Washed Up

“Is that the best you can do little brother?” A raven haired man laughed as he kicked a smaller and younger Lex to the ground, said man was near six foot eleven and coated in heavy plate armor with the crest of a black dragon on his cuirass. The pair were in a large courtyard surrounded my knights with similar armour to the man who laughed with him.

“This isn’t fair Lee” Lex groaned as he pushed himself off the ground on shaking arms, his form nearly identical to the man in front of him save for being half his size. “You’re so much bigger than me”

“Oh come on, Marcius is stronger than you and he is younger than you” Lee said with a smirk as Lex grabbed his toy sword from the ground and charged, only to be effortlessly parried and punched in the jaw, sending him back to the ground. “You say you want to be as strong as dad and yet your nephew is better than you… He would be disappointed in you” Lee said with a frown before he tossed his sword down next to Lex. “Put that away… and don’t bother me again for lessons if you are not going to learn” Lee said as he walked away, leaving Lex on the ground while holding his bleeding jaw.

“Hmm this is interesting” A voice said causing Lex to look around before a wave of white sand blew through the small courtyard causing it and the crowd to dissolve into sand as Lex grew to his normal height and build and the blood from his mouth vanished.

“Who’s there?” Lex asked as he got to his feet and looked around before Luna appeared before him.

“It’s only me, i decided to have a quick look to see if any of your dreams may produce any viable memories for you” She explained as she sighed. “I had hoped to find something more cheerful… not something that would have such a strong feeling of shame attached to it.” Luna said.

“I don’t understand how you are even here” Lex said as he tapped his lips, looked at his fingers before wiping his hand on his top.

“Oh well i have an affinity for dream walking… i thought i explained that.” She said as Lex just shrugged. “Okay well does this trigger any other memories?” Luna asked.

“Yea… it does, this was the morning before the fall of my brother’s reign as a tyrant king” Lex sighed as Luna recoiled slightly.

“Is that personal bias or was he actually a tyrant?” Luna asked.

“An actual one, he butchered protesters in the streets, murdered hundreds and tortured anyone not related by blood to death… this was round the time i was around the time i was fifteen and most of the neighbouring nations wanted him and all his family dead” Lex explained.

“Celestia would have mentioned a nation lead by a tyrannical humans.. Probably would not have helped save your life either so this must have been a different world… but that is just an assumption” Luna thought out loud before she looked to Lex. “ Remember anything else?” She asked.

“Only that i feel deep regret that i hated him the last time i saw him alive” Lex sighed.

“Hmm alright, well if you want i can continue with digging through your dreams and memories in an attempt to trigger another surge of memory” Luna offered.

“Yea that seems like a good idea” Lex said as the world around began to light up.

“Hmm seems like you are waking up or somepony is waking you up… until next time Mr Lex” Luna said with a short bow of her head.

“Please call me Lex if that is alright princess” Lex said.

“Hmm alright, then please call me Luna then” Said said with a smile before she vanished as the world around them collapsed

(Waking world)

“Lex it’s time to wake up!” A cheerful voice cheered as Lex gave an annoyed groaned before opening his eyes to see the mare known as Pinkie Pie was in his face.

“Holy shit!” He said startled as he moved away, only to fall out of his booth and land hard on the hard wooden floor of the train car that the group was currently on board. “Fuck” He growled in pain for a moment before he climbed to his feet and rubbed his shoulder.

“Sorry Lex” Pinkie said as he mane seemed flatter than it was a few moments earlier.

“Nah nah it’s alright just don’t get in my face please” He asked as her mane suddenly sprang back up. “Um okay?” He said with a raised eyebrow.

“Okie Dokie Lokie… oh and Twilight wanted me to wake you to say that we will be arrive at Ponyville in a few minutes” Pinkie said.

“Okay cool.. Um bathroom?” He asked as the hyper mare grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him to the end of the cart passed the rest of the mares known as the mane six.

“Here you go” Pinkie said smiling.

“Thanks” He nodded to her before he entered the small bathroom and stood in front of the small wash basin and filled it with cold water. He gave a sigh before he splashed his face with water and ran his wet hands through his hair to form it slightly before looking up to the mirror before him to see a crimson haired man with pale blue eyes looking back at him. A long, star shaped poorly healed scar marked the left side of his neck while the other was marked with dark crimson sword tattoo with silver chains wrapped around it, a short goatee coated his face along with a nazty hooked scar running from his bottom lip and connected with the star shaped scar on his neck. “What happened to me?” He muttered before looking down at his black jacket and removed it along with a heavily blood stained white top and dumped them on the ground to reveal his toned chest and arms.

The sight gained some of the man’s interest as he saw a similar emblem on his lower stomach as the one that was on Lee’s chest plate, surrounded by a golden chain, further up his chest was a cross shaped wound which was indented on the opposite side of his chest from his heart. Three long, thick dark crimson lines spiraled down his right arm only to stop at his wrist and where his arm attaches to his shoulder and were marked off with a silver chain. “Hmm i wonder if this and the sword are connected?” He muttered as he ran his damp fingers over the two different tattooes on his body before a sharp knocking was heard from the door.

“Hey we are here” The voice of Rainbow Dash stated roughly causing Lex to pull on his jacket and holding his top in his off hand before coming out of the bathroom to come face to face with the mare. “Why do you have your shirt in your hand?” She asked as she looked over the man’s exposed chest.

“I thought it was not best to walk around town in a blood soaked top” He chuckled.

“Yea probably a smart idea… That looks like it hurt” Rainbow Dash said tapping the scar on the man’s neck.

“Yea probably did, but can’t remember” He said to her before he stepped off the train resulting in a triplet of earth ponies to faint. “Well that makes four” He said out loud before walking over to Twilight.

“Oh don’t mind those drama queens” Rainbow Dash said.

“So where to?” Lex asked.

“Oh well you will be staying at my place, there is a spare bed in the basement you can use” Twilight suggested.

“Okay that sounds like a pl…” Lex started before he was cut off by Rarity.

“I don’t think that Lex would like to sleep on an old lumpy bed, and besides when did you last clean in your basement?” She asked.

“Hey i can have Spike clean it up before he…” Twilight stared before being cut off by her friend.

“I don’t think so, Lex seems to be a man of class so he can stay in my spare room” Rarity said as Lex raised an eyebrow at her statement.

“What spare room? You mean the one full on mannequins that could give a Nightmare Moon nightmares?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yea.. no” Lex said but was ignored.

“He can stay at my place, he can take the room that Gilda used to crash in when she visited” Rainbow Dash said before she looked to Lex concerned. “Can you walk on clouds?” She asked as he man shrugged.

“Hey could stay at mine but i only have a single bed but he can… “Fluttershy started before she also was cut off.

“Nah sugarcube, he can stay in ma barn, there is an old cot he can take in there” Applejack suggested.

“Oh come on, how is that any better than Twilight’s basement?” Rainbow Dash said.

“What about he staying at mine? We can have sleep overs and do fun things all night” Pinkie said bouncing up and down.

“Pinkie… just no” Twilight said as the pink mare frowned.

“Um Girls?” Fluttershy tried to cut in but failed.

“Can’t you make some sort of charm to help him walk on clouds?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight.

“And how do ya expect ‘im to get up and down from there?” Applejack asked.

“Girls?” Fluttershy attempted again.

“Why can’t he stay with me!” Pinkie shouted.

“Because i think the last thing on his mind is to sleep in the same bed as you” Twilight explained.

“Oh” Pinkie replied slightly deflated.

“GIRLS!!!” Fluttershy shouted gaining the group’s attention.

“What is it Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash asked slightly deaf from her friend shouting next to her.

“Lex walked off like five minutes ago” She stated as the rest of the group simply blinked in confusion before looking around.

“What? But we were suppose to look after him!” Twilight said concerned.

“Rainbow… “ Applejack started before her rainbow haired friend nodded and took off.

(Ponyville)

“Well isn’t this quaint” Lex muttered as he walked around the small town after discarding his ruined top. “And it would appear i am getting plenty of attention” He added as just about every pony on the street or in shops were watching him with curiosity, concern or disgust.

“Just ignore them, as they are not good with new things” A rhythmic voice stated from behind the man, causing him to turn to see a six foot four tall Zebra mare with a tall mohawk wearing a lightly tanned sleeveless vest that was connected at the front by strings, underneath was a similar coloured bra that held her e cup breasts. Looking lower, she was wearing a dark skirt with multiple pouches filled with herbs and dried alchemy ingredients. “I take it my appearance intrigues you?” She asked causing the man to blush slightly.

“Sorry i did not mean to stare ma’am” He said with a short chuckle while rubbing the back of his neck, earning a giggle from the Zebra.

“It is alright, if i was offended by stares then i would not have worn something so revealing” She said with a kind smile.

“Fair enough, um my name is Lex” He said offering his hand, resulting in the mare to put down several large bags full of items that Lex failed to notice before shaking the man’s hand.

“Zecora, it is a pleasure” She said smiling softly.

“The pleasure is all mine, um do you need a hand getting those home?” He asked causing the mare to raise an eyebrow before smiling.

“A hand would be delightful, thank you Lex” She said as she watched the man collect all the bags.

“Okay where to?” He asked.

“Follow me and i recommend sticking close.” She suggested before the pair began walking.