Secret Lightning [REWORK IN PROGRESS]

Chapters

Chapter 2: acceptance
Chapter 3: on a mission
Chapter 4: on a mission, part 2
Chapter 5: a new lease on life, part 1
Chapter 6: a new lease on life, part 2
Chapter 7: A Strange New Power
Chapter 8: Learning
Chapter 9: Discovery
Chapter 10: Catching Up
Chapter 11: An Old Friend [REWORKED]
Chapter 12: Reunion
Chapter 13: Dreams
Chapter 14: Awakening
Chapter 15: Happenings
Chapter 17: Into Battle
Chapter 18: Giving 'em Hell
Chapter 19: Things Get All Wibbly-Wobbly
Chapter 20: The Eternal
Chapter 21: Father Figure
Chapter 1: a new life
Chapter 16: The Reveal

Chapter 2: acceptance

Before you read, i have a few things to say. First, I use word then import, so some formatting issues may occur, but I usually fix them, please don't comment about them. Second, I know the last chapter was a little bit short, and undescriptive. I also had trouble with spacing, making the backstory on Matt a huge paragraph of eye rape. But a friend of mine has been helping me a little bit with that. I better give him credit, his name is bob_pickle9, and the story he is working on it titled one hell of a party. Seriously, go check it out, it’s pretty cool. I did notice one similar part our stories share, as did he, but it doesn’t really detract from either story. So with that, I give you chapter 2!

=========Secret Lightning==========

Matt stood against the wall, his mind overloading with thoughts. How can this be true? How does she know it’s real? How did I get here? Why aren’t I hurt? Didn’t a tree fall on me? And then, came the biggest thought of them all: not the only human?!?!

He and nurse Redheart just both kind of stood there for a while, Matt unsure what to do next, or how to ask anything, and nurse Redheart both letting him calm down some. If she were to bolt out of the room, or simply leave, this particular human may become more distressed, she reasoned. No. this had to be dealt with now, and as much as she hated to do it……..she had to tell him. But maybe when he calmed down a bit.

Matt was the first one to break the silence, his mind still reeling, but there was one question he absolutely HAD to get the answer to.

“so…………………..am I dead then?”

Nurse Redheart was appalled at the question. She was prepared to answer questions such as just what she was, where they were, how the person got there, and such. But none of the previous humans had gone outright and asked this as the first question. It was almost as………he accepts it, she thought. She had seen many humans before, though not many ponies knew that, but this one was……………different. She steeled herself for what she had to do.

“Yes, sir, in a way, I suppose you are dead”

It was all the confirmation Matt needed to hear from the white mare. , Of course he thought. That explains why I am unhurt other than a headache, and am in this world. It all makes sense. In one way, Matt felt that it was unfair for him to be torn from his life like that, from his parents, from his friend, from everything. Then again…………………

“Is this sort of like an afterlife?” Matt asked.

Nurse Redheart was shocked at the speed at which this human was catching onto what was going on. At this rate, I won’t even have to explain much, just answer “yes” or “no” she pondered. She still couldn’t shake that feeling that there was something…different about this human, almost like he belonged in Ponyville.

“Yes, this is a different form of an afterlife. But there are a few differences.” She answered, pretty much prompting him to ask what those were.

Matt decided to relax, realizing he was still pressed against the wall on the opposite side of the room. He slowly approached the earth mare, who still had a hint of fear on her face. That hint of fear got bigger as he approached. He decided to quell her fears.

“it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” He said as he sat down on the floor. As he did, his headache felt a lot better. “I just want a few more answers, and then I’ll………………” That verbal thought trailed off as he had a non-verbal one. What AM I going to do? It’s not like I have a place to stay or anything. And I don’t want to be a burden to anybody……..

Nurse Redheart relaxed as Matt sat down on the floor. But her relief quickly grew into concern as she noticed that he just sat there, staring at the floor. However, she figured she knew exactly what he was thinking.

“You’re thinking about your past life. About family, maybe?”

Matt just nodded and kept staring at the floor. Physically, he was sad. Mentally, he was forming more questions.

The white mare decided that since this human was different from the others, maybe she would try something. That something was getting to know him. She walked over to where he was sitting, looking forlorn as can be, and sat down next to him. She put a hoof on his back, and comforted him for a while. She knew she had nursing duties to do, but somehow, she didn’t care. Nurse Tenderheart can cover for me. She thought as she comforted Matt. He wasn’t crying, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t upset. He’s been through a lot, she thought. It’s the least I can do

Eventually, Matt reached a decision. He wasn’t going to get anywhere by sitting down and feeling sorry for himself. So, after a few minutes of him sitting while Redheart was comforting him, he decided to act

“soo………”

“Yes?”

Matt figured he wouldn’t give away what he knew from My Little Pony yet“I never did catch your name, miss”

“Oh, it’s nurse Redheart. And may I ask you your name?”

“I’m Matt. Matt McBrairdy.”

“Well Matt, I just have one question for you.”

“What’s that?”

“How are you so calm about this? I mean, most people, if you tell them they’ve died and are in another life, they would freak out.”

Matt thought about this for a while. Why WAS he so calm about this? After about a minute of pondering, he decided on an answer.

“Well, I suppose it would have to be because in my past life, I was basically a nobody. I had one friend, and didn’t talk to much of anyone. My parents fought each other constantly, and suffice to say, my father never really loved me. So I suppose just about anything is better than living with that.”

Redheart was shocked. She had never heard of anyone whose past life had been that bad. All of the other humans who came through had had relatively good lives, and basically went crazy trying to get back to the life they once had, the life they had friends, family, money, or possessions. But Matt was different. He felt it better that he were here. Perhaps that is what could help us win when the time is right, she thought. Princess Celestia will want to talk with him.

“Miss Redheart, I have one other question: how did I end up in the hospital? I don’t seem to be hurt in any way.”

“Well Matt, as it turns out, two ponies were out for a walk near the everfree forest, when they found you unconscious in a bush. They carried you here.”

“May I ask their names? I would like to thank them for bringing me here.”

“One of them was a unicorn named lyra, and the other one’s name escapes me, but she’s the town mailmare. She is easily identified because of her crossed eyes.”

Matt just sat there stunned. One name kept ringing in his head over and over again.

LYRA.

==========END CHAPTER 2 PART 1==========

Sorry if this late night update wakes up anybody, but I wanted to see how my different writing style is received , as it differs from the first chapter. Remember, this is a learning experience for me. As of yesterday, I didn’t even know I could write. If you guys like it, let me know, as I have some ideas for a couple other stories, and if this one is well-received, I shall start making more stories, not just updating this one.

Chapter 3: on a mission

====================Author’s note===================

I know last chapter was a little short, and I had said that it was only part one of chapter two. But after realizing I was unable to change the chapter titles, I decided to instead make this chapter three. Think of chapter two as more of a way of me testing out a new writing style, and summing up the general “I’m dead” storyline. Also, I try to accommodate all my fans, but I can’t do it all. Keep in mind this I my first fanfic, and I’m trying the best I can. Comments telling me how the story should go are gently discouraged. You know who you are. Just sit back and enjoy where this story’s going. So with that, I introduce chapter 3!

================ Secret lighting================

Chapter 3: on a mission.

Matt sat on the floor stunned for a good minute or so. LYRA. She’s real. I have to meet her.

Finally he spoke

“L….Lyra?”

Nurse Redheart was intrigued by Matt’s response. It was almost as he knew who she was, and was asking again to make sure.

“Yes Matt, her name is Lyra. She is a unicorn, mint green. She and her walleyed friend saved you.”

“Walleyed?”

“Yes, her friend has severely crossed eyes, an effect of boseman’s simplex. She still manages to function quite well, however, even if she does get lost easily. What was her name…………oh! Her name is Derpy. Derpy hooves. Since she’s a Pegasus, she’s Ponyville’s mailmare.”

“So, about……..Lyra, can I…….meet her?”

“I guess so, she will probably be coming by to check on you soon anyway.”

Matt’s heart swelled. LYRA. he was about to meet Lyra, his favorite pony. He was so excited, he almost jumped up off the floor, then stopped himself. There would be time for that later.

Matt stood up off the floor and walked over to the window. It was a beautiful sunny day outside, with the sun shining down, the birds all chirping and building nests, and butterflies floating around, as if being carried by the air. A stark contrast from what the weather was like when he………….No, no, matt said to himself, this is a chance at a new life, and I’m going to embrace it.

“So, can I……….go outside? I’d love to take a walk around.”

“Oh, matt, I don’t think that’s such a good idea……” Redheart started to say

“Why not? It’s a beautiful day out, and if you say I’m not the only human here, then what could be the problem? My head doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Well, you see, you may not be the only human to have come here, but you definitely are the only RATIONAL human.”

Matt was bewildered. What does she mean by rational? Didn’t she say I’m not the only human?

Seeing his confusion, Redheart continued.

“All the other humans who came here lost their minds when they found out where they were and what happened. They all wanted to go back to their old loves, most of them had money and power, some simply had family they left behind, and fewer still just refused to accept this world. They became extremely violent, and we had to have Princess Celestia intervene with every one of them.”

Matt was feeling a mixture of shock and confusion at the moment. I haven’t gone crazy yet, does that mean I’m different? And what happened to the other humans?

“So, besides me, how many humans have actually shown up here?”

Redheart paused, thinking back and mentally counting.

“Besides you, about fifteen in total.”

Matt couldn’t believe it. Fifteen humans before him.

“And…….what happened to them?”

The white mare paused, not sure if she honestly wanted to tell him.

“Well, since they became violent, Celestia decided the best decision was to wipe their memory and transform them into ponies. Foals, of course. Then they would learn the pony way, and earn their cutie mark.”

She paused, seeing panic flash in his eyes. He thinks we’re going to do it to him, she thought.

“Before you ask Matt, I do not believe that will be necessary for you. You seem to be able to accept this world just fine, and you don’t seem to wish to harm anypony, so I believe you are different. And I mean different in a very good way.”

Matt relaxed and nodded, realizing what she said was true.

“Can I………can I still go for that walk? I realize people in Ponyville have probably never seen a human before, and those who have, a non crazed one. But I want to try to get to know the ponies here. After all, I’m going to be here a while, aren’t I?”

Nurse Redheart was about to argue that fact, when a familiar voice called out to her.

“Nurse Redheart? I’m here to see if he’s woken up yet.”

“In here, Lyra”

The mint green unicorn stepped into the room, then stopped in mid-sentence as Matt turned to look at her, his eyes wide.

“You never answered my question, is he WHOA!!”

She stopped dead, amazed at how TALL this creature actually was. He was a good deal taller than her when she stood upright, which she supposed made her taller than most ponies, as she was the only one to actually pull it off for an extended period of time. Still, this guy was tall. He seemed so harmless when they found him in the bush, but now this creature appeared quite threatening.

She took a step back, looking ready to bolt at any second. Matt decided it was his chance to act.

“Don’t worry Lyra, I am not going to hurt you. In fact, I would like to thank you for finding me. If you hadn’t, who knows what could’ve happened to me.”

Lyra did not relax much, as some of her fear was replaced by confusion. But not all of it.

Matt noticed he was getting nowhere. He decided to go further. He slowly walked over to the scared mare, and knelt down in front of her. He knew his height wasn’t helping him at all.

“Also, I would like to say, it is very nice to meet you, miss Lyra. I apologize if I scared you, I realize my height makes me appear threatening. But have no fear, I do not wish to harm anypony.”

At this, Lyra relaxed, finally realizing this creature meant her no harm. But one question still bugged her.

“Well, sir, it is very-“

“Matt. My name is matt.” He replied, realizing he had forgotten to tell her his name.

“Well, Matt, I must say it is very nice to meet you as well. But there is one thing I must know. I mean no offense by this, but……well, what exactly ARE you?”

Matt paused. He had expected this question, and after a second, thought of a way to explain it.

“I am a human, and I come from another world. I suppose you could say humans in my world are much like ponies in this one. We both live as the superior species, build houses, towns, cities, and transportation, and take care of the land and animals.” Matt slightly lied about the last two parts, knowing there were a lot of humans that couldn’t care less about the land or plants. But she didn’t need to know that. She also didn’t need to know he was here because he had died in his past life. Not yet anyway

“By the way, where is your friend Nurse Redheart had mentioned? I would like to also thank her.”

“Oh, Derpy? She’s out doing her mailmare duties, as I’m sure Nurse Redheart told you about.”

“Yes she did.”

Look at me, he thought making small talk with my favorite pony.

“So, Lyra, I was just about to go for a walk around the town. Would you care to join me?”

“Yeah, I think that would be nice.”

“Well then, Nurse Redheart..” he turned to the white nurse pony that was still standing there, but with somewhat of a smile on her face. “Thank you for everything, without you, I probably would have gone crazy as well.”

Redheart nodded, then spoke

“Oh, really, it was nothing dear, you’re welcome. And you can check out at the counter down the hall to the left.” She replied, also answering his next question.

“I shall hope to see you around.” He replied. And with that, he and Lyra left the room, with her leading.

=================END CHAPTER 3=================

I know what you’re thinking. No, this will not turn into a shipfic, and he probably won’t fall in love. OR WILL HE? Guess you’re going to have to stick around and find out, yeah? Also, sorry if the story seems a little drawn out, I am trying to get a lot of information into one chapter without making it feel rushed, as that was what made my first chapter kind of……meh. Anyway, I’m going to shut up and post this to FIMfiction now, as I have already gotten like 4 “MOAR!!!” comments today alone. Hope you enjoyed chapter three!

Chapter 4: on a mission, part 2

================Beginning author’s note================

I hope everybody enjoyed the last chapter! Unfortunately, this may be the last chapter I write, for a few reasons. First off, I have pretty much run out of good dubstep to play while writing the story. I always play music while writing. It helps me think. Also helps me sleep when necessary. Anyway, the other being, I just am getting a little busy, and i'm not sure i'll be able to post chapters as often as i'd like to , or even if i can make them any good whilst i'm busy. As I sit here typing this, it occurs to me that I won’t have finished the story line if I just end the story after this chapter. So I’ll make a deal. If I get enough comments saying people liked the story (and it doesn’t have to be OMG I LOVE YOUR STORY BRO, just something simple, as I need a morale boost right now) I will continue,posting whatever i can, whenever i can. If not, I shall just tack on a small epilogue, and call it that. So, here you go, chapter 4, the beginning of leading up to the plot twist

================SECRET LIGHTNING================

Chapter 4: on a mission, part 2

As Matt and Lyra strolled out into the warm Ponyville air, Matt noticed two things. First, he noticed that Lyra was staring at him, well, strangely, like she was looking THROUGH him. Or into me, he thought. But that was just his paranoia again…wasn’t it?

The other thing he noticed was that every pony in Ponyville was taking notice to his presence. And none too kindly, either, as they were all busy closing up their shops and windows, getting inside, staying away from him. Reminds me of that episode with the zebra, he thought to himself. He was fairly correct after all, and this is how he figured Ponyville welcomed non-pony newcomers. With closed shutters and minds he thought sadly. As he walked, he was trying to think of something, anything he could do to make the ponies see him as non-threatening, when Lyra interrupted his thoughts with a question.

“I can see you’re real popular here.” She joked, giggling a little.

“Yeah, truth be told, I almost expected this. I mean, I’m not like any of them, so why should they trust me? Kind of like with your zebra friend.”

Crap. He hadn’t meant to say that.

“Oh, Zecora? Yeah, she had everypony convinced for the longest time that she was evil. But then we got to know her, and befriended her.” Then she thought about that for a second “Wait a sec, how’d you know about that? That happened a couple of years ago.”

Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap “Uh, Nurse Redheart told me.”

“Ah. Well then, if it makes any difference, I’m glad I got to know you a little. You certainly don’t seem dangerous to me, just…misunderstood.”

Whew. Disaster averted. But then…she’s really glad to know me? All I’ve ever done is scare everypony-including her.

“th..thanks Lyra, that means a lot to me.”

Lyra was about to answer him, when they were both interrupted. A light blue unicorn mare with a blue and white striped mane and tail had sauntered out of the store they were passing, blissfully unaware of the human walking in her direction that was distracted by the pony next to him.

“OOF!”

Matt looked down at the pony he had just walked into. Great job, Matt he mentally berated himself not even a day in this town, and you’ve already walked into someone. Then, Hey, wait a minute, I recognize her! It’s Colgate!

“Oh, I’m sorry miss, I wasn’t looking where I…”

He was abruptly cut short by the fact that she had screamed in fear, and began to cower in a ball on the ground below him.

I should have expected this, she’s scared of me as well. I don’t blame her I suppose, but maybe I can fix that.

“It’s okay, miss, I do not wish to harm you.”

Upon hearing him speak, Colgate squeaked and scrunched tighter. What is this creature towering over me? And why is he talking to me? And why in Celestia’s name is he so TALL?? She thought

Seeing this, Matt realized he was getting nowhere. He looked over at Lyra, his eyes pleading her to help him. She immediately picked up on this, and walked calmly over to Colgate. With her voice as soft as she could make it, she gently spoke to Colgate.

“Colgate. It’s me, Lyra. it’s ok, you are safe. This human does not wish to harm you, In fact, he feels just terrible for scaring you.”

Matt took this as an opportunity to chime in.

“Yes, miss Colgate, I am terribly sorry to have scared you. I seem to have that effect on ponies. Also, I apologize for running into you, that was my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I’m very sorry.”

Colgate slowly moved her hooves from off of her face and looked up. Not only was this creature apologizing to her for running into her, and then for scaring her, but one of her friends, Lyra, was standing right next to her, telling her this ‘human’ as she called it, did not want to harm her. Try as she might, Colgate couldn’t help but feel a little curious about this “human”

Finally, she pushed herself to a sitting position and spoke

“it’s…it’s okay, I just…I’ve never seen anypony else like you before.”

Matt decided it was now or never. He gently sat down on the sidewalk next to her, and said in the gentlest voice he could,

“That’s okay. To be honest, before yesterday, I had never seen a pony before.” He lied. What’s the point in telling anyone at this point? If I tell everyone that I used to watch them in a cartoon, they’ll all think I’m crazy, and I’ll be right back where I started.

“Well then, if you don’t mind me asking, I…well, what exactly ARE you? I heard Lyra call you a ‘human’, but I have no idea what that is.”

Matt thought about this for a while, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a couple of shutters on houses open just a smidge, as if the owners of the houses were listening in on him. Maybe this is the best time for another explanation, he decided it might save me from having to explain it again if everyone is watching.

“Well, miss Colgate, I am a human, and I am not from this world, as you can tell. I still am not entirely sure how I ended up here, other than the fact that in the world I am from, I had….I had died. I know I should be freaking out, due to the fact that I was then thrust into this strange world, of which I know nothing. But yet…It seems to be a lot better than my other life, even considering the fact that everyone here seems afraid of me.”

As Matt was saying this, he noticed that more shutters on houses were opening, and some windows even had the faces of ponies sticking out, listening to his conversation with Colgate. Also, he noticed that Lyra was sitting down on the other side of him.

“You see, my parents never really got along very well, with each other, or my father with me. My mother loved me, but my father …” He trailed off as the shock hit him. Mother. I left her behind. The last memory she will have of me is of me running away. That thought reduced him to tears, all traces of any composure he had left gone. He just sat there and cried, Letting it all out, not caring who saw at this point.

It was all Lyra could do to keep herself from crying herself. She had never heard of someone who had never been truly loved. So she sat there, next to him, as he sat crying, and put a foreleg ocross his back, comforting him much like Nurse redheart had.

As for Colgate, she just sat there, shocked that the creature she had feared was going to hurt her only just a few minutes ago, was now crying on the sidewalk next to her, after telling her about his parents.

Though I suppose he has good enough reason she figured. After all, it must not be easy to accept the fact that you had died and left your family and friends behind. Something must be done about this.

After a few minutes, Matt could cry no more. He looked up at Lyra, who had been comforting him, but could only manage a meek “Thank you”

When he looked over at Colgate, he noticed that her facial expression had changed. Big time. It had gone from one of partial fear to one of deep sympathy. As he looked at her, she managed to choke out, “I…I’m so sorry. I’ve never experienced anything like that, but I bet I know what would cheer you up a bit. But first, I have to ask you your name.”

Matt obliged her. “I’m…I’m Matt” he said, voice quivering a little.

“Well, matt, I’m Colgate, and I think you need a friend. What do you think?”

Matt thought about it for a second she seems really nice, why not?

Matt nodded and said “that does help. Thank you, Colgate.”

At this point, all of the nearby residents of Ponyville had opened their shutters or doors, and were all watching the scene on the sidewalk. Suddenly, he didn’t seem such a threatening person to them. In fact, he seemed like a very sensitive person, and most of the ponies watching immediately felt bad for misjudging Matt. They all knew his name now, as they had all watched the scene. They had also heard what he was saying before, and didn’t blame him for crying. In fact, one magenta unicorn filly with a deeper magenta mane and tail, who had been yanked inside by her sister earlier, walked outside and up to Matt.

“Um, Mr. Matt, would you like a hug?” the little filly asked.

“Sure” Matt replied, and next thing he knew, the little filly had jumped up and clamped him in a hug that was surprisingly strong for her size.

After a couple of moments, she released her embrace, and dropped back down to the ground.

“I’m Berry Pinch” she proclaimed, “And I’d like to be your friend too.”

Matt was stunned. Here was this little filly, who knew almost nothing about him, and was a LOT smaller than him, but yet she wanted to be his friend. He was touched. It was the only thing he could manage.

“Of course I’ll be your friend.”

With that, the spell that had been cast over the other residents of Ponyville had been broken, and they slowly walked out of their houses, some looking a bit sheepish. Matt made over thirty friends that day.

And to think, thought Matt, it’s only my first

================END CHAPTER 4================

Additional note: this story is probably not over. I wanted to put an ending to the chapter that I can either add onto with a new chapter, or end the story with, if it comes to it. Either way, I decided to end this chapter on a happy note, with Matt having finally made friends. I’m still not sure yet about continuing the story past here, but I may, so stick around, I’ll let you know. Okay, rant over, it’s uploadin’ time!

Chapter 5: a new lease on life, part 1

Author’s note: now I know I said that I might not be continuing the story, but since I still have a couple of days before I go back to academics, and I was suggested some good dubstep, I shall continue the story. That, and the fact that a friend of mine is getting all pissed at me about my story, meant I would be unable to either have time to think or the morale to continue. But you know what? Screw it, I’m going to write more anyway. And to my friend who’s getting all pissed at me: you’re a good friend, though I know you’ll be more pissed when you read this, but please calm down. I’ll write my story my way, and you write yours your way. No conflict has to come from this, all I want is peace between us. Now that I’ve gotten that out, I present chapter 5 for your viewing pleasure.

=======================SECRET LIGHTNING=======================

Chapter 2: A new lease on life

After the events of the previous day had passed, Lyra asked Matt if he would like to stay at her house until he found a place of his own. Matt had refused at first, but the mint unicorn has refused to take no for an answer.

“What are you going to do, sleep on the ground outside?” she questioned.

Matt pondered this. She was right, and as much as he’d like to say no thank you, he was kind of overwhelmed with the whole share-a-house-with-your-favorite-pony thing. So finally, he accepted.

Lyra lived in a small house just down the road from sugarcube corner. Occasionally you could smell the wonderful scent of baking cookies or cake wafting in with the wind. As Matt stepped inside the small house, he realized that the outer appearance belied the inside’s actual size. It was HUGE inside, about the size of a penthouse suite. This is impossible, the house looked tiny outside. But then again, this is probably how a unicorn’s house works, considering their magic and such, He reasoned.

Still, he was unable to get over how positively MASSIVE her house was. Matt had dabbled a bit in RC aircraft in his past life, and he acknowledged that you could probably host an entire IRCHA event in here.

After a few seconds, Matt shook his head to clear his mind. This is not the first strange thing you have seen today, Matt, he told himself, and it will definitely not be the last.

“Something wrong Matt?” Lyra asked, noticing the head-shaking.

“No…No, I’m fine, it’s just that…It’s so huge in here.”

Lyra nodded, and started to explain, realizing she had forgotten to explain that. “Yeah, it used to be so cramped in here, you could barely move. But one of my friends, named Twilight Sparkle cast a spell on it to make it roomier. Did you know, she’s actually Princess Celestia’s personal apprentice?

“No, no, I didn’t know that,” Matt said. “That must be amazing, having the Princess’ protégé living here in Ponyville, right?”

“Well, yeah, although she doesn’t like being recognized for being famous. She’s really a nice pony, and her skill in magic is just….amazing. She is definitely a very valuable addition to Ponyville.”

Matt nodded, remembering her from the episodes of MLPFIM he used to watch. If he was correct, she also lived in a library, meaning she pretty much knew everything, and could research it if she didn’t. It was then that he got an idea. Maybe she can shed some more light on my situation.

“I think tomorrow I’ll go speak with her, I have a few questions for her that I think she can help me with.”

“Okay, but for now, I’ll show you to your room. You can use the spare bedroom, it’s just down this hall, the last door on the right.”

And with that, Lyra showed Matt to his room. It was huge, about the size of a small cottage. There was even a private bathroom, with a shower and everything. Amazing, he thought. Lyra really wasn’t kidding, Twilight’s really good with spells

“Well, Matt, I must really be getting off to bed” she punctuated that sentence with a yawn “So, goodnight, I hope you sleep well.”

“Goodnight, Lyra”

With that, she smiled and closed the door, and Matt could hear her trotting off to bed.

Well, I better get some sleep as well. Gonna need it to go see Twilight tomorrow.

And with that, he crawled into bed, then immediately realized just how tired he really was. As soon as he was comfortable in the bed, sleep took him immediately.

The next morning, Matt awoke to see Lyra standing over him, just about to wake him. He looked over at her, only to notice that she was standing on two legs, much like a human. As he slowly got up out of bed, she backed up a little to give him some space. Matt expected her to drop down onto all fours when she did, but she didn’t. She just kept standing there, like a human.

“that’s an……interesting skill” Matt stated, trying to not make her embarrassed, but at the same time, figure out why she was able to do that.

She blushed. “Well, I’ve been able to do it since I was a foal, though I could never explain it, it just…felt more natural than walking on all fours.”

Matt nodded, and was about to ask her something, but his stomach gave a fierce growl that seemed to make his body vibrate. Lyra giggled.

“I guess you’re hungry then. Come on, I made pancakes.”

“Thank you, that sounds wonderful”

After breakfast, which was coincidentally the best breakfast he had ever had, he thanked Lyra and headed out into Ponyville. This time, no one ran inside and closed their shutters. No one yanked their foals indoors. No one cowered in fear. This time, they all smiled and waved, most of them calling him by name. Matt made sure he stopped by Berry Pinch’s house to say hello, and received another hug. She was a really nice filly, and her sister was nice too, now that she knew he wasn’t dangerous.

After finishing up and continuing on from Berry Pinch’s house, he was greeted by a familiar voice from right next to him.

“Hi Matt! Feeling better today?”

“Oh, hi Colgate. Yes, I am feeling better, what about you?”

“Oh, I’m good, I can’t complain too much, you know.”

“Yeah, I suppose I do know.”

“Listen Matt, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to go to work now, I don’t want to be late!”

“Before you go, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly do you do for work?”

“Well, I’m the town dentist, silly!” she giggled, said her goodbye, and cantered off to her office.

Matt took the time to giggle a little himself, mostly at the irony of it. She’s named Colgate and she’s the town dentist. Now THAT is funny.

The rest of his trip was mostly uneventful as he strolled towards the town library. The only thing that had happened was a pastel yellow Pegasus with a pastel pink mane and tail had run into him, distracted by something or other. She had looked up at him to say something, most likely to apologize, but when she saw his towering figure over her, she squeaked and ran away as fast as she could, eventually taking to the air and flying away. I’ll catch up with her later Matt thought, right now I have questions I need the answers to.

Realizing he had arrived at the town library, he stopped his idle think-walking and knocked lightly on the door. He heard a female voice call from inside ”coming!”

Seconds later the door opened and a purple unicorn was standing there in the doorway.

“Ah, Matt, I knew you’d be coming here eventually.”

Matt wasn’t worried that she knew his name, she probably heard from somepony else, he was pretty popular at the moment. What did bother him, though, is that she knew he’d be coming.

“How did you know I’d be coming here?” he mentioned as the unicorn ushered him inside the library.

“Well Matt, let’s just say you’re not the only non-mindbleached human here.” The unicorn replied flatly, as if she expected him to know this.

What happened was a little less expected, as Matt looked utterly shocked for a few seconds before passing out on the floor.

=======================END CHAPTER 5=======================

So there you have it. The beginning of the plot twist. And believe me when I say just the BEGINNING. This chapter was a little harder for me to write, as I knew basically what I wanted to have happen, but not how to MAKE it happen. Oh well, I guess I pulled it off. By the way, for anyone who asks, IRCHA is a HUGE event where a whole bunch of RC helicopter pilots bring their best copters-usually gas or nitro-and fly against one another. You will usually never see one upright copter, as they do most of their tricks on 3d flight. As you could have guessed, the part of matt’s character about dabbling in helicopters? That’s me. Although I personally prefer electric. Either way, that’s probably the last you’ll hear about my hobby, as I don’t see how I can fit it into an MLP fanfic. Maybe I’ll figure something out later in the story. I don’t know, we’ll see. Anyway, it occurs to me that I should shut up and publish this already not because I force myself to post daily updates, but because if given enough time, I can ramble for hours, as I am doing. So yeah, I’ll just shut up now

Chapter 6: a new lease on life, part 2

=============================SECRET LIGHTNING=============================

Author’s note: this will be a short chapter, as I am becoming a little busy. Also, there will be no updates during the weekend. First reason being I’m going to be hanging out at a friend’s house all day Saturday, but before that, I have to go to the hobby store. You see, I was flying my helicopter around the gym of my school,(for those who are interested, it’s the blade 120 SR) and the copter “stubbed it’s toe” on one of the basketball hoops, and took about an eight-foot drop. Snapped the carbon-fiber mainshaft in half like a toothpick, and screwed up the rotor hub. So, between getting copter parts, hanging out at a friend’s, and Sunday being one of those days where I have no idea exactly what’s going to happen, after this admittedly short chapter, there will not be one till Monday. Another thing: last night, I received a comment by someone named blue comet or something. It was a 3 foot long comment stating all the things wrong with my story, right down to telling me that I have no plot planned for the story. I do, FYI, it starts like a few other fanfics involving HiE, then takes a MAJOR twist. He only read the first two chapters, and then tells me he basically hates it. My reaction was originally going to be to yell at him in comment form and use a few choice words, but I thought about it for a minute, and he’s right about a few other things. My character is undescribed, beyond his name and basic personality, and I don’t have my chapters planned out before I start writing. That I’m okay with, but seriously bro? telling me my character is “too polite”? WTF? Anyway, it occurs to me I’m rambling again, so I’m going to end this author’s note and get on with chapter 6.

==========================Chapter 5: A new lease on life, part 2==========================

Matt stirred to the feeling of cold water being splashed on his face. He slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a blinding light, and a massive headache. Not this again, he thought, covering his eyes with a hand, and slowly adjusting them to the light. Fortunately, his headache went away fairly quickly as he slowly sat up, then made to get back up on his feet.

“Don’t get up,” a female voice commanded from around the corner ”I think you’re going to want to be sitting down for this.”

A minute later, the owner of that voice, Twilight Sparkle, walked around the corner levitating a tray of tea and cookies in front of her.

She sat down opposite him, and placed the tray down on the floor in between them, then levitated a cup of tea and a cookie over to him. After a second, he took them.

“Thank you, Twilight” he replied as he sipped his tea.

“No problem Matt, I just hope you’re up for what we must discuss.”

“I wondered about that. The last thing I remember is you telling me I’m not the only mindbleached human here in this world.”

“Well, yes, you are correct, but the longer explanation is somewhat…………complicated. You know what, it’s easier for me to just show you. Stand back.”

With that, she stood up and walked away from him a little bit, into a more open section of the room, and reared up, standing on her hind legs. Her horn began to glow, and within seconds she was surrounded by a magical glow. It engulfed her completely, lifting her off the ground a couple feet. Matt could see the shape inside the glow twisting and contorting, getting taller. After a few seconds, the glowing shape was lowered to the ground, while the glowing mass around her started to dissipate.

When the glow had dissipated entirely, Matt couldn’t believe what he saw. There, in the place Twilight had once stood, there was a human girl, about maybe the age of 17 or so. She was beautiful, tall and thin just like Matt. But while Matt’s hair was brown, hers was still the same as Twilight’s mane-colors, shape and all. (and yes, before anyone asks, she IS wearing clothes. This story’s only rated teen) To top it all off, she wore a pair of red oval rimmed glasses, much like the pair rarity wears. It was almost too much for Matt to take, and he almost passed out again, but managed not to. Finally, after a couple minutes of him sitting there shocked, and her standing there looking quite embarrassed, he broke the silence.

“What…I don’t….I…….”

After a couple of seconds, his brain caught up with him get ahold of yourself man! He internally yelled.

He cleared his throat and spoke again. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, how is this possible? I was told there were no humans here who were not turned into ponies besides me. How did you do that?”

Looking quite sheepish, Twilight started talking. “Well, what you were told was partly correct. The only thing that differs is that all the NORMAL humans who came here were changed into ponies after they freaked out. I, on the other hand, was never a normal human. During my life in the human world, I was always able to do…strange things. For instance, one time in school, I got really mad after the teacher called me stupid, and somehow, every window in the school blew out, and the teacher was crushed by his desk. After that, I was to be transferred to a psych ward, because everyone thought I was some kind of monster. Even my parents disowned me”

After she had finished her sentence, she immediately broke down and started crying. “And then, after they had put me in a straitjacket and put me on a bus for the nuthouse, I had started crying. One of the guards standing next to me leaned down and said ‘Don’t worry, you won’t be able to cry after a couple of years in here.’ After that, I just lost it. I ended up doing something, as the bus went off the road, and into a ravine. After that, I woke up in this world.”

Matt looked with concern at Twilight, who was now crying harder than before. This must really suck, having to remember what happened to you in your past life. Gee, I should know, I’ve had a similar reaction to her a couple times now.

He got up and approached human Twilight, and sat down next to her. This surprised her, she hadn’t even heard him get up.

He put an arm across her back, and comforted her while she cried.

After about an hour, Twilight found she could cry no more. She wanted to keep crying, but the tears just wouldn’t come anymore. She straightened up, and Matt withdrew his hand. “Thank you, I…I don’t usually think about what happened to me, it brings back too many painful memories” Matt nodded, knowing exactly how she felt. “Anyway, I didn’t finish.” She said.

“When I woke up, I was in a castle, and there was this huge white alicorn with hair that seemed to…flow standing over me. When I got up, she explained that she was Princess Celestia, ruler of the entire area populated by ponies. She also explained that while I was not the only human here, I was different. Much like you. I, however, had developed magical powers of some kind, which explained the strange occurrences in my human life. She took me under her wing-no pun intended-and taught me all there is to know about magic. After she finished with me, she told me that she felt I should go to this town called Ponyville and make friends with the locals. Figuring I’d be feared as a human, I used a shapeshifting spell to turn myself into a unicorn, and made friends. The only thing that seems to be permanent about the spell is my hair. It used to be black.”

Matt nodded as she gestured towards her hair, calling attention to the purple mane with a pink stripe down the middle. He thought she was done, but she continued, so he sat quietly, not interrupting.

“The friends I made turned out to be humans who had had their minds bleached and turned into ponies. Together, we discovered something called the elements of harmony, and defeated a dark version of Celestia’s sister, Luna, who had been changed by “the nightmare”, turning her back to normal. A while after that, we defeated the spirit of disharmony, named Discord, but it almost cost us out friendship. Since then, we have been regularly meeting and hanging out, about once a week, to catch up and have fun. I was given a baby dragon named Spike as an apprentice. He’s out of town right now. But he’s used to seeing humans, being my assistant and all. Anyway, one day, Spike burped up a letter from Celestia, stating that there would soon be another amongst us. So I prepared. And that’s pretty much when you arrived. And from what I know, you seem to have made friends with everyone in town. Maybe I can stop using my disguise spell for a while, it’s starting to really wear me out.”

Matt just sat there, his brain processing everything he had heard in a flurry of thoughts. After a second, he spoke, but this time, his voice had a note of uncertainty to it.

“There’s one thing that bothers me. You said you were still in school when this happened to you, how old does that make you now?”

“Well, one of the things Celestia told me is that humans and ponies never age in this world. I am still seventeen, as I was when I entered this world. So, you’ll probably be the same age in ten years you are now. By the way, out of curiosity, how old ARE you?”

“Me? I’m uh, eighteen.” He stammered, surprised by the sudden question.

“Huh. Interesting. Anyway, I’ m sure you’ll need some time to process all that you were told. I know I did.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like to take a walk, but I’ll be back later, there are things we still need to discuss.”

“Okay Matt, I’ll be here when you come back.” She replied as she recast her disguise once more, becoming the purple unicorn mare she was before.

Matt left the library and started wandering, simply thinking about all that was happening around him. It was almost too much for his mind to handle, and he understood why most people went crazy. It must take a strong mind to process all this, he thought, as he strolled past Sugarcube Corner, I must have more willpower than I thought.

Eventually, his wandering brought him into a forest, where he sat under a tree thinking. It started to rain a little, making Matt glad he had found the tree. It wasn’t until he heard a rumble of thunder that he snapped back to reality. Okay, this is a serious case of déjà vu he thought, when suddenly, the air got that electric feeling again. No. god no. nonononononono! He thought as he started running, after bolting to his feet. Not this again, I only just got here! As he started running, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he knew it was already too late. With a big KRA-BOOM!!!! The lightning struck him, this time directly in the back, and he collapsed and blacked out.

=============================END CHAPTER 6=============================

No I know you guys are probably going to be a little pissed at me for repeating the lightning strike thing, but I assure you, it’s different. Very different this time. I hate to leave you with the mother of all cliffhangers, but this “short chapter” turned out longer than any of my other ones, and I need to do some stuff before dinner. So with that, I upload this to FIMfiction, and hope you enjoy it! Look forward to chapter 7 Monday!

Chapter 7: A Strange New Power

========================SECRET LIGHTNING========================

Alright, so I got my copter back together and off the ground again. One of these days, I’ll think about buying some CNC aluminum upgrades for my copters-plastic breaks too easily. Also, I’m trying to find a place that does custom printed canopies/tail fins/blade sets for blade brand copters, I want to make my copter 20% cooler, and maybe make a vinyl scratch copter, considering she’s my favorite. Also, i was at an EPIC party with friends last night.Anyway, I’ve been working on this chapter through most of Sunday , as I have been kind of sick this weekend, and I have just produced the mother of all plot twists, and have been told that that storyline has never been used in a HiE fic before. So I figured I’d work longer on this one, giving you guys a better, longer chapter. I know not all of you have played bioshock, so you may not get some of the things in the chapter. That said, I shall try to explain it as best as I can in the chapter. And to blue comet dude, I apologize for the 3 foot pissed off reply to your comment I sent, I kind of overreacted, but at least I didn’t do what I was going to do at first. Anyway, I got a youtube playlist of PM set up, with at least 2 hours of music, so let’s go.

========================Chapter 2: A Strange New Power========================

“Urggh”

Matt stirred and slowly opened his eyes. It was still raining, and as he had run from under the tree, he was now soaked. He slowly sat up, his back complaining for each inch with a resounding ‘pop’.

“Urrrggh” he groaned again, his head pounding. Wasn’t he supposed to be dead? Hadn’t lightning just struck him AGAIN?

He opened his eyes despite the pounding in his head. It felt like someone had stuck his head in a clothes dryer for about an hour. He looked around, and noticed that he was still on the ground, near the tree he had been under before. Also, he felt…DIFFERENT.

Not different like some part of him was missing, but different like there was something new about him. It felt like he was hooked up to some kind of power source. He felt the electricity coursing through him. It didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt pretty good.

It was then that he looked at his hands.

There was lightning flowing all around them.

He was reminded of a game he used to be quite fond of, called Bioshock. Creepy game, especially the splicers, but there was one thing he really liked: the plasmids. They allowed his character in the game to shoot lightning bolts, ice, fire, insects, wind, sonic booms out of his hands, or use quite……forceful telekinesis.

I wonder, he thought, aiming his hand towards the sky.

He concentrated, and half a second later, a huge bolt of lightning flew out of his hand and went skyward, tearing a hole through a cloud, and nearly missing a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane and tail, who had just placed the cloud there. Matt recognized her as rainbow dash, fastest filly flier in Equestria, and pronounced weather pony who could clear the sky of clouds in ten seconds flat.

“Hey!” she shouted, descending towards Matt “Watch where you’re throwing that lightning! It’s supposed to go down, not up!”

She touched down in front of Matt, and stopped dead in mid-yell, realizing immediately that he wasn’t a weather pony. Or for that matter, a pony at all. She shrank back more, noticing that his hands were crackling with electricity, and guessed that he had been the one to throw that lightning bolt.

With a small “eep!” she launched herself back into the air, putting as much distance between her and him as possible.

Damnit! Thought Matt. That makes two ponies I have to find and apologize to for scaring. He thought, remembering the incident with Fluttershy earlier.

Alright, if my theory is correct, there’s gotta be a way to ‘put away’ this power. He thought.

So he sat there concentrating. Slowly, the power flowing around his hand started to wane. After about a minute, it was gone. Satisfied, he got up and brushed himself off.

“Now I’ve got to go talk to Twilight again.” He said to no one on particular.

The walk through Ponyville was completely uneventful, with Matt lost in thought, and the fact that everyone was inside for the storm anyway.

He reached the Ponyville library and stopped. How am I going to explain this to Twilight? The fact that I can now hurl lightning? Then again, if she can use magic in extraordinary ways, then I guess I’m not really that different. He snapped out of his thoughts and knocked on the door.

The door opened, but Matt was confused. There was nobody there. Then he looked down. There was a small purple and green dragon standing there, holding the door open, a look of utter bewilderment on his face. After a very awkward second or two, he spoke. “Another human? But...I thought that Twilight said…she was the only one.”

Matt sighed. As much of a patient person as he was, this was really starting to get old. He wished he could use a disguise spell like Twilight, now more than ever.

“Yes Spike,” Matt said with more than a hint of annoyance in his voice. “I know. Speaking of Twilight, is she here right now? I need to speak to her.”

Spike froze. How does he know my name? What does he know about humans that I don’t? Ah, whatever, I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

“Sure, come on in, I’ll go fetch twilight.”

The dragon stepped inside the library and disappeared upstairs. Matt walked inside, closed the door and sat down on a chair he had found in the corner, and waited.

About a minute later, the purple unicorn came galloping down the stairs. “Matt!” she cried “spike told me you showed up at the door with a huge burn mark on your back! What happened?”

Matt was confused. “What burn mark?” he looked over his shoulder, trying to get the best view of his back that he could. Sure enough, there was a big burn mark right in the center of his back, and his shirt had been burned and peeled away where the mark was. But surprisingly, there was no wound or anything, just a big scorch mark. “Oh. That burn mark. Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She nodded, and trotted over to the door, locking it. She then dropped her disguise spell, and walked over to him, dragging a chair with her. She sat down opposite him, and waited.

“Well, it started when I walked outside to go think about things. I ended up in the forest, sitting under a tree. As it turned out, I ended up getting struck by lightning. And, well, it…changed me.”

“Changed you? How so?” She asked, now thoroughly intrigued.

“Well, as you did with your disguise spell, it’s easier for me to just show you.”

With that, he stood up and held out his hand. Within seconds, the lightning was back, crackling furiously around his hand. Twilight stood up and took a step back. She was expecting him to show her an injury or something, but this...this was unexpected.

Matt noticed Twilight take a step back, and realized he was scaring her. She may be used to the thought of another human, but not a lightning bolt wielding one he thought.

“It’s okay, Twilight, I can control it. It’s like the lightning is a part of me, and I can tell it what to do.”

“Okay. I was just…I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like that before. To be honest, it’s pretty cool. Spike would love to see it.”

“Speaking of spike, where is he?”

“Oh, I told him to stay upstairs, he just got back from his official business in Canterlot, and got a little freaked out when he saw another human at the door. I’ll call him down, I’ve got to write a letter to the Princess about this anyway.”

With that, she went and got the dragon, who came down the stairs after her, looking a little worried. As he walked up to Matt, looking him over, he asked “So, what exactly are you?”

“Spike! There’s plenty of time for questions afterward. Right now, I need you to take a letter for Princess Celestia.”

Spike nodded and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of nowhere. He sat down, and began to scribble down what Twilight wrote.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today, I ran into someone most interesting today. His name is Matt, and he was sent to this world after dying, just like me. However, he was struck by lightning shortly after being transported into this world, and has somehow absorbed that power, and is able to control it. I think he was transported into this world for more than simply as an afterlife. I believe he was sent here to help us. But with what, I am unsure. However, I am pretty sure you will want to speak with him.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

“Send it, Spike”

On her command, Spike walked over to the window and opened it. He held the now rolled up parchment in front of him, and sent it. This involved him breathing fire on it, and the parchment’s ashes were swept out the window by a sudden gust of wind that came from seemingly nowhere. Ten seconds later, Spike belched loudly. A rolled letter popped out of his mouth, followed by a burst of magic. This letter had a large “C” seal on it. Matt gave himself one guess as to what that C meant.

“Wow, that was quick!” Twilight snagged the letter out of the air, and began to read it.

To my faithful student Twilight:

You are correct, I do wish to speak with this human. I am sending a chariot led by two of my best Pegasus guards to Ponyville. It will take you, Spike, and this human back to Canterlot. Expect it within the hour.

-Princess Celestia

“Well, Matt, I was right, Celestia does want to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Not sure entirely, but I think it has something to do with your rather…unique powers.”

Matt was just about to question more, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Twilight recast her disguise spell as quickly as she could, and went to answer the door. Standing on the porch, was one of Celestia’s royal Pegasus guards.

“Are you Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Princess Celestia requests the audience of you, your dragon assistant, and your human friend.” The large white Pegasus said, while gesturing at Matt.

“Wow, you guys got here quick. Okay, Matt, time to go.”

Matt got up and walked out of the library, as Twilight closed the door and locked it. He climbed into the chariot, and the two Pegasus stallions hooked themselves back up to the chariot and took off.

Flying was one thing Matt had never experienced before. He’d flown plenty of RC aircraft, sure, but he had never actually been in the air before.

It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. The town passed under him in a flash, the air whipping past his face. So this is what it must be like to be a Pegasus, he thought completely free, with not even the sky as a limit.

Before long, they had touched down at Canterlot Castle. They were greeted with a musical fanfare from some ponies with special uniforms on holding trumpets. They stepped off the chariot and were led into the castle by the two royal guards that had brought them there.

The castle was huge, just HUGE inside. It seemed like the corridors went on for miles in each direction. They finally ended up in a big chamber with two thrones sitting on top of a big set of stairs. Sitting in the thrones were two alicorns. One white with a flowing multicolor mane and tail. The other, was black with a flowing blue and translucent blue mane and tail. Celestia and Luna he remembered, from watching the show.

Celestia spoke first “Welcome, Matt, we have been expecting you. You have gained your power very far ahead of schedule. But perhaps that is not such a bad thing. Very soon, in fact sooner than expected, there will be a big predicament in Equestria, something that only humans can handle. Very special humans.”

Luna spoke next “The humans that are now your pony friends, Twilight, when they were mindwiped, we placed a spell on them that when activated, shall awaken them. However, this time, they shall be able to handle the truth, having lived it for years. Also, they will be able to change between their human and pony forms, as you are.”

Celestia spoke again “Matt, before you ask what kind of predicament, I assure you, you will find out in time. But for now, we must train you.”

============================END CHAPTER 7============================

Now I know I said I’d make you wait till Monday, but I was sort of sick today, so I stayed home and wrote this instead. Right now, I’ve got one of my non-brony friends reading this, and even he likes it. Also, I submitted this to Equestria Daily, and was told they’d run it past their pre-readers. I got an email back saying that it’s “identical to any HiE fic, the author’s notes state ‘this is my first fanfic, sorry it sucks’, and a few other things. While it sucks a little to have my story critiqued that hard, I suppose ponychan would be worse. Anyway, I never got told it was rejected, so finger crossed! Anyway, I now have to spend about an hour importing this, as FIMfiction keeps NONE of MS word’s formatting, so I have to italicize everything again, and make the paragraphs separate again. Hope you enjoyed my latest chapter!

Chapter 8: Learning

============================SECRET LIGHTNING============================

Hello, readers, today, you will notice, I am a little late with the story. If I am a day late, well, this means I was too rushed to go back and change this author’s note. Not rushed with the story, mind you, but rushed with other things. While I realize I don’t have to force myself to output daily updates, I like to, because it gives me something to do, and without it I’ll end up watching MLP episodes off my external hard drive. Not that that’s a bad thing, but it kind of is when I spend an entire afternoon after school doing it. Also, there Is a fanfic I have been tracking, called Two’s company, Three’s a crowd that I really like. It’s an actually successful octa/vinyl fic and I just love it. Anyway, the author of that fic outputs daily updates as well, but with one difference: his chapters are shorter. So I’ve been milling in my head whether or not I should pick up that update style. Also, most of you have liked what I’ve done so far with the Bioshock crossover, and I thank you. However, plasmid-like powers are about as far as it’s going to go into the strange world of Rapture. Now, would you kindly read chapter 8?

============================Chapter 8: Learning============================

Matt was confused: “Train me? For what?”

Celestia replied “As I said, in time you will learn this. For now, all you need to know is you are being trained to be a very great warrior.”

Matt looked down at himself. He was 5’8”, pencil-thin, and could barely lift a moderate amount of weight. Aside from that, he looked like complete hell. His hair was a complete mess, all going in different directions, and singed, and completely full of dirt and other things. His clothes were dirty, his black hoodie and white t-shirt were also caked with dirt, and were burned and peeled on his back, where the lightning had struck him. Even his jeans were filthy, and his shoes were no prize, either.

“Me? Are you serious? A great warrior? I look horrible and can’t even lift my own weight. What makes me so special?”

Celestia spoke once again. “You will learn quickly, Matt, that strength is not what defines a warrior. Instead, it is his heart. His willingness to push on for his cause. His character that, by definition, has never known true power. That makes him all the better of a hero, because he then truly has respect for power.”

Matt was amazed. Never before had someone told him they saw potential in him. To most, he was seen as just that kid that never talked, and failed every class. Celestia broke the silence, her horn alighting as she spoke. “Now about the issue of your clothing…”

Matt felt himself get lifted off the ground, all the while a pink glow was surrounding him. He felt his hair suddenly get cleaner, as the dirt was magically stripped from it, and the strands of wispy brown hair fell back into their proper place. His shirt felt almost cold as the dirt was stripped from it, revealing the brilliant white underneath the layers of dirt, and the back sealed up, all singe marks and peeled away fabric disappeared, as the white cotton appeared to liquefy and reform around him. His hoodie did the same. His legs got a similar cold feeling as his jeans were cleaned and repaired. After his shoes and other clothing items were clean and undamaged, Matt was placed back on the floor, the pink glow around him dissipating. Matt was still in a bit of a trance. It was only about thirty seconds he had actually been in that cocoon of magic, but it felt like an eternity. He looked up, only to see a human Twilight standing in front of him.

“You okay, Matt?”

Matt shook his head, clearing the last of the daze he was still feeling from Celestia’s “Dry Clean”

“Yes…yes, I am okay.” He finally managed to spit out.

“Well then, I hope you are ready, because now marks the official start of your training.” Celestia interrupted. She tapped her hooves together, and within seconds, two very nervous looking servant ponies staggered in, each holding one side of a large, burning fire pit. They set it down in front of the white marble stairs, and quickly hurried away. She turned her attention, and everyone else’s, to that burning fire.

“Now, if our theory is correct, you shall be able to absorb any kind of energy, and repeat it back rather forcefully. For example, if you absorb this fire here, you shall then have an almost unlimited supply of fire that you can repeat back much like a biological flamethrower. I say unlimited, because from what we know, your power feeds on how much you truly believe in yourself. Now give it a try.”

Matt nodded, a little dazed by the information he had just received. This is almost EXACTLY like Bioshock, he thought, except for that last part.

He pointed his hand towards the burning fire, and concentrated. After a couple of tense seconds, a small tornado began to take shape within the fire, pointed end up. This small tornado quickly closed the distance between it and his hand, and actually started to ENTER his hand. After a few seconds, Matt decided he had absorbed enough, and withdrew his hand. There was now a concentrated inferno enveloping his hands, much as the lightning had done before. Speaking of the lightning, Matt wondered if he could switch back and forth now. Within seconds, the fires died and were quickly replaced by lightning again. This excited Matt. Alright, now THIS is awesome! He thought to himself.

Celestia, seemingly reading his thoughts, broke the awkward silence. “Yes, Matt, while it is pretty cool, we still have much work to do.”

She tapped her hooves again, and the two servant ponies returned again, this time carrying wooden targets. They looked VERY nervous this time, as they had entered just as Matt had really starting experimenting with his newfound powers, and had one hand covered in lightning, the other fire. They set down their targets as fast as they could at the end of the hall, somewhat close to them, and galloped out, no traces of dignity left. They just wanted as much space between them and this strange creature as they could get.

Celestia sighed and shook her head. Scaredy-ponies. With that, she turned to Matt, and spoke once more. “Try to hit one target with lightning, one with fire.”

Matt nodded. He knew what was going on here. He first raised his flaming hand, and concentrated his power. Within seconds, he drew a mighty fireball, which hovered just above his hand, burning angrily. He then whipped the fireball much like a baseball directly at the target. It hit dead center, knocking it over and reducing it to ashes within seconds. He nodded, satisfied with himself, but he wasn’t done yet. He raised his other hand, and flung a lightning bolt about the size of a smartcar at the target. It hit dead center again, slamming into the target, sending it shooting across the hallway, before vaporizing it. Hell yeah, he thought this is getting interesting.

“Impressive” Celestia commented, and Luna nodded in agreement. Then Luna spoke.

“But you still have much to learn, and with less time than we had hoped. So let us continue with your next energy type: telekinesis.”

Before Matt even had time to think, she stepped forward and lowered her head. Her horn began to glow, and a large cone of air and loose dust formed around her horn, and then enveloped Matt, lifting him off the ground again. Seconds later, he was set back down, this time his hands shimmering with an unseen heat. Luna tapped her hooves this time, and the two servant ponies returned. One carrying another target, the other carrying a large metal weight. That one placed the weight in front of Matt, while the other set the target down at the end of the hall, where the other two had once been. Yet again, they practically RAN out of the throne room.

“Now Matt, I want you to pick up the weight.”

He pointed his hand towards the weight in a clawed grabbing fashion. Seconds later, a whirlwind swept out of his hand and surrounded the weight, bringing it to a close hover inches from his hand.

“Now Matt, drop it.” Luna commended.

Releasing his power, Matt dropped the weight on command.

“Okay, now that we have the basics of telekinesis down, why not try throwing it?” Luna suggested.

Matt decided THIS part sounded like fun. He picked the weight up again, and this time waved his hand nonchalantly in the direction of the target. On command, the weight screamed away from him in the direction of the target, immediately destroying the target on contact.

“Impressive” Luna said, “You seem to have picked this up fairly quickly. But you still need training to further improve these powers. Together we shall turn you into an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.”

Matt just stood there, the huge smile on his face getting bigger by the second. This is going to be awesome.

============================END CHAPTER 8============================

Well, then, I guess I got it done on time! I’m too lazy to change the beginning author’s note though, so yeah. Also, let me know what you think about my possible change to my update style, whether you prefer I do daily short ones, longer twice daily ones, or what I have going now. Kind of looking forward to getting an answer, I’ve been milling about it for hours now.

Chapter 9: Discovery

=================SECRET LIGHTNING=================

Alright, so now marks the beginning of my academics cycle at my school, and also the begging of a time where updated chapters are shorter than I’d like them to be. Also, I am REALLY pissed at another friend of mine(no, not the one who was pissed at my story), not because he dislikes my little pony (everyone is entitled to their opinion in my mind. You don’t like it, so what), but because he has the STONES to tell me I need to “grow up and stop watching that shit” and maybe when I’ve “matured enough”, I can grow a set. I may be breaking brony code here, but I swear Derek, if I hear you say so much as one more thing to me on that topic, I’ll shove my steel-toe up your ass so far you’ll be coughing out a shoelace! I mean, I’ve seriously lost all respect for this kid. He used to be cool, a neutral non-brony, accepting and supporting of bronies, but lately he just make me want to……………I shall be cutting that thought short lest it end up in the hands of my school’s administration.

=================Chapter 9: Discovery=================

Matt’s training was completed. In a timeframe of about a week, the two alicorn sisters had trained him to wield, control, and focus his power, as well as giving him new ones. He now had control over lightning, fire, telekinesis, ice, wind, water, and earth. He could fling lightning bolts, as well as shape the lightning to do anything he wanted at will. He could hurl fireballs the size of Volkswagens now, and make the fire do anything, including a trick he figured out himself, which involved semi-limited, yet very fast “flight” by shooting fire down to take off, then down and back to “fly”, he could take off, land, and maneuver much like a human jumpjet.

But he had other powers as well. He could now lift and throw things from and to great distances with his telekinesis, and also perform a similar “flight” as he could with fire and air, but with much weaker results. He could also now control ice, in a few unique ways. He could flash-freeze things with a flick of his hand, or create ice bridges for him to walk or slide on.

As far as the air went, it was much simpler. He could mainly only muster strong gale and hurricane force winds, but with incredible precision. Other than that, not really all that much as far as special stunts. However, he was able to fly much more precisely when controlling air instead of fire, but with not even a quarter of the speed. Lastly, for earth, he was able to mold, shape, and completely control the earth in every way. For instance, he could create or level mountains if he was in the right mood.

Now, his orders had changed. He was now to escort Twilight to the other five once-human ponies scattered around Ponyville, as she cast a spell on each of them, effectively waking them up without freaking them out. But the problem, Matt realized, was catching a couple of them.

If I remember correctly, Rainbow Dash is the fastest flier in Equestria. Also, I scared the hell out of her the last time we met, and I doubt she’ll want anything to do with me. I may be able to fly somewhat fast, but I never broke the sound barrier. I just really hope our eventual encounter won’t involve me having to chase her.

He was abruptly snapped back to reality when Twilight spoke.

“Well, I guess we should start with Rainbow Dash, get the hardest part done first.”

He stopped thinking for a second to argue, and noticed his surroundings. They were back in Ponyville, walking towards a cloud house in the sky with rainbow waterfalls. Twilight was using her disguise spell again, back to the original purple unicorn mare everypony knew her as. Spike was walking next to them, looking about as lost in thought as Matt was before Twilight spoke. It was a wonder he didn’t walk into a tree or veer away from the path they were walking on, as he looked to be very deep in thought.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, the last time we met, I had just discovered my lightning power, and I scared the living hell out of her.”

“Well, then it makes it easier for us to start with her, as we won’t be all worn out by the time we need to get to her.”

“Alright, I see your point. even so, what’s the plan? If she’s asleep in her cloud house as you think she is, she won’t stay there for long with me around.”

“Well, just go up there and knock on her door, and we’ll go from there.”

“Fine”

He pointed his palms straight down toward the earth, flat and rigid, arms at his sides. Twin blasts of air shot from his hands, slowly lifting him off the ground. He increased the speed of the air, and was able to quite quickly lift himself up to the door of the cloud house. He never was a fan of heights, but since figuring out how to fly using his intriguing power, he suddenly wasn’t anymore. He knocked on the door, and waited as he heard somepony force themselves out of bed, and trudge to the door, and open it.

“What? What do you-EEP!” she jolted back in fear, knowing full well what this creature was. This same creature she did not recognize that was easily twice her size, had been the one to throw a lightning bolt at her that one night. Now here he was, FLYING?!? Fear overtook her again, and she bolted past him, and flew off into the sky.

Matt sighed. He knew this was going to happen. He could have seen it coming a mile away. He started to blame himself for being the one to throw the lightning bolt, when Twilight urgently interrupted him.

“Chase her! We need to at least calm her down if not restrain her so I can cast the spell! Go now, you can fly! I won’t be far behind!”

Matt nodded and angled his hands back, giving himself forward thrust. When he felt he had picked up enough speed, he contorted his body so that he was basically lying on his stomach, hands at his sides, angled slightly downward to keep the downward thrust. Once this was done, he started gaining speed, actually coming close to catching the cyan mare. He then decided to call out to her, in hopes of getting her to slow down.

“Calm down, Rainbow Dash, I am not going to hurt you, I just wish to talk.”

Surprised this creature was able to keep up with her, she gave another small yelp and rocketed forward, breaking through the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom with a rainbow that extended laterally on a horizontal plane. The sonic rainboom. This meant she was now traveling at close to mach 2 speeds, and was very quickly making distance between the two of them. Great. At this rate, he’d never catch up to her. However, as he passed through the shockwave from the sonic rainboom, he felt that same chilly tingling feeling he felt when he was absorbing an energy type. Wait. This might make a difference then. He pushed as hard as he could with his air power, then releasing a blast of his newly absorbed sonic rainboom energy, and quickly switched to full blast fire.

The human shape SCREAMED across the sky, blazing a trail of fire and rainbow across the sky. He zipped past Rainbow Dash, now aware of his inability to stop, and realized why. I never played with sonic rainboom and fire before, he thought, as he kept moving at nearly mach 4 speeds across the sky.

Matt was suddenly aware of a large tree rising to meet him as he kept going. He tried to pull up, or at least stop, but found he was going WAY too fast for that. Well, at least the tree appears hollow, was his last thought before he slammed headfirst into the tree, and the darkness of unconsciousness consumed him once again.

=================END CHAPTER 9=================

Hoo boy. Looks like he’s done it again! Why do I have him keep getting knocked out? It adds suspense and gives me something to work with, and possibly add a time jump to. Now I know I had also said this would be a bioshock crossover story, but I think I lied. I don’t know, there are more bioshock elements that will show up In time, but for now, the story is such a mishmash of so many different things, I don’t even know what to call it anymore. Having said that, would you kindly comment on my story and lat me know what you think?

Chapter 10: Catching Up

========================SECRET LIGHTNING========================

Now, originally, I was going to have the hollow tree Matt crashes into be Zecora’s house, but I found a problem. She speaks in rhyme, and I cannot rhyme. So, I will make the hollow tree just that: a hollow tree. Oh, and also, I see my comment-inducing mind trick worked last chapter, so maybe I’ll use one this chapter too. Anyway, I apologize for not updating for a couple days, but as Thursday was career night at my school. Career night is where the freshmen choose their permanent shops, and as a senior, I had to be there. So I had to make sure my VEXbot was ready, and had charged batteries, and that I could stay after for it. Also, we totally trolled the juniors in the shop this week. We changed cycles tuesday, seniors and freshmen going to academics while sophomores and juniors going to shop, so we put desktop ponies on ALL the shop computers, along with high resolution PNG wallpapers I had found during my internet adventures. Each computer had a different wallpaper of a character, with about 15 of that character walking or flying around the screen. We also set the program to autorun on startup. Next cycle, we shall troll even harder. Anyway, I’m rambling again, and a thought occurs in my head: how many of you actually take the time to read my author’s notes? I’m guessing not many. Whatever, I’ll shut up and start writing now. Also, since I have updated and edited this author’s note since Wednesday night, career night went well, except for the two juniors that walked in half an hour late completely baked. Nice way to represent the shop, guys. Also, if any of my readers that read this know anything about e-flite blade copters, could you PM me? I has a few questions about dsmx transmitters and dsm2 receivers.

========================Chapter 10: Catching Up========================

Matt stirred, and opened his eyes. He blinked, clearing out the dried crust. He must have been out a long time. it was then that a familiar cyan head appeared in Matt’s vision.

“Yo Matt, you okay?”

Matt sat up, and the Pegasus mare moved out of his way. He was sitting on a grassy field, out in the sun. he looked over, and saw the remains of the tree he crashed into. He could have sworn there was blood in certain places on the tree from when he hit it. He checked himself all over. He was unhurt. He wasn’t even dirty. What happened?

“Yes” Matt finally found it in himself to speak “I am okay, I guess”

“Of course you’re ok, I had to use a healing spell on you after you hit that tree.” Human Twilight cut in, “if the tree hadn’t been hollow, you’d probably be dead right now.”

Matt winced. Being dead was not too appealing to him, considering in a way, he already WAS dead. He wondered if it was even POSSIBLE to die in an afterlife, but stopped himself. That was a road he did not want to go down right now. For now, he had a couple other questions.

“So, wait…wasn’t I chasing Rainbow dash? What happened to trying to get her to calm down so you could…” he trailed off as Twilight raised her hand.

“When you hit the tree, she stopped to check if you were ok. While that was happening, I caught up and placed the spell on her. She is now aware of everything, yet is unchanged mentally. Princess Celestia showed me the spell.”

“Yeah! I can’t believe I freaked out before! This is AWESOME!” she punctuated ‘awesome’ with a backflip

Matt was still unsure as to what had actually happened. Shouldn’t he be injured after hitting the tree?

“Um, I’m happy for you Dash, but Twilight, uh….what exactly happened? I remember chasing Rainbow, then nothing.”

“Well, I suppose that’s an easy enough explanation, you seem to have absorbed the shock wave from Dash’s sonic rainboom, and used it to boost your flight, as well as fire. Quite impressive, actually, it made a very interesting trail across the sky.”

Matt looked up. Sure enough, there was a rainbow trail across the sky, with twin fire trails on either side of it.

“I’m guessing that using fire is not too accurate, as you screamed past Rainbow Dash here, and almost immediately hit this tree. When Rainbow Dash stopped to see if you were ok, I quickly placed the memory spell on her, then healed you.”

Matt was starting to get frustrated with himself. This was the fourth time something bad had happened to him, and the third time he had almost gotten killed. I really need to get my head together. however, if it hadn’t been for that lightning strike, he probably would have never learned of his power in the first place.

“Anyway, Matt,” Rainbow Dash interrupted what Twilight was about to say “I’d just like to apologize for making you chase me. That night, when the lightning….well, I thought you were here to hurt me, or at least that you wouldn’t be friendly, and I kind of panicked. So, sorry.” She said while looking at the ground and digging a little in the dirt with a hoof.

“Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t know, that’s all. I’ll admit, I was pretty scared of myself that night too, considering I was the one doing the bolt-throwing. So, I forgive you.”

“Oh yeah! About that thing you can do, that’s even more awesome than being a Pegasus! What else can you do?”

They spent the next three hours trying different things with his powers. Matt discovered he could intertwine his powers for different effects. For example, he could combine earth and telekinesis to rip a large chunk out of the ground, then launch it like a bullet with a small blast of sonic rainboom. Water, telekinesis could be combined to make an electrified water snake that could tie down and shock the living hell out of anything. Also, fire and wind could be combined to create a legendary fire tornado! Everyone agreed, that was pretty epic. But the one thing Matt and Rainbow Dash spent the most time doing was perfecting his flying. He had it pretty much down before, but not with fire, or boosting with sonic rainboom. After a couple of hours, he had gotten more used to both energy types. By then, he was easily beating Rainbow Dash in the races that she kept constantly challenging him to, almost as if she wanted to try to at least once outfly him. But he was way too fast for her, and Twilight estimated that when he got going full throttle, so to speak, he was doing at least mach 7. Way faster than Dainty Dish.

After Matt had gotten the hang of flying, he realized something: he still had to find that yellow Pegasus he had run into a while ago. If he remembered correctly, her name was Fluttershy.

“Hey, Dash, you mind if we continue this later? I still have to go find somepony and apologize for scaring her.”

To Matt’s surprise, Dash sighed and looked unsurprised. “Yellow Pegasus with pink mane?”

“Yeah, that’s her. You know her?”

“Yeah, that’s my friend Fluttershy. As her name kind of suggests, she’s afraid of just about anything. I suppose I better go with you so she doesn’t run away again.”

“And I should come too, I mean, I need to give her the memory spell, too.” Twilight added.

“Hey, so why exactly did Celestia want you to do this, anyway?” Rainbow wondered.

“She didn’t say exactly, except that it is very important and will come into play in about a week.”

“Huh. Alright, well, you better put your pony spell back up and we can go.”

“All set, you ready to go Matt?”

Matt still couldn’t get over how cool it was that Twilight was able to perform that spell, and transform from human to pony. He wondered: maybe if I can find a way to absorb some of her magic, I can see if I’m any good at it. But that was for a later time. For now, he had a Pegasus to find.

“Yes, I am ready.”

“Alright, but I feel I should give you the plan now. When we get to Fluttershy’s house, you’ll need to stay hidden until we give the signal. Twilight and I will get her calm before introducing you, and trust me, it’s better that we be there to ‘supervise’. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if she faints when she sees you. She’s the nicest, most gentle pony here in Ponyville, but she’s such a shy thing.”

“Alright, that sounds like a plan. Shall we?”

With that, Rainbow Dash took to the air, hovering above Matt’s head. “coming?”

“Oh, we're flying? But what about Twilight?”

Dash giggled “See for yourself.”

Matt looked to his right, and saw that Twilight had the situation handled. She now had colorful butterfly wings, and was hovering at about the same height as Rainbow Dash. Damn, she can magic, he thought in amazement.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

With that, he concentrated his air power downward, and took off straight up, in what he had named “helicopter mode”. Yes, he had named his flight modes. Plane mode, helicopter mode, jumpjet mode, and combo mode. It just made it easier for him. He angled his pitch forward several degrees, and started off in a straight line towards Fluttershy’s cottage, which Rainbow Dash and Twilight were already heading for, a little ahead of him. Matt couldn’t resist another race.

He angled his forward pitch a few more positive degrees, increasing his speed by two-fold, zipping past Dash and Twilight.

“Oh, it is ON, Matt!” Dash yelled after him, and then sped off in his direction. Twilight too, although with more effort due to her not being used to having wings.

The trio screamed across the sky, covering the distance to Fluttershy’s house in almost no time, laughing all the way, and having a grand old time.

When they reached the small cottage, Matt put on the brakes, angling his arms to give the thrust some serious negative pitch, until he was hovering again. He gently touched down on the ground, and Rainbow Dash landed next to him. Twilight landed a second later, and her horn glowed for a second, and her wings disappeared.

“Alright, Matt, you stay here, Twilight and I will go talk with Fluttershy.”

“Okay, just let me know when it’s safe to appear.”

“Will do.” The two mares trotted around to the back of the house, and for about a minute, Matt heard muffled conversations, none of which he could decipher. After a couple of minutes, Matt heard “Okay, Matt, come on around!”

He stepped around the house, and saw the yellow Pegasus standing there looking nervous, with Rainbow and Twilight on either side of her.

Fluttershy looked up, and even though her friends had told her this creature was not dangerous, she couldn’t help it. With a yelp, she fell on her back, legs sticking straight up, paralyzed with fear. Matt could have sworn he heard a goat bleat.

“Aww, she fainted! Ugh, fine, let’s get her inside.” Dash started to drag the paralyzed Pegasus towards her house, when Matt stopped her.

“it’s fine, I got this. Just get the door for me, if you don’t mind.”

He stooped over the frozen Pegasus, and in one swift move, picked her up. He made sure he picked her up so that her wings were comfortable and not compressed, but that he would be able to hold onto her in case she woke up and started thrashing. She’s lighter than she looks. Matt made mental comment. Or maybe I’m stronger than I think.

They entered the small cottage with no problems, Twilight opened the door for Matt with her magic. He gently lay Fluttershy down on her couch, making sure she was not in an uncomfortable position.

When he was done with that, Fluttershy moaned softly, and stretched her legs. Then she looked directly at Matt with a look that he remembered from when he was in the human world, and spoke.

“Hello Matt, it’s been a long time.”

Matt reeled. No way.

================================END CHAPTER 10================================

Sorry for leaving you with another cliffhanger, but that seems to be popular. Also, I mentioned a character named Dainty Dish. I suppose I better give credit, lest her creator get pissed. She is from a story called Higher Flier OR My Little Blackbird, by AdmiralTigerclaw. In his story, Dainty Dish is a pony version of a Lockheed Martin SR-71 blackbird spyplane. Also, I will be introducing an OC by mandolore soon, and I’m sorry man, but I guess I really don’t need a pre-reader right now. Anyway, since the “would you kindly” comment inducer worked before, *jedi mind control activated* you WILL leave a comment. um, if that's okay with you. *squee* Also, these are not the droids you are looking for.

Chapter 11: An Old Friend [REWORKED]

======================SECRET LIGHTNING======================

This is the reworked version of chapter 11, the first part of a HUGE project to completely revamp Secret Lightning. It’s going to take me a while to do, I had to replace a lot of this chapter. And this is just the first of many. Why I chose this chapter to work on first, I’ll never know. And I removed the six-foot author notes cause I just said screw it, no one cares about copters and stuff. So enjoy the reworked chapter! Also, warning you just now: new version has some brief language to it, so you have been warned.

======================CHAPTER 11: AN OLD FRIEND [REVAMPED]======================

Matt was unable to speak. His mind ran at a mile a second, desperately trying to process the situation unfolding in front of him. Then it clicked: her.

Finally, his brain forced his mouth into motion. “P…..Paige?”

“Yes, Matt, it’s me. As I said, it’s been a long time.”

Matt’s brain finally made the connection. So this is where she went. All these years. It HAS been a long time. TOO long, in fact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK TIME~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You see, Matt wasn’t always a loner. Back in middle school, he had met someone. Her name was Paige. She was beautiful, with shoulder length jet black hair, a thin face, and that voice. Oh, that voice. She was usually very gentle and shy, with a very quiet voice, but when she got pissed, no amount of anything would calm her down until she was satisfied. She and Matt shared similar parental problems, but hers were much darker. Her father was a drunken mess most of the time, and her mother was never around. Back when Paige was about 10, her father had started molesting her.

Matt was the only person she had ever told this, as she was so afraid that if she told someone else, they would tell her dad. He had always said, “If you tell anyone, I’ll kill you” and she believed him.

Matt had fallen in love with Paige, even though he knew he couldn’t push anything due to her parent situation. But after a while, she became attached to him, becoming much like a little sister to him. But at the same time, it was more than that. He loved her. And she loved him as well. But yet he took care of her almost like a surrogate brother, having her stay over at his house when her father got violent. He would look after her at school as well, when people called her “Pussy Paige” due to her resulting timidness. One time, he was even suspended from school for beating the crap out of a kid who had lured her into a room, and tried to force himself on her. If a teacher hadn’t been right around the corner, he would have done much worse.

That had been one of the few times Matt’s dad had not yelled at him. He had gotten into a scuffle, defending a lady. And for once, his dad approved of his actions.

It had all gone down in a matter of seconds.

Matt sighed and grabbed his jacket from his locker, slamming the door closed. It had been another boring day in school. As usual, his teachers annoyed the crap out of him. But at least they weren’t as bad as the other kids in his classes. You have to admit, it is pretty hard to concentrate on not failing a class with the people behind you throwing stuff at you, kicking your seat, and occasionally jabbing you with pencils. But it wasn’t all that bad. He’d made it through another day, and that meant he got to see Paige after school again. He had to admit, he was really glad he had met her, she was the one who kept him together, gave him reason to get out of bed in the morning, to try and do better in school, and to try to be a better person. As such, he hadn’t been in any fights since he met her, and his grades had gone from a failing number to one that wasn’t awesome, but you really couldn’t complain either. There were lots of opportunities for him to get into fights, sure, like when other guys made passes at her, or made fun of her. But he didn’t. He told himself he would be better than that.

His mind snapping back to reality as he walked down the hallway, Matt thought he could hear a noise. He couldn’t quite identify it, but it almost sounded like…muffled crying. And as he moved down the hallway, it started getting closer. He decided to investigate, as the only room at this section of hallway was the resource room that no one ever used.

Matt approached the door carefully, and opened it veeery quietly, still unsure exactly what was the source of the noise. Positioning himself halfway inside the door, he scanned the room. The room was dark, all the tables had a light coating of dust on them. But more importantly, in the far corner of the room some random guy had a girl pinned up against the wall, his hand covering her face, muffling her cries. His other hand was holding both her arms at bay while his knee kept her legs and feet from moving as well. Matt wasn’t sure just what this guy was trying to do. But he suddenly realized he didn’t care, as he identified the girl as Paige. “C’mon! I’m sure your little wimpy ‘boyfriend’ wouldn’t even be able to do anything if he found out!” the guy was saying.

His body was in motion while his brain was already putting together what to do and feeding it to the rest of him on the fly. Well, he had a habit of wearing steel-toed shoes so kids couldn’t step on his feet to try and hurt him, might as well use them. He leaned forward and took off at almost a full sprint towards the far part of the room. He hadn’t been noticed yet. He smiled as he ran, with one thought in his mind about that: good. When he neared the far corner of the room, since there was a table between them, he jumped with his right foot, put his left foot on the table, pushed himself forward, and swung his right foot around towards the guy’s head. A split second before the weighted steel toe connected with his skull, Matt remembered to turn his foot sideways so the side of his foot hit him. He needed to knock him off her, not knock him out. He also checked to make sure the attacker’s head was far enough away from Paige’s that he wouldn’t accidentally kick her as well.

The foot connected, the strengthened steel in his toe making a satisfying *whop* sound as it struck the other guy’s skull. As the applied energy plus the shock of the kick to the guy’s brain knocked him sideways, Matt’s momentum carried him over the table and into a landing standing directly over the guy, who he now identified as Steve Jabronsky, the leader of the people that bullied Matt. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was holding his head groaning. Matt smiled. He’d be out of it for a couple minutes. Now to check on Paige.

She had been released the second Matt’s foot connected with Steve’s skull, and had hit the ground and curled up in a ball, sobbing loudly. He stepped over the groaning Steve, and knelt down next to her. He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, but at his touch, she flinched violently and curled up even more. “Paige?” he whispered in her ear “Paige, it’s me. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

She sniffled and pulled her face from her hands to look at him. “M…Matt?”

“Yes Paige, it’s me. Don’t worry, you’re safe now. I’m not sure what he was trying to do to you, but it’s okay now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Suddenly, she jumped up and grabbed him in such a tight hug that Matt thought his lungs might pop. “Oh, Matt!” she cried “It was horrible! He tried…he tried to make me do things with him. But I…I didn’t want to. He tried to tell me…tell me you wouldn’t care.”

“Ssh, it’s okay” he whispered while stroking her back gently as she cried into his shoulder “He can’t hurt you anymore. I’m here now. It’s okay.”

“Uuurgh” well, Steve was coming back to his senses. Time for a little ‘talk’.

Matt released Paige, before giving her a reassuring smile, and got up and moved quickly over to Steve, who was slowly getting up clutching his head. When he noticed Matt standing glowering over him, he looked up. “Dude, what the fuck?” he demanded.

Matt squatted down to Steve’s level, who was sitting up using his elbows. He grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him back against the wall with enough force Matt was pretty sure he’d knocked him out again. A quick visual check, nope, he hadn’t. Good. He got right in Steve’s face, so close they were almost touching.

“Now listen here, Steve!” he pretty much screamed in his face “I’m not a violent person. That doesn’t mean I can’t fight. You’ve got balls trying what you just did. Don’t ever do it again. Because while yes, I’m not a violent person, if I EVER find out you’ve so much as LOOKED AT her again, I will NOT hesitate to change that! You got me?! And make sure all your little chronies know this as well. No one is to lay a hand on Paige or they will suffer my wrath!” he punctuated the last word by releasing Steve as well as throwing him back against the wall once more. “And I’m pretty sure you DON’T want to know just how painful my wrath can be!”

He got back to his feet, and looked over at Paige, who had gotten up as well, and walked over to her. “C’mon, let’s go.” He said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. On the way out of the room, she grabbed his hand. They ended up holding hands all the way back to her house.

When they got to Paige’s house, since Matt had things to do at home, he made sure she was ok, gave her a hug, said his goodbyes, and left. As he started walking home, it started to rain. It was a cold rain too, one of those rains that’s really miserable and depressing. But nothing could dampen Matt’s mood right now. “Well,” he said to no one in particular as he walked “I’m walking home in the cold, miserable rain, but at least I know she got home safe.”

The next day, as he and Paige walked into school, holding hands once again, they were stopped by the music instructor, Mr. Burlough, who informed them they were both to report to the principal’s office.

Sitting in the waiting area for the principal was the hardest thing in the world at the moment for Matt. The clock on the wall clicked off the seconds ever so slowly, getting louder and louder with each passing minute until the soft little clicks were thundering in his head. The principal had called Paige in first, and that had been almost half an hour ago. A slight cough from the secretary reminded Matt that he was not in fact alone in the room. But then again, Mrs. Torrell never really liked talking with students that much. If Matt could find a way to measure just how BORED he was sitting here into some kind of a number, he was sure it’d be somewhere over 9,000.

The door to the office opened just a crack. “Matt?” came the voice of the principal “You can come in now.”

Matt stood up and walked tentatively in. There wasn’t that question on his mind as to what he’d done, he knew EXACTLY what this was about. And it wasn’t going to end well. But really, he didn’t care. As he walked into the principal’s office, he motioned for Paige to leave. She stood up and started walking out, but Matt stopped her and gave her a quick hug first. Then she left and closed the door, and he sat down in the left one of the two chairs that sat in front of Mr. Cook’s desk, at just the perfect angle.

“Well, Matthew,” Mr. Cook said while toying with one of those little kinetic sculpture things on his desk without looking up. “I believe you know why you are here today.”

“Well sir…” Matt stammered “I…I do.” Just because he didn’t care about consequences didn’t mean he couldn’t be nervous about them.

“ Now you see, Matthew,” Mr. Cook continued, still toying with the sculpture, not even having looked up at Matt “I have already talked to both Steve and Paige about this. The information I have gotten so far has been…intriguing to say the least.”

Matt’s words almost froze in his throat, but he forced them out. “What…what do you mean, sir?”

“Well, Matthew, what I mean is, I’ve got two conflicting stories. The first one says that you were completely in the wrong, with the other person having done nothing wrong. The second one says that the first person was completely in the wrong, and that you were in definite right by what you did. But I want to hear about you. What do you think? Do you think you were right? Or wrong? Tell me what happened, Matthew.” He finally set down the sculpture thingy over on the corner of the desk and looked at Matt.

Matt had to think about it for a second to actually force himself to remember. “Well, I…I walked in the room and found Steve pinning Paige up against the wall, and covering her face. And he was saying something about I wouldn’t even be able to do anything anyway. I think you have a pretty good idea of what I was thinking. So, I…I knocked him off her…with my foot. And…yeah, that’s about it.”

Mr. Cook nodded, appearing pensive. He just sat there staring right at Matt for a full minute, until Matt was starting to get a little creeped out. Finally he perked up his head and spoke.

“Do you know how long I have been principal at this school, Matthew? No? A long time. And, I’ve got to say, while I have seen incidents of this nature before, I must admit, I’ve never heard of one where steel-toed shoes were used as weaponry. Now, I have already talked to Miss Paige, her story confirms everything you have told me. And while I must command you for defending your friend, I must also tell you that this school as a zero-tolerance policy for violence. If it were up to me, I would let you out of here with a warning after giving that troublemaker what-for. But it’s not up to me; it’s up to the superintendent. So, I’m sorry to say, I have to suspend you. I’ve been told a month, but I’m cutting it down to two weeks, I don’t think a whole month is very fair.”

Matt was somewhat stunned, yet also not surprised. “But…what about Steve?”

“I have already talked with him as well, and although I have yet to find a very…fitting punishment for him, rest assured, he will learn the consequences of his actions. But as for you, I’ll be contacting your parents. Please go wait outside.” He gestured for Matt to go wait out in the waiting area again.

Matt walked back out into the waiting area, and thankfully, Paige was sitting there. He sat down next to her, and she leaned

over onto him, snuggling her face against his chest. “So” she asked “How’d it go?”

“Suspended” he grunted “Two weeks”

“That’s terrible!” she exclaimed as she sat back up to look at him “You shouldn’t be punished for-“

Matt grabbed her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. “Paige, it’s okay. I got in trouble, yes, but I got in trouble for YOU. For you, I would do anything. So yes, I got suspended. But I don’t even care. I don’t care because I got suspended for you. So it’s okay.”

“Why? Why do you not care? This is going on your permanent record, how can you not care?”

“Because, Paige. I love you. And if I get in trouble doing something for you, then oh well. Screw the consequences. That’s why.”

She smiled and stared up at him for a second, then leaned up and kissed him. It wasn’t the first time they had kissed, sure, but for both partners, it still had that ‘first kiss’ electricity to it. They held it for a full minute before they both had to break off for air, her panting slightly. When they had both caught their breath, she finally spoke. “Matt…I love you too. And thank you. You are….the best thing that has ever come into my life. Promise me one thing? Promise me you’ll never leave me?”

“Of course I’ll never leave you.” Matt replied softly. “Even if I died tomorrow I’d never truly leave you.”

This pacified her, and she leaned back into him as he put his arms around her, smiling contentedly. And they stayed that way until Matt’s father arrived to drag him home.

Those two weeks went a lot faster for Matt, seeing as every day after school, Paige stopped by to thank him once again and hang out with him a while before she had to go home. She also kept him up to date as to what was going on in the school. Since he had defended her, everybody at the school had left her alone completely, having heard about the very one-sided confrontation, and afraid of what Matt would do to them if they did anything to her.

The first day Matt went back to school, he was a little worried. Paige had not met up with him at her street’s corner, like usual. Oh well, perhaps she was at school already. When he walked in the door and down the hallway, he immediately noticed something. As he walked through the crowd of other students, they all immediately parted to give him passage. No one talked. No one even breathed. Everyone just stood there and stared at him. Matt smiled. They must have heard.

As he neared Paige’s locker, she still was nowhere to be seen. However, her best friend Marceline was getting her binders and pencils and things from her locker, directly next to Paige’s. “Hey Marceline” he said as he walked up to her “Have you seen Paige around? I haven’t heard from her since yesterday, and I’m kinda worried.”

She immediately whirled on him “You mean you didn’t hear?” Matt shook his head a very confused ‘no’ “She’s in the hospital!”

“Wh…WHAT?!” Matt cried, surprising Marceline. “What happened?! Is she ok?! What hospital?!”

She sniffled and shook her head, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. “She…I…I don’t know much. I know she’s at Saint Francis hospital. And I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

“Marceline.” He said very firmly while gripping her shoulders “What. Happened?”

“All I know is, last night…last night her dad got real drunk again. Got really angry for some reason. I heard he beat the life out of her. Even threw her through a window. Like I said, I don’t think she’s going to make it.”

“I got to get out of here!” he said as he turned and bolted for the side exit. He didn’t care if he was skipping school. He didn’t care if he’d get in trouble. He just…didn’t…care. As he approached the door, Mr. Annino, the gym teacher, was walking by, and tried to stop him. “Whoa there, Matt, where are you going?” he exclaimed. But Matt just brushed the man aside. His adrenaline was moving now, nothing was going to stand in his way.

He ran all the way to the bus stop near the school, and sat down to wait. He didn’t calm down though, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Thankfully there was no one else at the bus stop.

After a few agonizing minutes, a bus finally pulled up. Matt jumped on immediately. “Please, sir” he begged the driver “I need to get to Saint Francis hospital right now!”

“What’s the hurry, kid?” asked the driver “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Please sir, just please!” he begged, tears beginning to collect and run down his face. “I just found out my girlfriend is in the hospital. Her…her dad beat her up. They don’t expect her to make it. I just need to see her… one last time. Before it’s too late. Please, I’ll pay you all the money I have!” he cried while holding out his lunch money for the week.

The driver looked at him for a second, and then glanced up into the rear view mirror. It was early in the morning, but after everyone had gone to work, so the bus was empty. He sighed. “Put your money away, kid.” He said softly. “And go have a seat.”

“Th…thank you sir.” Matt choked out.

“Think nothing of it, kid.” The driver said with a tip of his hat. “Now let’s get going. We’ve got a hospital to get you to.” He said as he closed the doors and punched ‘OFF DUTY’ into the sign controls. As they started rolling, Matt walked over and flopped into a bench seat against the wall.

As they bumped and jostled down the road, Matt didn’t even notice. His mind was too busy remembering all the good times he and Paige had had together. Thinking about how much he loved her. If she died before he got there, he’d never even have the chance to say goodbye. Not to say he was even prepared for her to die at all, but that would make things even worse. Matt stopped himself from thinking before he got too deep into that. The best thing he could do right now was think about happy things, and hang in there, hoping things would turn out okay. They had to, right?

“Hey kid,” the driver said, scattering his thoughts like rice on a drum “We’re here.”

“Thank you again, sir.” Matt said as he climbed off the bus.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” The driver called after him “And good luck to you! I hope things turn out okay for you and your

friend!”

Matt ran in the nearest door marked ‘ENTRANCE’ ,and sprinted up to the information desk. The receptionist was busy painting her nails. He stopped short at the foot of the desk, startling the receptionist and causing her to spill her nail polish.

“What the…” she started to say.

“Please, I need to know where I can find a Paige Hickam! It’s an emergency!” he yelled over her, completely not caring about her nail polish.

The receptionist sighed and punched some things into the computer terminal on her desk. “Alright, I found her. Ooh, sorry honey, looks like she’s in the ICU. No visitors, I’m afraid.”

“No, please, you don’t understand!” Matt yelled, crying now “I have to see her…say goodbye to her..before it’s too late!”

The receptionist picked up her phone and was about to call security, but then she looked at her desk. Two little puddles were collecting on it and getting bigger. Looking up, she saw they were from the tears running down and dripping off his face. She looked into his eyes, and saw the desperation…and love…and sadness they carried…and dialed the shuttle instead.

Minutes later, Matt was zipping down the hallway on the little electric shuttle the hospital had for visitor transport. There was a line on the floor the driver was following, and two flashing lines on either side of it, warning anyone in the long hallway to get the hell out of the way as it screamed through, shunting the little autonomous medicine transport bots out of the way automatically.

When the shuttle arrived at her room, Matt immediately jumped off, yelling a quick ‘thank you’ to the driver. Tentatively, he approached the door. Carefully, he opened it, and stepped inside. When he looked inside, his heart stopped. There she was, laying on the bed, almost completely covered in bandages, hooked up to various machinery. There was an oxygen tube in her nose, and at least three IVs. There was no way this was good.

As he stepped carefully over to where she was laying, she opened her eyes and spoke. “Mhh…..Matt?”

“Shh, I’m here, Paige.”

“Oh, Matt, it was horrible. My father caught me coming home a few minutes late, and asked me…asked me where I was. I told him I had been seeing you, and he just….” She trailed off, sobbing raggedly, while Matt bent down and hugged her gently, tears welling up in his eyes once more.

“This…this is all my fault, Paige, I brought this onto you. I’m…I’m so sorry.”

She reached up and pressed a single, thin finger weakly to his lips.

“Matt, this could never be your fault. If anything, I’m thanking you for taking care of me. For defending me. For caring about me. Matt, I….I’ve always loved you. You know that. You’ve known that for a while. But now, seeing as I probably won’t see tomorrow, I just…I just want to say goodbye.” She said, her voice beginning to fade in volume. “And I just want you to know. Whatever happens, just know: I always loved you. From the day we met, I knew there was something special about you. I noticed that you took care of me, much like a younger sister, and for that, I thank you. I just wish…I just wish I could stay here and be with you forever.”

Matt choked, and a single tear fell from the end of his nose, making a tiny little wet spot on her hospital gown, followed by another. And another. He released his hug, but stayed right by her side, and took her hand. He felt it tighten a little in his. “I just wish I could, but I guess I’m not meant to.”

Her voice was really faint now, and a couple of the machines attached to her were starting to sound alarms, attempting to notify anyone in the room that something was wrong.

“Goodbye Matt. My love. The only one I ever loved.”

And with that, she was gone. The hand in Matt’s grip slackened, and fell limp. Her whole body relaxed and fell limp as well. Matt was pretty sure for a second that he had died as well. He didn’t breathe. He didn’t blink. He just stood there, holding the hand of the only girl he ever loved.

Matt flopped down in the chair next to the bed, any trace of strength and resolve shattered. He just sat there, sobbing, the dull “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” of the heart monitor filling his ears. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t feel. He was broken. Well and truly broken.

Eventually, the hospital staff came to take her body away. And still he sat there, his face in his hands, crying his mind into a stupor. It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was the shuttle driver. “C’mon, kid, I know…I know you’ve suffered a loss, and I’m sorry for that. I know you loved her. But why don’t I get you out of here. It’s probably better for you to go anyway, I know if I don’t make you, you’ll be here all week.”

Matt didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to. “Take me…Take me back to my school.”

The driver cocked an eyebrow. “Really, kid? After what you just went through? You sure?”

“Yes I’m sure!” he yelled. “Take me back to my school!”

The driver raised his hands in defense. “Whoa, okay, kid, okay. I’ll take you back to your school.”

They clambered back into the electric shuttle, and took off again. The whole ride back, Matt just sat there, thinking. Hey, at least he got to say goodbye.

They reached the garage of the hospital, and the driver got out of the little electric shuttle, plugged in the batteries, and led Matt to one of the little shuttle buses. Matt attempted to get comfortable in one of the seats while the driver fired up the PowerStroke engine under the hood.

The entire ride back, Matt did nothing but think. What was he to do now? He just lost the one that gave him the will to get out of bed in the morning, the one who inspired him to strive to be a better person. How was he going to carry on with his life now? For just a split second, he considered suicide. It would be so easy. So easy right now for him to end his life. End his life and be able to join her. It’s not like anyone would care anyway. No, no, he forced those thoughts from his mind. She would want him to stay strong for her, not do anything stupid. And for her, he would do anything.

When Matt reached the school, he didn’t go anywhere in particular, just wandered the halls staring at the floor. Eventually, the gym teacher caught him and dragged him to the office.

And so Matt sat in the principal’s office, the gym teacher standing against the back wall of the room, and the principal sitting at his desk. “What am I going to do about you, Matthew?” Mr. Cook asked Matt “You just get back from a suspension and decide to walk out of school. I can’t… I’m trying to understand why here, I mean, if you had a good reason, that’s one thing. But it would help if you actually SAID SOMETHING. Seriously, Matthew, what’s wrong? You look like someone you knew just died.” Matt barely suppressed a maniacal chuckle at that statement. Oh, if only he knew. If only he knew just how much she meant to him.

Then the phone on his desk rang, and he answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is the principal. Yes. No, I don’t know anything about that. Well, is she going to be okay? …………Oh. Well, thank you for telling me. I see. Yes, I’ll let them know. Alright, goodbye.”

Mr. Cook hung up his phone and turned his attention to the gym teacher. “Mr. Annino, would you mind telling the guidance directors and Vice Principal that there will be an emergency meeting for all teachers and staff members in ten minutes.”

The gym teacher looked rather disappointed. He wanted to see what punishment Matt would receive. “But…I….”

Mr. Cook wasn’t having any of it. “Now, John. This is important.”

Mr. Annino bowed his head in resignation. “Fiiiiiine” he sighed before turning and walking out.

Mr. Cook just shook his head and turned back to Matt. “Well, Matthew, it looks like your reasoning was much different than I expected. I figure…if you were willing to get suspended for her, you must really have loved her.” Again Matt suppressed a chuckle and retort. There was no way he could possibly know. “And while you did just get back from a suspension, I’m sending you home again. Take the week off. After what you’ve just been through, you deserve it. Now I’m going to call your parents again, and tell them to take you home. You’re welcome to go retrieve anything you may need from your locker.”

Matt nodded.

The principal sat back down at his desk and dialed his phone. As Matt got to his feet to go to his locker, he heard Mr. Cook explaining to his mother about what had happened. From what he was saying, she wasn’t believing him at first. Pfft, adults. They would never understand.

As Matt went to his locker to go retrieve his jacket, and was stopped in the hall by Steve. “So I hear she’s in the hospital. What’s wrong, you get pissed and do to her what you did to me?”

Matt retaliated in three swift moves. A left hook, a knee to the gut, and a steel-toed Spartan kick that sent the kid sliding a good ten feet down the hallway. Nobody stopped him, not even the teachers that were peeking out of their rooms into the hallway.

While Steve was on the ground groaning and coughing, attempting to get to his feet once more, Matt turned and walked to his locker in silence. No one spoke. No one so much as breathed. You could have heard a mosquito sneeze in the pure silence. He retrieved his jacket, slammed his locker shut, and walked back down the hallway past Steve and everyone without saying a word. Everyone just stared at him like he was crazy. They would never understand. Hell, maybe he was crazy. It’d be a lot easier of an explanation to people than telling them that your heart had been swallowed by a pit of pure emotional emptiness and pain, wouldn’t it?

Paige’s funeral was held the next week. Matt was there, sitting stonefaced in one of the front rows the whole time. lots of people from the school showed up, from students, to teachers and guidance counselors. Even parents. Plenty of people tried talking to Matt, either to attempt to console him, or whatever. Matt wasn’t paying attention. None of them would ever truly understand. A couple of guidance counselors tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t playing. Sure, they claimed to be on the same page as him, but no. There was no way they were. This was a common tactic to get kids to open up, and he wasn’t playing this game. What was the point of opening up if no one truly understood? Understood his pain, and the emptiness he felt inside whenever he allowed himself to think or feel.

Shortly after Paige’s death, her father was arrested for several charges including assault and battery, murder, and a few more. He would be in jail for the rest of his life. This fact did not grant Matt any satisfaction, as it couldn’t make Paige come back to him. In fact, he was pretty pissed they didn’t give him the death penalty for what he did. He just beat his daughter to death in a drunken rage, and he didn’t even care. Oh, sure, he was ‘sorry’, but in the end, his excuse was that the alcohol was to blame. This made him just like everyone else, not willing to admit fault of his own, always looking for someone or something else to blame for his actions.

After graduating middle school, he sort of drifted through life in high school, not really making any friends. He stayed away from everyone, not wanting to get too attached to anyone and have something happen. When his friend showed him My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, he noticed himself becoming strangely enumerated with one character, named Fluttershy. She was timid, shy, and soft-spoken, but when she was pissed, mountains would move out of her way. That reminded him a lot of a certain someone he used to know. Even so, she ended up being his second favorite, despite all of that, almost like his brain wouldn’t allow him to choose Fluttershy as his favorite. But if he had actually gotten a good look into her eyes, that would have all changed in a heartbeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK OVER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt just sat there, now crying once more, tears flowing down his face with a heat they hadn’t had in a long time

“Paige, I…..I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve…I’ve missed you too, Matt. How did you end up here?”

“Well, it’s… kind of a long story”

“I’ve got time.”

“I’ll tell you, but it’ll have to wait a little while. First things first, how did you get here? What happened? How have you been?”

“Well, when I arrived here, all I could think of was you, and that I’d left you behind. I went crazy, doing everything I could think of to get back to you. To find you again, to be with you again. But Princess Celestia wiped my memory and turned me into this Pegasus. I became Fluttershy, and that was the only thing I knew. But just before you appeared, Twilight used the memory spell on me, and suddenly, I remembered everything again. Which is why it shocked me so to see you here. But I’m glad you’re here.” She said, while nuzzling him gently.

“I’m glad I’m here now too.” He found himself saying.

Twilight stepped forward. “Matt, if you loved her so much as a human, maybe I can help you.”

Her horn started to glow, and Fluttershy/Paige was picked up off the floor and cocooned in the purple glow, her figure twisting and contorting. After a few seconds, a completely different figure inside was set back down, and the glow dissipated.

There she was, standing in front of him, human once more.

Matt almost fainted. She hasn’t aged a day since I last saw her.

The second the glow was completely gone, she bolted over to Matt and hugged him so tightly he thought he was going to pop.

“Oh, Matt, how I’ve missed being human. And being with you.” She said, tears flowing with renewed force down her face.

“Shh. It’s okay, we’re together now.” Matt comforted, returning the hug.

===========================END CHAPTER 11===========================

Well, there you have it. This chapter skyrocketed from about 1,200 words to over 6,000. Sorry for starting with chapter 11, but this is the chapter I figured would be easiest for me to rework. As it is, it still took me several days. But am I complaining? No. next up is the flashback chapter explaining how Matt and Paige first met, I think that’s chapter 12. From there, I’ll go back to chapter 1 and completely redo EVERYTHING. But anyway, hope you enjoyed the redone chapter!

Chapter 12: Reunion

======================SECRET LIGHTNING======================

Okay, so last chapter was pretty much a success, I never knew I could write sad stuff, I just wrote what came to mind. So yeah. I’m going to be doing a couple more flashback scenes, but I don’t think I’ll be making any sad ones. Maybe I’ll do another sad chapter sometime later. Or something, I don’t know. Anyway, I’m going to stop making author’s notes asking if anyone knows anything about RC copters or spektrum transmitters, as it would seem I am the only brony I can find that likes or knows anything about RC aircraft. So I’ll shut up about that. Anyway, I realize adding yet ANOTHER character may seem annoying, seeing as I haven’t even introduced all the ones in the character list yet, but I think I’m going to edit the character list. Just did that now, and I’m too lazy to hit the backspace key. Anyway, I’ve had a couple people ask me what “genre” my story is. And I have to answer, “I don’t even know” this started out as a human in equestrian story, but after a couple of chapters became a bioshock crossover, then became a crossover of bioshock, avatar: the last airbender, fantastic 4, and some other comic book heroes. I’m WRITING the damn story, and I don’t even know where it’s going. Anyway, having gotten that out of the way, it’s Saturday night at like 10 right now, and even though I’m usually up till midnight or later, I’m sick, so I’m also tired. So if the writing style changes some in the middle of the chapter, you know why.

======================Chapter 12: Reunion======================

Matt and Paige stood there embracing each other for what seemed like hours. Neither wanted to break the embrace, they had been apart for about five years now, and were both really excited to see each other. But they were also both glad to see somebody they knew.

Finally, after about ten minutes or so, they broke their hug. Paige sat down on the couch, and Matt joined her. She sighed and cuddled up to him. He returned the cuddle, wrapping his arms around her.

“So”

“Yeah?”

“You never told me how you ended up in this world. In fact, tell me everything. Everything that happened since I...” she trailed off again, painful memories beginning to emerge. Matt hugged her tightly, comforting her. She quickly brushed off those memories, preferring to stay in the present.

“Okay, I guess I can tell you. But it’s going to be a long story.”

“That’s fine.”

Matt took a breath and prepared himself. Even though he was sitting here on the couch, cuddling with the person he still loved years later, he still wasn’t quite prepared to relive those moments. Still, he steeled himself and began to explain.

“Well, after you…well, you know, I just couldn’t function. I lost all reason. After your funeral, I just kind of drifted through life. In high school I was kind of a loner, as I never wanted to have the same thing happen. And then I ended up here.”

“That’s very touching Matt, and while I’m glad you never let go of my memory, that’s not really what I asked. I meant, what actually happened in the world after I passed? What became of my father? That one kid that tried to forcefully seduce me? It may sound strange, but I’m actually curious.”

Matt narrowed his eyes and concentrated, trying to bring up the memories.

“Well, as far as your father, he was arrested on multiple charges, and was sentenced to life in prison. Later, it was told that he was killed by another inmate, who apparently had a child who knew you. As for the kid that attacked you, that’s a different story. When the news had been spread of your passing, he took it upon himself to make a joke. As I recall, his words were ‘I guess I was too much for her, eh?’”

“Wow, what an ass. What’d you do?”

“What else could I do? I beat the crap out of him.”

“As far as the world goes, most people just…moved on. I think the only one who didn’t was me.”

“Well, as strange as it may sound, I’m glad you didn’t. But I have a very important question to ask you. And I want a good answer.”

Matt straightened up and looked her directly in the eyes. “Yes?”

“Do you…Do you still love me, even after…” she trailed off again, tears in her eyes once more.

Matt pulled her into another tight hug, stroking her back as she gently cried. “Oh, Paige, of course I do. No event in the world would make me stop loving you. Nothing at all. Not even when you died did I stop loving you. Not even for a second.”

Her heart melted. He still loved her. “You don’t know how good it makes me feel to hear you say that.” She replied while hugging him back. She broke the hug quickly, and while he was still a bit confused, pulled him into a very long kiss.

The two of them finally broke off, gasping for breath, when they heard an “Awwwwwwww” from beside them. It was Rainbow Dash and Twilight. They both slapped an upper appendage over their mouths. Dash, a hoof. Twilight , a hand.

“Sorry to disturb you two, it’s just so touching that the two of you never stopped loving each other, even when separated by death.” Interjected Twilight quickly. “How did the two of you end up becoming so close?”

Matt smiled and turned back to Paige. “Well, it started on the first day we met. Remember that?”

“Of course, how could I not?”

(Author’s note: I SUCK at romance/love/anything relationship related, for reasons I think you can guess. So if the story sucks, please let me know how I can fix it, cause I sure as hell don’t)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK TIEM AGAIN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(the hell happened there? damn line break was screwed up)

Matt was out walking again. His parents had started fighting for the umpteenth time, and he needed to escape. So he walked out of the house, walking around his town with no particular destination in mind. It was raining slightly, not heavy enough to be classified as rain, more of a drizzle. Nevertheless, it was cold, being close to nightfall, and the rain made it worse for anyone walking in it without a jacket. Matt silently thanked himself for remembering to bring his.

He passed by a bus station thing. You know, the little plexi huts with the tinted windows and the bench inside. Matt never could think of a proper name for those, and neither could this author.

As he passed by, he heard a faint crying from inside the hut thingy. He stopped to investigate, and found a girl curled up on the bench, crying her eyes out. She was beautiful, with jet black hair, and turquoise eyes, which were a very strange sight, but at same time, hard to not look at.

He sat down next to her, and she jerked back, startled. “Oh, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to disturb you…” he silenced her.

“Ssh, it’s okay, you didn’t disturb me. If anything, I disturbed you. But what are you crying about? Maybe I can help.”

“Well, I really shouldn’t tell you…”

Matt noticed that she was not wearing anything warm, and was shivering in the cold. Since he had a thermal shirt on underneath his jacket, he stood up to take it off. He saw her face immediately drop. She thinks I’m going to leave her here.

Ha sat back down, jacket in hand. He reached over and laid the jacket over her shivering body, still curled up on the bench.

She looked up at him, surprised that he would do such a kind thing for her.

“Oh, th...thank you, but you don’t have to do this for me.”

“Nonsense, you don’t have anything warm, and it’s freezing out here. Now, what’s gotten you so upset?”

“W...well, my dad got really drunk today, and got really mad at me, and he started hitting me for no reason, and I just…” she cut off the end of her sentence, now crying heavily. “He always blames me for everything that’s wrong in the world.

What…what did I do?”

Matt was shocked. And as he looked closer, he noticed that she had bruises all over her. Her arms, her shoulders, even one on the side of her face that he had not seen before.

“You’re saying your DAD did this to you?” he reached over and gingerly touched the bruise on her face. She winced slightly.

“Yes, he’s drunk most of the time, and sometimes he gets mad for no reason, and takes it out on the closest person. Which is always…me.”

“But…what about your mom?”

“Well, she…she’s never around, I’ve only seen her maybe once or twice when I was younger. Once, she showed up at my school because they had called her in, and one other time, but I can’t remember it because I was much younger.”

“So, what are you doing out in this bus station anyway?” Matt hated to turn the subject back to her father, but he kind of had to.

“Well, when my dad got really violent, he started hitting me, and I just ran. I ran away, to find someplace to hide, where no one would hurt me. I ended up at this bus stop, as it was the first sheltered place I found.”

“I hate to ask you this right now, but what is your name?” “I’m Matt”

“I’m…Paige.”

“Well Paige, you look like you need a hug.” he wrapped his arms around her in a soft hug as she sat up, unsure what to do. After a few seconds, she returned the hug.

“Thank you, Matt, I needed this.”

“You’re welcome. But…where do you plan to stay tonight? Not on this bench I hope.”

“Well, I don’t have anywhere else to stay, and I really don’t want to go back home…”

“How about you stay at my house for tonight? Sure is a lot better than a bus stop bench.”

She broke off the hug and looked at him. He was the first one to ever show any kind of compassion towards her, and she was grateful. But stay at his house?!?!

“I…I don’t want to impose, I just…” she was silenced by his hand softly covering her mouth.

“It’s okay, it’ll be no problem at all.” Now c’mon, we should head there now, it’s starting to get dark.”

She reluctantly got up and started to give him back his coat, when he gently pushed it back to her.

“You keep it for now. You need it more than I do.”

They walked back to Matt’s house slowly, chatting the whole way. Paige was starting to cheer up, and Matt saw that when she was happy, she was a very nice person, if a little shy.

When they reached Matt’s house, they walked in the front door, and Matt shouted to his mom. “MOM! I’m home! And I brought someone!”

Matt’s mom poked her head out from the kitchen. When she saw Paige, she quickly put down the tea she was making and walked over to the two standing in the front hall. “How nice! You must be one of Matt’s friends! And you are?”

“I’m…I’m Paige.” She said so softly, anyone without very good hearing would have a hard time discerning what she had said. Thankfully, Matt’s mom worked with acoustics for a living, and had very sensitive hearing. “Well, nice to meet you Paige. Any friend of Matt’s is welcome here!” she walked back into the kitchen to finish preparing her tea.

Matt led Paige into the living room, and said, “Wait here, I have to go talk to her about something. But make yourself at home.”

She nodded and sat down on a chair in the living room. Matt walked into the kitchen.

“Mom, can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure Matt, what about?”

“Well, Paige needs a place to stay for tonight, and I wanted to see if you’d be okay with it.”

“Why wouldn’t I be? She’s a friend of yours, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose she is. I just wanted you to know, though, not to bring up the subject of parents around her.”

“Why not? Something happen to her?”

Matt sighed. As nice as his mother was, she was very slow when it came to catching on with things like this.

“Ugh, mom, to put it simply, her mother is never around, and her dad is one of those violent drunks.”

Matt’s mom’s facial expression changed drastically as she absorbed what was being said. “Oh” was all she could muster.

Matt left his mother standing in the kitchen and walked back out to the living room. “Why don’t we go hang out upstairs? My dad’ll be home soon, and we don’t exactly get along.”

“Okay, that sounds nice”

They hung out upstairs in Matt’s room for hours, just sitting there talking about different things. Eventually, they went back downstairs for dinner, and Matt’s dad was strangely not as much of an ass as he usually was. After dinner, they were both very tired, and went back upstairs.

“Here, you take my bed, I’ll take the floor.”

“Oh no, I could never do that, I’ll take the floor.”

“Paige, I’m not taking no for an answer. You have my bed, I’ll sleep on the floor. I have spare pillows and blankets, I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, Matt.”

With a sigh, she got into his bed, while he got his spare pillows and blankets out of his closet, and set up right next to the bed. He was just about to drift off to sleep, when he felt Paige lay down with him, cuddling up to him.

“I’m really glad I met you today, Matt.”

He smiled, and wrapped his arms around her. “Me too, Paige.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FLASHBACK OVER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“That was the best day of my life”

==============================END CHAPTER 12==============================

Sorry to cut the chapter a little short, but in actuality, this is the longest chapter I’ve ever written. Over 2,000 words. Wow! Also, part of my original inspiration for Paige comes from a friend of mine, who told me over facebook one day that her dad had been beating her over the summer. But that’s about all, the rest is fictional. Even so, when my friend gets around to reading this, she’s going to instantly know where that part came from, after reading this author’s note. But I am a friend of hers, and offer her hugs when she’s feeling bad. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the backstory on Paige, cause next chapter we get back to business! Also, if this chapter sucked, don't hate me, i have no experience in the whole relationship thing.

Chapter 13: Dreams

=======================SECRET LIGHTNING=======================

Welp, I think that’s enough of the flashbacks for now, let’s get back to progressing the storyline! I just realized, Paige isn’t even aware of Matt’s…ability yet. And I have to give her one of her own! Got a pretty good idea what to give her. To anyone who asks, the name that the bullies at the school called Paige was the most hurtful, yet most rhyming nickname I could think of. Trust, me, I had to put up with way worse in middle school. And try going through freshman year of high school being called “rainbow warrior”. I’m not saying my life is horrible, but I went through some serious crap in the lower grades, which is where part of the inspiration for this whole thing comes from. I’m probably not getting the blade mcpx for Christmas-by choice, so yeah. Also, I uh…….ah, screw it, I forgot what I was going to add here, enjoy the chapter!

=======================CHAPTER 13: Dreams=======================

After the long session of storytelling, it was getting quite late, and the four were quite tired. So Paige got some blankets and pillows out of the closet. Enough for four this time. All four of them passed out in sleep pretty much immediately after their head hit the pillow, all worn out from the day’s events. They all slept peacefully, except for one.

Matt was having a nightmare. In this dream, he was back in his school, in the human world. Middle school, to be exact. It felt like he had never left. He walked down the hallway, when he could hear very faintly, what sounded like a bunch of kids chanting something over and over again. In fact, he could swear they were saying Paige’s old nickname: pussy Paige. He ran in the direction of the sound, hearing it get louder as he got closer.

As he got closer, he saw Paige huddled in a corner of the hallway, crying, while several kids were crowded around her chanting “Pussy Paige! Pussy Paige!”. He kept running, calling out to her, but he wasn’t getting any closer. The hallway seemed to infinitely stretch on and on in the section he was in, with a small nonmoving part in front of him, with Paige in it. He ran faster, trying to catch up, but his feet suddenly turned to hooves. He looked down, and saw that he now had hooves.

He looked all around himself, and noticed that he was now a pony. An earth pony, to be exact.

He stopped running, and the small section of hallway that contained Paige slowly moved farther away from him. As he watched in horror, she started to fade away, before disappearing completely, leaving the hallway corner empty. The section stopped moving away. All the kids that had been bullying Paige now turned to him.

Eyes pure white, they spoke as one, in his voice. “This is your fault, Matt. YOU let this happen to her. You shall pay for that.”

Suddenly, he heard another voice “Matt. Matt! MATT!”

He was jostled awake with the last ‘Matt’. He looked around quickly, to see Paige, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash all standing over him looking worried. Dash, admittedly, a little closer than the others, given that she was still a Pegasus, and only about 4 feet tall.

“You okay Matt?” Dash asked before anyone else could ask first.

“Y…yeah, I’m fine, I just had a bad dream is all.”

“A bad dream? You were yelling in your sleep. You were rolling around and yelling ‘Paige, no!’. what’s going on, man?”

“I…I don’t even remember.” Matt lied, not wanting to upset anybody.

“Alright, well, it’s like 1 in the morning, we should all go back to sleep.” Twilight declared.

They all nodded in silent agreement, and went back to their areas of floor. Paige, however, stayed with Matt, and laid down next to him, facing him.

“Go back to sleep, Matt. Try and have happy dreams, okay?” she then kissed him lightly on the lips.

“I…I’ll try” he replied after the kiss was over, and wrapped his arms around her. Within seconds, they were both deep into sleep.

The next morning, Matt stirred to find Paige gone from his embrace. He panicked for a second, before noticing her in the kitchen making breakfast. She had been the first to rise, and apparently, Matt was the second, as Rainbow Dash and Twilight were still passed out on the floor. He got up, and walked into the kitchen, joining Paige. “Pancakes?”

Suddenly, everything in the room disappeared, leaving only him and Paige standing there in a seemingly infinite blackness. Paige whirled around, and Matt saw that her eyes were pure white. Then she spoke, in his voice.

“SOON, MATT, SOON THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR ACTIONS”

“AAAHHH!” Matt jolted himself awake, immediately waking up Paige, who was still asleep in his arms. To his surprise, she quickly dissolved into tears.

Twilight and Dash were awake less than a second later, Dash getting to her hooves do fast that she ended up doing a flip in the process. They were both next to Matt and Paige about a second later.

Matt took no notice to this, having realized that he upset Paige. He pulled her into a hug, hoping to calm her down, and for the most part, it worked.

“Sshh. It’s okay, I’m here. No need to cry.”

“I…I had a dream. You…you died.” She said, tears flowing down her face with a renewed force. Matt was surprised. They had both had weird dreams. Well, that was…weird.

“It’s okay, I’m here now. It was just a dream. You’re safe with me.” He soothed, while hugging her and stroking her back to calm her. He felt no desire to tell her about his dream, as that would just upset her further.

Eventually, she calmed down and stopped crying, and Matt noticed that Dash and Twilight were still standing there, staring at him. He stared back, still holding Paige, until Dash finally broke the silence.

“I hate to break up this beautiful moment between you two, but…could we find something to eat? I’m starved.” She said, accompanied by a loud growl from her stomach.

Paige spoke. “I’ll make some pancakes, I have all the things needed for it already. It’ll be just a few minutes.”

True to her word, she had pancakes ready in only a few minutes. As they sat and ate, they also laughed and talked, leaving anything about dreams out of the conversation.

After a while, they got onto the subject of what they were good at. It was clear that Twilight was extremely skilled in magic, and Rainbow dash in acrobatic stunts, but it seemed that Matt wanted to tell her something, only he was keeping himself from doing so. After a while of pleading, and a little bit of blackmail, he finally told her.

As he finished up his story about his abilities, and about how he had discovered that he was able to absorb and control elements, not just energy types, she asked him one question.

“Is this actually real, or…….”

He smirked, prepared for this, and while she was in the middle of asking this, he called on his fire power, turning his hand into a concentrated inferno. Then, deciding to show off a little bit, he mixed in a concentrated flow of air power, creating a miniature fire tornado emanating from the palm of his hand.

Feeling more adventurous, he added some water, and mixed the two to create a miniature tornado of water and fire fused together.

Realizing he was entrancing all three people with this interesting display, he decided to end with a bang.

A little bit of sonic rainboom and some concentration blew apart the tornado, sending bits of fire and water flying in all directions, away from a nice miniaturized rainbow explosion.

Now was the part that concentration was needed for. As the flying bits of fire and water flew outward, he made each one dissipate seconds before it hit anything or anyone. As he finished, he closed his hand and looked around. Judging by the looks on their faces, he had impressed.

It was a good minute before any one of them could pick their jaws up off the floor. The first one to do so was Paige.

“That….was….AWESOME!!!!! I never knew you had ability like that! What else can you do?”

After briefing Paige on all the other things he discovered he could do so far, including flight, Paige was thoroughly impressed. All of a sudden, an idea popped into her mind.

“We should race sometime. The only thing is, I no longer have wings.”

Twilight stepped forward. “Actually, Paige, that is untrue. When I changed you into a human, I also cast a spell on you that gave you the ability to change your form at will. So, just by concentrating, you can shape shift. Try it now, concentrate on the image of Fluttershy.”

She closed her eyes and concentrated. For a few seconds, nothing happened. But then, she started shrinking. Once she got to a height of about four feet or so, her arms became legs with hooves, her knees bent backwards, and her feet became hooves as well. Wings sprouted out of her back, and a thick, short yellow fur covered her body. Her hair was quickly replaced by a pink mane, and a tail sprouted as well.

Within about a minute, where Paige had once stood, was now the yellow Pegasus known by everypony else as Fluttershy.

Twilight spoke up next. “Alright Matt, we need to head out and place the memory spell on the other three of us, so I guess we can have another race.”

Whilst she was saying this, she recast her disguise spell, this time with the butter fly wings already there. They all walked out of Fluttershy/Paige’s house, and she took to the air, followed by Dash and Fluttershy. Matt decided it was his turn. He braced himself in the VTOL position, and took off, air blasts blowing dust everywhere. “So where we headed?”

“A place called Sugarcube Corner. We need to speak with Pinkie Pie next.”

Matt nodded, and started moving forward. “Alright. Last one there’s a rotten hydra egg!”

With that, he took off toward Sugarcube Corner at a very fast pace.

“Oh, it is ON, Matt!” Paige yelled after him, and took off as well, flanked by Dash and Twilight.

They almost caught up to him. Almost. The second they were close enough to touch him, he decided now was the time to REALLY show off. He performed the same trick he had the past few times: burst of sonic rainboom, switch to fire/air mix. To his surprise, as he burst through the cone of the sound barrier, the other three ponies did the same, sucked through by the vortex he had created. But he had the upper hand. Within seconds, he was WAY ahead of them, having broken the sound barrier two more times.

They reached Sugarcube corner VERY fast, and frankly, Matt wasn’t surprised. He was travelling at what he estimated to be mach 5 at least, and the others were doing about mach 2.5. so it was no surprise to him that the trip took less than a minute.

He pitched WAY back on his thrust output, and landed on his feet standing out by the front door of Sugarcube Corner. Twilight, Dash, and Paige joined him within a couple of minutes or so.

Paige/Fluttershy walked up, looking a little flustered, and said, “Wow, Matt! You weren’t kidding when you said you could fly!”

Matt chuckled “No, no I wasn’t.”

“Well, we better go talk to Pinkie.” Twilight interrupted “Just be warned, she can be a little….strange.”

Matt nodded, knowing all too well of Pinkie Pie and her ways of breaking the laws of physics and the fourth wall. With that, he knocked on the door.

Seconds later, the door opened a crack, and a pink blur flew out and tackle Rainbow Dash. “DASHIE! It’s so good to see you! I’ve been waiting like eight chapters for you guys to show up!”

Ignoring the part about chapters, Dash finally got the pink earth mare off her and faced her friend. “Yes, Pinkie, we shall have time for a reunion later. For now, is there somewhere private we could go? We need to talk to you about something important.”

“Sure! Come on in guys!” Pinkie Pie opened the door, and they all stepped in. Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to even notice Matt.

“Want some cupcakes? I’ve been trying a new recipe, give it a taste!”

She shoved a cupcake into everypony’s hoof, including one into Matt’s hand. He was just about to eat it when he noticed a red liquid leaking from the bottom.

==========================END CHAPTER 13==========================

I am going to get so much shit for this. Also, it is SUCH a bitch to type when your shift key gets moody. Anyway, I hate to leave this as the ending to the chapter, but it’s midnight, and I feel like I need to get an update out before I go on hiatus for Christmas. So yeah. Also, don’t hate me about the cupcakes thing. Seriously, don’t. you’ll make me cry. (jk, but I will feel really bad)

Chapter 14: Awakening

===================SECRET LIGHTNING===================

Well, it’s Christmas day, and I’m bored, so I’m writing this. I got a new phone, and $250, so not bad. Used that money to buy an upgraded dx6i transmitter and an msr x flybarless heli. I’m not sure exactly what day I’ll be publishing this, so yeah. Also, to all of the commenters, most of you kind of spoiled the surprise. And RaptorCalloftheShadows (guest), I wish I could do that, but I have no desire to write grimdark. Trust me, I read cupcakes. Um, yeah, suffice to say, it’s glad I don’t remember my dreams, because my parents say I was kind of loud that night. And I’m 18. Yeesh. Also, reading The cupcake chronicles helped, as in it, AJ stops pinkie before she can “harvest” Dash. All Dash loses is her wings. Then I’ve been reading Birds of a feather stay friends forever, which is like an epilogue to that story. So yeah, just to let you know, I used the cupcakes reference as a troll of sorts. Well that, and to make a cliffhanger that really…hangs. Anyway, I’ve been told my author’s notes are “bloody long”, so I’ll shut up and write.

===================Chapter 14: Awakening===================

Matt quickly looked around. The other ponies were all biting into their cupcakes, and seemed to be enjoying them. He shrugged, and bit into his. Almost immediately, his mouth was filled with an explosion of flavor. Cherry, coincidentally his favorite.

He shrugged off any other thoughts his mind had about the cupcakes. He had never been quite the same since reading that fanfic. It was one written by some random brony, and was basically the beginning of grimdark fanfics. It involved Pinkie Pie killing several ponies, and harvesting them for cupcakes, and offered a first and third pony view of Rainbow Dash being “harvested”. He had been forced into reading it by the same friend who showed him MLP:FIM, which made him question his friend’s sanity. Anyway, it was pointless for Matt to think back on this, as his brain had been incorrect in its first analysis.

“Do you like it? I’ve been trying some new recipes out lately. This one’s cherry filled!” Pinkie interrupted.

“Yes, it’s actually quite good.” Matt replied.

It was at that point that Pinkie actually took a good look at Matt.

She gasped with such volume that this author can’t even think of a way to spell it, while levitating into the air, legs straight out, look of pure shock on her face.

“Uh..” Matt was about to question just how she was floating like that, when she exploded in a flurry of words.

“OHMIGOSH! I just realized that you’re new here, because I don’t recognize you, and that means you new! Because I know everypony, and I mean EVERYPONY here in ponyville! We should totally have a party!!! NO!! TWO PARTIES!!”

Matt used a little bit of his telekinesis to push the Pink mare back down to the ground, and made her sit down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Story interrupting news break]

Sunday night at approximately 10:00 PM, a young man and his younger brother were out driving when they were in a car crash. The older brother, Ryan Damico, 16, of east Hampton CT, was driving, while his 11 year old brother, Matt (oh, the irony) was riding shotgun. Suffice to say, young Matt did not survive his injuries and died at the scene. Details are still sketchy, but it is known that Ryan was driving after curfew. Even so, that has to be the most tragic thing, to lose your young brother on Christmas day due to a car crash, and then have to live with it. So R.I.P. to Matt, we shall not forget you. I felt like posting this in my story because east Hampton is close to Wethersfield, where I live, and ryan goes to my school from what I am told. A couple of facebook friends told me about it.

Also, watching my news feed, someone who is running a facebook profile as the purple haired earth pony hairdresser that is part of photo finish’s entourage, is currently updating while stoned. Weed+facebook=not pretty.

Also, anypony want to add me? www.facebook.com/danabler42

And back to the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Pinkie, we can discuss parties later. For now, I think your friends have something to tell you.”

Twilight jumped in after this, “That’s right, Pinkie, we do. Could you come over here for a second?”

“Sure Twilight! What’s up?”

Before Pinkie had a second to think, Twilight stepped up to her, horn already glowing, and touched it to the party pony’s forehead. She twitched for a second, as if trying to pull away, but then relented to the memory spell. After a couple of seconds, the spell was done with, and pinkie was still standing there, but she looked…..different. the expression on her face somehow showed her as an older, more experienced pony. After about a minute, she finally spoke. “So, how long have I been like this?”

“About 6 years, Pink” Dash answered. “Same as me.”

“Well, this is certainly interesting.” It was then that Matt caught the corner of the pink mare’s eye. “And you! Who are you?”

Matt was surprised by her sudden question, but decided to answer anyway. “I’m Matt, I’ve been assisting your friends in this world for a couple days now. We are trying to go around and awaken certain ponies. You are on that list.”

“Awaken me? For what?”

“We don’t honestly know. All we know is that Princess Celestia said it was very important that we do this. And so far, we all seem to have very special talents, so I think that has something to do with it.”

“What kind of special talents?”

“Well…..”

Suddenly, as he was trying to figure out how to explain, several things happened at once. Twilight dropped her disguise spell, and sent a volley of magical fireworks streaming from her fingers, Fluttershy/Paige morphed back into her human from and then into that of a manticore, then back to human. Dash, of course, blasted off in a vertical takeoff, and managed to blow off a sonic rainboom before she hit the ceiling. When she gently touched down, she as well morphed into a human form. This surprised Matt, as he had never seen her use any other form than that of the cyan Pegasus. And yes, her hair was the same as her pony form’s mane, and rainbow colored as well.

Matt decided he had better join in on the showing off of powers. But the fire tornado thing he did last time would be too stale to try again, so he had to think of something new. Ooh! There was an idea!

He closed his eyes, and concentrated. He held out his hands, flat with palms up. Within seconds, two small tornadoes were hovering over his hands. But that was just the beginning. A couple seconds later, small globs of water flew out, and hovered around him, slowly orbiting. Next, at least 12 balls of pure light floated out, and joined the water globs, centering inside them, with the water orbiting around them. The tornadoes over his hands died, and he repositioned his palms downward, and took off VTOL style. As he hovered near the ceiling, air currents blowing dust and all kinds of loose stuff around, the balls of light with orbiting water joined him, orbiting around him, the light casting all kinds of cool shapes on all surfaces. The light/water orbs all grouped in front of him, small spikes of light beginning to protrude from the light orbs. Suddenly, the orbs grouped together tightly, spinning very fast, and finally smooshed into one. Then that one orb exploded with a miniature sonic rainboom, little bits of water and light leaving fire trails as they descended to the ground, dissolving within an inch before they hit the floor or anything else. He gently decreased the flow of air from his hands, touching down gently on the floor, and using one last tiny burst to dust himself off. He looked around to see that he had, yet again, amazed everyone in the room. He smiled. I should make a show out of this, he idly thought.

Pinkie was the first one to break the silence. “WOW! I never thought you could do something like that!”

Paige was next to speak “That…that was pretty awesome!”

Twilight was next “Yeah, I knew you had ability, but never this much!”

Dash was last to break her silence “That…was…AMAZING! You should make a magic show out of that!”

Matt chuckled. “You know, I was just thinking that.”

Twilight interrupted his next thought. “Sorry to be so rushed, but we really must keep going. We have four more ponies to get to by this evening.”

“You’re right Twilight, we’d better get moving. You coming Pinkie?” Matt asked.

“DUH! Of course I am!” Pinkie replied.

“Alright, we’d better get moving. Where are we heading first?”

“I say we go find rarity first, she’s closer to where we are.” Twilight replied, already casting her spell, complete with wings, and taking to the air.

Dash remorphed into a Pegasus, and Paige did the same. They both took to the air at approximately the same time. Matt pointed his hands down and took off as well. As they all hovered in the air, Matt had a thought.

“How are you going to join us, Pinkie?”

She giggled. “Silly filly! I know where Rarity’s shop is, I’ll just meet you there!”

Matt shrugged “Okay.” And the four started the very short journey over Ponyville to Carousel Boutique. Over his shoulder, Matt saw Pinkie begin her slow but steady hopping towards the same destination they were headed. He called to the rest of them, “I think it’s going to be a while before she meets us.”

Dash laughed. “Don’t be so sure, that pony can defy the laws of physics. None of us know how, but she can.”

Sure enough, when they arrived at Carousel Boutique, Pinkie was standing right in front of the door, a smile on her face.

After they all touched down on the ground, she asked “Hey guys, what took so long?”

“I guess you are faster than us, Pinkie.”

“Faster? I just hopped the whole way, silly! How could I outrun you when you were flying?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just talk to Rarity.”

He knocked on the door, and heard “Comiiiiiiiiiiiiing!” from behind it.

A second later, the door was opened, and a white unicorn stood in the doorway. “Can I help you……GASP!” she fainted, falling sideways in the doorway.

“Not again……” Matt whined.

======================END CHAPTER 14======================

Sorry if this chapter seems kind of iffy, I’ve been kind of busy, and my brain is full of derpy (muuuuuffiiiiiinnns) for a while. Also, I’m really pissed, because the copter I got? I bought the bind-and-fly package because I already have a transmitter. But the bnf package doesn’t have a battery, and no hobby store anywhere will have batteries till sometime after January 3rd, as blade released the msr x but no batteries! Fucking wonderful, blade! What am I supposed to do with this copter until then? Put it on a shelf and look at it? It takes a battery of a different size, burst rate, and Mah rating than any other battery. The only thing I have that is close is the batteries for my 120 SR, but they’re too big, the msr x can’t get its ass off the ground with one of those. Anyway, I’m done ranting about copters, and I just want you to know, the chapters WILL get better. My brain will be better soon, and I’ll be able to write with a clear head.

Chapter 15: Happenings

=======================SECRET LIGHTNING=======================

Well, I think I got my head back together, and so I figured I’d start work on chapter 15. Also, to anyone who knows me on facebook, I just performed a LEGENDARY photo dump on my page. I dumped about 200 photos before getting photo blocked. The only problem is, more than half of them were ones from my little brony, which I don’t find okay, but one friend says otherwise. Anyway, I just feel bad for spamming all of my friends. But whatever. Enough complaining. Also, if anyone would like to do some cover art for my story, either PM me, or hit me up at www.facebook.com/danabler42. just let me know that you wish to do the cover art. Or simply add me, I’m not one to turn down a friend request. i’ll give you full credit for it, and maybe even make a chapter involving anything you like! I just think the stock photo of lightning I used is kind of boring. Anyway, I’mma start writing now, ‘kay?

=======================Chapter 15: Happenings=======================

“Alright” Matt said, his annoyance clear, while Twilight carefully levitated Rarity to her couch “We should really find a way for me to change into a pony as well. This is getting quite annoying, ponies reacting adversely to my appearance. “

After setting Rarity down, Twilight turned to face Matt. “Actually, you have a point. This would go so much faster if we could disguise you as a pony.” She thought for a second “Actually, I have an idea, but we need Paige for it.”

Paige turned around quickly, she had been tending to Rarity. “What about me?”

“We think we may need you to help Matt be able to disguise himself.”

“Me? But...why? I mean, I’d be happy to help, but what about you? You’re the magical one.”

“Well yes, but your talent is shapeshifting specifically. I only use a disguise spell, but since you can shift into anything you like, you are a better donor. Now, will you help?”

She nodded without even thinking about it. “Of course, what can I do?”

“The two of you should join hands, and we can start.”

Without hesitation, Matt and Paige took each other’s hands. Paige giggled, as she could detect a faint blush on Matt’s face.

He was nervous. He’s never been nervous, not even when we first met.

“Okay, now Paige, you have to concentrate. Think about giving Matt a little bit of your ability. Only a little bit should be enough, no need to drain yourself, his power regenerates whatever he absorbs infinitely.”

Paige closed her eyes and concentrated. Within a few seconds, Matt felt that all-too-familiar cold electric feeling of absorbing something creep up his arms, before spreading through the rest of his body like wildfire. Within a few seconds, his entire body felt cold, yet warm at the same time. it was a very interesting sensation, one he had never experienced before. Paige opened her eyes as soon as she was done with the transfer. They did not, however, break their hold on each other’s hands, instead preferring to just stand there in each other’s company for a while.

A light cough brought them back to their senses as fast as a gukko bird snatching up a berry. They quickly released each other’s hands, both blushing more than slightly this time.

The cough came from Rarity, who was starting to come back to her senses. Matt decided now was better than never to try out his new ability. He concentrated, and within seconds, there was now a pony standing where a human once stood. A Pegasus pony, to be exact, with muted green coat and black mane and tail, a few little streaks of red on the edges. And his cutie mark? A lightning strike, looking very similar to the one that struck the tree he had been sitting under in the human world.

Paige was stunned. His concentration was amazing, he was even able to control the cutie mark.

She was snapped out of this thought by a slight moaning. Rarity was waking up, though not as quickly as they had figured. Finally, she rolled over and opened her eyes. She was surprised by the sudden sight of her friends. And how did she get on this couch?

“Wha? But, I thought... oh, girls, I just had the strangest dream.”

“Well, Rarity, that’s kinda why we’re here.” Twilight responded. “This dream you’re talking about, it…it wasn’t a dream.”

“Why Twilight, whatever do you mean?”

“Well, I uh…Matt, do you mind showing her?”

“I… I guess I could” Matt concentrated once again, this time on his human form. Within seconds, Matt stood at his true height once more, now fully human again.

Rarity gasped, eyes wide now. This was something she had never seen before, this creature that stood on two legs. He seemed to tower over her, although it didn’t help that she was still on the couch. She got off and stood up, but still, this creature was a lot taller than her. But then he squatted down, leveling his eyes with hers, and spoke in a very confident, yet comforting voice.

“It’s okay, I’m here helping your friends. But I’m not the only human here, you know.”

Rarity did a double take “What…what do you mean?”

Before her eyes, something she never thought in a million years happened. Paige, who Matt noticed had shifted back to pony form while he wasn’t looking, grew and stretched into her original human form. Twilight dropped her disguise spell, stretching to full height as well. Last was Dash, who decided to add a little flair, added a backflip as she changed back to a human as well.

Rarity was stunned. But before she had time to react, Twilight strode over and placed a hand on Rarity’s head. She concentrated, and for a few seconds, Rarity was enveloped in a light purple glow. After she took a few seconds to recover, Rarity spoke. Well, more like yelled. “So this is what Celestia did, huh?! Just turned me into a pony rather than deal with me?!”

They all cringed. This is what they had been afraid of, and now it was happening. But after a second, Rarity cooled down.

Matt did notice, however, that she did not speak with the same educated style the other Rarity did.

“So, I suppose she sent you all here to come reinstate my memories, yes? And what exactly does the princess have in mind for us this time?”

Twilight shook her head. “We don’t know, we were just given a list of ponies for me to perform this spell on.”

Rarity’s face flashed with anger for a brief second, before settling on an indifferent expression. Finally she spoke, with a small smile that kind of creeped out everyone in the room. “Well, then, how many more ponies are on the list? I want to have a little chat with the princess.”

“Just a couple more, about 3 actually, and then we’re supposed to report to the princess. Shall we head out?”

They all nodded in agreement, so she recast her disguise spell. Paige and Dash remorphed into their respective pony forms, and Matt finally did the same. With that, they headed out the door.

As they headed out, Twilight caught something out of the corner of her eye. Off in the distance, was Spike, running as fast as his little dragon legs would carry him towards the group. She concentrated on a teleportation spell, and suddenly Spike appeared in front of her with a flash. He bounced off her and fell over, not expecting to suddenly be right there in front of her. Twilight noticed he was holding a rolled up letter with a large “C” emblazoned on it.

“What’s up, Spike? What does the princess have to say?

Spike couldn’t speak, he was so out of breath from both running and being teleported, that all he could do was hold the rolled up paper up in Twilight’s direction.

She picked up the scroll with her magic, and unrolled it, reading it carefully. After a few seconds, her face went from a quizzical one, to one of unmasked terror. “Oh no.”

Matt was instantly alert “What? What’s going on?”

“It’s happening sooner than we thought. Oh, this is not good.”

“What? What’s happening?”

It was then that the sky was completely covered over by a blackness that seemed…alive, which sweeped across and blocked out the sun completely. In the distance, a maniacal laugh could be heard echoing across the land

=========================END CHAPTER 15=========================

Sorry for such a short chapter, but I felt like I had to progress the story, and with them going around waking up all the ponies, it was just taking too long, so I made something happen. oh, and for anyone who doesn't know what a gukko bird is, it's a creature from the bionicle series, by lego. i used to be really into those, in fact i still have a shit-ton of parts, sets and whatnot, including the gukko. i figured i'd throw that in there, so at least part of the massive amount of what i know is not wasted. anyway, i'll shut up and hit "publish" now

Chapter 17: Into Battle

=============================SECRET LIGHTNING=============================

Well, I decided that having them all go around waking up all the ponies would take far too long, so I decided “screw it, I’ll make it interesting”. From what I gather so far, that was a really good choice. Now, we see the battle. And might I say, that while I am no good at writing battles, I shall try to make it as epic as I can. However, I have gotten a couple complaints about the fight going to be really one-sided. And as much as I love going full admin and being impossible to defeat, that just makes the story really boring, in my opinion. So for those who are saying they might as well have an instant win button, (you know who you are), I have one thing to say to that: don’t be so sure.

=============================Chapter 17: Into Battle=============================

Matt’s group half-jogged, half-ran down the streets of Canterlot. They did not wish to risk teleporting directly to the battle zone for a few reasons. First, they had no idea where they were officially going yet, second, they didn’t know what effects teleportation would have on their equipment, and third, this was kinda cool.

As they passed a flower store that was being boarded up by a unicorn and an earth pony, they heard Celestia in their helmets once again. “We have plotted the best course of action. However, it runs right through Ponyville. Normally, we would have you go around, but we lost communication with the Ponyville radio operator. So before you head for the mountain, see if you can’t help them out a little. Okay, I am sending your helmets the route now. Head for the armored chariot, and enjoy your ride to Ponyville.”

As she stopped talking, their helmets suddenly started downloading data. At first, a minimap appeared, showing their current positions, then shortly afterwards a transparent line that led through the streets in their main view. As they moved their heads, the line stayed put. They also noticed, thanks to the 360 view the helmets provided, that they were getting some very strange looks from the townspeople. They ignored it, however, and continued on. They finally reached the armored chariot, basically a steel box pulled by two armored Pegasus royal guards. They piled in, and began the painstaking descent to Ponyville. We shoulda tried teleporting thought Matt.

=================================================================================================

The chariot finally came to a stop, and they all clambered out. Everyone was shocked at what they saw. So shocked, in fact, that they never noticed their “drop ship” fly off.

The entire town had been decimated, most buildings destroyed, with only a few left. Some were on fire, some just plain smashed. But what really topped it off was the skeleton and ghost soldiers wandering around, a few dead ponies at their feet. He did notice, however, that there were several soldiers clustered around a basement hatchway to a partly destroyed building, trying to force their way inside. There had to be survivors in there, he just knew it.

He was just about to investigate, when he heard a very faint sobbing. It was coming from underneath a piece of roof on the ground. Matt looked around. They hadn’t been noticed by any soldiers yet, so he decided to check it out. He lifted the roof fragment ever so carefully with his telekinesis power, his control magnified by the suit. Under the debris was the same little magenta unicorn filly he recognized as Berry Pinch. She looked upwards at him, tears already had been streaming down her face, and immediately recoiled in shock.

“What…What are you?! What do you want?! Who are you?!” she practically yelled, immediately attracting the attention of the soldiers that were wandering the destroyed town. They immediately started to group together and form an attack front, and began to charge. In the corner of his mind, Matt made a mental note that the undead soldiers were all humanoid form. That may come to use later.

He chucked the piece of debris he was still levitating with bone-shattering force into the crowd. Unfortunately, the crowd parted quickly, and the debris chunk only took out two slower skeletons. (I’m gonna call them “skellys”, minecraft force of habit). He glanced back at Berry Pinch, who looked even more scared than before, than uttered two words before moving into action. “Hang on”

He pointed his hands forward, palms out, at the crowd. The gloves on his hands shifted and moved away from his palms, as a dull whining sound, like a turbine powering up could be heard. Then, THOOOMMM!!!

The sonic rainboom blast blew outward in a small concentrated area, blowing all the undead soldiers back, temporarily disabling them. He knew it wouldn’t last long, so he had to act fast. He knelt down beside her, and lifted his visor. “Berry, it’s me Matt. What are you doing out here? Where’s your sister?”

Hearing this, she started crying even harder. “She….she’s gone, the…the beasties took her.”

Matt was saddened at this. He didn’t know Berry Punch very well, but he knew she took care of her little sister. She would rather die than leave little Berry alone. Which was exactly where Matt’s train of thought was going next.

He glanced back. The undead soldiers were starting to get back up. And his team was just standing there. It occurred to him that maybe it didn’t help that none of them had probably ever fought before. He’d fought bullies at school, sure, but never any undead soldiers. Especially not ones with swords and torches. He knew he had to act fast, or all the things Celestia and Luna had given them would be useless. But first, he had to get Berry out of harm’s way. It wouldn’t do him any good to see the little filly get hurt.

His snap decision made, he grabbed the little filly rather roughly, (he regretted that, but he had to act fast) and put her on his back, making sure she was tucked underneath the strap for his broadsword. “Now Berry, I need you to hold on to me really tight, and don’t let go, got it?” before putting his visor back down.

She nodded, and the only reason he could see it was the 360 view inside his helmet. She put her forelegs around him as far as she could, and held on with a deathgrip.

Now that she was secured, Matt shouldered his shotgun and unsheathed his broadsword from his back, being careful not to dislodge or cut little Berry. A lot of good a shotgun with a muzzle was going to do to against a crowd of soldiers. Paige saw this and drew her katana. The rest of the group just kind of stood there. There would be words to have with them later, for now, they had some undead to own. He nodded to her, she nodded back, and the two of them crouched and sprinted into the crowd of undead.

The second the two of them hit the crowd, they both started kind of a “slice and pray” method, similar to the spray-and-pray, but with swords. So far, it was working fairly well, Matt and Paige sliced through most of the undead patrol, ghosts dissipating, skellys falling to pieces. They got about 60% of the patrol decimated, but then something impossible happened: the undead got smart. They figured out that if they just dodged their attacks, they could come up behind them. And that’s exactly what happened, two skellys sidestepped the oncoming attacks, and attacked from behind.

The one Matt had been attacking grabbed him from behind, throwing him off balance. The undead soldier decided to simply throw him down on the ground, thankfully, instead of doing something to Berry or him. Matt made sure to land on his side to avoid crushing the small filly with his weight. The skeleton stood over him, hissing like a snake, ready to attack. He looked over to his left, and saw Paige desperately trying to stop a skeleton from…well, it looked like it was trying to eat her, honestly, and her katana lay on the ground directly between them. The second she cried out in pain from the skeleton doing…whatever it was doing, Matt saw red. So much red.

He reached over, grabbed her katana, and slashed furiously upward, literally cutting the skeleton in half. He jumped to his feet, and rushed over to Paige, slashing at the skeleton so many times, it fell apart into about a million pieces. He screamed a war cry, and lunged with superhuman force toward the last of the undead patrol. He hacked, sliced, diced, dodged, pushed, and sliced some more. He didn’t remember much, just suddenly he was standing in the middle of a pile of bone fragments panting, holding a katana. But Paige was amazed. She had never seen him move like that, and it had been for her. She glanced back at the rest of her team, and anger instantly boiled inside of her.

“Why didn’t any of you help us? We needed help, obviously.”

“Well, we…we never fought before, and to be honest, we got a little scared.” Replied Applejack. She was the element of honesty, after all.

“Alright, whatever, we’re going to have a talk later, but we need to get this little filly to safety.” She said with clear annoyance.

“I shall have a talk with them, Paige.” Celestia commented in Paige’s helmet. Paige had all but forgotten about that feature. “You and Matt just get little Berry to safety.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Paige replied, and Celestia ended the connection.

She looked back over at Matt, who was investigating a basement hatchway door that the undead had been clustered around before. On his back, the little filly was still clutching to him, but looked like she was about to lose her mind. Paige figured she’d better do something about this before little Berry developed PTSD.

“Matt, could you hold still for a second? I’m going to take care of Berry here.”

“What happened? Did she get hurt?” Matt would never forgive himself if the filly that helped him out before, or anypony for that matter got hurt on his watch.

“No, just…freaked out. Hold still.”

She walked over to where Matt was standing, and bent down. From his back, she got the biggest scared puppy dog eyes she had ever seen from little Berry. And she was shaking. Not good. She put up her visor, and approached Berry. She reached out and lifted her out of the makeshift sling made from the strap for Matt’s broadsword. It took a little bit of prying to get her off him, but finally, she came loose. In her arms, the little filly curled up into a ball, and started crying. Both Matt’s and Paige’s hearts broke at this. Paige cuddled the little ball of fur close to her, being careful of the horn, and quietly comforted her, stroking her back as she cried.

“Ssh, little one, no need to cry. It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Suddenly, the little filly jumped up and grabbed Paige around the neck in a bonecrushing hug.

“It’s not me I’m worried about!” she choked out between sobs “My…my sister got taken by those things, and…and I think they hurt her.”

After a shocked second, Paige returned the little filly’s hug. She’s been through a lot, I know I would have broken down long ago. She’s pretty brave. Thought Paige.

“Ssh, it’s okay, we’ll find your sister for you.”

She pushed back a little, and looked at Paige with her huge, teary puppy eyes “You promise?”

Paige pulled the filly back into a hug. “Of course. Pinkie Pie promise. But for now, we need to get you to safety.”

The two broke the hug, and Berry shifted herself so that Paige was carrying her comfortably. She looked over to Matt. He was still investigating the door. It looked like there was survivors in there, small sounds could be heard from inside. She bent down, and shifting Berry to one arm, knocked on the door.

“Hello? Is there anyone in there? We got rid of the rest of the undead soldiers, you’re safe now.”

The door creaked open just a hair, and Paige could see someone peeking out at them. After a second, they could hear a bolt being unlocked and the doors swung open. The pony behind the doors looked a little surprised, but not totally shocked. That tended to happen when armies of ghosts and skeletons invaded your town and tried to kill you, nothing surprised you anymore. Matt and Paige stepped down into the basement of the half-wrecked building. There were several ponies hiding in there, from the undead soldiers.

Finally, Matt broke the silence, his visor sliding up so he could talk. “Is everyone in here okay?”

They all nodded. Matt also noticed that they looked very tired and weary. Battle does that to you, even if you’re not a soldier.

Suddenly, both Matt and Paige were paged. It was Twilight. “Guys,” The helmet’s speaker squawked, “I think you’re gonna want to get out here.” She sounded depressed. What did they find?

Paige put Berry Pinch down, and she looked rather annoyed. Paige hadn’t even noticed the little filly had fallen asleep in her arms. “We’ll be right back, don’t worry” she reassured her.

They walked back out, and finally found their group, in the back room of a mostly wrecked and partly smoking shop. Matt pushed his way through to see what they were all clustered around.

As soon as he saw, Matt’s heart sank. There, on the floor, was Berry Punch, Berry Pinch’s older sister. The earth mare was pretty beat up, and bleeding lightly from a few wounds, but it looked like she would live for the time being. Matt was pleased with this, at least he wouldn’t have to tell a filly her sister was dead.

He reached into one of the numerous pockets on his suit, and pulled out some long strips of gauze. He started to wrap the bleeding wounds on her, doing a little bit of first aid. She awoke suddenly, and started flailing around on the floor yelling incoherently, eyes wide. It took Paige, Colgate, Dash, and Applejack to hold her down while Matt finished bandaging her up.

When he was done, they released her, and she turned to look at him wide-eyed, and suddenly recognized him. “You! You…you’re Matt, right? My sister…..my sister! Oh, Celestia, I lost Berry!” she quickly dissolved into tears, mumbling about her sister. Matt reached out and put a comforting hand on her head. She looked up.

“Relax, Berry, your sister is safe. I found her under a piece of roof in the street. She is unhurt, but pretty freaked out. We’re gonna take you to the same place she is, can you stand?”

Berry Punch tried, rather unsuccessfully, to stand, only to end up falling back down. “No.”

“Alright, then brace yourself.” He bent down and picked up the battered mare very carefully, making sure not to aggravate any of her bruises or other injuries. “C’mon, let’s get you out of here.”

The whole walk back to the basement, no one really said anything. Berry Punch just kind of lay there in Matt’s arms, and his team followed behind. They finally reached the hatchway, and Matt kicked it lightly several times. The door opened again, and Matt carried Berry inside, with Paige right behind him. His team stayed outside to guard the entrance.

He placed Berry Punch down on a blanket one of the other ponies had placed down. The second he put her down, he paused. He heard hoofsteps, very fast and small , heading right for him.

Before he had time to look or react, a magenta blur slammed into him at high speed, actually knocking him over.

“THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!” The little filly practically screamed.

Berry Punch moaned and opened her eyes. “B…Berry?”

“Hi sis.”

“Oh, I was so worried about you!” the older mare pulled the filly into as tight a hug as she could manage.

“Mmph! Thanks to Matt, I’m here.” She managed to say after being slightly muffled by the hug.

Berry Punch turned to Matt, the little filly still attached to her neck. “Yes, it would seem we both owe Matt our lives.”

Matt blushed. “Aww, it was nothing, really. Listen, I’d live to stay and chat, but we still have a big job to do. We’ll make sure your doors are secure before we leave, and we’ll give you some food and water. But we can’t stay too long.”

The magenta mare nodded. “You have to go stop whatever’s causing this, don’t you?”

“Yeah, hopefully we can before it’s too late.”

She nodded again, and Matt decided he was going to be there all day if he kept talking. So, he went and got some food and water, some from his and his team’s pack, and some from what they had found laying around after the undead patrol got done with the town. He also helped secure the doors of the basement, using some pieces of debris he found. His fire element could be concentrated, he learned, to make a very effective welder/torch. After he built the doors sturdy enough that he figured a manticore wouldn’t be able to bust through them, he was satisfied.

He said his goodbyes, making sure to let them know that if they were successful, he would be back for them, all of them. No pony seemed to want to let him go, but they all knew they had to.

As the team regrouped just outside the doors, Matt asked an important question.

“Since it seems, by my guesstimate, that swords have a better effect than guns, it is only fair to designate our swords as our primary weapons, with our guns only for use in an emergency, or if an opportunity arises, as a secondary. So I ask you: is there anyone among us who has any experience with swords?”

After about a minute, Colgate spoke up. “Yeah, I used to fence a while back.”

“Okay then. Here, Colgate, take this.” He unstrapped his thinner close combat sword and handed it to her. “You stay in the front with me and Paige, and the rest of you stay behind and cover us.”

Colgate nodded and shouldered her gun, strapping the sword sheath onto her side, and drew the sword. The rest of the team nodded, and readied their weapons.

Matt looked down outwards towards the mountain. The undead army was advancing on the remains of the town, and fast. They all sealed their visors and helmets, and nodded to each other. Matt shared one last broadcast over their helmets.

“Now let’s do what Celestia said, and give ‘em hell!”

With a valiant war cry, he lunged his body into a run in the direction of the army, broadsword at the ready. Paige and Colgate were directly behind, swords drawn and ready, with the other six taking up the rear, guns raised.

Matt decided to open one last inter-helmet broadcast as a motivator right as the army and Matt’s team converged.

“GIVE……’EM…….HELLLL!!!!!!!!!!”

============================END CHAPTER 17============================

There, I think that successfully made the fight a little less one-sided, FOR NOW. As much as I live adminning everything, it doth not a good story make. Also, Coal Buck, your story is amazing, how dare you make me wait a whole day for an update! (lol, just kidding, but congrats on such a successful story, man, i've been hooked since chapter two) also, I am introducing an OC from a fan, his name is Mandolore, and so is the character’s. I don’t have a lot to go off of, so if I mess it up, I apologize. Anyway, I also am going to add a few more background characters next chapter, I think, and we shall see where that goes!

Chapter 18: Giving 'em Hell

=========================SECRET LIGHTNING=========================

Alright, so I earned a few more trackers with that last chapter, and the person who said he/she was thinking about not reading my story anymore changed their mind. I am going to try to not drag the battle out too far, yet I want to try a few things. A reader, Royal Brisk, gave me an AWESOME new idea for an ability for Matt that combines things he already has. And damn it, I really wish my friend would stop sending me crap on facebook, it’s only making the process of writing the chapter longer. Also, I found out you can make rage faces on facebook chat! Only problem is, they’re real small, but you don’t need a plugin to see them. Crashed my copter again today, but no major damage, just messed the plastic canopy up a little more. I’m not even going to worry about it, all the canopy does is make the copter look pretty. Didn’t help that that one asshole kid from my shop was there in the gym with me, criticizing my flying every step of the way. Oh, and my copter is cheap too, apparently, I wasted $140 on a “cheap crap” blade copter. By Celestia, I fucking hate that kid. I have never wanted to fly a copter into anyone's face that bad. Anyway, another shoutout to Coal Buck, his story’s starting to take an interesting turn, and he owes me a cameo (lol). Anyway, I now have to come up with an actual battle scene, the last chapter was me stalling for purchase in my mind, giving me time to think while I thought. (lol, go get xzibit). And thanks to Royal Brisk, it just might be very epic.

=========================Chapter 18: Giving ‘em Hell=========================

Matt and company plowed a large swath through the army of undead. They weren’t headed directly for the mountain anymore, it was received that a relatively small town just east of Fillydelphia had fallen victim to the armies, just as Ponyville had. So now their objectives had changed: enter the town, and evacuate any survivors to the emergency bunker about half a mile from the town. It wouldn’t be easy. The army was advancing fast, and had already destroyed a good portion of the town, with survivors scattered around in different areas of the town, fighting back as best they could.

Matt and company made good time to the town, with the three swords…people running the front, and the other seven picking off any undead that ventured too close, or were left behind by the front three.

They finally found a break in the waves of soldiers, and all gathered inside a random cottage that had been sitting out in the middle of nowhere. It was closer to the bunker than the town was, so as they sat, eating field rations and talking, they hatched a plan. They would reinforce the house as best they could, and shuttle survivors from the town to here, as a temporary safe house.

After lunch, the group all went back outside. Strangely, the army had not advanced any further. In fact, none of the troops had really even moved since they went inside the cottage. That was interesting to Matt.

Celestia’s voice suddenly crackled in on their helmets. “The Eternal has run out of power for the time being! It looks like it used it all on creating the armies of undead, and now is tapped out. It will regenerate in time, but it will take several hours. So now you guys have time for rescue missions. I suggest you get everypony you can, though, because once it gains power again, it will be a real force to be reckoned with.” The transmission ended.

Matt nodded to Twilight. “Twilight, would you mind going and getting everypony from Ponyville? I think you’ll be fine if you teleport, and it’ll be faster.” She nodded, and disappeared in a flash of purple light once more.

About thirty or so seconds later, she reappeared, with everypony with her. Berry Punch was being carried by Twilight, with little Berry Pinch riding on top of her helmet. Everypony else was laying on the ground, looking a little worse for wear. Matt chuckled. “Don’t worry, you get used to it after the first time”

After they got everyone into the house and had barricaded the doors with heavy stuff, the team set off again, to evacuate the town.

As they were heading for the town, Paige decided to ask Matt a question. “Hey, Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“How come you dove straight into the face of danger for that little filly? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you did, but why?”

“Well, Paige, she helped me out a long time ago. When I first came to this world, before I found you, I was completely alone. I was also a lot more emotional. Also, everypony in the town feared me, they had never seen anything like me. She helped me both realize I wasn’t alone, and immediately after she did, I was no longer feared. So I guess I owe her a lot.”

Paige understood why Matt had been emotional. After she had been shunted into this world, she had lost her mind. She smiled and snapped out if her little flashback, happy that Matt had been able to cope.

“Alright, we’re here. This doesn’t look good.” Colgate interrupted.

She wasn’t kidding, the town was really messed up. Since most of the houses and buildings were brick or cement, there wasn’t a lot that had burned, but still. Everything wood had been burned, and all of the brick or cement buildings had been partially destroyed, missing walls, roofs, or entire sections. Matt wondered just what the hell had caused this. There were still a couple soldiers hanging around, grouped mostly by a building across the town, and appeared to be waiting for orders.

They were about to go get rid of them, when Matt heard a muffled scream from the building directly next to them. They turned and dashed inside.

Inside the building, there was a group of ponies cowering in the corner of what appeared to be a flower store, with a group of armed undead soldiers closing in. amongst the group of ponies, Matt recognized Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Scootaloo, and several other ones he didn’t.

The leader of the undead group reached for Vinyl, grabbing at her with bony fingers. Octavia acted, turning around and kicking the skeleton straight in its…face. He flew back against the wall and exploded into a rain of bone pieces. One of the other soldiers, however, acted before Octavia could react, and sliced at her with his sword.

She fell back, bleeding heavily from her wound, which was in her shoulder, and Vinyl quickly dropped the item she was using as a weapon, her magic immediately cutting off as she rushed to Octavia’s side.

Matt quickly grabbed his broadsword off his back, and lunged at the other six skeletons. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as he stopped them before they harmed any more. He caught the six by surprise, slicing them into tons of pieces before they could even raise their weapons. Within seconds, he was standing in the middle of a bunch of little bone pieces, holding his sword and panting a little.

He looked over a little, and noticed that all the ponies were looking at him, absolutely terrified. He thought for a second, and instead of his visor sliding up, the whole helmet folded back into a small box behind his head, completely uncovering his head and face (Like clu’s helmet from tron legacy). “Calm down, everypony, we were sent by Celestia to help.” He reassured. They calmed down considerably, except for one. Vinyl.

“If that’s true, then can you help me then? Octy…Octy’s hurt!”

Matt knelt down beside the grey mare. She was unconscious, her wound was bleeding heavily, and her breathing was short and labored. If he didn’t do something quickly, she wouldn’t last long.

“Twilight!” he yelled. “Can you do a field patchup with your magic?”

“Y…yeah, I guess so, it shouldn’t be that hard.” Came the response.

She came and knelt down beside Octavia as well. “The wound looks semi shallow, it shouldn’t be that hard to patch.”

“Good. Then do it, we don’t have much time.”

She placed her hands on the wound, the gloves of her suit pulling away from her hands, and concentrated. A couple of seconds later, a wave of blue sparks came rolling out of her hands and into Octavia. The sparks dove into the wound as if vacuumed in, and immediately got to work. The nicked bone immediately regenerated, the muscles and blood vessels snaking back and reattaching to each other, and finally, the skin itself stretched over the wound and met itself, sealing together without leaving so much as a scar. Any spilt blood was also regenerated inside Octavia’s body, and she almost immediately snapped into consciousness as Twilight was done.

“WHO? WHAT? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT’S GOING ON?!?!” She yelled.

“Calm down, Octavia, you are safe, and Vinyl is too. You were injured by an enemy, but my friend Twilight here fixed you up.” As he mentioned Twilight, her visor slid up, revealing her face. This calmed Octavia down considerably. But Vinyl looked confused.

“Hey, how do you know our names? We never told you.”

Shit. “Uhh, our helmets told us, they seem to know everything.”

“Okay, fair enough” Whew. Disaster averted.

“Alright, we need to get you all out of here. We have a safe house not far from here. Once we’ve gotten all the survivors out of the town, we’ll move everypony in the safe house into the emergency bunker nearby.”

His helmet unfolded and reformed around his head, sealing itself as it did so. His HUD reactivated, and he could see that there were several skeletons heading straight for the building.

“We need to get out of here, there’s trouble heading our way.”

Everypony stood and started to follow them, but Octavia couldn’t. She was still too weak from the injury. Her muscles may have reattached, but they were very weak from doing so. Vinyl was about to do something, when Matt interrupted. “Hang on, I got this. Hold on, Octavia, I’m going to pick you up. This may feel a little strange.”

Vinyl was about to protest, but Octavia nodded and spoke. “Do it, so we can get out of here.”

Matt bent down, and was about to pick her up, when the face of Scootaloo filled his front view.

She looked at him with big eyes. “I can’t move very fast, do you think…do you think maybe I could get carried as well?”

Matt chuckled. “Sure, Scoots.” He picked her up and placed her in the same place that he had put Berry Pinch before, on his back, supported by the strap for his broadsword. “Now hold on to me tight, Scoot, we are gonna have to move fast.” She nodded and put her forelegs around his midsection, hugging tightly.

He bent down once again, and picked up Octavia. She shifted in his arms momentarily, but settled after a second. He looked down, and Vinyl was directly next to him, a sharpened scrap of metal in the grip of her magic, and a look of determination on her face that would have quelled the Princess herself.

“Alright, let’s go.”

They scrambled out into the street of the small town, and started running in the direction of the safe house. A few undead soldiers occasionally would jump out at them, but Colgate Paige and Vinyl handled them almost effortlessly. Matt was pretty surprised, that white unicorn fought very bravely. But then he thought back to when he was on earth, and was a brony. She had been paired with Octavia in almost every fanfic, artwork, and anything else he could find. It just seemed natural that they would be paired up in this world. It also explains why Vinyl is so defensive of Octavia, Matt thought. The entire time they were heading back to the safe house, she never left his side, except to destroy a skeleton or two. She even twisted the head off one as it tried to attack Octavia and Matt.

They made it back to the safe house in one piece, having plowed through several skeletons. Looking back, it seemed that everypony from the group made it too, with only a couple having gotten mildly scratched or bruised.

They entered the house and were greeted by everypony there, including Berry Pinch. As soon as Matt set Octavia down, she slammed into him in a bonecrushing hug. Scootaloo jumped off his back and joined her.

As Octavia lay on the floor, Vinyl walked over and hugged her. The two shared a brief kiss, confirming Matt’s suspicions, before they both broke off, blushing intensely, now aware they were being watched.

Vinyl walked over to Matt and motioned for him to come down to her level. He folded his helmet back up, and bent down.

The second he did, he was pulled into another bonecrushing hug, rivaling that of Berry Pinch. Matt felt something wet on his shoulder, and realized that she was crying. After a few seconds, he returned the hug.

“Thank you.” She whispered. “If you hadn’t found us, I doubt that Octavia would have……”

“Ssh, don’t let yourself think about that. We did find you, and you two still have each other. That’s all that matters.”

She pulled back slightly to look at him, and for once, Matt got a look at her eyes. Red, just like the fanbase said. They were full of tears, but very happy at the same time. “You know,” She said “I never did get your name.”

Matt smiled. “My name is Matt.”

“Well, Matt, I hope you can stop whatever is causing all this, but for what you did…I can’t thank you enough.”

“It’s okay, I’m happy to help anyone in need of it.” She smiled.

“Matt?” came the voice of Octavia.

“Yes Octavia?”

“I’d like to thank you too, without you, I...I may have never gotten to see Vinyl again.”

He sat down next to her, considering she was still on the floor resting. “No need to thank me, like I said, I’m happy to help.”

Octavia was unsatisfied with this. “But you did much more than help, you kept us together.” She pulled him into as tight a hug as she could in her weakened state. Numerous “D’awwwwww”s could be heard around the room as Matt returned the hug. He was turning into a very huggy person, he noticed.

After a second, the two of them broke off, and Vinyl returned to Octavia’s side.

“Sorry to leave you so soon, but we have to go back and search for more survivors. We shall be back, however, do have no fear. Also, there is some radio equipment we found stashed up in the attic. Maybe you could open a radio channel and try to get more survivors to come here.”

Vinyl raised a hoof. “I’ll do it.” No surprise there.

“Alright, well, we best be off. Remember, we’ll be back.”

The group set off, after several hundred goodbyes, and started walking. Suddenly, the voice of Celestia crackled into their helmets. “Look at the mountain. Something is happening.”

On cue, the team all looked at the mountain as one. Sure enough, something very strange was happening. The undead soldiers were falling apart. The waves of skeletons that were streaming down the mountain were falling to pieces, ghosts dissipating, and the occasional zombie falling apart as well.

“Something is wrong, I think the host is fighting the power of The Eternal. Get up there and see what’s going on. I will send guards to the towns to get the rest of the survivors. Go now!”

The connection ended. Matt’s team looked at each other, and started heading towards the mountain

=========================END CHAPTER 18=========================

Well, sorry for doing another rescue chapter, but I needed a little bit of a buildup, kind of like a techno or dubstep song. Anyway, I’ve been reading Coal Buck’s story still, and it is so awesome! (dashie face). Also, Coal Buck, PM me, I have an idea that we can do to both our stories, and make a very interesting outcome. Also, there are more references in there, for anyone that has read artemis fowl or seen tron legacy. Also, there’s more than that, but I only tell you a couple, you have to find the rest. (lol) anyway, Uhh, I think that’s about it, so I’ll say goodbye for now, and thanks for reading! Look forward to chapter 19! oh, and i'll do Royal Brisk's idea next chapter. or not, Coal Buck and i are talking about a double cameo idea! stay tuned to see what happens!

Chapter 19: Things Get All Wibbly-Wobbly

=========================SECRET LIGHTNING=========================

Well, I’ve been talking to Coal Buck over FIMfiction PM, and we’ve come up with a cool idea for both our stories. I’m gonna keep this author’s note short, and start writing. Also, I’m stalling heading up the mountain for one more chapter to do this part. Coal Buck of My Second Life and I have been collaborating on a project together. to see what i mean, read his story as well.

=========================Chapter 19: Things Get Wibbly Wobbly=========================

Matt and company had gotten maybe a few hundred yards from the safe house, when Matt stopped dead. The hell is that sound?

He could hear a slight whooshing sound, and a blue phone booth with the words ‘POLICE BOX’ emblazoned on it shimmered into view. No way. This world just gets stranger and stranger.

“Hold up guys, I wanna check this out.” He called to his team. They stopped and doubled back, Paige joining him by his side.

“The TARDIS?” she wondered. “But that means……”

Suddenly, a cry of “Allons-y!” could be heard from inside the box. The doors opened and a brown earth pony and very confused looking human stepped out.

“Well hello there!” The pony exclaimed. “I am Doctor Whooves and this is Coal. My ship seems to have sustained damage during its trip and transported us to a random world. Might I be so kind as to ask where and when we are?”

Matt folded his helmet. “You’re in Equestria, about a mile or so from Fillydelphia. As far as when….I have no clue”

Twilight piped up “The year is 2014, and Equestria is under attack. And Coal……why are you back? I thought you wanted to be alone in your world again. How could you do this to us Coal? And then just show up like it's nothing?" She sounded like she wanted to kill Coal, but at the same time, like she was extremely sad. An interesting vocal combo.

The human known as coal stepped back with a look of shock on his face. “Wait, you…you know me? And, how do you know about that?”

Twilight sighed and folded up her helmet as well. Her mane/hair was easily visible as Twilight Sparkle’s mane. “Coal…it’s me, Twilight.”

“Twilight? What’s….What’s going in here? Why are you a human? And why are you carrying a gun?”

Twilight sighed. “Well, Coal, to tell you the truth, I’ve always been human. Kind of explains a lot doesn’t it? And as far as the rest…well, since you left, things got weird. And Scootaloo…..”

The human named Coal looked a little panicked now. “Scootaloo? What happened to Scootaloo?”

“Well, since you left, she was taken in by Coco as her daughter. But…..Coco died shortly after, and Scoot was tossed back on the streets. From what we know, she had been living homeless since then, up until this started. And….well, none of us have really been the same since you left Coal, not even Dash. So I’ll ask again. Why did you leave us?” she was beginning to tear up. It was obvious to Matt that this person meant a lot to Twilight.

Coal was beginning to tear up a little bit as well. “I…I guess since the fight with Storm, I just kind of lost it. I figured since Dashie hated me, and Coco wouldn’t let me near Scoots, that the rest of you would hate me as well, and I…I just couldn’t live with myself, so I decided…” he broke off his sentence, crying quietly.

Matt walked over, his helmet folding up as he did so. He placed a reassuring hand on Coal’s shoulder. “Hey man, it’s okay. Besides, Scootaloo is currently staying at our safe house anyway. We can bring you there if you want.”

Coal looked up at Matt “You…you serious? After what happened?”

Matt nodded. “I don’t know what happened, but you seem like a really cool guy. And besides, you seem so concerned about her, how can I not show you she’s okay? It’s the least I can do. C’mon, let’s go.”

They turned tail and headed back to the safe house, with Doctor Whooves in tow. This time, it was Coal that stayed by Matt’s side, and Paige hung back, giving him some space.

They reached the safe house, and Matt unlocked the door. “Scootaloo!” he called. “I found someone who wants to see you!”

Matt chuckled as he could hear the scrambling of hooves on wood. “Who? Who wants to see me?”

She came running around the corner, skidding across the floor some, and kept going. She got up to about three feet from Coal, and attempted to stop. It didn’t go so well, she ended up running straight into him.

After she recovered from the impact, she looked up at Coal. Matt could see there were already tears in her eyes.

“C…Coal? What happened to you? You…you left me alone. Why would you do that to me, Coal, Why?” She was crying heavily now, and sobbing loudly.

Coal reached down and scooped up the sobbing little filly into a hug, now starting to cry himself. “I…I don’t know Scoots. When Coco said she wouldn’t let me be near you anymore, I just lost it. I…I guess I figured since I had lost you and Dashie, that I wouldn’t be welcome in this world. Also, I couldn’t live with myself. I’m sorry. I…I was a horrible father to you, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me.”

“But Coal…Dad, I could never hate you. You…you did what you did to protect Rainbow Dash. I don’t care if you almost hurt a pony, and I don’t care if I was told I could never see you again. I…I would have found a way. Please don’t leave me again!”

By this time, no one in the safe house had a dry eye. Not even Trixie.

Coal stood back up, still cradling Scootaloo in his arms. “I won’t. I promise. Right now, I’m going to go back to the time when I left, and make sure you are never alone again. Okay, Scoot?”

She sniffled and nodded. “Yeah, I think I would like that a lot.”

He set the little filly back down, but not before kissing her forehead. “And remember, Scoots. I will always love you like my daughter.”

He turned back to the brown earth pony, who had been crying as well. “Doc, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to go back to the time before I left Equestria, I have a promise to keep.”

The brown pony nodded. “Yes, I think that would be best. Would you kindly go wait out in the TARDIS for a minute? I have something I would like to tell these wonderful people.”

Coal nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind him. As soon as it was closed, the pony turned to everypony in the room.

“Now, I think just about all of you are wondering just what exactly happened. Well, to be honest, my ship was not actually damaged, and this is not Coal’s true future. It is one of many possibilities for his future, one where he does not return to Equestria. I brought him to this particular one to teach him that when he left, he left so many alone, including little Scootaloo there.” He explained, pointing to the still sniffling filly on the floor. “So technically, this never happened. But continue as you were, as if you do not, the threads of the space-time continuum will rip. Such a rip would be catastrophic for the entire world as we all know it. I already created enough of a paradox as it is, bringing Coal here. And for that, I apologize. But, I did it in order to prevent a far worse future for all of you. So please, forgive me, and try to forget what I said and continue as you were.” With that, he saluted to everypony in the room, and walked out the door.

A slight Humming and a “whoosh” could be heard as the TARDIS shimmered and disappeared.

Matt and everypony in the room just stood there, trying to process one single thought: “dafuq just happened?”

=========================END CHAPTER 19=========================

well, that’s my half of the double cameo project Coal Buck and I are doing. If you haven’t read his story yet, go read it now, it’s called ‘my second life’, and is one of the best HiE fics I’ve ever read. Also, he’s going to do a chapter very soon involving this, as I just put his character in my world. So yeah. Hope you enjoyed! And seriously, go read my second life! and to Eshmasesh, for some reason FIMfiction won't let me reply to your message, but i would love to help you start writing your own story!

Chapter 20: The Eternal

===================SECRET LIGHTNING===================

Well, I think the last chapter went fairly well, yes? That was an event that happened differently in both my and Coal Buck’s story. Maybe when I start another fanfic (I was intending to soon anyway, but still keep updating Secret Lightning for a while still), he and I can collaborate some more, perhaps on a few chapters, idk, I’ll ask him. Anyway, my chapter 19 was an actual event in my story, but an alternate path for his to have taken, to clear things up. (OMFG multiverse theory is hard). Also, I got a wonderful idea for something for me to do as a winter project. Since I have an easily customizeable copter already, why not buy a spare tail fin/rotor, main blades, and canopy, and paint the thing to look like Rainbow Dash? It’d be the fastest sub-micro flier in all of my school gym’s airspace. (lol). Anyway, this is the chapter where they finally go up the mountain and see just what the hell is going on. Also, I use Royal Brisk’s idea as well. And keep in mind, even if I make this chapter really long, detailing ALL that happens on the mountain, it is NOT the end of Secret Lightning. There is still much to discuss. Anyways, I’m going to get something to eat and then start writing, let’s see how chapter 20 goes.

===================Chapter 20: The Eternal===================

Matt shook his head. He was more confused than when he had come to this world, even more so than when he found out the mane six were humans. But then again, he had watched Dr. Who back on earth, and remembered that a lot of things involved paradoxes or multiverse theory. So he was the first one to recover, having a good idea what was going on. Well, not really, but he figured if Dr. Who/Whooves was involved, it was gonna be complicated. So he forced himself to push past his confusion and ask Twilight a question.

“Twilight, who was that guy? You said his name was…..Coal?”

Twilight shook her head as well, snapping out of her trance. “Y…yeah, he was someone we…..knew, but he left a long time ago. It doesn’t make sense that he’d come back like that, and then leave again.” She walked over to the wall closest to her, and slumped down it, crying softly.

Matt looked over at Paige. She had raised her visor to get some fresh air, and was now giving Matt a ‘go talk to her’ look.

He nodded and walked over to Twilight, sitting down next to her, comforting her.

After a minute or so, Twilight had calmed down enough to speak. She decided to talk about Coal, just to get it off her shoulders.

“A while….about two or so years ago, Coal showed up in Equestria. At first, he was a little apprehensive, but he adapted. Became one with our ways.”

Matt noticed that Scootaloo was sneaking closer, trying to hear the story. Matt grabbed her before she had time to react, pulling her into his lap and holding her. She thrashed for a second, but calmed down almost immediately. Twilight continued.

“When he first came here, he was quite…different, he talked to himself, and even admitted being attracted to ponies. But after a while, he calmed down, changed his ways. In fact, most of us started to take a liking to him. He was so nice, and willing to help anyone in need. In fact, his first day in Equestria, he helped an injured Rainbow Dash out of the everfree forest. He adopted Scootaloo there after her surrogate mother disowned her.” Matt felt a brief flash of anger. Who in their right mind would disown a little filly such as this?

But Twilight wasn’t done. “He…he saved rarity from her ex-colt friend, he had tied her up and was going to… well, you can kind of guess what. He beat the colt pretty bad, but didn’t kill him. Part of that may have been because he was injured, but I think it was because he was better than to simply kill a pony over something they almost did.” Matt nodded. This Coal person was starting to sound like a real hero, and a really nice person to know.

“After that, he kind of fell into a daily pattern, seeing Scootaloo in the morning, he was paying for her to stay at the Ponyville Inn by the way, and working at Sweet Apple Acres until sundown, and then he’d go see Scoots again to tuck her into bed.”

Matt noticed his arms were shaking. Not his arms, actually, the lump of orange fur cradled in them. He lifted her up and held her close to him, cradling her like a baby, trying desperately to quell her sobs. This little filly deserves so much, but gets so little. I can’t say I’m necessarily a fan of Coal right now, for abandoning her, but I have yet to hear why he did it.

He nodded for Twilight to continue. “But then one day, Dash’s father, Stormcloud, came to take Dash away, with less than good intentions. According to her, he was going to sell her to pay off his gambling debts.” She shuddered. “Stormcloud tried to…forcefully take dash away from us, but Coal wouldn’t have it. There ended up being a fight between Storm and Coal, with Coal gaining the upper hand. He nearly strangled Storm, but let him go before he passed out, warning him that he would not be so nice next time if he saw Storm’s face again. He did leave, but not willingly. Unfortunately, Dash blew up on Coal, saying that she could never love a monster like him, and that she hoped to never see him again.”

Matt nodded. It seems things were worse for Coal than he thought.

“After the fight, no one really looked at Coal the same way again. Not even Coco, the innkeeper where Scootaloo was staying. She told Coal that she never wanted him near Scootaloo ever again, and that she would take her in as her own daughter. After that, he…he just lost it. He came bursting into the library as I was reading, demanding that I send him home. After hearing his explanation, he gave me no choice but to send him back to Earth.”

Matt pulled the now loudly sobbing orange filly into a tight hug, stroking the back of her head to calm her as she cried. She really misses Coal. He made a snap decision, and a lousy one at that, but I guess if I were to be in his shoes, I may have done the same thing.

But Twilight wasn’t done with her story. “After he left, everything changed in Ponyville. Shortly afterward, Coco caught pneumonia and died; Scootaloo was tossed back out on the streets. And the girls and I…..well, none of us were really the same either, we all…we all loved Coal. In varying intensities, of course, but Me Applejack and Dash the most. It…it just destroyed us, to have him leave. We’ve mosly been able to cope, since he left, but since his….momentary reappearance, it reopened the wounds, so to speak.”

Matt looked around. Four of his team were sitting on the floor, huddled together, crying, with the other three standing over them, trying to comfort them. Even Paige was standing there, looking quite sad with a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Matt put down Scootaloo, who had fallen asleep, all that crying had worn her out.

He got up and approached Paige, who suddenly looked very panicked.

“Matt, I…I didn’t, you see…w-wait, I can….” She was silenced when Matt pulled her into a hug.

“Ssh, it’s okay, I’m not mad at you. How could I be? He was someone you loved, and I wasn’t around at the time. Even if I was, I wouldn’t have been mad. The only thing I really want is to see you happy. What it takes for that to happen, matters not to me. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

She hung there for a second, in Matt’s embrace, surprised at the words coming from him. It was just basically said that she loved another human while Matt was away, and he wasn’t even angry.

“Th…thank you, that means a…means a lot to me. But if it helps, that was a long time ago. And I still….I still love you, Matt.”

He smiled. “I know you do. And I love you too, which is why I’m not mad.”

At that point Twilight’s helmet started whirring, and the little hole on the front above the visor lit up, casting a beam of pure white light out, which started to form a cube.

Within a couple seconds, the face of Princess Celestia formed inside the floating light cube. “I hate to break up this beautiful moment between you guys, but Equestria is still in danger. You still need to go up the mountain and confront The Eternal. Sorry to be so blunt, but we still have a crisis on our hands…hooves.” The connection ended, Celestia’s face fading out, and the cube of light dimmed and dissolved, the projector fading back to black.

Matt looked up “She’s right. We can talk more later. Let’s get going. But wait, there’s something I gotta do first.”

He looked back at Scootaloo. The poor orange filly had woken up during the message from Celestia, and was curled up in a ball on the floor crying. There was the beginnings of a small puddle near her head, her tears were flowing that fast and strong. He knelt down next to her, gently reaching out and rubbing her head a little. “Scoot? What’s wrong?”

She sniffled and raised her head a little bit. “You…you’re going to leave me too. Just like Coal did. And I know it’s not his fault, he is going back to his time, to be with another version of me, but for the ME me, it just seems that everytime I find someone I like, they leave me.”

Matt didn’t know what to say. This little filly probably never had had a parent figure for very long, IF she ever had a parent figure besides Coal. Matt decided that he would have to fix that.

”There, there” he cooed while scooping up the still sobbing orange filly.

He picked her up and cuddled her, calming her down. When she stopped sobbing, he started talking softly to her. “Ssh. It’s okay. You won’t ever be alone again, I can promise it. You see, I have a bit of a proposal to make to you, Scoots.”

She stopped sniffling and pulled back a little to look at him with big, teary eyes. Matt’s heart nearly exploded.

“Okay, so, after we go confront this thing known as The Eternal, I can honestly promise you that Paige and I aren’t going anywhere. When we get back from the mountain, would you….would you like to live with us?”

The filly’s eyes nearly popped out of her head in excitement. “REALLY?!?! YOU MEAN IT?!?!”

Matt chuckled. “Yeah, Scoots, of course I mean it. I would never leave you out on your own, all alone.”

With that, she jumped out of his arms and started bouncing around the house yelling

“YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!” Matt chuckled, as he was reminded of an episode of MLPFIM.

“Just one thing, Scoots.” She stopped quickly. “We still need to go up the mountain. And until we get back, I need you to stay here. I promise, we will be back. But for now, I need you to stay here, where it is safe.” Matt was heartbroken as her face fell.

But then, she ran up and wrapped herself around his leg “You better come back, okay?!” she almost demanded. He chuckled. “Of course.”

She nodded gently and slowly untangled herself from around his leg.

The whole group gathered by the door, and after a few goodbyes, stepped out into the open air.

As they started walking, Paige asked Matt “Do you really think it’s a good idea to become Scootaloo’s father figure?”

He shrugged. “Why not? I’ve always wanted a daughter, and this way, we can both be parents without….”

They both blushed. It was funny, they were both heavily armored and carrying weapons, and yet the subject of sex was awkward for them.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, to say the most. Downright boring, more like it. (for the sake of moving things along, I’ll skip it)

They arrived at the cave mouth. Finally. They took one look back at the safe house, and stepped inside.

Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a few hundred undead soldiers, mostly skeletons.

They were pinned. Neither side made a move. Matt knew of they started attacking, the sheer numbers of the undead would prove too much for them. He drew his broadsword off his back. Paige drew her Katana, and posed in a crouching stance, ready to dive into battle. Matt gave her the slightest of a head shake, telling her no, stand down. She looked confused but complied.

Matt held his sword, blade pointing straight up. He closed his eyes and concentrated. At first, there was the littlest flicker of flames from his hands. But then his gloves retracted from his hands. His helmet folded back over his face and sealed, and his sword began to grow warm. Half a second later, the blade was completely engulfed in fire. He had essentially made a fire sword. He concentrated a little more, and a large bolt of lightning joined the fire, arcing and crackling up and down the blade. He quickly opened his eyes and barked out “Everybody down!”

As soon as they hit the ground, he jumped a little, spinning a full 360 degrees, slicing a horizontal line in a circle around him. As soon as the line connected into a circle, a wall of fire and lightning blasted out and destroyed every skeleton in the area.

“Well…” Matt panted as everyone stood back up, “I guess I won’t….be doing..that..again…for a while.”

The maneuver had taken a lot of power out of Matt, and even though he could feel his power refilling to full capacity, he was still a little tired from that.

After he caught his breath, they walked into the inner chamber inside the cave. A human man could be seen sitting on a throne-like chair in the center. Matt knew something wasn’t right, but they approached him anyway.

As soon as they got within a couple feet of the throne, large black tentacles of pure darkness sprang out of the ground, and held them all down to it.

“Argh, what do you want from us?!” Matt yelled as he struggled against the pillar-like tentacles of cold and darkness.

“What?” chuckled the man in the throne in a deep, yet also high-pitched voice. “I’m not allowed to say hello to my own son?”

==================END CHAPTER 20==================

Shit just got real this time. that is all.

Chapter 21: Father Figure

==================SECRET LIGHTNING==================

Well, I dunno what day I’ll be publishing this, but it’s official: shit got real. Also, I read Coal Buck’s latest chapter, and while I am going to comment as soon as I get home or find wifi, I have one thing to say: I regret nothing. So, my friends are going to help me with my Dash copter idea, so hopefully soon it should be done. I will upload pictures to facebook when it’s done, so for those who have added me, you will get to see it. Also, it’s SO fucking hard to type when I’m on the bus, not because of the movements of the bus or anything, but because there are two people on it that have large headphones, and play music loudly. They usually also fall asleep, so try sitting on a bus listening to conflicting songs by Justin Beiber (ugh), or some other pop music without nearly throwing a Chuck Rage. By the way, that term comes from a person named Chuck that I know, that threw a fit one day-and a chair. It was really funny to watch, but I was just glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that anger or chair. Thankfully, I had my laptop and headphones, with plenty of good dubstep on the hard drive. Anyway, today was uneventful, so I’ll shut up now. My friend once told me that the author’s notes are not facebook, but I think it’s good to tell my readers about everything interesting that happened in my day, even if they don’t find it as interesting as I did.

==================Chapter 21: Father Figure==================

“D…Dad?!?!”

The man in the throne chuckled again. “Not quite Matt. I am known as The Eternal.”

“But…what about my dad?”

The man stood up and stepped out of the shadows. As soon as the light hit his face, Matt could clearly make out the face as none other than his dad. “As you can see….SON,” He seemed to spit out the word, as if in disgust, “I AM your father.”

“But….” Was all Matt could manage. He was so confused. His father was The Eternal? And for that matter, how did he get here? And if he was The Eternal, how long had this been going on? Because that would explain a lot, actually.

The man was starting to approach the group rapidly now. But before he reached Matt, Celestia only knows what he was going to do, the man yelled in pain and collapsed to his knees, shaking violently. The next words he spoke were very short, forced out, said through gritted teeth, in Matt’s father’s voice.

“Matt…this thing…is…is in my head. My thoughts…not my own. For…for many years it’s been in there. I can’t…I can’t hold it back forever. But I can…fight it…when I have to.”

Matt’s father was fighting it, indeed. The tentacles of darkness restraining them to the ground were beginning to weaken a bit. The one across matt’s chest loosened just enough that he could get his arm back and reach his sword. He drew it from its sheath, fire already spreading across the blade. He slashed upward, cutting right through the solid darkness as if it were butter. The two halves of the tentacle (ok, really, due to the high amount of ‘I’ve seen enough hentai to know where this is going’ comments I’m BOUND to get, I’m just gonna call them pillars. Okay?! And I’m serious about the comments.) hit the ground, dissolving into a puddle of blackness that seeped into the ground, disappearing. He jumped to his feet, slashing through the pillar that held his legs down just as he did.

He was now standing over his father, who was on the ground convulsing, holding a flaming sword. He could have simply killed him, it would have made him feel better for all the years his father was an ass to him. But he couldn’t. He just couldn’t strike down his father, no matter how much he hated him. He just couldn’t. So instead, he used his earth powers to form similar bindings out of rock, keeping his father pinned down while he released the rest of his team. As they all stood up and shook themselves off, a cracking sound could be heard. Like stone breaking.

“Matt...” strained his father “I can’t…..fight it anymore…it’s winning!”

And then he was gone, replaced by that monster again.

Matt’s father, now back under control of The Eternal, easily broke through the stone restraints like they were paper. He laughed, watching the humans all struggle to their feet. “Really now, did you honestly think that would hold me for long? You should know me better than that by now.” He teased, while levitating himself back to his throne, his whole body radiating a shimmering dark purple power. “But now, you die.”

As he was speaking, Matt heard a couple gasps from his team. He sealed his helmet and activated his 360 degree view, not wanting to take his eyes off that…..thing that was his father. Well, sort of his father, at least in body.

What he saw was quite disturbing. A huge army of undead was behind them, but this time it wasn’t as easy as simply humanoid ghosts and skeletons. Oh no, this time it was much worse. There was a manticore skeleton, a dragon ghost, which was breathing black fire out of its nostrils by the way, several thousand human skeletons, and ghosts of everypony from the safe house. Even Scootaloo. Matt’s heart sank down to his feet in sadness, but then raised back up into his chest in pure rage. This creature, whatever it was, possessed his father, apparently several years ago. Matt guessed the purpose of the timing was to drive a wedge in between them, as the two had been very close at one point. And now, it had taken the lives of his friends, the ponies among him, and everything that he had held dear. Well, almost everything, but he wasn’t about to let that happen as well. He had already lost her once.

He looked at the ghost form of Scootaloo, and was quite disturbed. Her hair (mane) was falling out, her skin missing in patches, and in her eyes, he saw nothing but blankness, covered over by an unholy rage.

He sheathed his broadsword as the giant army started approaching them. He already was crunching the numbers, with a little help from his helmet thanks to the mental link. They were only covering the exit, and why was there any point to cover any more than that? It wasn’t like there was any other way out of the cave.

He shrugged off the confused looks from Paige and the rest of the group, and grabbed his shotgun.

“Matt, are you seriously….?” Twilight tried to ask, but before she could, something interesting happened.

For a second, he was just standing there, holding that Remington shotgun, looking mighty foolish against a huge army of undead. But then, a flicker of fire ignited across his hands, slowly spreading to the shotgun. Soon, the entire thing was aflame, the flames flickering and licking angrily. However, that wasn’t all he was doing. Seconds later, a large bolt of lightning, larger than the one on his blade when he had done a similar thing earlier, joined the fire, arcing angrily as well, arcing and jumping off the gun in random directions, as if eager to go. Also, a column of water rose up and joined the other two, intertwining and fusing with the fire and lightning. Then, there was a dull whining noise (as I have said before, like a jet turbine firing up) and the lightning took on a distinct rainbow color, as did the fire, until the gun in his hands was nothing more than a mass of rainbow lightning, fire, lightning, and water.

“EVERYBODY GET BEHIND ME!” he yelled, not leaving any time for second thoughts.

The second everyone was safely out of the blast zone, he aimed the gun at the approaching army, who looked a little perturbed at the sight of his gun. “I’m so sorry, Scootaloo.” He whispered as he pulled the trigger.

FFFWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The blast of pure energy that rocketed out of the gun blew EVERYTHING back, all the ghosts and skeletons flying back against the walls, or the unluckier ones went rocketing out of the cave into the air. However, according to a man named Issac Newton, there are laws about this kind of thing, and no amount of magic or any other power can stop them.

So, according to this man’s third law, um, yeah, no one was really safe. But it was better than the other option.

The entire group of Matt’s friends went flying in the opposite direction, flying into the back wall of the chamber. Their armor flexed to absorb the shockwaves (did I mention there were about 6?), and the sonix sponges in their helmets sealed to protect their ears, sure, but that didn’t mean they were safe. Matt was unconscious before he even hit the wall, that blast having drained so much energy from him.

All nine of them slammed into the wall in rapid succession, actually managing to leave indents in the stone. The chamber rumbled, and cracks started to form on the walls and ceiling. Seconds later, large chunks of rock started falling into the cave, completely filling it, effectively sealing it off from the rest of the world. And under those chunks of rock, nothing moved.

==================Point of view change: Luna==================

Luna flew towards the mountain, the same one she and Celestia had sent Matt and his company to. On her head, was a modified version of the helmets they had given Matt and company, but was differently shaped to fit her head, and had a hole in the top for her horn to fit through.

She had just reached the area the mountain was in, when she heard a dull whining noise coming from the cave. No, it’s not possible she thought, no one has ever pulled off a full element blast before and lived through it. She sped towards the cave as fast as her wings would carry her.

But she was already too late. With a large boom, there was a rainbow flash, and several skeletons went flying out of the cave in random directions, staying airborne for a very good distance. They were chased out of the cave by a wall of fire, water, lightning, and rainbow shockwaves. Seconds later, she saw the cave collapse on itself. Everything inside was buried in rock and other rubble. She landed swiftly in the mouth of the cave, the only part of the cave not filled with rubble, and started digging, her magic lifting up pieces of stone 8 at a time and tossing them out of the cave. Within a few seconds, she reached the host body of The Eternal, lightly injured and unconscious, but alive. She imprisoned him in a cage of pure energy and went back to searching.

Eventually, she came across the forms of the group of nine. They had pretty much saved the world, but at what cost? None of them moved. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she bowed her head.

==================END CHAPTER 21==================

Lol, cliffhanger deluxe this time! also, if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m thinking about maybe making another human in equestrian story that is more…..realistic, so to speak. Well, more along the lines of what would more likely happen if a human showed up in Equestria. But I’m not sure i'll be able to update this story anymore, ya know? *sadface* also, if you want to know why i was a little late with this chapter, here is your explanation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFUIiUDaU\_Q&feature=g-upl&context=G2c423c5AUAAAAAAAAAA

Chapter 1: a new life

=========SECRET LIGHTNING=========

This is my first attempt at a fanfiction, and I am trying to find out whether or not I am any good at writing them. If I have any spelling errors let me know. Also, if you decide I’m focusing too much on the character, just wait. Next couple chapters will get a little interesting.

Finally coming to a stop under a large oak tree, Matt silently cursed his life. “Why do things have to be this way?” he thought. “Why can’t they just get along?” Then, “this is my fault, if I hadn’t applied for that job……….” Matt’s mind trailed off as he sat under the tree wondering what he should do next. For you see, his parents never really got along, and while his mother loved him more than anything in the world, his father wasn’t really the same. Matt’s father was planning on leaving his mother when he was born, he had found out during the fight. He had been forced to stay with his mom, but what the reasoning was, he didn’t exactly know. They would never tell him. Suffice to say, matt’s father had never been a very……….supporting father, to say the least. There was even that one time he had left matt waiting at school, waiting for a ride, because he didn’t feel like picking Matt up. Eventually, a teacher had noticed and given him a ride home, only for matt’s father to berate him for making a teacher go out of his way for him. While the teacher, Mr. Orie, a shop teacher at the school he went to said it was no problem at all, matt’s father wouldn’t hear of it, and grounded matt.

Matt shuddered, remembering the fight that incident had caused between his parents. Recently, he had graduated from his school, with high marks in his shop, IST, or computers, and applied for a job. But the job that he really wanted required that he get a bachelor’s degree at least. So Matt had applied to almost every college he could think of, but was denied every time. Matt had no problem in his trade, and the work for his trade came easily to him, computers had always been a specialty of his, but there was one problem he had: academics. The school he went to was a technical high school, and had both academics and trade, and alternated the classes in different cycles. Try as he might, Matt could never get anything higher than a D in any of his academics classes. As his guidance counselor had said, “you can do the work matt, you’re a very smart person, you just aren’t putting your heart into it.” Part of this was because Matt’s father was a schoolteacher. Not at the school he went to, thank god, and he wasn’t really an actual teacher, he just handled the in school suspension and detention room, but knew enough that he could teach if he had to. Recently, one of matt’s friends, a kid who never really talked much, he preferred isolation and anime more than being out in public, had introduced matt to something new. It was a TV show called My Little Pony: friendship is Magic.

Matt enjoyed the show, as nothing really bad ever happened to any of the characters, and it also taught him the value of friendship, and how to better get along with people. His favorite pony was lyra, a mint colored unicorn with a mint and white striped mane and tail. In a way, she reminded Matt a lot of him: she was always in the background, always ignored by almost everyone, but if you looked really closely, you could sometimes see her in the background, either sitting on a bench very un-ponylike, or jumping excitedly behind a crowd, or in one case he noticed, sitting in the cloudsdale coliseum, where only Pegasi could venture. In this way, Matt felt a connection to lyra, as he himself was sort of a background character, no one ever noticed him, and in a couple years, Matt could almost guarantee that people would page through their yearbooks, looking back on their senior year of high school, looking at all the people they knew, and remembering them. Except him.

He only had one friend, and never really spoke to him, as he never really spoke to anyone. One other thing, Matt is what’s known as a “closet brony”, meaning he watches the show, but that’s about it, and only one other person knew he did even that. God, matt could remember the time his dad found out about it. He had walked, well, more like barged, in on matt while he was watching one of his favorite episodes. What happened next was exactly what matt expected: his father had yelled him for a good hour, including things like “no son of mine’s going to be gay!” and other such hurtful comments. His dad had also taken his computer and blocked the HUB channel from the TV, just to make sure there was no way he could watch the show. In short, he had taken away the only thing that was keeping Matt from spiraling into a deep, dark pit of depression. So he made up his mind: he was going to get a job and move away as soon as possible.

The only job he really wanted, also the only job he could really do extremely well, a computer repair technician for a company that made aircraft engines, required that he at least get a bachelor’s degree. When he had brought up the subject to his parents, his mom got very excited and said that she would foot the bill for the college, just so “he could be happy doing what he wanted”. His father, on the other hand, had gotten really aggravated and forbid his wife to pay for “someplace for Matt to go get drunk/high and have wild parties all night and day”. As usual, his parents started squabbling, more so than two birds over a french fry. Then it happened. In a fit of rage over her last comment, Matt’s father hauled back and slapped his wife in that face. All three stood quietly for a few seconds, paralyzed with shock. Then, matt broke the silence by running out the front door.

And he just kept running. He could have easily gotten into his car and drove, but his father had had an Onstar system installed in the car, and Matt really didn’t want to be found. He just wanted to be alone. He had even ditched his cellphone, leaving it in the car. And so he ran. Ran so far in fact, he ended up in the forest about a mile from his house. It was raining, so matt looked for a decent tree to sit under and weather out the storm while he thought. Eventually, he found a nice oak tree, with dry ground underneath it. He sat under that tree for over an hour, contemplating what he should do with his life. A thunderstorm was closing in, and Matt knew he would have to find better shelter than a tree. But Matt couldn’t force himself to move, preferring instead to sit under the tree and cry. It was then that a certain electric feeling took the air, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “oh god, no” he thought. Just as he was about to get up to run away from the area -KRA-BOOM!!!!!

The lightning strike had hit the tree he was under, but enough voltage had gone from the tree to him that he found he could not move at all, short of breathing, which surprised him. “I should not have survived that” the thought, as a dreaded cracking noise filled his ears. He knew all too well what that meant. He forced his eye muscles to move his eyes to look up just as a big leader branch from the tree, easily the size of a small car, broke off where the lightning hit and plummeted straight towards his unmoving form. His last thought was “mom, please don’t hate me” then all was black.

=================================================================================================

The next thing Matt remembered, he was waking up in a warm, soft bed. He didn’t hurt at all, just felt……..warm. When matt opened his eyes, he was surprised by what he saw. He was in a white room, much like a hospital room, but……………different. He felt the place was very familiar, but could not for the life of him place where he was. He tried to stand up, and immediately regretted it. A splitting headache pierced his brain like a knife. He immediately sat back down on the bed, and the headache lessened. He decided to see if he could get ahold of anyone to see what was going on. “Hello?” he called, finding the words came easily, considering what had just happened to him. That HAD happened to him, hadn’t it? Before he could consider anything more, he heard a voice waft into his room. It was female, probably a nurse. “oh, you’re awake, I’ll be right there.”

What Matt saw next, nothing could have prepared him for.

Next thing he knew, a nurse pony stepped into the room. Wait, PONY?!?!?! He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, and looked again. Sure enough, there was a white earth pony with a light pink mane and tail and a nurse’s hat was standing in front of him. Matt’s brain reeled. First, he knew exactly who this was, it was nurse tenderheart, a nurse at the ponyville clinic, he recognized her from the show. Second, there was no WAY this was happening. Right?!?! It’s just a show, he thought, there’s no way he could possibly be in ponyville, this HAD to be a hallucination. “Are you alright dear?” the mare’s calm, gentle voice snapped him out of his trance and back into reality. A reality he still couldn’t believe was real. “you……….you can’t be real!” he exclaimed, backing against the wall. “I must be dreaming of something! There’s no way any of this can be real!” Startled by the human’s sudden reaction, nurse redheart backed away as well. “I’m sorry to tell you this” she said while making sure she was close enough to the door that she could dash out of the room to safety if the human became violent “but this is very real. And you are not the first human here either.”

Chapter 16: The Reveal

=====================SECRET LIGHTNING=====================

Well then, it’s been a while since I updated! To be honest, I’ve been trying things in an effort to improve my writing style, as when I look at my story, all I see is bland. I mean, that’s probably what happens to every author, artist, and so on, but still. I’ve been reading a story called “My Second Life” by Coal Buck, and I gotta tell you: it’s just awesome. It’s like any other brony in Equestria story, but with a good amount of brutal honesty. I think it’s what makes the story even better, because most stories are very delicate about certain subjects. This one holds little back. And I’ve been talking to the author, and he likes my story too! That means a lot to me actually. He’s a really cool guy, too. Also, I’m a big fan of the fanfic that just recently completed, titled “Not My Destiny”, and may add a couple references to it to show my appreciation. Keep in mind, there will be no direct plagiarism. Or plagiarism at all, really. Anyway, I’m done talking for now, if I remember something else I wanted to say, I’ll put it in the footnote.

=====================Chapter 16: The Reveal=====================

“What’s going on, Twilight?” for the first time, Matt was genuinely scared. The sky had been blocked out by some kind of living darkness, and a strange black fog had rolled in from the same direction, threatening to smother anyone not strong enough to push through it.

“I…I wish I knew, Matt, it seems we may have to postpone the errand and visit the princesses immediately. We should go there now. Everyone hold on to me!” she commanded, not leaving time for any arguments.

Everyone got a hoof in contact with Twilight, as they were all still in pony form, and waited. They didn’t have to wait long, her horn glowed brightly, then flashed a ball of energy around all of them, and then they were gone, leaving the letter laying on the ground where she once stood.

Being teleported was something Matt had never experienced before. Imagine yourself trying to cram a potato into a drinking straw. And I mean the WHOLE potato. Now try doing it with your entire body and flying through a never ending drinking straw at almost light speed. Now try doing it while holding onto a unicorn with your HOOVES, which you are very inexperienced with, along with three other ponies and a baby dragon, who are about as freaked out as you are. Matt was amazed he was able to hold on.

They were warping for what felt like hours, travelling through a tunnel of never-ending colors, seemingly changing and appearing randomly. Suddenly, a small circle of light appeared in front of them. They all appeared to stretch like a cheaply made flash video, and were sucked into the hole.

Immediately, they all tumbled out of the warp and onto the throne room of the princesses. They both looked rather shocked, and several royal guards moved to apprehend them, but Celestia, who recovered first, waved them off.

“Twilight, how did you teleport in here? The throne room is enchanted to specifically prevent that. I cast it myself.”

“Please, Princess, we can discuss that later. For now, there is an emergency, I got your letter and got us and who we’ve woken up so far here as fast as possible. I think I speak for all of us when I say: What exactly Is happening?”

Celestia sighed. “It is an old foe of mine, one I never expected to hear from again. It is called The Eternal, and it is related to The Nightmare, which was responsible for Luna’s…transformation after being imprisoned on the moon. But unlike The Nightmare, The Eternal needs a host body that is evil as well. Or at least, as it would seem, has a strong hate. The Nightmare does not need there to be hate, it creates it, but The Eternal is a much weaker entity and needs a fitting host, not just anyone. After Luna and I defeated it long ago, we figured we had seen the last of it. Apparently, it has finally found a suitable host body.”

“Well, what…what does it want?”

“It wants to rule. Over everything and anything. And unlike its relative, The Nightmare, it’s not afraid to kill anyone that gets in its way.”

Twilight stepped back a little, shocked by the news she had just heard. “But…what can we do about it?”

“Well, the Elements of Harmony are almost strong enough to defeat it alone, but not quite. The power they carry is very strong, but if The Eternal is to be defeated, it requires the amplification by two more rather talented unicorns, and maybe a third. You will notice, there are two ponies on your list that are not holders of the Elements. These are the other two that are needed. However, in order to guarantee that the Elements will prevail, we should add that third pony.”

Celestia’s horn glowed briefly, and a name added itself to the parchment with a small flash. Twilight stared at the name for a second, as if the words on the paper were trying to jump up and eat her.

“Princess…are, are you sure? After the incident in Ponyville a while ago, I don’t know if she’ll help us.”

“Trust me, Twilight, she will assist you. I have already sent a letter to Fillydelphia, where she is currently performing. She shall be here in about a day, provided there is still a world by tomorrow.”

“Now, having said that, you will need to go find the other three ponies and come back here immediately. Matt shall wait here, we have something to discuss with him.”

Twilight nodded, all the other ponies latched onto her, and they disappeared in a bright pink flash. Matt called upon his shape changing power, and morphed back into his human form.

“Matt, there is something I must tell you, and I will tell the others as well, but I feel they can wait till they have completed their task. You must be briefed as soon as possible. I’ll put it simply, to save time: you need to directly contact the host body The Eternal has taken in order to defeat it. You will not be able to do so without a fight. The Eternal, being that part of its power revolves around death, is able to create and command armies of the undead. Mostly skeletons and ghosts, but they are just as deadly as regular soldiers. And from what we predict, they shall soon be taking over towns and provinces, killing anything in their way. Luna and I can handle defending the other ponies, what we need your group to do is plow directly through the army and fight your way into the lair of The Eternal. We have traced its location to be inside a cave on top of the mountain, just outside of Ponyville. But enough of this for now, there’s plenty of time for briefing later, for now we must get you suited up and armed.”

She got up and led him into a room directly branching off of the throne room. Luna followed closely behind.

Celestia took no time in magically stripping Matt down to his boxers and undershirt. He blushed profusely. But it was not to last, as within another second, she had magically placed him inside a futuristic looking suit of armor. It was black, with a spandex underlayer that the armor itself was bound to. It looked incredibly heavy, yet it only weighed about as much as a pocket knife on him. The other thing he noticed was, the armor shifted and changed with his thoughts, as if he were able to control it. He thought for a second, experimenting, and the glove on his left hand shifted and moved away from his palm, allowing a gout of fire to come barreling out. Matt smiled. Perfect.

“While The Eternal may have armies of undead, we have one thing on it-technology. This suit is the latest thing we came up with, being virtually impervious to damage and controlled by the thoughts of the user. Of course, we will be giving one to each member of your group, but yours is…different. It allows for easy use of your powers, can amplify them, and modify itself if necessary to comply with whatever you are doing. All suits have a built-in camouflage feature, that can be remotely enabled or disabled by the thought command of the user. Also, all suits are self-repairing, that is, IF you manage to damage them. There is also an accompanying helmet, but we shall save that till after we get you some weapons.”

She walked over to a huge cabinet with a hole in the middle of the door, unlocking it with her horn. Inside was the biggest array of weapons Matt had ever seen. She picked a shotgun off a hook. Matt recognized it as the Remington 870 with carbine stock, flashlight, and door breaching muzzle. Celestia turned and handed it to Matt. It looked a little different up close, like it was radiating some kind of dark energy, and it was a lot lighter than it should have been.

“This gun is powered completely by magic, and never needs to be reloaded. It has one of our latest achievements, being a battery of sorts that contains infinite magic. It will regenerate any used ammo instantly. All you have to do, is pump, aim, shoot, repeat. Now we also have two other things for you.”

She turned back to the cabinet and produced two swords, one large broadsword, and one smaller, thinner sword, for close-quarters combat. She gave them to Matt as well, strapping both to him.

“There, I believe that about covers the weaponry, your powers should do much more than these weapons can. Now, for your helmet.”

She placed a helmet that looked exactly like a motorcycle helmet on his head. It was completely black, the visor wasn’t even identifiable. As soon as it was on his head, the helmet shifted and shrunk a little, conforming to his head. A pneumatic hissing noise could be heard as the helmet sealed. An HUD appeared in Matt’s vision, informing him of his current health state, position, and his entire surroundings, in full 360.

“Now, this helmet can analyze anything and everything within a 30-foot range, forward or backward. And I mean ANYTHING. It has a sealed internal environment, which is climate controlled, by the way, as is your suit, and features cameras and sensors linked by magic to us, so we can see what is going on at all times. Your hearing is protected by sonic sponges, which will seal if the decibel level reaches damaging range. It is also linked with your suit, and also capable of camouflage, as well as thermal scan, x-ray, infra-red, and any other scan you can think of, all powered by thought-control. As you can see, technology like this is centuries ahead of anything any of the ponies themselves have, so please try not to lose anything, although everything does have an emergency remote-destruct. Oh, and it sounds like your companions are back.”

Sure enough, the gang was back, though this time with Applejack, Lyra, Colgate, and Trixie. They all appeared very scared.

“Princess!” Twilight cried out. “The…the town, there’s..there’s skeletons and ghosts everywhere, killing everything! We stopped to help defend a little, the town has it pretty much under control, thanks to quick thinking, but we did lose a few…..” the ponies all bowed their heads, in memory of those who were lost in the effort to seal off the town from the army.

“This is not the time for mourning, this is the time for action.” Celestia interrupted, surprising everyone. “We shall have a memorial for all our lost at a later date, but right now, I need all of you to come with me. Now, human forms, please.”

They all changed into human forms, even the three new ponies. It was then that Paige noticed Matt. “Who…who are you?”

Matt realized he must look pretty intimidating in an all black suit with black helmet carrying swords and a gun, so he concentrated for a second. The visor on his helmet hissed, popped out a little, and slid up, revealing his face “It’s me.”

“Oh, Matt!” Paige cried as she sweeped Matt into a crushing 'death hug' “you’re going into battle? You…you can’t! stay here with me, we’ll figure something out!”

She was interrupted by a cough, and turned to look at Celestia. “You are all going into battle with him, you are needed to help put an end to The Eternal. Now please, come with me.”

Paige reluctantly let go of matt, and followed Celestia into the armory room. Matt stood guard in the throne room, putting his visor back down. A royal guard came in intending to inform the princesses of something, but when he saw Matt, he turned tail and BOLTED out of there.

About half an hour later, the entire group of nine came back out of the armory, dressed in suits and helmets very similar to his. Their weapons, however, were different.

Paige had a large katana with strange markings engraved on it strapped to her back, and a custom 1911 pistol with wooden grips and similar markings strapped to her side. The other eight had a combination of M4A1 Carbines, Heckler and Koch MP5Ks, and UMPs. For side weapons, Twilight had a knife made from a modified bayonet and a .50 caliber flintlock pistol. Rarity had a tomahawk with a small heart cutout, and Colgate had a Glock 17 in a side holster. Also, Lyra had an H&K MP7A1 strapped to her back.

“They have already been briefed, Matt, so that is covered also. I will send you a plan of attack as soon as you get out into the field. Now go, please, before more ponies have to die for The Eternal.”

They all grouped together, and, with Matt leading, Paige directly behind him, ran out the doors and towards the battle. In their helmets, Celestia sent them one message:

“Give ‘em hell”

===================END CHAPTER 16===================

So, as you can guess, next chapter’s the big battle scene! That one will take much longer for me to write, and probably be close to 3,000 words. But shit’s about to get real! And for those who catch my references, the weapons are a reference to a really cool movie I saw a while ago, “Sucker Punch”. And as for the helmets, a reference to my favorite book series, Artemis Fowl. Now, there are a few more stuffed in there that I won’t spoil, you’ll just have to find them for yourself. Also, I still really need cover art for this story, I don’t intend on using that stock photo of lightning forever. Check my latest blog post titled “chapter 16” for details. As for contacting me, I’ve put the link to my facebook page in the last two chapters, or just PM me here on FIMfiction. Later! Thanks for reading!