Chapters Disclaimer : I do not own anything featured in this story, other than the creativity of the OC Pony himself and the ideas behind the story. Otherwise, everything else is not mine, even my life. Right now, it is officially owned by Death, but I can still write, or type in this case.
Author's Note: Hey, this is Soto Konoha! This is my first fimfiction, so any comments on improvements are very much appreciated to help me improve for more stories to come, and chapters. Okay, I am done wasting your time, so here is the story, enjoy it, and please don't go easy.
One Life, Two People
Anonymous Message
Looking at Earth from space, people can describe it in many ways. Fertile, green, peaceful, the perfect place to live. Everyone would stare in awe at the luscious, yet gentle, green of the land as it is surrounded by the calm oceans of the navy blue sea. Watching as the white clouds engulf everything, blending it together creating what is known to be a powerful force of nature. This place, where the humans live, is the most beautiful planet anyone could lay their eyes on, but it cannot be considered the same when seen up close.
The planet that the humans live on resembles the Gilded Age. It has this magnificent, bronze plating covering it, showing off how beautiful it looks, but when someone scratches away at the bronze, they are left with this plaster that, if shown, would make the world an ugly place to live. Trees were being chopped down by the second, economy going bad, citizens were getting poor, and the poor were getting poorer. There were many problems going on this globe, but there have been some good times where their problems would not get in their way. When ever these amazing events occurs, the citizens would gather with their parents and family, and they would all celebrate, and thank, for having everything that they have and for being alive.... except for him.
Unlocking the two locks on the door with a blood-stained key, the door made a click and swung open. Walking through the hallway, littered with clothes and empty bags of chips, the kid made his way towards the guest bathroom. Walking past the living room, it clearly has not been cleaned in years. The table was over taken by take-out food, leaving not a single inch of room to put anything else on it. The floor wasn't any better with more than just, yet, more clothes and food, which laid in a path that could be assumed to be his walking path, but also laid a number of blunt instruments, a large pile of tangled cords, and what is left of an Insignia 42 inch flat screen plasma television. Making his way to the bathroom, he threw his jacket on the couch and littered his shoes in a spot where there wasn't a mess. Opening the mirror cabinet of the bathroom, he began to sing Volatile Times by IAMX as he laid out some gauze, bandages, a cup of water, some Hydrogen Peroxide, and wrapping tape. He started cleaning the cuts and scratches on his peach-tanned skin, pouring Hydrogen Peroxide on the wound, not minding the burning sensation as is clears it of bacteria, and put band-aides over the cleaned cuts. Working shampoo in his black and red hair to get whatever blood might have fallen inside. With that, leaving his hair in a wet, ratty mess, he went back to the living room.
Grabbing a Coke, a family size bag of Lays, and the home phone along the way, he planted himself on the only clean spot on the couch. Opening the bag of chips and soda, the guy turned the phone on to listen to the voice messages left by most family and stupid advertisers. "Four new message, " the voice mail always said before reading off each message. "First new message from Ranger Konoha, sent on January 20, 2012: Hey bro, Happy Birthday! I sent you a present and a message to your email. I hope you are doing alright, you haven't called in four years, and I am starting to get worried. I am fixing to try and--" The message was cut off by a single press of the delete button. "Next new message from Mom-- " Right as it said those three letters the message was immediately erased from the phone. "Next new message from phone number 1-800-- " Delete. "Next knew message from phone number 702-612-9476, sent on February 20, 2012: Hey punk, you still got 200 bucks that you owe me. Remember I know where you live god dammit, if you don't give me my money by the end of the week, I will fuck you up. You will be lucky that I will keep--" Delete. He simply groaned at the messages and pulled out his laptop from under a pile of Chinese take-out, watching as the containers all fell to the floor, and the empty space replaced with more junk food.
As the laptop came alive, the desktop came to show a few icons such as Maple Story, Adobe Photoshop, Audition, Premier, and a bunch of other random icons. Opening Google Chrome, and going to his MSN account, he check his messages to see what other bullshit was sent to him. Showing the first twenty-five message of the 27 new ones he had, the first one was from his brother. He went to delete it, but was stopped by his own free will, and he placed in in a folder of a bunch of unread messages from his brother. Going through the 25 messages that he could see, they were all but junk mail with ridiculous advertisements, and he blocked and deleted every single one of them. Left with only message, he suspected it to be just some more advertisements. He checked the message, then clicked delete, but the message didn't go away. He clicked the thrash can a multiple amount of times, but the message remained at a stand still. Looking at the where it came from, it said the sender was Anonymous Message. The description caught his eye as it said "Instead of trying to delete this message, as you do all other messages, you should read it." You have got to be kidding me. The kid thought to himself. Not only can I not delete this damn message, but it know exactly what I am doing and telling me what to do. This is fucking perfect, what more can I ask for? Opening the message he began reading:
Dear Soto Konoha,
I was very intrigued at your way of living life. How you don't care for other people's feelings, you get into this big fights that either end in your victory or, mostly, your defeat. It is truly inspiring to see someone cause so much discord in their way of life. I have never known life could be so hazardous to people until I saw you, and for this, I have sent you this message with a proposition. So listen very closely for I won't simply tell you, and your kind would say, up front.
You are allowed to make one wish, Whether it's fine and noble, or just really childish. Upon this wish it will come true, Leaving you with seven nights to choose a path that splits into two. You must find out what I want you to choose before the seventh night, Or I will send you to a world you will hate with all of your might. Once you have found what I have wanted, you are able to choose, To stay in this dream land of yours, or return home to the land you so happen to accuse. Just remember, depending on your wish my rules may change, Leaving you with other goals that may seem strange. My ideas will not hurt you in any sort of way, Unless you can't make the decision by the dawn of the eighth day. I will happily await your response, take all the time you need, To make wish that you want, for I can only help you proceed.
Sincerely, Anon
Finishing the letter, Soto sat their in silence thinking how stupid someone must be to send a letter that is full of bullshit and lies. "Oh yeah," he finally said aloud. "Sure, why don't we all make a wish. Here, lets wish for the perfect world, free of gangs, thugs, and many problems that Earth seems to have. Let us hope that this 'wish' will send me such a place where everyone is nice, and care free, and the people there accept everything about someone because that sure does fucking exist. Not that it will even help me, but come one, I am not a fucking idiot. I wasn't born yesterday, and I certainly made plenty of wishes in my life. None came true because everyone knows wishes are just another damn way of bring some simple minded person's hopes up just so that they could be shot down in realization that their wish never came true." Seizing himself from venting anymore anger at a letter, he noticed he received another message appeared. Checking it was from the same anonymous person, he opened the letter and started reading what it held:
I do appreciate the sarcasm in your speech, but as I said early, the very first wish that you give me will the one wish that you make. Even if you didn't mean for this to be your wish, this is what you got, and I am proud to say: Your wish has been granted. Now, that your wish is clear, my goal is set, and your job is to find out what I want you to learn from this amazing adventure that you so happily wanted. I wish you the best of luck on your quest, and most importantly, don't screw up!
Sincerely, Anon
Finishing the sentence, Soto jumped is shock and threw himself over his couch hiding from what ever damage he could avoid. Nothing happened. He looked over the couch to see that the laptop was still there, and the message had an extra message further down on the screen. Climbing back over the couch, Soto continued reading:
P.S.S.: Hahaha, I can't believe you actually thought that this would blow up, priceless. You are a laugh when you want to be, you know? Seriously though, Your wish will begin tomorrow, and, if I say so myself, you will definitely notice the change in your dream world from your world itself.
After reading the last word on the letter, both letters vanished into thin air, leaving the inbox empty of messages. Unable to find words to put how he felt, Soto simply sighed in exhaustion, and he made is his toward the coldest, darkest, and quietest place that he knows, his room. Walking into the room, it is the only clean place in the house. The bed was neatly made with no creases to be seen. There was a small book shelf over in the corner of the room holding a bunch of books, a pair of prescription and sunglasses, and a deck of cards. Resting next to the book shelf was an Aerodyne Jazz Bass, brand new and untouched. Posters covered one of the walls of the room with cars, guns, and the grim reaper. Without turning on the lights, Soto made his way toward his bed, falling on top without worrying about wearing his clothes or if he is in pajamas.
"Just you wait," he spoke to himself "once tomorrow comes, you will laugh your ass off at the person who sent you that crazy letter. There is no way such a dream would come true because there is no such thing as a place that you have just describe. Everywhere in life is a living hell..."
Can't This Day Get Any Weirder?
Can't This Day Get Any Weirder?
"Ahahahaha," a maniacal laugh came from the strange figure standing in front of Soto.
"Who are you?" Soto questioned the figure "Are you the one that sent me that message?"
"Yes, indeed I was. It's just perfect. I didn't have the power to break free from my imprisonment, so I was only able to sit and watch as all the foals of the land run around laughing and playing. There was just no fun in that, so I reached for all the magic I could conjure to show me someone I could cause the discord I wanted to see, and it lead me straight to you!" He finished pointing at me, and before I could say something back, he continued on. "I wasn't able to do this right away because I used all my energy just to find you, so I had to wait another three months, or so, just to send you this offer."
"So you are a villain? That is what I hear clear as day. What do you want from me? Are you trying to get me to release you from you confinement? Why can't you--" Soto was interrupted by the sound of someone snapping their finger. A, what looked like, sketchbook appeared in the figure's right hand and a quill in his left.
"To save you the bother of asking I will answer all your questions, and in return you will answer my questions." With that he began writing some stuff down in the book. A few minutes of silence went by before the figure started to talk. "Yes, I am very much a villain, but as of right now, I am just searching for something to entertain me. You are simply just a show for me to watch while I am suck in my prison, and no, you do not hold any good enough power to help release me from here. I can try to gain power to break out myself, but that, itself, takes a large amount of years. It hasn't been that long since I got imprisoned, but before I start mustering up some power to break free and cause more destruction, I need some entertainment to keep me laughing for the rest of my time. You happen to be that person, congratulations!" He exclaimed throwing his arms in the air before continuing. "Now, what is your name?"
"You know my name..." Soto said, irritated that it would ask a question that it knows the answer to.
He started writing on his book again. "Okay, what is your favorite color?"
"Why does it matter?"
"Black and red, okay. This is going so well, I know exactly what to do. How old are you?"
"I am not going to answer that," Soto replied while thinking of how he figured out what his favorite colors were.
"19!? Whoa, you look younger than that. What a twist!" It said with a malicious smile on his face. "Now that you have- wake up- this is what you will be seen as on your way to- wake up-" It showed Soto the picture it drew, but he noticed that he said wake up twice, which was completely out of context.
"What? You aren't making sense right now."
"Well that's because you are waking up right now. Now, I will be watching from this point on, and if you want to talk to me, just go to sleep. We will talk in your dreams about- wake up-. Now I will go. Have a wonderful time!" Before another word could be spilled, it disappeared into thin air.
Not only was Soto annoyed by the random dream about his "anonymous messenger", which he was hope a good nights rest would clear him the the shear stupidity of the message, but there was this guy yelling in his ear telling him to wake up. Who does this guy this he is waking me up he thought to himself. And how in the hell did he get into my house. I know I locked the door, and I never open my windows at all. Bolting up from his sleep, Soto quickly turn to face the guy waking him up. "Will you shu..." Before he could finish his sentence, he found himself facing a stallion wearing armor of gold and blue. At first he thought it was the horse, and his owner would be sitting on top of the well fit stallion, but when he looked to find the owner, he wasn't around. He looked around his surroundings, noticing that he was not his house anymore, but, instead, he was laying on the greenest grass he has ever seen. It seemed to be perfectly trimmed to where there wasn't the slightest piece of grass that was cut unevenly.
“Sir,” he heard a voice said behind him. Turning to see what was calling his name, he only saw the stallion and nothing more. Looking behind the stallion, Soto half expected someone to be hiding behind it just pulling his leg, but no one was hiding behind, under, or over the stallion.
“What are you looking for?” Hearing the voice again, but, this time, it was ever so close to his ear. Soto jumped up in shock looking behind himself, yet again, to only see the stallion.
“What the buck?” Soto asked. Took him a few seconds to realize that he said buck instead of fuck. “What the buck?” he repeated to only gain the same results as before. “Buck, buck, buck! Dang nabbit!” He started to get irritated, being incapable of saying many words the way he has wanted them to come out. Now, it was as if he was not able to control the way he talks. “What are you looking at?” Soto asked the stallion, whom was just casually staring at him.
“I should be asking you why you are yelling at yourself,” the stallion replied in full volume. This made Soto fall to the ground with a big yelp. The stallion just looked at me with a confused look, but he shook it off as if nothing happened. “Anyways, you are sleeping in a restricted area, and I am going to have to take you in, as precautions, to be sure you are not a threat to Canterlot.”
“C-c-canterlot?” Soto stuttered looking at the Pegasus with disbelieve. “What the buck are you talking about!? Where am I? Why are you talking? What the buck is going on!? WHY ARE YOU TALKING!?”
The Pegasus started to stare at him blankly again. He thought Soto was some crazy pony, not that Soto knew he was a pony, yet. “Umm…” the Pegasus finally said after what seemed like hours of silence. “Canterlot is the city right over there,” he point toward a city hanging off a mountain in the distance before continuing. “I am saying you are not allowed to be here, and I will have to take you in to assure that you are not a spy, or a threat, to Equestria or the Princess. You are in the Flowing Meadows of Starswirled. I am talking because I was taught to talk by my parents? I am taking you in to Princess Celestia to verify that you are not a threat, like I said early, and I already answered that question. Also, if I am not supposed to talk, then what does that make of you?” He pointed his hoof at me as if trying to show me something. Looking in his well polished armor, Soto only found his reflexion replaced with a pony. Instead of a human, there stood a colt with a deep red coat. His mane laid in black and red, while his tail flowed like a fire being consumed by the dark forces that surrounded it. Wings spread at full wing span and horn sharper than the spear the Pegasus, before him, held on his back, Soto realized that the pony standing in the reflexion of his own body was himself.
“Those were rhetorical questions,” Soto barked at the Pegasus in armor. “I didn’t need an answer, Mr. I-have-to-answer-to-every-question. What are you supposed to be anyways?”
“I am a Royal Guard to Princess Celestia,” he replied casually.
“Oh, Princess Celestia! Wow, that is amazing, and this is ‘the Flowing Meadow of Starswirled’?”
“That is correct?” he half questioned, wondering where he was going with these questions.
“Okay, so then this is supposed to be some sort of secret base, or historical landmark, or something like that? Just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, good. Then, this turf is not to be destroyed in anyway?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so you would hate it if someone did something really brutal to this land? Like they would stomp and crush it. Here I will show you what I mean.” With that, Soto drove his hooves into the ground, and he started dragging them closer towards him revealing the earth beneath the grass. The guard snarled at him and started advancing.
“That’s the last straw!” he roared.
“Ha, let’s see you catch me then if you really are pissed.” He went to take off in a full neck sprint. He made it 5 feet before being stopped by his own hooves. Having no experience with trotting, or running, on four hooves, Soto tripped over his own hooves and fell face first into the grass.
“Caught you,” the Pegasus mocked as he tied Soto with some rope. Throwing him on his back, the Royal Guard began his way back to the city. “Now to take you to the Princess before you cause any more trouble.”
Being carrier through the grand hall way of the Royal Canterlot Palace, Soto struggle to unbind himself, but it was found useless since the ropes were tied in a pattern he was not familiar with. It wasn’t the first time he has been tied up and taken somewhere, but it was different because he always knew how to get out of the ties. This time, he doesn’t know the pattern, more or less has pose able to do it like the other times, to break free from his confinement.
“Wow, you haven’t broken out of that yet?” the Royal Guard asked looking back to see Soto still struggling to get the rope untied. “That is a very basic knot that even a foal can get out of. You really are different, as if you aren’t from this place.”
“How did you know?” Soto asked sarcastically. “Was it when I tripped over myself that gave it away?”
Making it at the end of the hall way, the Pegasus dropped Soto on the ground next to him and untied the ropes just by pressing on the knot. Then, the Royal Guard took a bow as Soto tried to make his way to all fours, slipping on the clean, polished floors as he tried to get used to his new appearance.
“Welcome, young one, to Equestria,” Soto heard in front of him. Looking up from his focus to regain balance, his eyes came upon something that seemed to bring joy to him… mentally. He never showed that he was physically joyful. “My name is Princess Celestia, and I have heard some interesting things about you. What is your name?”
Soto didn’t speak a word as he looked at the princess with a curious eye. He would have been lost in thought forever if the guard hadn’t nudged him back into reality, letting out a small chuckle. “Oh, uh, hey,” he finally said, scratching his head, and almost losing balance. “I am Soto Konoha, and I don’t feel welcomed here.” He looked that the Pegasus Royal Guard, who just stood watching him intently.
“Oh, sorry about that Soto. You may excuse yourselves.” She said turning her attention toward the two guards at the door and the one next to me. They left the room with a bow and all that was left was Celestia, Soto, and another alicorn. “Also this is Luna, my younger sister. You seem a bit lost as to what is happening right now.”
“Yeah, everything is sort of hitting me all at once right now and it is getting annoying,” Soto replied calmly. “I don’t even belong here for that matter. I don’t know what is going on. First, I get a random message from some guy that talks in riddles. Then, I see him in my dreams, and…”
“Speaks in riddles thou say?” Luna interjected before he could continue on.
“Yeah, why, do you know him?”
“Sister?” Luna looked toward Celestia for an answer.
“Yes, it must have been Discord, and that would make sense on why you are here. You are from the… Human galaxy, is that correct?”
“Yes?”
“Do you mind filling us in on the situation?”
“How should I trust you that you won’t deceive me in anyway?” Soto asked knitting his eye brow.
“If you can fill us in on your situation, we might be able to figure out a solution to your problem and send you back to your home town.”
Soto paused and shrugged in agreement. This was probably the only way he thought he could get back to his world quicker. So he told the princesses his problem from the time he got home to the current hour. Princess Celestia later asked about Soto’s previous life and what his thoughts on his world were like. He hesitated, and later decided not to tell them anything about them, barking at them to mind their business. Even without telling her anything, Celestia may have already pinned pointed the riddle down to the letter, but she kept it to herself and decided there was another way for him to find out without her telling him.
“Well,” Celestia started “I wish I could continue this solution-making, but I have a lot of other work that I have to attend to. Also, you don’t have a place to stay. I can send you with my faithful student to Ponyville, and she, and her friends, can help you find a solution to your problems. She should be back soon from her errands, so you can depart as soon as within an hour.”
“Wait, I am not staying here?” Soto asked looking around the palace once more to see all it had to show.
“I am afraid not. I have many important businesses to care for. I am not saying that yours isn’t important, but I believe that Twilight and her friends will be able to assist you the most on your problem.”
“Twilight? That’s your student right? So I am stuck going to this ‘Ponyville’ to figure out the problem all by myself, but I am going to have to go there—“
As if on cue, Twilight Sparkle walks in, levitating a dozen bags full of food and other objects. “With that?” Twilight just looked up to notice that they were talking about her. She was planning on saying something, but the Princess beat her to it.
“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student,” she said with ease. “This is Soto Konoha, and he is a human from the other galaxy. It seems as though Discord has brought him here, leaving him with 7 days to find out what his intentions are, or he will throw Soto into eternal chaos. I need you, and your friends, to help Soto find out what his goal is supposed to be, so that he is capable of returning to his home world.”
“Wow,” Twilight only spoke before she finally got full grasp on the request Celestia gave her. “Princess, you can count on me to find a solution to this problem.” Turning toward Soto, she took a small bow. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”
“Soto Konoha,” is all he said in a bit of a harsh tone that almost sounded like he was talking to someone he hated.
Twilight took half a step backwards from the intimidation. “It’s a pleasure meeting you,” she spoke in a lower voice.
“Whatever, so when are we leaving vampire pony?”
“Vampire pony?”
Soto just excused her for not understanding the joke since he didn’t know that they didn’t know what Twilight was in the human world. “Yeah, let’s just get going.”
“Be sure to report to me your findings on the matter at hand,” Princess Celestia called out as they made their way to leaving.
“I will Princess, and you will not be disappointed. I will keep Discord from winning his twisted games and find a way to get Soto back to his home world. You can count on me.” Soto chuckled at the last part.
“So what is Ponyville like?” he asked as they made their way toward the chariot.
“It is full of the best ponies any pony can ask for. You are going to love it there.” She looked at him with a big smile.
“Yeah, I will totally love it.” Great , he thought to himself. Something that I didn’t need to deal with. Can’t this day get any worse?
Introductions and Splinters
Introductions and Splinters
Soto didn’t understand why he was being flown to the town when he has wings of his own. He thought about it for a second before ridding of the idea since he never actually used his wings at all. He could barely walk straight as it is, and if he tried flying, he thinks he will just crash and die trying. Then he thought if he had wing, then he was like a bird, and if he was like a bird, then flying will come instinctively. Yet, he decided to try flying when he was closer to the ground than the distance he was at right now.
The flight to Ponyville was relatively quiet between Twilight and Soto. None of them spoke a word ever since they left, and the dark aura flowing in the air didn’t help with breaking the silence. Doing her best to break the silence, and the dark aura, Twilight turned to Soto. “So, what is the, uh, Human world like?” She asked doing her best to keep a smile on her through the gloom in the air.
“It is very much like your world,” Soto responded. Not being the type to really express his feelings for anything, he gave as many short, unclear answers as he could so that she wouldn’t ask anymore. It didn’t work.
“Oh, so it is really peaceful, lovely, and beautiful?”
“Actually, I was going to say fake, but now that you mention it, I can also say this place is downright disgusting.” He turned away, giving Twilight the hint that he didn’t want to talk, but she kept asking questions.
“What are the people like there? Are they like us as well? Do you guys fly or use magic or are you just like earth ponies? What do you guys look like?”
“Too much to explain in small words, but if I had to, it would be stupid. Nothing like you guys. I don’t even know what you are talking about. We are like you, but with less fur and have pose able thumbs.”
“So you guys are like monkeys? So you guys are incapable of swimming because monkeys don’t have much fat to help them float, and if you are like them, then you must not have that much fat to keep you afloat. Do you guys get cutie marks as well?”
“We are better than monkeys. We can swim if we learned. Also, what the buck is a cutie mark?”
“Well, first, there is no need to use that kind of language. Second, a cutie mark is your special talent that you are better at than any other pony. It will appear on your flank when you realize what is special about yourself.”
“Okay, then yes, we got ‘cutie marks’. But unlike you ponies, we have more than the one. People will get their cutie marks until it covers their whole body.”
“Wow, then humans sure do have a lot of talents. Do you have a cutie mark?”
“Do you always ask this many questions?”
“Well, I have never met one of your kind before, so I was hoping to get as much information as possible about your life.”
“Now that you mention it, this ride has been a bit annoying and getting to my nerves.”
Twilight cocked her head in confusion. “Why is that?”
Soto looked straight into her eyes with his burning red eyes of grimace. “You started talking.” He turned is back toward her again just look over the land. Twilight shrunk back to her original position thinking about asking the questions later on a better day. For the rest of the ride, it remained silent for once he makes it to Ponyville, such a word will never exist anymore.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the two ponies arrived in Ponyville. Everypony was walking around, doing their daily routine and jobs, except for one hot pink pony with cotton candy hair. Immediately spotting them from the 300 yard distance between them, the pony happily hopped her way toward them. She stopped in mid air noticing that she didn’t know one of them. She made a gasp that they could hear from where they stood only to notice seconds later the pony disappeared in a pink flash. Both of them looked around seeing if they could spot the pony off the bat. Soto looked at Twilight for an explanation.
“Don’t worry, she is always like that,” she simply said. Turning around she came face-to-face with the pink pony, and she jumped back with a big yelp.
“Twilight!” the pony whined. “You didn’t tell me you had a coltfriend.” She poked Soto in the back, which freaked out. He turned his head back around to find that she wasn’t standing next to Twilight. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie. You must be new here because I have never seen you here before, and I know you haven’t been here before because I know everypony in Ponyville, and I mean everypony. And since you’re new here, that means you don’t have any friends, and the thought of you not having any friends made me sad, so I wanted to be your first friend and now I am right here meeting you.”
“Pinkie,” Twilight exhaled “he is not my coltfriend. This is Soto Konoha, and the princess requested our help, so I want you to gather everypony—“
“Pft!” Soto almost started laughing when he realized she said everypony instead of everybody.
Ignoring the rude sound, Twilight continued, “I want you to gather everypony and meet me at the library as soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry Twilight, but I have this big cake that I have to finish and deliver in an hour.”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine, you do that, and I will round up everypony. By the way, if you are working on a cake right now, why are you out here?”
“Oh horse apples!” Pinkie ran away in a flash leaving Twilight and Soto alone.
“Let me know now that there is something better in this stupid town, or I am just going to walk out of here,” Soto threatened already walking his way out of Ponyville, but Twilight jumped in his path to stop him.
“Don’t worry, Pinkie Pie is Pinkie Pie,” she encouraged him, lightly patting his shoulder. He gave her a flat look, and Twilight saw that she wasn’t making him feel better and pulled her hoof away from him. She gave him a sheepish small and ushered him toward a different direction. “Trust me, all the ponies here are different, and I am sure there is one you can relate to. Maybe you might share some similar interests as Applejack.”
“Applejack?” Soto inquired. He also wondered who would name their child after a drink, not to mention an alcohol drink. Now that he thought about it, no one he met so far has had any real names when he compared the names to his world.
“Yes, she is a very honest, strong-willed pony. She is very hard working and independent, and she can also be a bit competitive if you challenge her to anything. You two might actually get along really well.”
“That’s a laugh,” Soto fell silent as he was taken back through the memories of his past. Tears started to swell up in his eyes, but he fought them back and continued walking ahead of Twilight. “Let’s get this over with, bookworm.”
Walking through the valley of apple orchards, the sound of someone knocking on wood could only be heard in the distance. As the purple and black ponies made their way further into the farm, an orange Earth pony became more visible, kicking the apple trees and watching as the apple fell neatly in a crowd of baskets around the tree. Then, she would continue to the next tree that had a bunch of baskets under it. She moved in a fluent motion that made each step and kick she made create a beat that repeated in perfect harmony. No flaws in the sound, no overly flat or sharp sounds from anything she was doing as if she has been playing to this beat all of her life.
As their approach became more apparent to the farm pony, she stopped herself in mid kick. “Oh, howdy there, Twi. What brings ya here at this time of day?” She then looked at Soto with a moderately observant eye. She looked back at Twilight knowing that she knew what the Earth pony was about to ask.
Twilight nodded and explained, “Applejack, this is Soto Konoha, and Princess Celestia has requested our assistance in helping him get his way back home. I need you to meet me and the others at my house in about an hour. Do you think you can do that?”
“Course ah can. Ah just got t’ finish buckin’ these here tree, and ah can head over t’ yer place lickity split.”
Soto bursted into tears of laughter as he roll around on the ground trying to keep control of his thoughts. It was unsuccessful as he continued to chuckle while the two mares looked at him in confusion.
“What’s so gosh darn funny?” Applejack finally said when his laughter started to die down.
“You said you were bucking trees,” Soto choked out over his laughter. “I didn’t know that ponies swinged that way.”
“Soto!” Twilight exclaimed. “There is no reason for you to use such imprecate language around here.”
Soto immediately fell silent to the word ‘imprecate’. He stared straight at her, along with the orange mare, looking for an explanation.
“Execration,” Twilight corrected herself in hopes they know what she is trying to imply. They continued to looking dumb founded. “Malediction?” Twilight asked slowly taking a few steps back. Her face started to turn red with embarrassment for not even her friend knew what she was talking about. Finally, she sighed and half said, half asked, “Dirty language?”
“Oh!” The colt and mare said simultaneously as they finally understood the thoroughly embarrassed unicorn in front of them.
“It’s not my fault,” Soto replied to Twilights comment. “She is the one that said she was bucking trees.”
“Perhaps ya misunderstood me, sugarcube. Ah said I was bucking trees. Ah never said ah was bucking trees.”
The young colt’s expression took a drastic change from being happy to a more serious and questioning face. If he was in the human world, he would look like a New Yorker. “What?”
“Well,” Applejack gave it some thought before speaking up again. “Ah’m just buckin’ apple trees, but yer sayin’ that ah’m buckin’ apple trees. Ya see, us Ponyvillians don’t do such things. If we were t’ buck our crops and not buck ‘em ‘stead, we’d lose it all and no pony will have any food. Then again, if we did harvest certain food that we bucked, and tried buckin’ the bucked food, we would be left with so little food t’ buck, and that means we won’t be able t’ buck bucked, bucked harvest. ‘Stead, we’d just be left with bucked objects that don’t have any nutritional value anymore from all the buckin’ they had t’ go through. That’s why these trees here are the best objects t’ buck because no matter how many times ya buck ‘em, they ain’t gonna fall on ya or anything. You will be doin’ what ah’m doin’ right now, buckin’ bucked apple trees. Y’all understand where ah’m getting’ at?”
“You know what? This is now starting to piss me off. I’m leaving before I buck stuff up, and the both of you can buck off. Continue bucking your trees.” Soto started walking in the direction he came from, and when he was too far to hear or see anything, Applejack and Twilight started giggling.
“You may have gone a little too far with the teasing Applejack,” Twilight concluded slapping hooves with the other mare.
“Sorry, Twi, ah just had t’ do it. Besides that colt needs t’ lighten up a bit. He seems like the one t’ be angry all the time. Shoot, ah could’ve mistaken him fer bein’ Glida.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Twilight looked back to find Soto waiting for her further down in the valley of apples. “He just needs a friend that will help him with all of his troubles. I will see you later at the library, Applejack.”
“See y’all later, and be sure t’ come back now, ya hear!?” the orange farm pony called out before getting back to her routine.
“Okay, Soto, we can go visit m next friend. She lives really close to here, so we can tell her real quick and get going over to Carousel Boutique.”
It was a five minute walker before the two arrived at a clear open field. Looking around, Soto didn’t see any houses in near site from where they stood. Clearing Twilight’s throat, to get the wandering colt’s attention, she pointed her hoof toward the sky. What lied about was a cloud house. Its structure was built to appear as a three story house, and the kind only owned by the best of all pegasi. A rainbow waterfall flowed its way off the cloud, only to be caught by another and magically teleported back where it began, so it could continue to shine in all its glory.
“Holy… Celestia?” Soto looked back at Twilight to ensure that is a proper way of using her name. Twilight nodded and gave him a smile, but was quickly rejected when he turned his back on her. “This is probably the coolest thing yet that I have seen. This girl is filthy rich if she has a house as cool as this.”
“Actually, I always wondered how she was able to afford such a remarkable house,” Twilight joined him as they both observe the cloud house until a flash of Rainbow passed over head and digressed their attention toward it. The flash came to a quick stop in front of the two intrigued ponies to reveal itself to be a rainbow-maned, cyan pegasus.
And the mood has been killed, Soto thought to himself.
“What’s up, Twilight?” the cyan pony asked. “Kinda weird finding you around here cause I am usually the one going to your place looking for some more Daring Do books you might have.”
“Hey Rainbow Dash. I actually wanted you to meet me and the others at the library because I have some imperative news to tell everypony. This is Soto Konoha, by the way. Soto, this is Rainbow Dash.”
“You know what,” he said tapping his chin as a gesture of pondering in his thoughts. “What is wrong with all you ponies’ parents? Where do they come up with these names, and why would they name their foals this? Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack. It sounds like Applejack was named after a alcohol drink, you were named that way because your parents were just looking in the sky and saw a star, and she was given the name that is the epitome of all bad jokes.”
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” he rhetorically asked with a mischievous smile painted across his muzzle. “Where I come from, when we see anypony with anything that is rainbow, they are considered gay or lesbian.” The unicorn and pegasus looked at him waiting for an explanation. “In your case, lesbian, this is when one mare is in love with another mare.”
Rainbow Dash face immediately started to flush to a color similar to her eyes. “Wait… Hold on… What… No no no… I mean… I’m not… I can’t… Twilight!” She kneeled in a begging position.
Twilight simply sigh and started, “First of all, that is a really crazy accusation you ponies make. Second, Rainbow Dash is not a fillyfooler…” She kind of paused at the thought. “Well, at least I don’t think she is,” she muttered to herself ensuring not to be heard by either pony.
“Denial only supports my case. Also, being a tomboy and how she has such a raspy voice shows how much more of a ‘fillyfooler’ she is.”
“Don’t mind really any of his insults Rainbow. He’s a bit… unused to everything that is happening in his life right now. When do you think you can come over?”
“Well, I can start getting over there right now if you want. Also my name resembles who I am.” She quickly moved her attention to Soto, for she has yet to let go of his previous commentary. “At the speeds I go at, I will leave you in my rainbow trail in a flash. I am the reason why all rainbows are twenty percent cooler, and don’t you forget it.”
“Pretty cocky, I like that, but you still have yet to sway me into believing you are not a fillyfooler.”
“I am not a fillyfooler. You are probably just spouting out an old mare’s tale that everyone forgot because of how ridiculous it sounds.”
The two glared into each other’s eyes, throwing comeback after comeback at one another. They would have been at it forever if Twilight didn’t intervene pushing the two apart with her magic. “Enough!” she yelled out. “You,” pointing at Soto “stay quiet for the rest of the walk if all you are going to say bad things about people. And you,” pointing at the rainbow pegasus “stop making the situation worse than it already is.”
“But-“ Rainbow started only to be stopped by the purple unicorn again.
“No ‘buts’. You can head over to my house if you want, but no one will be there. So if you want someone to be there when you get there, than you should head over to AJ’s and help her with her chores. I’ll meet you and everypony else at the library shortly. Come on Soto we can’t waste anymore time.” She started trotting her way back toward Ponyville. Soto rolled his eyes and, somewhat, ran after her since he was still not used to the transformation.
“Okay, we are on a bit of a time crunch, so we will just have to go to the last two and tell them to go there and leave.” The purple pony continued to explain while making at a steady, but hasty, pace. “There will be no conversations because we will waste too much time, and I will be late.”
“And whose fault is that,” Soto mocked with a smug look.
“Yeah, I know I shouldn’t have stopped and talked to everypony since we are on a time crunch.”
Arriving at Carousel Boutique, a marshmallow pony with a well groomed mane exited the doors letting her feline friend wander around the fields. Looking up from her pet, she caught a pony approaching at the corner of her eye. Turning her head toward the anonymous figure, her eyes widened with passion. “Twilight!” she called out to her friend. “You came just in time; I need your opinion on this dress that I have to get to Hoity Toity by the end of tomorrow.”
“Actually Rarity,” Twilight said bring Rarity’s spirits down “I need you to meet me and the other girls at the library in like twenty minutes. I still have to get over to Fluttershy’s and back otherwise I will be late.”
“Yes, you do have a tendency to get… nutty when you are not on time.”
“Oh yeah, this is Soto Konoha, and we don’t have time for long introductions. So I will see you at my house, and I will do introductions later.” Before the fashionista could refuse, Twilight ran off toward the Everfree Forest with the black and red colt right behind her.
“So her name is Rarity?” Soto asked in between each breathe.
“Yes, it is. Why do you ask?”
“Just wonder, but you will know one thing for sure. If you are ever looking for me, it will be a rarity for you to find me with her.” Twilight giggled at the cheesy pun that was made by Soto.
Sitting at the edge of the Everfree Forest laid a hut surrounded your average forest creatures ranging from crickets to grizzly bears. All were crowded around one area, in which they all made lots of moans, groans, and whimpers. Others, that were further into the crowd, made their way outside before disbursing.
Over the crowd of small critters, a pink mane flows elegantly with the wind before coming to a resting stop on its owner. The yellow mare was lying down with her back turned towards the arriving ponies. “Now Mr. Squirrel,” she said in a soft voice. “Try not to move your tail too much or you will loosen the cast. You don’t want me to have to put another one on because I know how much it hurts when somepony is trying to put one of those on.” A squirrel emerged from in front of the pegasus, and it ran off into a tree. “Oh.. Um.. Come back in a week, and I will see if it’s ready to come off,” she called out to the tree.
“Wow I never knew you were this good with animals, Fluttershy,” Twilight commented revealing their position.
Turning around saying, “Twilight, you should have seen it. That was…” She came to a sudden stop. “Oh, I’m sorry. You probably don’t want to hear it.”
“Of course we do, but you will have to tell us along the way to my place. I actually came to pick you up so we can meet the girls and discuss about an issue at hand. This is Soto Konoha, and Soto this is Fluttershy.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you Soto,” she stated at a near whisper.
“Yeah whatever,” Soto replied. “So you are a veterinarian?”
“Oh no, I am not that good. I just take care of the forest animals as much as possible.” She turned her head toward Twilight and spoke to both of them. “Well, what happened was all so sudden. The poor guy lost his grip on the tree and fell, and he landed on his tail. It was so horrible to hear. I was in my cottage when it happened, but I heard his shrieks of pain.” She continued telling them about what happened earlier for the rest of their trip back to the library.
“And that was the first time I ever casted a tail before,” Fluttershy cooed as her story came to an end. They came to a stop in front of a tree house, waiting for Twilight to open the door. Doing so, a wave of arguments came from inside.
“It is of great importance for you to take care of your mane as much as I,” the marshmallow unicorn complained. “You two don’t even comb out your hair. It is just one sloppy, disgusting mess. Take the comb and make yourselves look proper for our guest!”
“Forget you Hairity ! There is no way I am going to do that,” Shot back with a raspberry. “Combing is for proper freaks like you. I say just make sure it’s clean and you’re cool.”
“ChimmyCherryChunga!” the party pony exclaimed out of nowhere.
“What’s going on in here!?” Twilight shouted to get everyone to shut their muzzles.
“Oh Twilight!” Rarity exaggerated. “These two won’t be dears and make themselves suitable of the guest.”
“That’s exactly why you won’t see me with her,” Soto chucked out there before any other them had the chance to say something. “I actually agree with the fillyfooler. Just as long as my hair is clean, it doesn’t matter if it is messy or not.”
“Hey, I am not a fillyfooler!”
“Girls!” Twilight shouted again bring everyone to a quiet stand still. “Sit over there.” She pointed at the circular table in the living room. “Soto, you sit there.” She moved her hoof over toward the couch, which is a couple feet away from the table. “And everypony be quiet! This is still a library, and it will always be a library from this point forward!”
All the ponies gathered around the table, but Soto just stood behind them listening. “What are we here fer, Twi?” the orange earth pony asked.
“First, this is Soto Konoha, and he is from another universe.”
“Oh, so he’s like Doctor Whooves?” Pinkie Pie questioned.
Twilight just stared at her unable to find a way to answer that question. I didn’t know Doctor Whooves was from an alternate dimension she thought to herself. “I guess,” she finally concluded before continuing. “Apparently, Discord, even in current state of stone, used his powers to bring him here for some reason that was not explained to us. He only left him with a riddle to solve before the end of the seventh day, or Discord will send him to a place that even the most evil of all ponies would cry for a foalsitter.” The girls all gasped in unison, and Soto rolled his eyes at how much of a big deal they were making this. “So we need to find out what Discord’s riddle means, and help complete the task, before it’s too late.”
“I’m sorry to ask, but I don’t think I was here when you probably said it,” Fluttershy threw out there. “But what is the riddle?”
“'You are allowed to make one wish',” Soto started making everypony give him their undivided attention.
“Maybe it has something to do with your past. Discord usually plays tricks on people based off who you are and their experiences. So if we know more about you, we can pinpoint what he wants from you.”
“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen. Looks like you will have to wait until I figure out what he wants from me.” His tone took a sudden change getting deeper than before.
“But, if you tell us, we can figure this out together, and—“ She was cut off by a hoof landing on top of the table with might force. The table cracked under Soto’s hoof as he slowly watched the six mares step away in intimidation.
“Look here, I never asked for your help, and frankly, I don’t care if he sends me to a world I will hate forever because my world is as bad as it gets. Your world is running along the lines of getting there. I don’t need your guys’ help at all, but if you want to help me any way possible, sit there and keep your muzzles shut. I will figure this out on my own, and if I can’t, then whatever. Let him send me to this bad place because it won’t matter to me.” Slowly getting back to all fours, Soto bellowed out a sigh of relief. “I am going. I am tired, and I need to find a place to sleep. Do you guys happen to know a cave or something nearby for me to crash at? Anywhere that provides something to protect me from the rain.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied bitterly. “There is—“
“Ya can stay in the barn at mah farm, sugarcube,” Applejack told Soto while shoving a hoof in the cyan pegasus’s mouth. “Ah reckon ya don’t want t’ sleep inside the house, so ah can offer the barn t’ ya. It’s the best ah can do though.”
“Whatever, I will be waiting outside because I don’t know where it’s at. You girls continue doing… this.” Ending on that, the mildly tempered pony left the house. The six ponies sat there in complete silence as they tried to understand the previous outburst. None of them could figure out why he suddenly got angry. While it was still quiet, Twilight took it upon herself to fix the table with the same spell she used to repair the dam.
“Why would you let him stay at your place, AJ!?” Rainbow broke the silence nearly making everypony go deaf. “I mean did you hear what he said to us, and he even insulted us. Why should we care about what happens to him?”
“Ah understand what ya gettin’ at Rainbow, but the Princess still wants us t’ help him. Y’all gotta remember, he’s from a different world, which ah still don’t understand how that works, but ah reckon all that he’s showin’ is just stress and confusion. He might still be tryin’ t’ get used t’ how our place works. We just have t’ give him a day is all.” The orange mare didn’t sound completely confident in her own thoughts, but Twilight stepped in reassuring her confidence.
“Come on girls. He needs our help, and even if he doesn’t ask for it, we are still going to give it to him. We have dealt with Discord before, and we know that he gains power from disharmony. He might be using Soto as a catalyst to break out of his stone prison, so we must make Soto happy, and welcome, for meeting us. We will make these seven day—“
“Six,” Rarity corrected. “Because today is day one, and we all know how swimmingly that went.”
“Yes, six days. We are going to make these six days the best days of his life as we find out what is it that Discord wants from him.”
“Well, ah best be goin’ girls. Ah don’t want t’ keep the new comer waitin’. Ah will see y’all later t’ discuss about things we can do fer him that will make him more comfortable here in Ponyville.” As she started to make her way towards the door, the rainbow pegasus began to take flight. Applejack just stared at her with a doleful expression. “Dash, ah’ll be fine, ah promise. He sure don’t look like the kind t’ hurt a fly. Ah could say he’s just like you,” she concluded with a wink. The speed devil blushed a bit and slowly lowered herself back down to the ground.
Closing the door to the tree, the earth pony took a gander at her surroundings in search for her acquaintance. She had trouble spotting him in the dark because of his deep brown coat and partially black mane. The only thing that would stand out his the red in his mane, but she couldn’t see it anywhere within her line of vision.
“Who are you looking for?” a familiar voice asked behind her. Applejack jumped away yelping before she realized it was the pony she was looking for.
“Ah was lookin’ fer ya, sugarcube. Ah know yer plum tuckered out, so ah left early so ya can get yer sleep. Let’s go and get ya t’ bed. We’ve got a lot of work t’ do tomorrow.” Before he could interject, she started making her way back to the apple farm, and he slowly followed behind sluggishly.
Applejack stopped to look back and ask, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he answered softly. “I just want to get some rest.” And forget about this place. he thought to himself. I just want to wake up .
Author’s Note: Hey everyone that is watching me for this chapter. Sorry it took so long. My daily life is busy as it is, but it’s starting to settle down. I am working on the next chapter as we speak, but I am also working on a new fan fiction. Thank you for your patience, have fun commenting about your thoughts on what’s happening, and be ready for the many events to come.
Hint Number One
As raindrops start to emerge from the sky, the young colt slowly observes his surroundings in search of vacant shelter. He stops to look up into the sky with his glistened orange eyes. Standing there for what seemed like an eternity, he was broken from his thoughts by a small nibble on his finger. Looking down at what he was holding laid a baby red fox whimpering as it tried its best to get as warm as possible while avoiding the rain. “I’m sorry,” the unicorn whispered with a voice that could put anyone to sleep in a heartbeat. “I will find us some shelter until the rain goes away. Once it is all gone, we can go to my place until you are strong enough to protect yourself.” As he continues walking, he familiarized himself with the surroundings. Towards either direction, there stood a six-to-seven foot wall of cinder block. On the other side of the wall was thousands upon thousands of houses that all looked exactly the same. The only difference between all the houses was they were either a different color, or the interior construction was different. Trees were man planted into a line next to the wall to show that the city had green as well, when in all reality the city was just a giant bowl in the middle of the desert. The asphalt the cars drove on was worn out and hasn’t been renewed in 150 years. Walking further down the street, a park could be seen a couple blocks away. The unicorn smiled with glee, and he took off at break-neck pace to the park knowing there is always a table with a cover overhead.
Taking a rest at one of the many tables in the park, he set the baby fox down, took off his coat, then his shirt, and threw his shirt over the fox. Putting the coat back on to keep himself from freezing, the unicorn began to talk with the fox. “I never really got to introduce myself back there. My name is Soto, and I saw that you were all alone. What happened did you lose your mom and dad?” The baby rested his head on the warm shirt looking away from his gentle eyes. “They died,” he said aloud, but low enough to keep the fox from listening. “I don’t really know how that is like, but I guess I have my troubles as well. My dad left us when we were little, but my mom stayed with us and took care of us. She is pretty cool a lot of the times, but sometimes, she can get to that point where it is just unbearable. I know she only wants what’s best for me, but none of them are dreams that I feel like I can really sing with. Like a doctor; sure it’s pretty cool, and I know a few things about it. I may be in a pre-med high school and taking some classes that can potentially lead to such a career, but it’s not what I want. I never really told her because she’s my mom. Wouldn’t you expect your mother to know when you are happy or not?” He looked down to see what the little critter was doing, and it was just staring straight at him with interest. He smiled as with a couple of tears as he continued the story. “But I guess she is just really stubborn. Now, I am on my last year in high school, and none of the classes that she chose for me will get me any closer to my dream. I really do want to tell her, but I don’t want to upset her. I have already done that my nearly flunking most of my classes last year. It’s been hard for her taking care of me, Ranger, and herself. My brother is now in the air force, but we are still having a bit of financial issues. I can’t get a job because Mom doesn’t trust that I am capable of handling a job and school, but I guess that is my fault for messing up my grades. Not to mention my sperm donor switched the address on our social security numbers, so he can get our money. My ‘father’ isn’t really the best in the world. I guess you are tired of hearing me talk about myself,” he commented when he saw the little guy yawn. “So, do you have any friends? Siblings?” Soto asked, but his acquaintance didn’t make any sudden movements. “Nothing? No friends of any kind? I doubt a little cute guy like—“
“Hey, guys! Look who it is!” he heard shouting from behind him, further down the park. Turning around, Soto face immediately sagged at the site of a gang of colts. There was six of them, but the large colt with a red coat and spiky black and blue hair stood over the rest of them.
Turning around facing the baby fox again, he told him “You hide here and don’t move a muscle. If any of those guys come over here, I want you to run that way.” He point toward the opposite direction. “Up there will be a corner. I want you to take a left and hide behind the nearest tree until I come and get you. Do you think you can handle that?” The baby fox dug itself under the shirt concealing himself from everything around him. “Good. Don’t worry, I will be fine, and I will come back for you. I have known these guys for two years, and they aren’t the brightest of all bulbs.” Getting up and turning back around to face the gang of six, Soto being to make his way toward them. “What do you want Rider?” he always asked them during their encounters. “You already cleaned me of all of my money this morning. I had to walk four miles just to get rained on.”
“What?” the large earth pony shrugged. “We can’t say hey to our favorite kid in this neighborhood? Besides, I already told you the last time that you better have something every time we saw you. We need something we can pawn for a pack of cigarettes. Do you have anything that we can pawn for more than five bucks, or do you happen to have a pack on you. That way, we can be on our way, and you can go back to your slut of a mom.”
“First of all, I don’t have anything that you can sell for that much, and even if I did, I probably would just take the beating. Maybe if I stop giving you stuff, you wouldn’t have to smoke anymore, and wasting money on useless shit. Second, you already know I don’t smoke. Lastly, I don’t need you to mistaken your mom, who can’t take her hands off your dweebs’ cocks for half a second, with my mom, who actually has a life.” The gray unicorn smirked at Rider’s expression to only enrage the earth pony even more.
Taking a punch to the gut, Soto slowly fell to the ground as the other ponies tagged in on the beat down. Throwing a series of relentless punches and kicks, Soto could only lie there, and curl in a ball to protect the most painful areas. Getting beat up, for what seemed like hours, the ganged seized the rampage when they heard a girl yell “Stop right now!” Hoping to see who was talking, Soto tried to look at who it was, but his vision was blurry after a few blows to the head. “Leave him alone. In fact, here you guys go. Take fifty bucks and leave.”
“You got lucky, Soto,” Rider called out to him as they began to leave. “You better hope that next time you have something.”
Not a motion was made until the sound of the gang was clearly out of reach. Once their voices could not be heard, the girl made her way over to the hurt colt. Scratches and bruises covered all lengths of his body from the paw-heart cutie mark to his head. His mane was a mess, and his navy blue and orange tail was mixed with mud, grass, and a bit of blood. “Are you okay?” she asked helping me to my feet. “Do you need help getting back home?”
“No,” Soto replied. “But thanks for the offer. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s a lie. You look like a bloody mess,” she back fired with an English accent. “It will be my pleasure to assist you back to your home, in case those guys come back again. My name is Alysia Wellmen. What is your name?”
“I am Soto, Soto Konoha,” he responded with a weak smile. “And that over there is Natalie, Natty for short.” He pointed toward the fox that poked its head out of the shirt when the coast was clear.
Looking upon the vision, the deep reddish-brown alicorn stood there, watching emotionlessly. The vision began to dissolve bring him face to face with the anonymous figure again. “Did you like the show?” he questioned. Soto could feel his smile even though he couldn’t see it. “What did you notice about it?”
“That was my history ponified,” Soto replied with rocket scientist intelligence.
“Yes, that is your first hint to what I am looking for. If you have any ideas on what it might be, now would be the time to tell them, and I can get you out of this land you so brutally despise by the end of the next day after you complete the job.”
“I don’t care about your stupid riddle, Discord. Just get me out of here. I have better things to do at home.”
The figure laughed coldly at Soto’s demands. “Oh, you thought I was Discord? You are a riot. If you don’t have an answer, then I will just have to keep watching until you do get something. You have to lighten up Soto, it’s only just a game. All you have to do is find out the simplest thing I want, complete it, and I can send you back in a jiffy. I can really say that you are going to get non-stop hints throughout your journey the long you stay. With every event that you undergo, in the dream world or the real world, there will always be a small hint given to you about my request. All you have to do is continue being yourself. It seems as though you are about to wake up. I wish the best of your fun time in Ponyville, and hope that you don’t fail. I, also, kind of hope that you do fail because that will mean more fun for me. Ta ta, au revoir, have a nice day!”
“Wait!” he called out to the anonymous figure, which stopped to listen to what he had to say. “That kid, who was he? He looks nothing like me.”
Smiling behind the shroud of darkness, the figure replied, “There is, to tell the truth, your glimpse into the future. That is actually the real you. That is the way you are supposed to look like right now, but I decided to give you your future self image. Also, don’t mistake yourself for being a god in the future because you aren’t. Only one that is born with wings and a horn is a true alicorn like Celestia or Luna. The only other way for somepony to be mistaken as an alicorn is a unicorn that died. Whenever a pony dies, they are given wings, if they don’t have any, so that they can fly their way to a place that is perfect for any pony. That will be something for you to find out on your free time. Right now, you have a full day ahead of you, and I have things that I have to do.” The figure’s shaped started to blend with the shadows around him until it was one with them. Soto closed his eyes, knowing that once he opens them, he will be awake, and the quest to solve the riddle will begin…
