Canterlot Chronicles: A Hero is Born

"H-huh, w-where am I?" Sean asked as he groaned sitting up and looking around at his surroundings. "And why does my arm hurt so...oh, shit." He said, looking down at his arm. His eyes widened as he realized his arm was twisted and broken with bone penetrating the skin like a branch freshly broken off a large tree. Worried, Sean rose to his feet and began stumbling through the valley, hoping to find civilization...

Sean's movements became more sluggish as the loss of blood and trauma from the immense pain caused his vision to blur and his body to feel heavy. He leaned against a tree before slowly falling to the ground and blacking out.

"Goodbye Princess, I’ll be sure to have Spike bring these books back once I'm finished with them." Twilight said as she left the castle and stood on the terrace overlooking a large field. "Maybe I should fly back to Ponyville today--after all, I gotta get used to these wings." She said, leaning forward and jumping as she floated into the sky and shot off towards home.

As she zipped through the sky, her gaze quickly fell upon the unconscious human. Worried and curious, she flew down and slowly approached him.

"E-Excuse me...are you OK?" Twilight asked, nudging the human with her hoof. She quickly remembered that one of the books Celestia gave her has information on all the species that have visited Equestria. She opens the book and quickly leafs through it in search of something resembling Sean.

"...ah, here we are--humans, now let's see what we can find out."

She said as she began to quickly read through pages of text she realized the dire situation Sean was in. She flipped through a medical book that conveniently had several pages on human anatomy and ailments; naturally, curiosity struck Twilight as she quickly switched to the other book and read closely.

Sean's eyes slowly opened as his vision remained blurry. He blinked his eyes several times until Twilight's figure became clear.

"H-Huh? What the hay are you?" Sean asked, taking back by Twilight's size and oddly proportioned body.

"Huh? Oh good, you're finally awake; my name is Twilight Sparkle. I was on my way home and say that you were in trouble. So, I took it upon myself to fly down and help you." She said as Sean blinked with disbelief as he stared blankly at her.

"Okay Twilight, then where the hell am I?" Sean asked in a raspy, pained voice; apparently his body had been shutting down due to the trauma of his impact with the ground.

"Well, you're in the world of Equestria, a magical land filled with magical creatures of all kinds. I live in Ponyville with my five other friends, we are tasked with defending Equestria as well." Twilight said as Sean slowly nodded trying his best to comprehend what she was telling him. She scanned his body with her magic as a purple aura enveloped his body. The sensation both terrified and relaxed Sean.

"Oh, no-no-no-no-no, this is bad, stay here and I’ll come back with someone more qualified to help you.." Twilight said before flying off, quickly heading for Canterlot. Sean laid back against the tree, shocked at the events that just took place; it was clear that he’s not in his own world anymore and the realization that he may not be able to return home both terrified and excited him as Sean secretly enjoyed the idea of exploring new lands.

"I'm just gonna close my eyes and wake up in my bed, safe and sound." He paused and thought about everything Twilight had just told him. "Actually, please say I wake up in a hospital and I'm in a coma." He said before slowly blacking out once again.

Sean woke up and sluggishly sat up in bed looking around at a large white room with regal accents and white tile mixed with purple carpet, the decor of the room was clad in purples, golds, and greens.

"Where am I?" Sean asked as Twilight walked out of the closet holding a pair of clothes that she had had Rarity make while Sean was Sleeping.

"Still in Equestria, Sean, only this time you’re in my castle. You're making a full recovery and your arm should be back to normal in a few weeks." Twilight said throwing him the clothes & waiting for him to change.

"How do you know my name?" Sean asked choosing to ignore the fact that a literal Unicorn is talking to him in English, more importantly talking at all. Twilight giggled as she floated Sean's wallet into his lap.

"Your wallet gave me all the information I needed, Sean Rice, Age 21, 6'2, 195 pounds, and blood type O. So, I'll say it again; I know everything about you Sean." Twilight said as she sat next to the bed he was on and waited for him to change as Sean blushed and looked at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Twilight asked as Sean nervously rubbed his head.

"Well, you see... in my world we don't exactly change in front of people...So I assume same would go for ponies." Sean said as Twilight put her hoof on her face and sighed.

"Fine, I'll be right outside the door, once you're done, I'll answer any questions you have. Just hurry and change." After a few minutes, Sean opened the door letting her back in. Twilight took a seat near the edge of the bed. "Okay, so now comes the part where you ask me questions, now ask away, human...I mean Sean."

Sean sat there for a few minutes contemplating what he was gonna ask. After a little more waiting Sean had formed four questions that he thought would help. "Let's start off easy; Will I ever be able to go home?" He asked as Twilight turned away and grimaced,lowering her ears.

"At this moment no, we have no idea how you got here. If we find that out, then it's possible." Sean looked down and turned away, almost as if he had just gotten his heart ripped from his chest.

"What will happen if I stay here?" Twilight's ears perked up at the question as she became overwhelmingly excited.

"All kinds of things--I'd get to watch you eat, solve problems, psyche test, oh my, the amount of tests to perform on you are limitless, not only that but I can also test a human's pain tolerance and maybe even monitor your brain in a live experiment. " Twilight said as Sean looked at the window.

I wonder if a fall from this height would be enough to kill me, he wondered.

“Umm...Twilight; while I’m sure you're positively ecstatic about experimenting on me, could we maybe not do some of the more...painful ones?” Sean asked as Twilight grinned and rubbed the back of her head blushing slightly in embarrassment.

"S-sorry! Sometimes science makes me a little crazy when a possibility like this pops up, but seriously it can be so much fun, I can run tests on you and you can meet my friends." She said repeating herself in excitement as the word "friends" struck a chord with Sean. Back home, he was a loner and chose not to make friends. He soon began to rethink his idea on window jumping.

"What was that about friends?" He asked as she slowed down and blushed as she thought she was talking in her head.

"Well, this world is about friendship, love, and togetherness, well that and magic and creatures that sometimes threaten our way of life." She said nonchalantly as Sean gulped with wide eyes.

"Tell me more." Sean said picking up the big book and setting it on the bed before picking up Twilight. She blushed and gently squirmed at the feeling of his hands, he smiled setting her down next to him. "Please...I wanna know everything."

Sean relaxed in bed looking up at the ceiling as Twilight slept soundly at the foot of his bed. She had exhausted herself from teaching him about Equestria and the laws of the land. He sat up and smiled before holding her and tucking her into the bed before getting up and leaving, he walked through the castle admiring every detail of each massive room. As he explored each room he came across five doors each with a different symbol on it:

A rainbow with a lightning bolt and a cloud, three butterflies in a group,three apples, three balloons, two blue balloons in the corner and a yellow balloon in the middle, and finally three diamonds. Sean looked puzzled as the significance of these symbols was lost to him, as he walked he thought back to what Twilight told him about her friends and the elements of harmony. He quickly snapped his fingers as he finally understood the doors and the symbols that adorned them.

Sean stopped at the castle balcony and looked out at Ponyville as it slept peacefully under the cold embrace of night. "A world filled with magical creatures and I'm the only human here. I don't know wether to be happy or sad; I mean sure I had no friends back home and Twilight did say most Ponies are friendly, however is it worth giving up who I used to be?" Sean asked himself as he saw a shooting star whiz by him in the night sky.
Excited, he closed his eyes and made his wish letting out a deep contented sigh.

"This place is so relaxing and carefree, the inhabitants are so kind and warm hearted. It's so much better than back home I mean at home my life was so desolate, but here I have these friends who want to be around me...maybe staying here won't be so bad." Sean said as a large white pony walked up next to him. The mare had tall thin legs and curvy body with a long horn, gold crown, and horn that nearly trumped the length of Sean's arm.

"My Kingdom is not all my pupils makes it out to be human, you will without a doubt encounter prejudice here amongst my subjects. I try to teach them to accept all but some will fear you and that fear will morph into hate." She said putting her large wing around Sean. He gasped at the sensation of fur and feathers caressing his back and looked over at the princess as her slightly almond shaped eyes had a look of pain, yet behind her amethyst colored eyes there was a spark of hope for something that Sean desperately wanted to find.

"So, this place really isn't different from Earth?" Sean asked in a solemn tone as he looked out at the moon.

"No, dear human; your world is ripe with murder, hate, genocide, war, greed, and disrespect for nature and the very planet you live upon. In my Equestria, I work my hardest to prevent these from happening. I have been successful for the most part as there hasn't been a war in these lands for thousands of years. There have been small battles and conflicts here and there but it has all been handled by the Elements of Harmony, one of which took you in and cared for you." She said as she turned and gestured at the sleeping Twilight. Her body softly rises and falls under the blanket as Sean smiles at her.

"So, the friends she goes on about, the ones use cutie marks match the ones on the door down the hall, those are the other Elements?" Sean said as the princess nods and smiles.

"They are the Defenders of Equestria and are loved by most for their deeds." She finished as Sean smirked at this newly found info and stands tall.

"Princess Celestia, teach me how to become a defender of Equestria, if it means that ponies will accept me regardless of my species then I'll walk to hell and back to prove my point." He said with the passion and fire of a man who had finally found his purpose in life. "Please, Celestia help me, Sean the Human, become a Defender of this land, It's all I ask of you."

Celestia stands back shocked and surprised by the sudden 180 that had occurred before her, she looked at Sean before smiling softly and rested her hoof on his shoulder. "Sean, what you're asking for is the impossible, even if you become a Defender some ponies will still look down on you. Not to mention it will be harder for you to break the newly formed bonds and return to your home." She said as Sean put his hand over her hoof and smiled at her.

"Princess, I don't care--this is an opportunity to do something great with my life, something I never would have gotten back on Earth. Home and family be damned! I want to remain here and help defend your Equestria, my Princess...please allow me to serve you as Twilight and the millions of other ponies do." Sean said gently falling to one one knee and placing his arm over his chest and bowing to Celestia as she giggles happily.

"Are all humans this dramatic?" She asked as Sean blushed deeply in embarrassment. "Do not worry, Sean I shall allow you to serve me but being Defender of Equestria is a title one must earn. So, as a little tip; You don't have to lay on the theatrics for me, a simple "May I serve under you Princess?" Would have sufficed. Although the notion is welcome." She said giggling as she turned with Sean to enter the room.

"Are you absolutely sure you want this, Sean? Before I make it official, you have nothing here forcing you or binding you to help this world." Celestia said as Sean looked at Twilight and smiled warmly.

"I do now Celestia, I do now." Sean said as Celestia looked at Twilight along with him and giggled before walking out of the room. The last sight she saw was Sean sitting by the bedside giving Twilight another soft smile and lifting the covers over her to keep her warm. He stood up and began grabbing books about Equestria from the shelf and began to open them and read. Celestia closed the door and walked out of the castle and climbed into her carriage as it flew off back to Canterlot.

"Okay Sean, first rule about becoming defender of Equestria is teamwork and trust, so today I'm gonna introduce you to the other elements." Twilight said as she and Sean walked through the hallway, he reached out and ruffled her mane and scratched her head, laughing.

"Don't worry, Twilight I'll be fine, after all being kind and courteous is my specialty." He said as Twilight blushed under his touch before breaking away and fixing her mane.

"N-Next time, give me some warning or I'll blast you to the Crystal Empire." She said coldly as Sean drew his hand back quickly as they approached the doors that lead to the council room. "Let's go, Sean." She said as the two walked in headed to the large round Crystal table, Sean looked around as four other ponies gave him questionable looks. The pink pony at the end however smiled wide and waved rapidly as if she were excited to see a complete stranger. Sean smiled and waved back as she smiled more giving off a noise that could be described as a slight “squee” sound.

Sean took his Temporary seat as Twilight cleared her throat to speak. "Girls, this here is Sean, he is a member of an ancient alien race called humans. They lived alongside early ponies and after a while left to find their own world to colonize and live independently. Sean is the first human to return since the humans’ departure and has asked Celestia to become a Defender of Equestria so that he can earn the respect of ponies until his judgment day. When this day arrives he will be given two choices; A free pass home to Earth, or permanent residence here among us. It's up to us to help him make a decision in the allotted time frame, so... any questions?" Twilight concluded as the girls looked at each other in disbelief and amazement. Sean nervously looked around the room, unsure of the answer awaiting him he leaned forward and spoke.

"I-It's nice to meet all of you. Twilight has told me about the five of you, well all except your names, that is." Sean said before having his eardrums near-burst by a loud voice.

"HimynameisPinkiePieitsnicetomeetyoudoyoulike sweetscauseIdoIlikecupcakescookiescakesmuffins..." The pink ponies said in one hyperactive sugar-induced run on sentence before Rainbow Dash stuffed a cupcake in her mouth to shut her up.

"I, umm...Yes?" Sean answered with a smile as Pinkie launched into the air throwing confetti and cheering.

"He has my vote!" She exclaimed shooting crumbs all over Sean as Rarity shakes her head.

"Apologies, darling, Pinkie has a habit of consuming too much sugar, but she will grow on you I promise." Rarity says with a smile before looking at her friend's. "Oh dear where are my manners? My name is Rarity and I am the town fashion star and most beautiful pony in Ponyville." She said flipping her mane and fluttering her eyelashes as Rainbow Dash face-hoofed and sighed before sitting forward and placing her hoof on Sean's back.

"Sup? My name's Rainbow Dash, Equestria’s number one Weather Pegasus and future Wonderbolt. Nice to meet ya." Rainbow said as she struck a heroic pose and gave off a cocky smirk.

"Who is the yellow pony that has been eyeing me up and down for the past 30 minutes?" Sean asked brashly as Fluttershy sunk down and hid behind her mane.

"Sean, that's Fluttershy and you can't be over critical with her, she is very shy and timid." Twilight said as Sean blushed in embarrassment and looked over at her.

"My apologies, Fluttershy I didn't mean to be rude, but...why have you been staring at me like I'm some kinda Greek Statue?" Sean asked as Fluttershy quietly squeaked out in a low voice.

"B-Because caring f-for plants and animals i-is my special talent, and I-I've never seen an animal like you before." Fluttershy said quickly blurting out the last part of the sentence before squeaking and hiding behind her mane again.

"Well, now guess that leaves me, nice ta meet ya sugarcube the name's Applejack an’ ah run the local Apple Orchard here in Ponyville." Applejack said as Sean smiled at her and reached out to shake her hoof.

"Nice to meet you, Applejack--in fact, it's nice to meet all five of you and I hope our friendship deepens during my time here." Sean said as Twilight smiled and began addressing the to-do list for today.

"Okay, so upon arriving at the crystal empire we will make a rush straight for the barrier. Surprisingly Sombra is back and with a new physical form. We must remember to that Sean is a human with no magic or any type of combat training so protecting him is our main goal." Twilight said as Sean cleared his throat and stood up to his six friends and spoke.

"Actually, Twilight back on Earth I not only know three fighting styles but I'm also skilled in polearms and swords." Sean said as they all looked at each other and laughed.

"Sugarcube, it's cute that you wanna act all big and bad around us but don't kid yourself--ponies are physically stronger than humans, not to mention unicorns have powerful magic, so you wouldn't last five minutes in a fight here." Applejack said as Sean frowned at her before sitting back down sadly. Only now does it dawn on him why ponies hate humans, and Applejack was only proving Celestia's point. He bowed to the girls and got up and left under the ruse of needing fresh air despite having massive windows behind him in the room open. It was at this point Twilight started to see the flaw in humans and more importantly why war and violence was so prominent in Sean's world.

"Celestia was right, humans really are hated here.” Sean said as a pained thought began to torment him. “Maybe I should take her advice and go off on my own." Sean said before grabbing books for reading and kindling and a Spear off the wall before sneaking out of the castle and towards a large wooded area near the back of Ponyville.

Twilight told the girls about what happened. After Sean had left the castle to go out and prove Applejack wrong Twilight came to his room to check on him and saw him running towards the Everfree Forest. She quickly ran through the castle in a panic before reaching the meeting room, she burst through the front doors terrified beyond belief.

"Girls we gotta go now, Sean took a spear and some survival books and ran off towards the Everfree Forest." Twilight said loudly as the girls all gasped and clambered to their hooves. Applejack steps forward and grabs her saddle bags.

"Is he stupid? Why of all places would he choose there?" Rainbow Dash asked as the girls left the castle and began running to the forest.

"Applejack, you have to watch what you say around humans. They are a race that when told they can't do something they feel the need to prove their accuser wrong and they often end up hurt or dead." Twilight said as they galloped through town as fast as possible trying to catch up with him.

Meanwhile, in the Forest, Sean began to search around for a clearing to set up camp for the night. "Huh, this place looks just like the forests on Earth. I wonder if the animals are the same here too?" Sean asked wading through thick foliage before coming across a seemingly empty cave. "Perfect it's deep, dark, and will shelter me from the elements. Good job, Sean, this will totally make Applejack choke on her words." He said with confidence before setting up the tent he had grabbed from Twilight's closet along with a pillow, blanket, and bedroll.

After an hour or two Sean finished setting up and crawled into the small cramped tent, he shuffled around before getting comfortable and laid back letting out a deep sigh. "Well, then I can just sit back and relax before hunting for food." He said as he dozed off. Meanwhile, outside the cave a group of small black ponies with green eyes, tattered wings, and sharp fangs found Sean's cave and out of curiosity investigated the only light source from the cave, A small fire outside Sean's tent gently danced and flickered in the cave almost as if enticing the creatures inside.

"You two, go, and inform our Queen that there is something she will want to see. We will work on getting whatever's in that cave out." The creatures said to each other as they broke off and headed into the deep cave Searching for the fire.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have skipped the history of this forest, if did then maybe Sean wouldn't have wandered off." Twilight said worried that she may never see Sean again. It was at this moment that Twilight realized a familiar fear was building up inside her. The fear of failure: if Sean were to die not only would she have failed Sean but more importantly she would have failed Celestia. Another feeling made its way in whenever she would now mention Sean but she couldn't place this feeling was it love, Hate, Worry, or maybe something deeper? Twilight wasn't completely sure but she knew that her and her friends needed to get Sean back safely.

"What is a human? Why do you bring me this information?" The tall lanky black mare said as she stepped down from her throne. Her eyes were an emerald green, her hair was long and blue and hung in her face perfectly, the wings that were once whole and beautiful where now green and tattered like her body, her svelte black frame curved perfectly around her legs.

"A human is a creature that hasn't been seen in Equestria for thousands of years, they served under Princess-- gah!" The creature was interrupted by a sharp blast of magic that slammed him against the wall.

"I know that part, you idiots, why do you think I would care about an extinct species?" The mare said angrily as the drones shivered in fear.

"H-He is alive, and more importantly his equipment bares the same Cutie Mark as Princess Twilight Sparkle." He said as as she turned to him and smirked walking over to the window that from a distance could reveal the caves location thanks to green lights the other creatures places at it's entrance.

"Hmmm, he is a friend of twilights is he?" She laughs maniacally. "Well then I guess I'll go pay him a visit. Tell me, does he know what a changeling is?" She asked as her minion walks up next to her and smiles. Her mind flooded with the memories of Twilight ruining the Royal Wedding and stopping her from taking over Ponyville.

"He was stupid enough to set up camp in our Territory so no he has no idea." He said as she smiled and left her hive and teleported to the cave entrance.

"Time to see what we are working with." She said as she put on a lost and helpless face as she walked through the cave crying loud enough to wake Sean. The cries echoed through the cave as Sean slowly sat up looking around his tent. Something about the cry registered a primal fear he had never felt before, yet it also elicited a feeling of sorrow as if he were hearing the wails of a distressed child. Sean steadied his nerves and put his fear aside before climbing out of the tent and begin walking towards the source of the pained cries. “Who’s there!?” Sean yelled as he light a nearby piece of would to use as a makeshift torch. As he wandered through the cave he came across a black mare roughly around Celestia’s size crying in a corner. Worried Sean Immediately ran over to the mare and crouched beside her. “Miss are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?” He asked helping her to her hooves. Sean took off his coat and placed it around her as the mare blushed slightly. “Come with me, I have a small camp not far from here I can give you food and water before helping you.” Sean said as the mare nodded and began walking alongside him as she flashed a evil smile.

In the distance a small rabbit watched the entire scene and began rushing away from the cave. The rabbit scurried quickly before reaching Fluttershy as Twilight and her friends arrived at the forest, the rabbit quickly hopped up and whispered into Fluttershy’s ear as she gasped in horror.

“Oh no, this isn’t good. Girls, Sean ran into Queen Chrysalis and she is in the cave with him.” Fluttershy said as everyone’s eyes grew wide with fear. Despite their constant victories against Chrysalis they knew that Sean wouldn’t be so lucky, they knew that Chrysalis would strike and kill Sean the moment he let down his guard. Twilight knew that time was of the essence and the more they stood around, the closer Sean was to certain doom and Twilight wasn’t about to let that happen...