet Apple Acres, but before he could even get two steps towards the barn or the house next to it, a rather big and burly red horse stood in his way. The horse had a calm expression on his face, but Brad couldn't help but feel like if he rubbed this horse the wrong way he wouldn't live to regret it.
" Can I help you with something?" the red stallion asked.
" I-I'm here to see, uh, Applesack?" Brad asked trying to remember the name that Twilight had told him. A look of playfulness spread on the red stallion's face, and even though the stallion's face may have looked harmless Brad couldn't help but feel intimidated by the red stallions shear size.
" I'm guessing you mean my sister, Applejack?" he asked.
" Yeah, that's it, Applejack." Brad said as he chuckled nervously.
" Big Macintosh!" another orange pony said trotting out of the barn, she had a brown stetson hat, emerald green eyes and a blonde mane that had been tied into a pony tail, " Do ya' know where you put the-" the pony started but then she saw the green stallion standing next to her brother, " Who's yer friend, Big Mac?"
" Twilight sent me actually..." Brad said quietly.
" Oh so yer the pony that Twilight found in the forest!" she exclaimed in a thick southern accent.
" Yeah, how did you find out about that?" Brad asked.
" Oh Twilight just sent me an' the girls some letters about it this mornin'. So what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?" Applejack asked, tipping her hat in his direction.
" I was just wondering if I could help out around here for a few bucks." he responded.
" Well, we could always use a hoof around here, except I can't promise that big of a paycheck at the end of tha' day." Applejack said.
" You can pick the jobs he'll do," Big Macintosh said, " Im'a stay down in the south orchard."
" Alrighty Big Mac take care now ya hear?" she said to her big brother.
" Eeeyup." he said as he hooked himself up to a wagon and started his way down onto a trail.
" Well it's time we get to the work around here, tha' name's Applejack by the way its nice ta' finally meet ya' partner." she said making her way to the barn and motioned Brad to follow her.
" Nice to meet you too, Applejack. My name's Brad," Brad said trotting behind her, " So what kind of work are we going to be doing?"
" This here's an apple farm, so the main thing we're gonna' be doin' is bucking apple trees." Applejack said getting a couple of baskets from the barn.
Brad took a gulp of air, " Bucking, as in kicking?" he asked testing his injured leg.
" Of course as in kickin' what else could it mean?" Applejack said chuckling at the thought, but then she saw his bandage covered leg, " Oh im mighty sorry, I didn't see the shape yer leg was in."
" It's fine, I'm not completely useless,here look." Brad said galloping to the nearest tree, he looked at it and tried to judge a place to hit it. He trotted around the tree and found a spot to kick. He reared on his hind legs and was about to push out with his front hooves and hit the tree with all the force he had, but Applejack spoke up from behind him.
" Yer facing the wrong way." she chuckled.
" Right of course, just checking if you knew..." he muttered as he blushed and turned the other way. Although Brad was a bit reluctant to test how his leg had been healing, he didn't want to come all the way out here for nothing. He reared up on his front hooves and kicked the tree as hard as he could. He hear a couple of thumps on the ground and a smile of satisfaction came across his face, but then a spike of pain shot up through his leg and he had to crouch to the ground to take the weight off of his injured leg.
" That was a good buck and all Brad, but it looks like it took a lot out of ya." Applejack said as she trotted over to help the green stallion up.
" You kidding," he said pausing for a breath, " Im just getting started."
" Now now, ya' don't need tah push yerself that far. How bout I do tha buckin, and you catch and carry the apples. Sound alright?" she asked.
" Sounds good." he said staggering back to his hooves.
" If ya need ah break just say so and we'll stop and rest for a bit." Applejack said as she strapped the buckets onto his back.
" Okay let's do this." Brad said as he stood beneath the tree that Applejack was about to buck.
Many bucked trees later! (About 4 or 5...)
" C'mon this is getting a bit awkward, try to make some small talk." Brad thought to himself as he darted around catching all of the apples that fell from the tree.
" So the big red guy is your brother?" Brad asked as he shifted the baskets on his back into a more comfortable position.
" As far as I know he is!" Applejack said a little out of breath from all the bucking.
" So are you two the only ones on this farm?" he asked as he moved under the next tree.
" No, there's Granny Smith, and Applebloom. Although me and Big Mac are usually the only ones that tends to tha' trees, they're the ones who handle cleaning, and cooking for the family." she said wiping off some sweat with her hoof.
" So it's only the four of you?" Brad asked.
" Well, Twilight and some of my other friends come over to help, but yeah we're usually the only ones on the farm. Why do yah ask?" Applejack replied.
" Well, its just in really good shape, I wouldn't have been surprised if you said a whole army worked here." he said looking around to the vast amounts apple trees that covered the land.
" Aw shucks, thank ya for the compliment but it ain't that much to take care of in all honesty." Applejack said blushing.
" To take care of a farm this big? I may not be the biggest farmer but I know what takes a lot of work when I see it." he replied.
" It hasn't been that easy to keep up with everything on the farm, but," Applejack started with burning red cheeks, but then a high pitch scream rang out through the air.
Applejack's emerald green eyes lit up with fear. A few seconds went by as the scream echoed through the orchards.
" Applejack!!!" the voice screamed again,
" Applebloom!" Applejack shouted as she turned around and galloped full speed towards the scream.
" Applejack wait a minute!" Brad shouted as he dropped the basket on the ground and started after her.
Brad had finally adapted to his limbs, and his injury never really slowed him down that much when it came to galloping , but no matter how much he had gotten used to moving around on four legs, he could barely keep up with Applejack as she charged deeper into the forest. She moved though the trees as an orange flash and was only getting faster.
" She should be somewhere in the olympics, not on some farm." Brad thought as he kept barreling full speed after her. He jumped over tree roots, fallen logs, and charged through small streams of water. Brad knew that there would be some problems for his leg if it got wet but he also knew if he lost sight of the orange mare then he would be alone in the middle of a forest with little to no chance of finding his way out again.
Minutes of galloping went by and just as Brad's leg started to give out, he ran into an open clearing of land. He looked around to see that it had just been a small patch that had been either spared or just was forgotten by the tall apple trees surrounding it. He almost stood there in awe of the massive size of the farm. Almost.
He had caught up to Applejack, but he only caught up to see her squaring off with that lion eagle thing from the couple of nights before. He quickly looked around and saw three small ponies shaking in fear as Applejack stood between them and the lion.
Brad took in a deep breath and puffed his chest out.
" You really are an idiot for doing this..." he thought.
" Hey big, furry, and ass ugly! You want someone, then come and get me! Or did you forget me already?" he shouted to the lion.
The lion turned his head over to the new voice that had entered the clearing and as his eyes fell upon the green stallion he roared with rage.
" Oh goodie," Brad gulped, " He remembers."
The lion took to the air and circled once or twice around the clouds, he then took on a full dive towards the green stallion. Brad barely had enough time to roll to the side as the Manticore missed him by inches and hit head on into the dirt. Brad quickly made his way over to the three frightened ponies and Applejack.
" Fer a minute there, ah thought you were talkin' to me." Applejack said, but even as she tried to lighten up the mood, they all could tell she wasn't as cool headed as she lead on.
" Give you a six for effort, but right now we got bigger things to do right now." Brad said as he turned his head to see the Manticore pulling his head out of the dirt and shaking the earth out of his mane. " Listen you need to take them back to the farm, I'll keep kitty busy."
" Are you crazy!" Applejack shouted, " With yer leg it'll be like trying to use a rubber needle in a sewing conte-" Applejack started but Brad interrupted her.
" It will be fine, just get them to the farm. I promise I'll be right behind you when i'm done here." he said looking her dead in the eyes. Moments of silence went by.
" C'mon Applebloom..." Applejack said quietly with her hat over her eyes.
" But sis!" Applebloom said.
" I said c'mon Applebloom." Applejack repeated sternly. The three little ponies lined up behind Applejack and they all headed back into the woods without another word.
Brad turned around to see the Manticore still angry and getting ready for another charge, except this time the Manticore had it's eyes set on where Applejack had taken the crusaders to the farm. Brad saw that the lion's attention was elsewhere, so he decided he had make a comeback on the menu. He picked up a rock from the grass and chucked it at the lion.
" Oh no you don't, you got a score to settle with me remember?" Brad yelled at the Manticore. The rock hit the Manticore dead on between the eyes and he looked to Brad with new found anger. " That's, you know you want the green piece of meat." Brad thought as he readied himself to roll from another charge. The Manticore roared as it took aim and charged again. Brad easily dodged, but this time the Manticore had its tail at the ready and tripped the green stallion onto his back, and was on top of him before he could recover from the fall. The Manticore raised it's palm with claws extended, but before he could manage to bring it all the way down the green stallion had bucked the lion in the stomach. Even when he had managed to get a clear blow to the Manticore though, a gash fell upon Brad's cheek. Brad rolled over on his side and stood up again, and he could also feel the shooting pain that ran through his leg, but this time it had been blocked out by adrenaline. The Manticore recovered quickly and it stayed back, knowing now that the stallion still had some kick in him, but the Manticore also knew that his prey could not stay kicking forever.
" That kick," Brad panted, " Hurt me more than it hurt you...Literally..."
" Why am I trying to strike up a conversation with this thing..." Brad thought, " Maybe i'm just losing my mind."
Before he could keep on thinking about his mental well-being, the Manticore was on the move. It stalked the green stallion with patience as it made sure there was no form of escape from it's claws. It circled around him, watching him intently.
" I know that it can't keep up in trees, and there sure are a hell of a lot of those." Brad thought as he looked around for a path to take, but the only path he could see had been on the other side of the clearing and that was definitely not an option with a flying lion staring you in the face. Brad decided he would have to chance it by running straight into some of the trees, without knowing any way out.
He waited until the Manticore passed his imaginary path, and when it did, he bolted straight through with more speed than he thought he had. As Brad jumped root over root and tried to keep up his speed he heard the lion roar behind him. The thrill of the hunt had taken the Manticore, and it was now determined to taste this stubborn stallion's tender flesh in between its teeth. Brad raced through the trees and just when he thought he had gotten away from the lion, a thick brush of branches and leaves bursted open to a paw, or the lions full head as it tried to knock the stallion unconscious.
" This is getting me nowhere..." he thought as he turned sharply away from another assault by the Manticore. Before continuing down the path Brad was running, he stopped and sat behind a tree. He waited a few grueling, and long seconds before he heard a big thud as the Manticore landed on the ground. The Manticore sniffed the air, and somehow seemed sad that the chase had been over. Brad heard the flapping of wings and after a couple of minutes, he decided to take a look, but just as he took a look the Manticore took a swing with its paw and cleaved the tree he had been hiding behind in two.
Before Brad could scramble away, the Manticore had set it's other paw on his tail and he had just been yanked backwards after his attempt to flee. With no other option, Brad kicked up some dust into the Manticore's eyes making it cringe in pain. He took this open window and bolted through the forest again as the Manticore kept roaring as his prey escaped him for the second time.
Aching, tired, and bleeding, Brad had barely kept himself walking. He had a terrible head ache, and his muzzle had been turned red from the blood of his gash. He knew he had lost the Manticore, but now it seemed that he had lost all of his bearings in the large orchards. After a couple of minutes of aimlessly walking, Brad found a small house built on a tree. His eyes widened with joy at the sight of the small house. He knew that no one had lived there, but he did know that this meant he at least had a place to hide if the Manticore came looking for him again, and if Applejack was looking she would know that the house was an ideal place to hide. Wouldn't she?
" No, I can't think like that, she has to know." Brad thought to himself as he stumbled up the ramp and into the house.
The house was indeed small, but it was at least big enough for him to stand up straight. The place had been very well kept, and it looked as if it had been newly repaired. When he looked around further he saw that there had been "CMC'S ONLY" sign on a nightstand, a little map that had been nailed to the wall that had 'Town Map' painted on the bottom with a little key box with that had 'X For Potential Cutie Mark Location'. Almost all of the crudely drawn buildings had an X over them. 'O For Failed Attempts'. Almost all of them had O's around the X's.
Brad sat with his back to the wall. His eyelids were heavy. His head was numb. He couldn't think straight.
" I know..." he thought lazily, " I'll...just take a...a nap..." Already his mind was being enveloped by the darkness.
" Just...a nap..." he murmured as he went under.
Brad had been put back into his own mind again, and just like the last time, he couldn't control his actions. The last one had been clear and slow moving, but this time everything went by in a blur. He saw himself in a small bed in a dark room. His head shifted over to an alarm clock that said a different hour each time. 11:00 P.M, 1:00 A.M, and so on. Then it all blurred again as he saw himself get dressed and take a quick shower. He had said nothing, he didn't even sing in the shower. It was if he had been a zombie.He walked down the stairs of what seemed like an apartment complex and an old man had said good morning, but he just shrugged him off with a wave and a nod. He saw himself get on a bike and he rode off. His vision blurred yet again and this time he was somewhere different. He didn't recognize any of the faces around him, but they all looked at him with curious eyes, as if they had wanted to know something, and he was the only one that could answer. His visions continued to a series of blurs as he saw himself trash his apartment. He threw his bike out of rage. Then he had flashed to himself crying in a corner, but before he could continue the memory, a dark shroud fell over his eyes and a deep yet raspy voice called to him.
" Nah ah ah," the voice chuckled, " You can't remember just yet." the voice said as it let out an evil laugh, and a flash of white blinded Brad.
" Applejack! Applejack!" A distant high voice called, " She found him, she found him!" The voice had a southern accent, but it seemed to be somehow familiar.
Brad could feel a wet tongue extend to lick his face repeatedly.
" Winona~!" he heard another voice call, although this time he could tell that this voice had belonged to Applejack, " Oh sam hill, he looks hurt." he heard her say, " Big Mac get in here, I think ya' could carry him easy. We need to get him help righ' now."
He heard the thump of hooves and a low, "Eeeyup" and he felt himself being lifted and put onto something. Something furry.
He opened his eyes groggily as he bumped along with whatever had been carrying him.
" W-what happened...?" he murmured.
" It's alright sugar cube," Applejack said in a soft tone as she trotted along side him, " Everything's fine, your safe now."
" Those three...are they alright?" Brad asked again barely conscious.
" Yes they're fine, please just get some rest." Applejack replied softly.
" Don't have to tell me....twice." Brad muttered as he fell asleep on Big Macintosh's back.
" He's quite the hoof full, ain't he?" Big Macintosh said as he carried the green stallion along.
" He's a hero is what he is." Applejack said defensively.
" What was that?" Big Mac said, craning his neck to his little sister.
" N-nothing." Applejack blushed.
Big Macintosh just chuckled and continued to walk back to the house with his little sister at his side.
Brad woke up again with a stinging sensation on his cheek. He looked around to see he was in an old room that had it's wall paper chipping, and yet it somehow seemed to make the room more comforting. He saw that there had been a tray on the nightstand next to him with a sandwich with some kind of flower sticking out of the edges and a glass of water. Brad quickly, and yet gingerly, picked up the glass with both of his hooves and gulped down the cool water. He then decided to chance the sandwich, after all, all he had to eat was a protein bar, he had been hungry for quite some time now. He took a couple of bites into the sandwich and he found it to be quite good. Almost better than a peanut butter and jelly disspite it's awkward appearance. He finished the sandwich and slowly climbed out of bed. He walked around and found a mirror and was shocked at what had looked back at him.
He never really had the chance to look at himself through a mirror ever since coming to this ponified world, but even he had caught a glimpse of himself he doubted he would have recognized himself in the mirror. Where the Manticore had nicked him with his paw a patch of clothe had been tied over it, but the white clothe still had a unmistakable slash of red across it. He saw that just above his eyes and just below where his hairline had started, there had been a swollen purple bump that covered almost half of his forehead. He must've gotten it from one of the branches the Manticore had broken in an attempt to kill him. He had deep brown eyes, but under those eyes he saw that bags had started to form from exhaustion. His hair, or mane, had been in a complete mess as it branched in almost every direction. He saw that he had dark green fur as opposed to most of the other more colorful coats around the small town he had just begun to live in. He also saw that he wasn't that far behind of Big Macintosh in terms of size, but it still had been clear on who was the bigger stallion.
After Brad was finished checking himself out in the mirror, he decided to find the Apple Family and learn what had happened to him. He opened the door and was instantly tackled by one of the small ponies that had ran away with Applejack.
" Now Applebloom, no rough housin' he's had enough on his plate for the past couple of days." Applejack chuckled as her younger sister hugged the green stallion.
" Oh righ' sorry mister." Applebloom said releasing her grip and taking a couple of steps back.
" It's fine don't worry about it." Brad said with a warm smile as he regained his balance, " What happened anyway."
" After a couple of hours of waiting for you back at the farm, we got Winona to track you. We found the clearing again and saw where ya' had escaped from the Manticore." Applejack said.
" It wasn't really all that hard seein' as how you made a mess of half of the forrest." Applebloom chimed in.
" After that, we found a small trail of yer blood leading to mah sister's club house and Winona found you passed out in a cold sweat." Applejack said finishing the story.
" That was really brave of ya mister." Applebloom said, " The way you saved me and my friends, almost like somethin' out of a book."
" Don't mention it, and in all honesty," Brad said as he knelt down on all four legs and leaned in closer to Applebloom, " Between you and me, it was more stupidity that bravery." he whispered.
Brad had a quick laugh and Applebloom giggled.
" Well, I should probably head out. Twilight is probably wondering where I am." Brad sighed as he stood back up.
" You sure you okay for walking?" Big Macintosh said in a calm tone. " I could carry you, if ya like." he chuckled as he added the last part in.
" No, I think I'll be able to make it on my own." Brad said with a large grin.
" If you say so." Big Mac added.
Brad said his goodbyes to the Apple Family and he thanked them for letting him do the little work he did on the farm. He also thanked Applejack for finding him in the woods, and Big Mac for carrying him back. Finally, he started his way back to the small pony town.
" Hey sugarcube ya forgot somethin'!" Applejack called to him as he made his way down the path. She came galloping out of the house with a small bag in her mouth. " It's yer pay for the day."
" Applejack, I can't accept this. I barely even did any work." Brad said, drawing on every ounce of his willpower to not grab the bag.
" But you did save mah little sister, and that deserves some kind of reward." Applejack said putting the small bag on his back.
" If you insist..." Brad sighed, unable to put up any more of a fight. " Thanks again though, for the whole saving me from dying in that club house."
" Well it wasn't as brave as the stunt you pulled with that manticore." Applejack said as she blushed.
" That 'stunt' would've gotten myself killed if you didn't find me." Brad added.
Moments went by in silence as Applejack looked down to the ground.
" If you don't like workin here cause of today's happenings, I understand completely..." she said silently.
" You kidding?" Brad said in disbelief.
Applejack looked up to him in confusion.
" That had to have been the most entertaining thing I've done since I got here. Besides, I would hate to think about what would have happened if I wasn't here." he said.
Applejack looked up to him with gratitude,
" Yeah, I reckon I'd hate to think about that too." she said.
" I'll be back some time tomorrow okay?" Brad said as he turned around and started down the path again., " Don't miss me too much!" he called again as he soon was gone from Applejack sight.
" A pony can only try." Applejack thought.
After finding his way to the small town again, Brad set out for the library. He opened the door and took a couple of quiet steps inside, trying not to disturb anyone. He made it about halfway to the stairs before Twilight appeared in a flash behind him, effectively startling him.
" Where....have.....you been." Twilight said with a short temper.
" Work took longer than expected?" he said scratching his mane.
" What exactly happened, where did you get that cut on your face, why are you so la-?" Twilight said, her temper on the edge of snapping.
" Look, I know i'm probably going to get the ass chewing of a life time because of this, but today was very tiring. I promise I'll tell you the details." Brad said putting his best, ' I can barely move a muscle' face for Twilight. She eyed him over intently.
" Fine, but it's first thing in the morning okay?" she said.
" That's fine with me." he said as he trotted up the stairs to his room, already thinking of ways to avoid telling her about the little memory he had when he passed out. He remembered the raspy and yet deep voice he had heard, and the way it had laughed. " Great, more nightmares." he thought as he climbed into bed and shut his tired eyes.
Next chapter everypony! This chapter is actually going to be a pleasure in all honesty. I would like to thank you all again for staying with through this story, and maybe my other story. I'm going to stop asking for likes and favs and comments for now because someone actually commented, so Im happy. So lets get on with the story shall we?
Brad opened his dreary eyes to the sound of someone knocking at the door. He looked out the window and saw that the sun had just made it past the horizon.
" Who would be here this early in the morning..." he muttered as he tried to go back to sleep.
More knocking.
" Just ignore it." Brad mused to himself.
The knocking just got louder.
Brad finally slid out of bed knowing that he couldn't ignore someone at the door and quickly trotted down the stairs. He took a long sigh, and put a smile on his face. He opened the door and immediately was assaulted by a burst of confetti.
" Its about time you opened the door silly! I was just about to jump through the windows!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she trotted inside with Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity.
" What are you all doing here...?" Brad said dazed as he tried to recover from the sudden burst of colors and the group of ponies trotting in.
" Don't tell me you forgot about your, Welcome-to-Ponyville-Party already!" Pinkie Pie said as she helped Brad up. Brad's mind flashed back to his first day in town when he suddenly met the bright pink and energetic pony.
" Oh, right, that." he said still a bit drowsy,
" Terribly sorry to come so early in the morning darling," Rarity said as she yawned.
" But when Pinkie is throwing a party you know it's gonna be worth it to go!" a pegasus with a rainbow colored mane said as she hovered above everyone else.
" Is that so?" Brad said eyeing the pink pony, but then something came to his mind, " Wait, how did you manage to find me. As far as I know you went bouncing off down the street after you said that you would throw me a party."
" I followed you of course!" she said with a playful, if not creepy, smile.
" Even the when I got into a fight with that lion thing yesterday?" Brad asked a little astounded at how she had managed to stay out of his sight so effectively.
" What's this about a lion thing?" Twilight said as she trotted down the stairs.
" Shit." Brad thought as Twilight came to greet her friends.
" We'll talk about this later." Twilight whispered to Brad.
" So, you ponies were talking about a party?" Twilight said as she looked around. Brad followed her gaze and he saw that where the regular library decor had been a few seconds ago was replaced by trays of cupcakes, streamers, a couple of 'Welcome!' banners on the walls, and balloons had been spread around the simple and plain looking library.
" Okay that is just impossible..." Brad said in awe as he looked around to the new decorations.
" What are you talking about silly?" Pinkie Pie said with a mouth full of cupcakes, " Of course parties are possible!"
Brad took a moment to judge if Pinkie Pie had been serious or if she was just playing a practical joke on him.
" No not that, the whole setting it up the party in five se-" Brad started but had a cupcake shoved in his mouth. For a couple of seconds Brad tried to cough out the pastry,but he finally chewed and swallowed it. Immediately his taste buds had been assaulted by the multiple mix of different flavors. The cupcake itself had a soft and chewy texture, and the frosting had a sweeter taste than a bowl of sugar, but somehow that seemed to compliment it just fine. He also tasted some cinnamon hidden deep inside the batter, nutmeg inside the pink frosting, and other various spices. He stood there keeping the wonderful clash of tastes that danced across his tongue in his mouth for a couple of seconds, but then he snapped back to reality.
" Wow..." he muttered after eating the delicious cupcake.
" Pinkie's cupcakes do leave an impression on you." Twilight said with a smile and grabbing a cupcake of her own. Again, like Pinkie Pie's smile, Brad couldn't tell if that small comment had been intended to freak him out or comfort him. He decided to go with the latter.
" Heheh, you can say that again!" the rainbow maned pegasus said as she whipped a cupcake up in the air and caught it in her mouth. As she began to chew she pretended to be a feather floating down and eventually she came upon the couch and kept on chewing. Brad was just about to question how she had done that when it seemed almost physically impossible but he felt a slight tap on his side.
" It's good to see that your leg is healing nicely." Rarity said. Moments of silence went by.
" I don't suppose you've forgotten me already?" she said after she saw the blank look on his face. Then the memory had finally come back to him.
" Oh your that one with the pretty dresses right?" he asked, " Your name's Rarity. I think."
" Yes it is, but i'm afraid I didn't catch your's last time we met." she said with a smile.
" Oh, my name is Brad, its nice to meet you again Rarity." he said sticking out his hoof, but instead of her shaking it like a regular handshake that he had remembered from the human world, she lightly tapped his hoof with her own.
" Okay then..." he thought awkwardly as she trotted away to catch up with her other friends. After that little talk with Rarity, he figured he might as well patch things up with that yellow pegasus. When he trotted over to her, she had been in the middle of a conversation with Twilight. When they were done talking he asked if he could talk to Fluttershy for a few seconds. Twilight had no objections and made her way to her other friends across the room. Fluttershy had just looked away from Brad's eyes, and he couldn't tell if it had been because she was too shy, or if she didn't want to look at him in disgust of their last 'misunderstanding.'
" You know," Brad started, " You took me into your home, took care of my leg, gave me a map that I would've been lost without and I don't even know your name." he nudged his head to make the point clear that he was asking for her name.
" Well, my name is Fluttershy," she said in a whisper, " As for taking care of you, it wasn't that much of a hassle or anything. In fact you were much easier to handle than some of the other animals I take care of."
" That's good to know," he said scratching the back of his mane, " By the way about that whole 'eating' thing that one morning a couple of days ago, that's just a way to compliment someone back where I come from. I never really wanted to eat your little bunny friend."
" Oh," Fluttershy said, " Then I think Angel could eat you up too."
Brad could barely contain his laughter as an image of that small bunny carrying a knife and twisted smile went across his mind.
" Did I say it wrong?" Fluttershy said in a quiet voice, wondering what she had done wrong.
" No, don't worry about it." he said wiping away a tear from laughter, " Anyways it was good to clear that up with you, I'll see you around." he said waving to Fluttershy as he trotted his way towards the rainbow maned pegasus who had been in the middle of a lecture about the importance of keeping your mouth closed during mid flight, and when she had finally finished Brad decided to make an impression.
" Hello." Brad said with a smile.
" Hi there." Rainbow Dash responded, not sure of what the green stallion wanted.
" So, i'm guessing you like to fly?" Brad asked awkwardly.
" Gee nothing get's past you eagle eye." Rainbow Dash said teasingly as she ate another cupcake.
A twinge of annoyance flashed across Brad's face, " Make a good impression..." he thought to himself over and over again.
" Good one... So what's your name?" Brad asked trying to let her last remark slide.
" Oh my name's Pinkie Pie! Didn't I already tell you that?" Pinkie Pie said as she bounced next to the green stallion on her tail.
" Not you," Brad said almost falling over from Pinkie Pie popping up out of nowhere, " I was talking to her." he gestured his hoof over to the blue pegasus still in the middle of eating a cupcake.
" I'm Rainfow Fash," Rainbow Dash said with a mouth full of cupcakes, " The fest flyer in all of Efestria!" she flew up and struck a pose.
" Rainfow Fash huh?" Brad said skeptically.
" When did you change your name Dashie?" Pinkie Pie said, " Oh I'm sorry I mean Fashie ."
Rainbow Dash swallowed the cupcake before she began to talk, " No Pinkie Pie, my name is still Rainbow Dash, and i'm definitely still the best flyer in Equestria, followed closely by the Wonderbolts of course." she did a couple of aerial loops, and since she had been in a small area in the first place only made it more impressive when she pulled them off with ease.
" Sorry, i'm not exactly sure who these 'Wonderbolt' guys are." Brad said watching Rainbow Dash's movements as she swished through the air. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked at Brad with a giddy smile.
" The Wonderbolts are some of THE best flyers ever! They all have their own super amazing stunts, like Spit Fire's 'Roaring Flame Spin' or Soarin's 'Sky Blue Dive'!" Rainbow Dash squealed as she went on to explain all of the Wonderbolt's signature moves and tricks.(Basically im too lazy, and I dont know most of the other Wonderbolt names to make their own little moves. Dont like it? Bite me)
Brad had never really seen the appeal in flying, he knew that a lot of people found comfort in the sky and that they had loved being air born, but he never really found it interesting. Even though Rainbow Dash had an almost completely different opinion on flying, he still listened to her go on and on about the Wonderbolts and their amazing stunts.
" Sounds like they're nice people." Brad concluded after Rainbow Dash's speech.
" Yeah," Rainbow Dash said as she started to brandish her hoof on her chest and look at it, " I may have saved their lives a few times too."
Brad cocked an eyebrow, " By save their lives, you mean that they would be ass up in their graves if you weren't there to save them. Right?"
Rainbow blinked her eyes at the new word that Brad was using, but she got at what he was asking her, " Well just a little I guess..."
" It's yes or no."
" Y-yes."
" And your not one of these, 'Wondercolt' guys?"
" Wonderbolt, and no i'm not."
" Well what the actual fu-" Brad almost shouted, but a loud knock at the door cut him off. He looked to Twilight and he saw that she had been enjoying herself with her friends so he decided to answer it. " We will continue this conversation later." he said as he trotted away from Rainbow Dash and to the door. More knocking came from the door, except it had been louder this time.
" Yeah yeah i'm coming keep your pants on...or would that be horse shoes." before Brad could go into further detail about everyone in this world not wearing pants, he opened the door to a dark purple unicorn with dark red eyes.
" Wow Twilight Sparkle, I never imagined you to be so, colt-like." another blue pegasus said behind the purple one.
" That's not Twilight Sparkle..." the purple one responded putting his hoof to his face, " From the description from Princess Celestia, and Twilight Sparkle's letters, he has to Bret."
" It's Brad actually." Brad muttered.
" Quiet Bret." the purple unicorn snapped, " Anyways, is Twilight Sparkle home?"
Brad heard the unicorn's voice waver, but he decided to just let it pass as nothing, " Yeah, she's a bit busy at the moment, want me to take a message?" he said with a smirk.
Before the purple pony could make a retort, which probably would have been a straight smack across Brad's face, Twilight showed up next to Brad.
" Is there a problem?" she asked wiping a bit of cupcake frosting off her cheek.
" Good to see you're still hard at work." the purple pony said with thicker sarcasm than the winter snow.
" And who's to say i'm supposed to be working?" Twilight snapped back with confidence that Brad had never seen before. Well, he had only known her for about 3 days so there, and he had never really gotten on Twilight's nerves. Save the whole, not telling her about the manticore from the day before of course.
" Princess Celestia ring a bell?" he answered with a straight face.
All the braveness and confidence completely rushed out of Twilight's face at the mention of her mentor seeing her right now. She made a small 'Eeep' noise as her horn glowed and the party behind her had disappeared in a flash of light, leaving her friends dazed and confused about who exactly had been so important to interrupt their good time.
" Hey, isn't that Celestia chick your boss?" Brad whispered to Twilight, still unsure on the story behind Celestia.
" She's everypony's boss!" she whispered back.
" May we come in?" the purple pony asked.
" I have to admit, I'd like you better out there." Brad commented.
Twilight shot Brad a poisonous glare. " Of course come in, please." Twilight said welcoming them inside.
First to walk through the library door had been the purple unicorn. He had been a couple of inches taller than Brad. He had a dark purple coat with a pitch black mane, he had every strand of that dark mane in perfect alignment as it shifted when he walked, and he had a bold red pare of eyes that seemed to peer right through Brad. Another thing that Brad had noticed other than the purple one's eyes giving him a death glare, had been the weird tatoo like mark on his flank. Branded on his flank had been a shield with a burst or star of some kind in the middle.
The next visitor that had trotted through could've been the purple's exact opposite. He had been a pegasus that had a deep blue coat, he had also been about as tall as Brad, hazel green eyes that craved for something more exciting than the dull job he had been given, and a sort of shaggy mane that looked like it hadn't had a cut in some time.Along his flank had been a musical note of some kind.
" Don't like Danny either?" he whispered to Brad as he passed by, " We're goin' to get along just fine." he made a playful grin and quickly followed after Danny.
One last pony trotted inside, and Brad couldn't realize how he had missed him before. The last one had to have been bigger than Big Mac by a couple a feet. He had deep brown eyes, like Brad's, but his eyes seemed to not care about anything as they just stared off into the distance barely giving Brad or Twilight the slightest glance. He had a dark gray coat that also receded along the hoof like Danny's but instead of being cut it had been natural, his mane had also been a shade of light brown, and on his flank had been a sword, but instead of a hilt like a regular sword would have, his mark had branched off into a key on the other end of the blade.
He didn't say a word as he walked by Brad and sat down next to his friends. Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Brad also sat near them, while Rainbow Dash hovered in the air. Both groups had just stared at each other. The mane six were obviously annoyed at how three random ponies barged into their fun party and stopped it with no reason whatsoever, but even with the glares that the three had received, they all sat there blinking not disturbed by the looks the six mares were giving them.
-Awkward moment of silence-
Eventually Brad decided to break the tension building in the air.
" Anyone going to talk or can we go back to the party?" he said taking a long yawn.
" I second that idea!" Pinkie chimed in.
" Third." Rainbow Dash called, missing the flavor of those cupcakes that Pinkie had made. She started to wonder about what they had been made out of. Definitely sugar that much was assured, but something about it tasted familiar. Or maybe a feeling that had been familiar. Was it the feeling of seeing a rainbow that the flavor reminded her of? She would have to ask Pinkie Pie for the recipe later. (Yeah Yeah I know im a bastard for putting this in here, but it was too good to let it go by.)
" Well I guess introductions are in order," The purple pony said clearing his throat. " My name is Danny Darklight, and these two are my closest friends, and my partners. We're here from direct orders from the princess herself."
" The name's Coltin Silvernote, and playing music is my game!" the blue pegasus said after Danny was finished, " But you guys can just call me Silvernote."
" Hello." the bigger gray pony said in a deep, gruff voice, " My name is Matthew Swiftsteel, and I don't like ponies. Including unicorns and pegasai."
"Pony " Silvernote whispered which earned him a slug on the shoulder from Matthew.
" Doesn't that mean you hate yourself?" Rarity asked, confused by the stallion's words.
" No I'm a horse, there's a difference damn it." he replied giving Rarity a dirty look.
" Of course there's a difference darling." Rarity squeaked as she moved away from Matthew by a couple of feet.
" Wait, you said that you are from direct orders from the princess." Twilight said, ignoring the currently frightened Rarity hiding behind her.
" That is correct." Danny replied flatly.
" But I was told that only the captain of the Royal Guard was given missions from the princess." Twilight said, " And you colts aren't even in the Royal Guard uniform, much less captain's uniform."
" We are apart of Celestia's, inner circle. We go beyond what the Royal Guard can do. We handle the 'messes' that Celestia doesn't want to let out to the public." Danny said and he gave Twilight a look that said that was the end of the conversation.
" So why are you here again?" Brad asked, taking a gulp at what he thought the answer was going to be.
" Oh don't worry, Brad," Danny said, " We are not here to kill you or anything like that."
" And how do you know my name?" Brad said, " Hell I didn't even know it till a couple of days ago."
" We learned what we could about you through Twilight Sparkle's letters."
" Letters?" Brad said looking to Twilight.
" Every night I have to give a report to Princess Celestia about my findings on friendship, and leaving out a green stallion that I found wounded and on the brink of death in the middle of the Everfree Forest be a very good report. Besides didn't you do that where you are from?"
" Yeah it's called a text message, but we don't put a list about all the people we meet on it." Brad muttered, he turned back to Danny, " So what are you here for then?"
" We're here to merely keep a close eye on you." Danny said in a calm and in control voice.
" Sorry, but i'm not a big fan of being watched." Brad snapped back.
" Those sound like fighting words." Matthew said starting to get up, but Danny put a hoof out to stop him.
" Whether you like it or not is none of our concern." Danny said still calm, " You should consider yourself lucky, Celestia never usually gives somepony the benefit of the doubt like this. Usually the order is just 'make it look like an accident.'" he said with a sly grin.
Brad decided it would be better not to continue the conversation about the group of stallion's past jobs and try to change the subject.
" Call me stupid, but I still don't understand why you're here to watch me." he said.
" We're here to make sure you don't do anything stupid. Besides a random green stallion with no memory and seems to be from a different world could very much cause mass hysteria among Ponyville." Danny replied.
" Oh who would cause mass hysteria, little ol' me?" Brad said as he batted his eyelashes and put on his most innocent smile.
Danny didn't crack a grin.
" Okay okay I swear I won't go around scaring your pony friends." Brad said.
" So it looked like you guys were having a party..." Silvernote said distantly, but no matter how distant it may have been, Pinkie had heard him.
In a matter of seconds the party had been back on with a simple swish and boom from Pinkie Pie's party cannon.
Silvernote had just gone absolutely wild, and probably brought the whole party to the actual party. In the middle of the library had been his dance floor and he was showing it absolutely no mercy. Eventually Brad thought it would be fun to try and join in, but he soon realized that any type of human dance in a pony body must have looked absolutely ridiculous because by the time he was done doing 'Stayin alive' all of them had been trying to catch their breath.
" Dude, you have got to show me those moves sometime!" Silvernote said clapping his hoofs together after Brad had been done.
" Yeah maybe." Brad said stroking his mane in embarrassment.
Across the dance floor, Danny and Matthew were having a private conversation.
" So, we gonna tell 'im what we're really here for?" Matthew said looking at the green stallion making a fool out of himself.
" No need to spoil the mood, besides he can stay in the dark for now." Danny replied blatantly.
" Then you want to join them?" Matthew asked.
" Why should we? The job description said nothing about dancing." Danny said.
" Looks like they're having fun." Matthew said again.
" I really hate it when you're right..."
" You must hate me all the time then, anyways stay here and do what you want, i'm gonna show these ponies how a real dancer does it."
Danny raised an eyebrow at his partner as he trotted away to Silvernote and the green pony. Matthew rarely ever talked like that.
Danny began to lose himself in thought, and as he lost himself he failed to realize the currently lavender pony standing next to him.
" Well you look like you're having fun all by yourself." Twilight said giggling.
" Oh...um." Danny stuttered.
" Look, I think we got off on the wrong hoof before," Twilight said with an apologetic look, " But how bout a dance to make up for it.?"
Danny felt his heart skip a beat.
" Oh of course why not." Danny said following the lavender pony onto the dance floor.
Alright there's your chapter everypony >:C. Sorry it took so long, but NOW school is starting up so the wait may even be longer. Really sorry but school is school and I would rather not fall behind. Again thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice night/afternoon/morning. -EuropaBrad
Next chapter, hope you enjoy. ( I know it isn't much of a note but i'm at a loss for ideas <.>)
As the day went on, many ponyfolk stopped outside of the library to listen into whatever the blaring music had been but they quickly trotted away, minding their own business.
The group of ponies went on partying well into the afternoon, until even Silvernote had to take a brake from the excessive dancing. The sun set over the horizon as the party died down.
" That was loads of fun!" Pinkie Pie said happily, still munching on some leftover cupcakes.
" You can say that again," Rainbow Dash said with a big grin, " Especially when the three of you guys showed up! You guys looked like you were a bunch of bores, but you turned out pretty cool! No offense of course."
" Well, at first sight you looked prett-"
" Yeah!" Silvernote said, interrupting Matthew's incoming insult, " It's fine, we usually look boring at first ." He leaned in close next to Matthew, " Hey man, play nice. Remember we haven't got a place to sleep yet."
Brad bursted out laughing.
" Oh God that's rich, you guys are practically homeless!" Brad said as he could put no attempt into holding his laughter back.
Everypony in the room shot him an evil glare.
" Come on, you can't tell me that isn't hilarious in anyway possible."
More glares.
" I guess I'll just shut my mouth now."
" What Brad was trying to say," Twilight started averting her eyes from Brad and over to the trio, " Is that if you colts need any place to sleep, I'm sure me and the girls could help you all get a place. Unfortunately I can only let one of you stay here with me at the library."
Twilight looked over to her friends with a pleading look.
" Well, anypony that can dance like that is welcome to stay with me whenever they want!" Rainbow Dash said hovering over to Silvernote.
" I can let Danny stay here, if he wants of course." Twilight said with a hint of uncertainty.
" Of course I want t-" Danny said quickly before composing himself, " I mean, thank you for your hospitality."
" Alright so now all we've got to deal with, is our big, lovable, and kindhearted pony-" Silvernote almost said before Matthew slugged him in the side.
" If ya want i'm sure me an' Big Mac could squeeze ya in the barn somewhere." Applejack said.
" That won't be necessary." Matthew said flatly.
" What do ya' mean?" Applejack asked.
" Isn't it obvious darling?" Rarity asked her friend, " He just doesn't want to sleep in a dirty old barn for the time that he is going to be here."
" And where do you propose he sleep?" Applejack said giving Rarity a dirty look.
" Well, we may have gotten off to a rough start..." Rarity squeaked, " But i'm willing to let him stay at the boutique as long as he needs. Besides Sweetie Belle has been wanting someone to play with."
" No." Matthew repeated, still as flat and dull as ever.
" Pardon?" Rarity said, astounded that somepony would blow her off on such a generous offer.
" I don't need a place to sleep, I can just find a place to sleep on my own. Simple as that." Matthew said, and with that he trotted out the door leaving the rest of the group with mouths their mouths open. All of them except Danny.
" There's the Matthew I know." Danny thought to himself.
" Is he going to be okay?" Fluttershy asked Danny, interrupting his train of thought.
" Don't worry, he's been through worse than going an entire night without a blankie." Danny said with a small chuckle.
" Still..." Fluttershy said quietly.
" Hey I know what we should do!" Pinkie Pie squealed, " When he finally manages to find a place to stay, we should throw him a welcome-to-his-new-home party!"
" Do it and the green one won't be the only one we'll be 'watching'." Matthew's voice trailed off from the outside of the library.
A look of horror spread across Silvernote's and Danny's face.
" Wait, what did he say?" Brad asked eyeing the purple unicorn suspiciously.
" Oh he umm said that he'll be watching...us to make sure...we're okay?." Danny replied in a reassuring voice.
" Okay then..." Brad said going back to being silent.
" Nice save Danny, he doesn't suspect a thing." Danny thought to himself and also giving himself a mental pat on the back. Danny made a mental note to charge Matthew with insubordination when they were done here in Ponyville. Of course in all honesty, Silvernote, Matthew, and himself should all be charged with insubordination after what they're doing.
" They have GOT to be up to something. Better just play it cool and act like I don't know anything." Brad thought to himself, " Don't need to act for that." he thought to himself again. Brad made a mental note to kick his own mental ass for that comment.
" Well this was all good fun, but it looks like it's getting rather late." Rarity said with a small and petite yawn.
" Wow it's already this late?" Brad said as he looked out the window to the sun setting. " Guess time really does fly when you're having fun."
" Yes it was definitely fun, it's just a shame that it was over so quickly." Twilight said, " Rarity is right though, you should all head home before it gets too dark."
" Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie giggled as she bounced out the door and off to Sugar Cube Corner, saying hi to the ponies that had been walking by of course.
" Thank you for the party, see you tomorrow everypony," Rarity said as she trotted out the door and off to her boutique.
" C'mon Silvernote, I got some awesome Wonderbolt posters I can show you!" Rainbow Dash said giddily at the chance to show somepony her prized collection of Wonderbolt assorted items.
" Sounds cool!" Silvernote replied as he trotted out the door behind Rainbow Dash.
" I-it was nice meeting you, goodbye." Fluttershy quietly said as she also trotted out the door to her hut outside of Ponyville.
" Well ah guess ah'll leave right about now too." Applejack said, " I'm sure Big Macintosh could use some help with the late night chores."
" Need an extra han- I mean hoof?" Brad asked as she already was halfway out the door.
" Naw, i'm sure me and Big Mac can handle this by ourselves." Applejack replied. " See yall tomorrow!"
" I don't know about you guys but i'm pooped, see you all in the morning. Or maybe afternoon..." Spike said climbing up the stairs and eventually falling asleep half way up the small staircase. Twilight picked up the loudly snoring purple dragon with her magic and carried him upstairs.
" I'm sorry, but you colts will have to share the guestroom." Twilight called as she tucked spike into bed.
Brad was about to object but Danny interrupted him, " Oh no troubles, we just appreciate the hospitality."
Brad was going to speak up again, but Danny looked at him with a menacing glare. " We do appreciate it, don't we Brock?"
Brad shook his head up and down. Brad and Danny both walked up the stairs and into the guest room. There had only been one bed.
Danny and Brad both looked at each other from different sides of the bed, neither of them budging an inch.
" One of us is going to have to sleep on the floor, and it ain't gonna be me." Brad said with clear resolve.
" I'm not going to sleep on the floor either." Danny said with a straight face.
" Then it seems like we're both sleeping in the bed." Brad responded, " Together."
" Seems like." Danny said as he crawled into bed and pulled the sheets over himself with his magic.
" Okay fine then." Brad said as he jumped on his side of the bed causing Danny to go up and down, but the purple stallion never said a word. Both stallions laid in the bed together, facing opposite directions and only the crickets could be heard chirping from the night outside.
Fluttershy made her way along the empty roads of Ponyville. The girls had been right, it was getting pretty dark outside, so dark in fact that she could barely see her own hoof in front of her face. She trotted slowly careful no to bump into the wall of a house or the trunk of a tree.
Fluttershy remembered the party that had just started hours ago and she began to wonder about what had made that green stallion laugh. What did she say that been so funny? Fluttershy kept walking down the road, lost in thought but no matter how much she may have been thinking she couldn't ignore the big gray mass of fur curled up on the side of the road.
Fluttershy quickly recognized the cutie mark on the gray blob of fur and remembered that it had been one of the ponies from the party.
" Um... Are you okay?" Fluttershy said quietly, half hoping that he would not hear her and she could just move on and go back to her hut.
Matthew's ear twitched at the sudden soft voice.
Matthew glanced over his shoulder to the yellow pegasus and quickly turned back, grumbling something about pegasai.
" Your name is Matthew right?" Fluttershy asked.
" Yes, why do you ask?" Matthew answered without even turning back to Fluttershy.
" Why are you out here on the side of the road?"
" Why do you care?"
" Because it looks like you could use a place to stay, and I could maybe use a bit of....help...with the......animals...." Fluttershy squeaked gradually getting quieter as Matthew rose to his feet, towering over her.
" Why." He said, bluntly.
" Why what?" Fluttershy said getting more and more scared with every second going by.
" Why would you be so nice as to offer a complete stranger a place to stay?" Matthew asked, " We've done nothing so far, so there is absolutely no reason to be so kind to me, or Danny, or Silvernote. It's not like you owe us or anything."
" Well..." Fluttershy said as she started to gather all of her bravery, " By that logic, why would we be mean to you? Like you said, you've done nothing to be treated badly or anything."
Moments of silence passed in the dark night as Fluttershy's words sank in.
Matthew looked at the yellow mare, dazed at how she spoke back to somepony of his size without stammering at least once.
Fluttershy started back down the path, barely looking at the grey stallion.
" Now are you coming with me or not?"
Matt couldn't help but feel a ting of respect as the butter colored pegasai took charge like that. Matthew slowly followed Fluttershy all the way back to her small, animal filled hut. The door squeaked as she opened the door and walked inside. Matthew followed in after her, hitting his head on the doorway as he stepped through.
" Lousy piece of..." Matthew muttered, but Fluttershy turned back to him with a glare. " Junk..."
" You can sleep on the couch, if you need anything just ask." Fluttershy said as she fed her animals. " Sorry dinner was so late." she said to them softly as she spread the food out among the animals. Angel obviously taking more than her fare share.
One of the small squirrels ran up to Matthew. He turned his head down at the small brown creature, giving it a cold stare, but the squirrel did not falter, instead it's curiosity was peaked. It ran it's way up the grey stallion's body and burrowed into his mane. Matthew quickly, but casually, poked parts of his hair, determined to get the small critter off of him. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the big pony trying to get something as small as a squirrel with his broad hoof.
" C'mere Jerry." Fluttershy cooed to the small squirrel. The squirrel poked out of Matthew's hair for a split second, but soon retreated back into the stallion's mane and soon popped up on top of Matthew's head. " Awww, I think he likes you."
" Lucky me." Matthew muttered as he gave up trying to send his new visitor packing. Soon Jerry nestled himself on Matthew's head, falling fast asleep. Matthew reached his hoof up to the small yet brave squirrel, and for a brief moment Fluttershy though he was going to crush the poor squirrel, but instead he pet the squirrel gently careful not hurt the small mammal.
" I can sleep on the couch right?" Matthew said absently minded as he continued to pet Jerry.
" If that's alright with you." Fluttershy replied quietly.
" No, I think I want your bed." Matthew said sarcastically.
" Well if you want." Fluttershy said already taking a couple of steps towards the couch.
" It was a joke! I would never do that to someone who helped me." Matthew said stopping her. " Here look i'm getting on the couch." he said as he tested the couch. Matthew laid down on the couch making it creak beneath his weight. The couch let out it's final squeaks and creaks as it finally gave way under the grey pony, wooden legs snapping as the couch made a thump as it hit the floor. Fluttershy looked at the broken couch with disappointment in her watery blue eyes.
" Waitwaitwaitwait, I can fix it, do you have any tools around?" Matthew asked frantically.
" Umm, I think Applejack left her toolbox here from the last time she visited." Fluttershy answered.
" Where?"
" She left it in the closet, but i'm not sure if Applejack appreciates other ponies touching her tools..." Fluttershy said, but her words had fallen on deaf ears as Matthew was already in the middle of opening the small toolbox.
Matthew worked his way over the couch like a machine. He inspected the wooden legs and sanded them down with a patch of sand paper to make them smoother. When was done with sanding the broken legs out, he rummaged through the box again to find some super sticky paste.( If you're wondering why I am not calling it glue, look up how they make glue....) He spread the paste on the broken limbs and soon refitted the whole couch, while also reinforcing the wooden frame with some makeshift support beams. Basically a couple of books stacked on top of each other, but in his defense, they were some pretty thick novels.
Matthew wiped a bead of sweat away from his brow, " Done." he said with a tinge of pride behind his 5 minute work.
" Um, thank you?" Fluttershy said examining the books that held up her couch. " We should probably get to sleep now."
" Yeah I guess we should, good night Fluttershy." Matthew said climbing on the couch, carefully this time, and lying down. It had been a long day for the stallion, and tomorrow would need all the energy he could muster.
MEANWHILE AT TWILIGHT'S HOUSE, TREE, LIBRARY, THINGER
Danny didnt wan't to sleep with the green stallion as much as the next guy, but he couldn't complain. What was the pony's name anyway? Bill...? Yeah he seemed like a Bill. Well, he could find out in the morning if he was wrong. Eventually Danny fell asleep, and as his mind drifted he thought of the events that had occurred earlier in the day.
" Silvernote get up you lazy bum!" Matt said as he knocked, in his case it was more of a thump, on Silvernote's door.
The door creaked open and a saggy eyed Silvernote peered out from the crack.
" Fifteen minutes, you can't rush awesomeness." Silvernote said as he shut the door.
Matt was about to bust the door down himself and give Silvernote a piece of his mind but Danny stopped him with a hoof.
" Don't worry about him. If were late we will simply tell Celestia that we got held up by a couple of run-away clouds in the sky." Danny told Matt coolly.
Matt muttered something under his breath, but he obeyed Danny's orders. He climbed back in the chariot and waited.
" What could Celestia want..." Danny thought to himself while waiting for Silvernote. He thought back to when there was a knock at his door when the sun just started to rise. Normally Danny would be up this early, but that doesn't mean he'd be a morning person.
" I swear to Celestia, if this is another one of those "Filly Scout Cookies" im going to gut someone." Danny said groggily as he opened the door, but instead of the small fillies he was half expecting, a pair of royal guards stood proud with their golden armor gleaming in the early light. " Oh, uh what can I do for you?" Danny stuttered.
" Sir Darklight, Princess Celestia demands to see you,Matthew Switsteel and Coltin Silvernote in her highness's quarters." the first one said in a gruff voice.
" She said it was the utmost importance." Added the second.
" Of course, I'll be right out." Danny responded as he shut the door and checked some things. There was no meeting scheduled until a couple of weeks. This is definitely not a joke. Danny opened the door and jumped back into the Royal Guard's chariot, ready to go.
In about fifteen minutes they were already at Matt's house. He had just been finishing up a new set of Royal Guard armor but he quickly got ready himself and before they knew it they were at Silvernote's house.
Eventually Silvernote got himself "Awesomed Up" enough to be presentable to the princess.
The flying chariot halted at the entrance to Celestia's castle. The three stallions thanked the royal guard members for the ride and soon were trotting up the stairs.
" What could Celestia want?" Silvernote yawned.
" Im not exactly sure, but if it was this urgent... Well I'd put my bits on it not being good." Danny answered.
" What about you Matt? What do you think this whole thing is about?" Silvernote asked the big stallion.
" I don't know." Matt replied.
" You're no fun." Silvernote pouted.
" C'mon guys keep it together, we are seeing the princess after all." Danny said as he knocked on Celestia's door.
" Come in." A worn and tired voice called from inside.
Danny blinked for a second, unaccustomed to hearing his princess so weak.
Slowly, but surely, he opened the door and took a few steps through the doorway.
Books had been sprawled around the tile floor. What had once been an organized study and bedroom had turned into a total hazard zone. No book had been spared and Celestia was furiously flipping through the pages in an ancient looking book. The princess's magic enveloped book after book, constantly bringing them forward to Celestia's tired eyes.
" Nothing in Equestria's historical archives either." Celestia mumbled to herself.
Just then, Princess Luna trotted through the door carrying, that's right you guessed it, more books.
" We have brought thou's books from the east wing of the library sister, where would thy like us to put them?" Luna asked, partially nodding in Danny's and the other's direction.
" In the corner would be fine." Celestia said barely even glancing at Luna.
" Wow, Celestia didn't even correct Luna about her grammar...something is definitely wrong." Danny thought to himself.
" What is it we can do for you princess?" Danny said with a straight face. " This meeting as a bit sudden, my apologies for any inconviences caused by my team."
" It's fine." Celestia said waving her hoof, " As for why you are here. It seems that someone, or something has made their way into our world."
" Um... Princess, don't you mean somepony?" Silvernote chimed in.
" Cut the horse shit. This is serious." Celestia snapped back. She took a long and deep breath before continuing. " Sorry, I've just been stressed all day."
" Please forgive us, but what exactly is troubling you?" Matt asked holding back a smirk from her previous outburst.
" The very foundation of Ponyville crumbling to rubble." Celestia said.
" Did you say Ponyville? What's so important about a bunch of nopony ponies?" Danny asked.
" What's so important, my subject, is that Ponyville houses the most powerful defense known to ponykind. The Elements of Harmony." Celestia said with a deadly glare.
The tension in the room rose to an all time high. Danny's ears perked up, Matt lost his grin, and Silvernote went into business mode.
" So wait, the most powerful element that has ever been recorded is in Ponyville?" Silvernote said with an almost complete different tone of voice.
" Precisely." Celestia replied, " So now you understand the seriousness of our little situation?"
" Sorry if i'm being a bit skeptical," Silvernote started, " But how in the absolute fu-"
" What Silvernote means is that how is Ponyville on the verge of crumbling?" Danny interjected before Silvernote could finish.
" Last night I received a letter from my student, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia said ignoring what Silvernote had said, " In this letter she claimed that a mysterious pony by the name of Brad came stumbling into town from the Everfree Forest. He was mortally wounded from an encounter with a Manticore but it was nothing her friend couldn't handle. The report didn't leave much detail, but this is still an urgent matter."
" So? How is that shaking the delicate balance of Ponyville?" Matt asked sarcastically.
" It shakes the balance, because this isn't our average earth pony." Celestia asked.
" Elaborate." Danny said.
" Well, two days ago Luna reported a distortion in her night sky. The distortion turned out to be a portal through dimensions." Celestia sighed.
" Five bits says the Princess dug into her "special" banana stash again." Silvernote whispered to Matt under his breath.
" You're on." Matt whispered back.
" This portal seemed to be harmless at first and it should have dissipated within a couple of seconds, but something or someone stabilized it. Before I or my sister could give the order to investigate these strange events, the portal just closed as fast as it had opened. All we could do was hope that nothing got through to our world, but it seems that despite our hopes something has gotten through." Celestia concluded. " I'm sincerely sorry to put the three of you on the spot like this, but this is urgent and needs to be settled quickly."
" What do you mean..." Danny started.
" By "settled"?" Matt finished.
Celestia looked at the three stallions with a grim tint to her eyes, " Bring him to me, dead or alive."
WELL WOULD YA LOOK AT THAT. Yeah I finally got off my ass this break and finished this chapter up. Thank you all for putting up with my laziness and I hope you enjoy!
Celestia's words hit Silvernote and Matthew like cannon balls. Danny had been taken a little surprised but kept any indication of his astonishment hidden away. The order to kill was a very rare occurrence in their line of work, of course there had been things they weren't particularly proud of, but killing was still a high risk ( and obviously high paying ) job that nopony in their right mind would take on. Unless given the right price of course.
Keeping his calm demeanor, Danny spoke up first,
" Care to explain why Princess?" Danny had been all business now, like Silvernote but Danny put on his best, colder than ice, glare and a grim frown.
" This intruder is not from our world. He is, in fact, from a world much different from ours. One that is corrupt, and evil. A world almost devoid of the peace we've come to know." Celestia explained.
" What do the Elements Of Harmony have to do with all of this then?" Matt asked the princess.
" I believe that is this pony is left so close to the Elements, the Elements may go through drastic changes, the poison from his world may seep into their power and cause horrible events to occur that me and my sister may not be able to stop. I'm worried that he may find a way to use them for his own twisted desires." Celestia explained, " Which is why I need this situation under control until I'm able to find a spell to send him back to his home, imprison him here, or the last option of death."
" Why not use the spell used to imprison Discord? " Silvernote said, " That worked pretty well. Till he, ya know, got out again."
" That spell not only took me and my sister in our prime, but also the full power of the Elements Of Harmony, which is why I'm looking through the library's oldest tomes to see if there is anything else that could be used that won't have such a high cost. Sadly, nothing has turned up." Celestia said depressingly.
" And the more time you take to find the spell, the higher the chance is that the Elements will be corrupted by this pony?" Danny said, figuring out the situation.
" Precisely, so you must hurry to Ponyville and stall this threat, or silence it completely. I trust you'll know what action will be necessary as I continue my research." Celestia said, glancing to all three of them individually.
" We'll do our best." Danny and Matt said in unison. They both started for the door, but a certain cobalt blue stallion stood before the princess sternly.
" Hold up hold up," Silvernote boomed in his loudest voice. Immediately a twinge of irritation flashed on Celestia's face as she realized what Silvernote had been talking about.
" I think," he continued, " We need to discuss the matter of our pay." a slow grin crept across Silver's face as his oldest skill kicked into action.
Danny let out a long sigh. The reason for hiring Silvernote wasn't only because he had been a longtime friend, but he was also a Jack-Of-All-Trades, able to do or excel in many subjects, haggling being one of his oldest traits and one of his best.
He had always hated this side of Silvernote, but this way they always got the amount they deserved for their jobs and then some.
" Why yes, of course we should." Celestia said, trying to keep her composure, " I believe 20 thousand bits is plenty enough for this service."
" 50." Silver said bluntly, " I mean, we are saving our entire nation from corruption of our most powerful relic. I think 50 thousand would be a fair price."
" For the love of..." Matt began.
" I'm just sayin'! I mean honestly, if it's that important, 20 big ones just ain't gonna cut it for me." he reasoned.
" Fine. " Celestia said.
Immediately, Matt and Danny's ears perked up. Even Silvernote couldn't believe it. He'd always been a slick talker, able to get a lower price or a higher pay, but even with his experience on his silver tounge, he didn't expect Celestia to give in so quickly.
"What?" Silvernote choked.
" I said, I'll pay it." Celestia answered. " Now get out."
" What?! What about interest and the causality fund!" Silvernote yelped as he was trying to pressure Celestia into pumping even more money out. Luckily for her purse, Matt and Danny grabbed Silvernote by the wings and hauled him out as he was trying to talk business about safety deposits.
Danny's mind was ablaze as they were making their way down the steps. Eventually Silvernote had stopped struggling long enough for him to think. Constant thoughts about dates, times, food, and containment, ran through his mind until Silvernote's loud mouth broke his train of thought.
" Can the two of you believe it?! 50 thousand! I mean, do don't even HAVE to kill him! Just stall!" Silvernote shouted gleefully.
" No, we won't kill him." Danny said barely even paying attention to Silvernote's ideas of how to spend his cut of the pay.
" Well, if worse comes to worse, of course we'll have to..." Silvernote replied.
Danny turned to him, an icey glare frosted over his eyes and almost seemed to freeze everything in it's sight. " No. I don't care if we have to contain him ourselves, we will not kill him." He went back to walking down the steps.
" I'd like to avoid any death as well, it'd just be senseless murder." Matt grunted, feeling left out of the conversation.
" S-senseless?!" Silvernote stuttered, " This thing is literally going to corrupt and abuse the ponies in Ponyville and use our most powerful weapons for his personal playthings! Were you two even listening to a word the Princess said?"
" Were you even listening? If this had been an enemy operation, they wouldn't have just sent one soldier. For all we know, he could just be a scared animal, fearing it was in danger and took refuge into the nearest house. It just happens to be Celestia's student's home." Matt explained.
.....
" You're bucking insane, Danny are you hearing him?" Silver note said.
" There's definitely the possibility, but something tells me that it's smarter than that. It has to know how to communicate, so it has some sort of intelligence. " Danny thought aloud, " We need to keep our motives secret and try to befriend him before we even attempt negotiations."
" Understood." Matt said, and that was the last word any of them said until the chariot ride into their next assignment.
" You both are insane, I hope you know that." Silvernote said grumpily.
" Don't count yourself short kiddo." Matt replied with a small grin.
" Enough you two, we're almost there. From this point forward, we need to try our best to control the situation and seem friendly at the same time. Especially you Matt." Danny ordered.
" As long as he doesn't get on my nerves, there's no need to worry."
" And you Silvernote?"
" Fine fine, but I am seriously going to need a party or something to cheer me up."
Chapter 1 The Mystery Begins
Welcome to the next story that I'm going to try and write. I really hope that in this one some of you who didn't like "Tale Of A Hero" can look to this one and maybe like it more. I hope you enjoy both stories. We now look at a totally screwed pony running through the Everfree Forest. Great way to start off a story right?
"It's going to get me! I can practically feel it breathing down my neck!" the green stallion thought as he ran though the dark forest in fear.
" I don't know why I can't run on my own two feet, but this will have to do!" he thought as he felt the blood from his gash trickle down what he thought was his arm and galloped full speed away into the trees.
Minutes Earlier.
" What happened?" The stallion thought as he shook his groggy head. He tried to stand but he stumbled over himself. " Wait what the hell happened to my legs?" he thought to himself as he looked at where his hands once were but now were replaced by a pair of hooves. " Why am I a horse?" he thought to himself looking around his dark surroundings. He racked his brain for a memory, a thought, just something, anything, but came to remember nothing about himself or how he had gotten there. The only thing he could manage to remember was that he was a human being and not a horse. He looked around the dark woods helplessly to see if there was anyone who could help him.
" Is anyone out there?" the stallion shouted into the dark trees.
"Great all alone in a creepy forest with no one to help or tell me where I am. What else could go wrong?" the stallion muttered to himself and as he said this a low deep growl came from behind him. He turned around suddenly to see a giant beast with the head and body on a lion, a scorpion tail, and wings. "Oh yeah," the stallion thought to himself, " That could go wrong."
The green stallion stood there for a couple of seconds completely stunned, as he realized that he had somehow passed out at the mouth of a cave and was obviously trespassing on the lion's territory.
" Nice kitty?" the green pony said with a shaky smile. Angered the beast lashed out it's long scorpion like tail and managed to cut the stallion, putting a long red mark on his leg. In a fit of wild panic the green stallion reared up and then he kicked with all his might and stunned the beast for a few moments and then the stallion scrambled to his hooves trying to run away.
" Bad kitty! Bad kitty!" the stallion said as the beast lunged for him with its tail again but missed the stallions flank just by a couple of inches.
"Got to get away ,got to get away." was all that coursed through the stallion's mind as he tried to make his escape, but still stumbling along the way. A loud roar came from behind him as he kept trying to keep balance on his new found legs. The stallion chanced a look behind his shoulder to see how far he was away from terrifying beast and suddenly he wished he hadn't looked back. The lion had somehow managed to take flight with its giant wings and was closing in on the stallion fast. The wound on the stallion's leg was burning with pain, and felt about as heavy as a chunk of lead ,but he still ran trying to get away from the flying lion. The lion dived in for a swipe with massive paw but missed the pony's back narrowly. The pony made a sharp turn to try and get away from the lion but he knew that when the beast was air born it had the advantage when it came to agility, but still the pony kept running no matter how much the pain grew in his leg.
" Keep moving keep moving, worry about the damn leg later." the pony thought, but then tripped over himself and started to roll down a steep hill. The pony grunted as he rolled down the rocky hillside. Then the pony rolled into something making the stallion and whatever he hit fall over. The stallion shook his head furiously to shake off the rocks and pebbles and saw a dark figure rubbing its head.
"Sorry, but we need to move now!" the green stallion said to the figure, but he saw it was just a simple pony. "Oh thank god, it's just an animal.."
" Who are you calling an animal?" the purple pony said to him giving him a mean glare, and as she stood in the dim moonlight, the green stallion could see that this was no ordinary pony. It was a unicorn.
" D-did you just talk?" the green pony stuttered blinking because he could not believe what his eyes were seeing.
" Of course I can talk, it's not like I'm a new born filly." the purple pony said shaking the dust off of herself. " So do you have an excuse for running into me the way you did, or are you just going to stand there like a tree?" the pony said skeptically.
" Uh..." the stallion mumbled as his head grew fuzzier. The green stallion couldn't think straight, as he tried to respond to the unicorn's question. The purple unicorn didn't look amused in the slightest at the stallions blank response, but her glare shifted downward towards the pony's right front leg.
" Oh my, im so sorry ,your hurt ,please let me help you." the purple pony said as her face changed from a hard cold look to a worried and concerned expression, but before she could even put out a hoof to help, the stallion fell to the ground already unconscious and making a pool of blood from his wound.
" My names Twili-" the stallion heard the unicorn say until he fell to the ground.