//-------------------------------------------------------// One way ticket -by a new brony- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// prologue Disclaimer note: I own none of  the character in this story. All credit goes to the creators of My little pony. Honors to: Josh Meihaus for inspiriting me too start writing. I salute you sir. Location: Earth, Northern-Norway, somewhere on the country side Time: 09.00 Date: 3 of July 2012 It was a some what cloudy morning, but he could tell it wasn't going to rain that day. 'Nothing unusual form any other day I guess.’ He thought to himself as he scanned the sky. A small cotton white cloud caught his attention ’’Why are you so happy all of a sudden?” He said as he turned to face it its general direction. ’’Why shouldn't I be?” He let out taking for the defenseless cloud. ’’Heh good point,” His gaze fell from the cloud to the horizon. He just stood there looking in to the distance in complete silence, his face fell to a state of though deeper than the sea. ”... I got to stop doing this,” He said as he rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hands. “... I get all sobby, and stuff”                                                                    -------------------------------------------- “Hey mom where did you put the rope!?” He yelled with his head buried in a large dresser, that served as a tool cabinet of sorts. Rummaging through some old tools. He chuckled to himself as he stumbled across a small bag of marbles, remembering how notoriously bad he was at the game. “Did you check the tool cabinet?” a female voice said coming from the kitchen. “yeah I’m head deep in crap but I can’t see it,” he replied shouting to make sure she herd him in the kitchen. “Did you try under the dresser?” Came the muffled reply. He scooted away some tolls and debris from his adventure in the dresser, and slid his hand under and started feeling around till he found what he was looking for. He pulled out his catch and reviewed it. It was a long climbing rope rolled up in over itself. “Found it!” He said as he scooped all the tools back in to the dresser and put things back in there respective places. “What do you need a rope for?” A soft female voice said with a warm smile on her face. “You know, rope and twine is very helpful when your out camping, It has lots of uses,” The boy said as he puled a big backpack from under a table, and proceeded to put the bundle of rope in to a side pocket. “Camping?” She asked in a rather surprised. She didn't need to ask where, or why because she knew that it would become apparent soon enough. “yeah camping,” He said while screaming ‘It's a valid strategy god dammit!’ in side his head. “Heh, my plan was to try to get on top of the ridge of the east mountains and continue over them. And maybe stay up there for a week or so,” He paused thinking over his rout a few times. It was a steep clime and it would be even harder to get up there with his generous sized backpack. He took a deep breath before he continued. “I need some time to sort out my head, call it maintenance to preserve sanity,” He chuckled a bit at the thought. “Good, maybe you can get them there ponies out of your head,” She said with a teasing smile, before it turned to a concerned frown. “Ehh... Is that grandpas rifle or is it his fishing gear?” She said as she inspected the compact rifle bag, that more often held a fishing pole than a fire arm. “Don’t worry dad taught me well... before he left, and I have my license. just don’t tell gramps.” He said with a reassuring smile. Not really answering her question. She knew she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of him, her son was to good at talking around problems for him to ever get caught. She have to date never gotten him to confess to something he didn’t want to confess too. “Okay... Just be careful.” She said with a weak smile on her face. she dreaded the possibility of him running of and going the same way his father did. Life haven't been kind to them lately, and he been growing more and more distant. She pushed the idea away as fast as it came, she loved him to much for her to allow her self to think like that, she trusted him to much to ever doubt him in that way. “As I said, don’t worry too much. I got my phone with me, and I have a pretty detailed first aid kit to, so I wont die from scrapes and bruises any time soon,” He started to strap the heavy backpack on, along side with any other equipment he was planing on bringing. He was just about to walk out the door before he turned around to look at his mom. She had the concerned motherly look on her face, almost on the verge of tears “I won't leave you.” He said before leaving for the dense forest behind the house. 'He always knows' She thought to herself. Suppressing the urge to cry, out of pride.                                                                   -------------------------------------------- Location: Equestria, out in one of the many parks near Ponyville. Time:23.30 History time!: Princess Luna 'became' Nightmare Moon because, she thought nopony appreciated her beautiful nights, and she became bitter and jealous of all the praise her sisters day got. But after Nightmare Moon's escape from her prison on the moon, and after she was defeated by the elements of harmony. She discovered that there was a lot of Ponies that appreciated her dark nights more than her sisters bright days. “Oh, I just love these night time walks, it's so peaceful.” Said a camo green mare with a fire red mane and tail. She took a big long gasp of the cool night time air, making sure to appreciated every second of it. A slightly muffled yawn could be herd from just behind the green pony. “yes dear, its simply magnificent. It’s just to bad I’m always so tired when you drag me out with you on these walks. I’m missing half the walk do to yawning,” said a Crystal blue unicorn, bringing his hoof up to his mouth for an other yawn. The night air clearly not doing him any favours. “Oh that's to bad, I was planing to give you something special tonight, but seeing that your so tired it will have to wait.” She said not turning her head. His ears perked up. “Tired? I’m not tired, who said I was tired? are you tired?” He said speeding up to match her. She turned to him smiling suggestively. “Oh Alfred your such a sweet talker” she giggled giving him a slight nuzzle. His snow white mane and tail stiffening for a moment as a shiver rushed through him. They continued walking for a short while before a sudden jolt of light, shot through the night sky lighting it up like a new dawn. The multicolored lights danced through the sky, shifting as it went along, it was simply out of this world. The two ponies just sat there admiring the full glory of the aurora lights, before long it vanished just as fast as it came. The two ponies just sat there in amazement for a few more minutes before they started walking again. The two ponies were walking through one of the many parks in ponyville, but this one was the closest to the Everfree Forest. There weren't a lot of ponies out due to the hour, and that added with how close they were to the Everfree Forest, added up to, not a single soul in miles. The camo green mare walked off the dimly lit rode, over to a green spot on top of a small hill overlooking the forest, signaling for her company to sit besides her. The two just sat there for a few minutes. She was looking out to the distance, her long red mane falling over one of her intensely green eyes. “Mlilly, are yo-” He was cut short by a deep and passionate kiss. After what seemed like an eternity they pulled away at the same time. Just as they pulled away the calm night silence was interrupted by a horrid scream, coming from deep inside the forest. Only silence followed, but not for long. Agonizing screams of pain came from the forest, not as loud as the first one but still just as clear as the night sky. The couple jolted in to the forest not knowing the dangers that lurked the forest at night, somepony was in trouble and that was all they needed to know.                                                                  -------------------------------------------- Location: The rift spot. Time: 20.00 He had been walking all day trying to find a good way to scale the mountain side, and night was approaching rapidly. He wasn't afraid he'd get lost in the night, mostly because Norway doesn't have a real night and day cycle, and that goes double for Northern-Norway. But he was exhausted by a full day of dragging all his gear up and down the steep mountain sides trying to get to the ridge. He decided it would be a good idea to get some rest before further exploration. There were few places to set up a proper camp in the dense forest but he knew the area well. After setting up a simple base camp and heating some caned food, in a nearby clearing, he pulled out a small black book and started drawing. His drawings were often dark and distant, featuring only one man in a hopeless situation. He was so buried in thoughts of sorrow he didn't notice that the night became darker than usual, after half an hour he fell asleep under the unnaturally dark sky.                                                                  -------------------------------------------- Location: Dream land. Time: Irrelevant. He woke up in his dream, with an intense feeling of being watched. There was an wary feel to the clearing that made his heart race. the clearing was empty but something just felt wrong. He jolted up and grabbed the Axe that was stationed on the side of a tree, before he started to scan the area around him. The very first thing he saw was the moon beaming over him taking almost half of the star filed night sky. He watched the moon intensely, he had never seen it this clear, it was so beautiful. He shifted his attention to the outskirts of the clearing. There was something there, he couldn't make out what it was at first, but after a long non-existent staring competition the unknown foe steppe in to the pale light of the moon, it was a man. A dead man.                                                                -------------------------------------------- Location: The rift spot Time: 21:32 He jolted up out of shear terror, his primal instincts were taking over, he was ready to lunge at any and all that may be there, knocking over several things sending them flying all across the clearing. This act of pure instinct and fear was quickly kill off due to the realization that he couldn't see shit. The fire have died out and the sky was pitch black except for numerous stares and a large moon overhead. “What the fuck is going on he-” He was cut short by a large explosion of light overhead. It resembled the Northern-Lights that often came along in the winter but this was something else something out of this world. The light engulfed the clearing and some of the forest around it. His thoughts were a mess of what, where, why and how, but his mind settled on one thing. He was about to break his promise.                                                              -------------------------------------------- Author's note: this is my first story, so point out any mistakes i might have made. 'don't be gentle' P.S Fixed the most obvious bugs and errors but there are always more. P.P.S Fixed some more errors, but there is probably many more. //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter two: In nothing but my undies. //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter two: In nothing but my undies. (Ha ha I’m back! But then again i never left, ah details smitails) Location: Your deranged mind Time: Irrelevant You were still waiting in your not so empty void. In boredom you have manifested, and gone through several old time arcades, when you got tired of trowing rocks. After that, you took up imaginary drinking, and after a rather intimate incident with a hastily drawn lamppost, just made you more determent to NEVER drink alcohol in large quantities... EVER. And in that statement you torched the bar you had so happily made out of nothing, and returned to your tree and lake. Time always passed slowly here, but you had never gotten to the point where you took up drinking. A old timey grandfather clock appeared, but it didn’t show a time. The handles were just spinning at inconsistent speeds and angles. “You don’t have to rub it inn,” And in an instant the clock was gone. “Damn me and my ability to create a subconscious void that will bent to my every will, and then giving it a personality!” You had made a safe place, and by god it was going to be safe from all. While you were inn here you couldn’t even think in the general direction of what distressed you so much to knocked you out. Its hard to leave holes in the walls, when you know your every move as you were making them. You already given up on play chess with the void a LONG time ago. A very, red door appeared in the wast grayness of the void in your mind. “Finally!” you groaned as you got up from under your tree. “Can you clean the place up for me pleas?” The request was followed by silence. “Sure I can do it on my own, just C4 your self “ suddenly plastic wrapped packs with big black letters on them saying C-4 covered everything. You started to walk towards the door with a slightly evil, grin on your face. “3...” You said as you opened the door. “2...” Your words were followed by the sound of you closing the exit.                                                                  --------------------------------------------- Location: Equestria. Ponyville. A small, out of the way house on the edge of town. Time: 09.30 The two ponies had been taking shifts on keep an eye on there strange visitor, and now it was Milly’s turn. She had just gotten inn, and was eying her unconscious visitor in sheer amazement. “One... boom....” Your voice was a not much louder than a whisper, but even a whisper was enough  to send the poor green earth pony to the farthest corner from the bed, in a incredible speed. As the memories from last night seeped through the blast cracks, as you sat up on the bed, your feet hanging over the edge. You lifted your head from your hands and looked over to the terrified pony in the corner. ‘Why Equestria?’ You toughed to your self ‘Why not mount doom?' A plan had already began to form in your mind, but first you had to take stock. There was a steady breeze coming from a window, and you noticed you didn’t have any clothes, other than you undies. They were probably on wash or in quarantine, due to the amount of blood that was on them, so you paid it little notice. The ponies here didn’t wear clothes so they probably didn’t mind to much, thou the breeze was a little chilly. Then you noticed something was a miss, other then your clothes, there was no shoring pain in your arm. You look to where the wound was located, there was new, clean, snow white bandages wrapped around your arm, with a thin read line crossing it, indicating that you were still bleeding, but just a little. ‘Okay I’m alive and not bleeding furiously, that is a win. But I’m in an other dimension, populated by ponies, and other mythological creatures, with no way home, that is a fail' You look over to the green pony in the corner, she had ventured a few inches closer, but her face  was still harbored the same terrified expression. “Why are you afraid of me?” You knew the answer to that, but you wanted to hear her voice. She took a step back in to the corner, her expression even more terrified. “Tell me, why do you fear me.” Your voice was soft but demanding. “Yo... You're not from here... you’re alien” Her voice was soft like a silk sheet in a summer breeze, and it harbored deep emotion and understanding. You didn’t know why but a lump started forming in your throat. Her voice was not filled with fear, like the rest of her but instead it was disturbingly calm. “Fair enough. Your turn,” You tried not to let your voice crack, but it was hard with the rapidly growing lump in your throat. “What?” Her fear was relapsed partially by confusion. “Were playing the, I ask you, you ask me a question game. And since I’m such a nice guy, I’m not gonna count that one.” Your explanation did little to clam her, if anything it just made it worse. “Eh... who and what are you?” The lope in your emotions was getting unbearable, so you swallowed them and sealed them in, putting on the emotional mask you wear all to often. “Well as for names, you can call me Richard Parker, Rich for short. And as for what I am, I’m human or homo-supine-supine if you want to get technical” You let out a long yawn at the end of your sentence. You could almost feel her eyes examining you. “Now, what is your name?” “Milly shield heart...” You grab a quick look at her flank. As you expected, a shield with a heart emblem on it, as plain as day.”...and I’m a pony. Now tell me, what do you eat?” “As you probably have noticed by now, I have sharp teeth made for cutting flesh, but I also eat plants. So to answer your question. Yes I do eat meat, but I’m a omnivore I eat everything. And to further suite your worries I don’t eat other sentient beings,” You offer her a reassuring smile. “Now, are my clothes burned to a ash pile, or are they just up to dry?” You start chuckling a little bit, and to your surprise Milly joined in on the light humor. “Well, your clothes were covered in a lot of blood...” Her face darkened just a little bit, and a small but visible shiver ran through her. “...so I washed them, there probably still wet thou. Now, would you like some breakfast?” The question was anticipated, but you didn’t expect it this soon. “Sure, that would be nice. But I’m taking with me the blanket,” You said as you wrapped the blanket over your shoulders. “Oh, we don’t care,” She waved a hoof dismissively. You had already thought up, at least five or six comebacks, that would put a blush on her face, and probably get you a hoof across yours. But the last thing you needed was human humor. “force of habb-” Was as far as you got, before a loud bang roamed through the small house, followed by the muffled sound of something falling to the floor. You drop the blanket and dash out the low door, in to a hallway. It took a few seconds but you spotted the stairs. After a mad sprint down stairs you saw the scene. Your rifle was laying on the ground smoking, the barrel in the general direction of a blue unicorn laying on its side with blood poring out a small hole in its side. “nonononono! Oh this is bad!” You ripped your bandages off and use them to apply pressure to the wound. “what happen?” You looked over your shoulder to see Milly, standing at the bottom of the stairs, terrified. “I’ll explain later, but now go get something to bind this with!” She didn’t miss a beat, she dashed up the stair again, returning shortly after, with a large roll of tape. “Will this do?” She said as she threw the roll over to you. “Perfect!” You rolled the tape around his waist a few times, keeping the bandages in place. You lifted him up on to your shoulders and squished out the tiny door ignoring the extreme pain in your arm. “Lead the way!” The two of you ran right trough the thick of town, it was still early but it was buzzing with ponies. Some screamed when you passed, others just looked befuddled. A small smile tugged on your face as you herd ‘The horror! The horror!’. You picked up your pace when you herd a groan of pain from your shoulder. “HEY HAY BRAIN!” You knew that voice. You stopped dead in your tracks, letting the cyan and rainbow blur hit the ground right in front of you. “If you want to do something useful go warn the hospital, tell them to prep a operating table” And just like that you ran off. You felt a small drop of liquid run down your back. “Don’t you die on me private! How far!?” “Not long now.” Just as she said that a cyan and rainbow streak dipped around a building. The hospital was in sight, you kicked it in to over gear passing your guide. You wouldn’t be surprised if your heart jumped out you chest soon, the way it was pumping. As you were approaching the hospital a team of doctors came out the doors, awaiting your arrival. You put your payload on the table, and told them what they needed to know to get the bullet out. You looked down to your arm and how much it had opened up. “Eh... can someo... somepony ... 'gasp' patch me up”                                                                    \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Location: Ponyville hospital, waiting room. Time: 11.30 “HAHAHAHAHAHA! I... ‘snort’ I just ran through Ponyville in nothing but my underwear... BWAHAHAHAHAH...” You had just gotten on some clothes, they were a little damp, but it wasn’t like you had anything to hide, most of town had already seen you. “Well at least your in a good mood,” A stallion in a with doctors jacket walked in, with a grin on his face. “Ah doc... heh... just the absurdity of the situation. How is he?” You wiped a tear from under your eye. “Fine, thanks to you. There is no internal damage, but that piece of metal severed a large artery. If you hadn’t acted the way you did he would have bled out momentarily,” The doctor said giving you a warm smile. “Oh thank you Richard!” Milly threw her self at you hugging you as tight as she could nearly suffocating you. “Would you like to see him?” The doctor said. “No thanks, I’m way to tall for this place. Plus I have some things to see to, I’ll see you later Milly” You said as you practically crawled out of the hospital. “Now to find the main six... hahahaha... in only my undies, oh god I hope I didn’t blind anypony” (tadda hope you like it, have a nice day as always point out any errors you might find) //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter three: a mint menace //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter three: a mint menace Location: The streets of Ponyville. Time 12.00 You were walking around Ponyville, you figured the best place to start would be at Twilight’s place, but this was Ponyville, you had absolutely no idea where anything was compared to the hospital. You vaguely remember where the town hall was, form your previous pass though town, but that was about it. “Well if I get to the town hall, I could get the mayor to help me. But that would implicate the local government, and I don’t want that just jet. But non the less its a good reference point,” Your stomach growled, not to happy about not being fed breakfast or lunch. That complimented with the warm and sunny weather made you feel a little sick. Your body wasn’t tuned to warm and sunny weather. The climate back on Earth, where you lived was always damp cold, and dark. The temperature was always somewhere in between 10 – 18 degrees Celsius, or around 50 – 64 degrees Fahrenheit and raining. The sun was also hurting your eyes, while they struggled to adjust. “Urg... I need something to eat. Maybe I can procure a few apples from a merchant or something,” You wondered to yourself as you walked down the same road you came from earlier that day. As you were walking a lot of ponies gave you strange looks. They ranged from scared, interested, amused, to down right confused. But all the ponies gave you a wide birth of range, from a few meters, to crossing the street all together. You could understand why, but you were hardly the strangest thing that have happened to this town, maybe the most extraordinary, but not the strangest. As you walked up to the large circular building that was the town hall, and looked out over the marked place. Small amounts of brony excitement started to seep in. But that feeling was quickly overpowered by hunger pains. You had to be smart about this, you observed the shop keepers, and how they did business. There were a few that stuck out to be a little extra giving, but then you saw the Apple family apple cart with Big Mac operating it. That was probably your best bet, since you kinda knew him. You wanted something, making you the hunter, and he had it, making him the prey. You didn’t go straight for the red stallion. You learned a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, to always strafe your target, if you went straight for him, he would know something was up, always have the element of surprise. But that is kinda hard when you’re a huge bipedal creature, inn a sea of tiny equines. He was kinda eyeing you from afar. You walked as casually as you could, pretending to brows some goods at a few stalls. It seem like it worked. Big mac seemingly forgot about you and directed his attention to tending to other costumers. You kept roaming the market, always with Big mac in your vision, but there was no rush. You stopped to help a small filly, who had trouble getting the attention of a shop keeper. Her face was priceless, and beyond super cute, when she realized that an alien, had just handed her a bag of cherries. It got even cuter as you motioned for her to follow you to the cash register. You knocked on the counter, earning the shocked, fear filled, and generally annoyed attention of the large, dark brown stallion. You pushed the tiny filly in to the vision of the stallion. “That’s 5 bits.” The shopkeeper said in a very rusty voice that somewhat resembled a chain smokers cough. “Oh come on! Last week it was 3!” You jumped at the unexpected big voice coming from the filly. She was like a tiny canon, packed with a huge lode of black powder and a attitude to follow. “Well missy, things change...” You just gave him a very sincere smile. “uh... okay... okay I’ll make you a deal” You didn’t realize it right there and then, but you were smiling with teeth. Showing off those sharp white bones made for cutting, probably sett a fright in the stallion. Just as you were walking away from the cherry booth, a wave of shame hit you, almost out of nowhere. “Was that Sweetie Bell?” The sound of your hand sacking your face echoed through the marked. And you call your self a Brony! Not instantly recognizing one of the cutest fillies in the whole cosmos. You should be ashamed! And you were. Your shame was partly brushed away by the growl of a hungry stomach, time to see Big Macintosh about a few apples. “Big Macintosh I presume?” The large stallion did a 90 degree turn, faster than you though possible for any being his size, kicking up some dust in the proses. What followed was as informative as a whole week of conversation with anypony. It is true what they say about Big Mac, his gaze could rip every secret from your very soul, and than some more. And his eyes told just as much as they read. The emotion he held was more than any living thing  ever could hope to contain. Eyes told so much yet, hardly anything at all, the story that repeated itself the most was one of loss, tragedy and happiness. “What can I do for yha’ stranger?” His eyes was locked to yours, barley blinking. “Well as you may have guessed, I’m a stranger here, so I’m in need of some help. I heard that there was this unicorn named Twilight Sparkle that lived in the town library, and I need to see her, for the reason of making my presence known to the princesses. If you could point me in the general direction of her tree it would be mush appreciated...” As if one cue, a growl escaped your gut. “That  leads me to the other thing I was going to ask you. I’m starving! Can I borrow a few apples? I don’t have any money at the moment but I will pay you back as soon I can, plus AJ can keep a eye on me” At the mention of his sister, Big Mac took a aggressive pose. He was a good head and a half taller than the other ponies, making his face reach your chest. He wasn’t as big as you, and you did have a few advantages, but you didn’t want to fight him at close quarters. One: If he got in to a good bucking possession, and actually hit you. You could count any bone that might have been there, to be pulverised instantly. Two: It wouldn’t look good if you started a fight with one of Celestias subjects and ended up hurting him. And Three: If he didn’t kill you, his sister would. You could never hurt Apple Jack even if you had to. “Don’t worry. I promise by the gods, may they have my head if  I ever let any harm come to her direct or indirect.” Your theatrics seemed to do the trick, he slowly eased up and turned to get a bag of apples. Not that your words were false though, you would fight and die for the main six, hell you would fight and die for anypony innocent and good, at any time and place. That is a lifestyle you are proud of, but it takes it toll, going out every day and expecting to die at any time isn’t very healthy for a mind. But you had other insanity’s to worry about other than a constant paranoia, a lot nastier ones. Anyway, if you accept the fact that life is flimsy, and you don’t fear death you get away pretty clean from any crippling paranoia. And still, life kinda seems pointless to you if you don’t have something you can die for with a clean conscience. All this philosophy about death and disaster have gotten you very familiar with the feeling of imminent doom, and how it acts. There is always the distant feeling of doom in your spine, but there is some other variant of this that you know very well. The immediate doom, the feeling of a prey being hunted. Something was following you, and its presence was about to be reviled. Big Mac walked over to you with a small bag of apples and a note. You humbly accept the bag and note. Examining the note you discovered it was directions to the library. You turn to the silent stallion to give your thanks and wish him a good day, but he wasn’t looking at you, he was looking past you. In his eyes you saw a dot of colour that didn’t belong in his green eyes. You reacted faster than technically possible, because you didn’t react. Your always prepared nature, made ducking, running for cover and countering when possible, more or less a reflex rather than a calculated effort. You herd the air being cut over you as the multicoloured bullet passed over you. “Horse apples!” The cyan pony jelled as she sped in to a field of clouds, disappearing completely. “Figures,” You grounded as you got up and started to brush the dust of yourself. “Well I did make her eat a good bit of dirt earlier... but damn she is president.” You departed the market, giving your thanks and good will to Big Mac, a nod and a smile. Somehow you feel like that smile conveyed more than all the words in the cosmos ever could relay. As you were walking down the barely crowded, cobblestone streets you heard something... something beautiful. The clambering of silver strings like the voice of angels. The notes shot through you bringing tears to your eyes. The beauty of the notes threatened to brake your walls, letting untold demons to the surface. You steeled yourself barricading every door in your mind, locking every gate, you couldn’t let this world see the full rage of a human. You needed to find the player, the one making this beautiful pain, you had to see it before you could let the music heal you. Every note assaulted the safeguards made to keep you at bay. You were getting desperate, the voice of a thousand angles was letting them free. You had started running, your breathing was ragged, ponies scrambled out of your way. Then you saw her, the mastermind behind your agony. A mint pony. You knew her, Lyria Heartstrings was her name and invoking your rage was her game. She was sitting on a small wooden stool, perked like a human, eyes closed, her golden lyre wrapped in her green aura. Squeezing out beautiful note after beautiful note. Her entire being was wrapped under your psychotic shadow. Note after note, second after second, your rage was dimming, your walls were crumbling, your breath slowed, but your heart raced on. Rage was always the first to escape its cage. A rage so potent, it could rip every fiber of your mind to peaces and send you in to a deep, frenzy, threatening everything around you. But after that something much worse creeps out of its hole... silence. This was not a peaceful silence. Imagine the silence after the fires of a atomic bomb. The silence that comes after war. The silence after death. A silence, just as damaging as the fires that came before. Your shadow was no longer towering over her, it was now at her hooves, silhouetting the form of a human. His knees to his chest and his head low, quietly crying... (Yes I’m letting it hang there, just because I can. Plus I don’t think I can dig any deeper in to my mind and still have words to voice my feelings. And still I feel like what I have written does not suffice. Ow well the writers dilemma, I’m I right? And yes, all of Richards feelings are mirrored from my own, so if you ever wondered how insane I am, this will get you started. In other news. I’m gonna try to put out one chapter every weekend, Saturday or Sunday. And in return for waiting one whole week for me to get my finger out my ass and get writing, you’ll get better quality and longer chapters. This goes for my short stories too, but those are going to be a bit more spontaneous, not guaranteed weekly. Now tell me the error in my ways and help me get a better writer. Thanks. And as always have a nice day) //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter fore: Not as pland //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter fore: Not as pland There was now a slight pressure on your shoulder. You look up in to the caring golden eyes of the mint pony. The logic and reasoning part of your brain was trying to gain a suitable foothold in your mind. But the wasteland, inside your head at the moment could barely sustain anything other than basic functions and sobs. But the part that was still there picked up something odd, she hadn’t said anything yet. Who was she really? Sure her name was Lyra Heartstrings, a mare that every self respecting brony knows of, but which version of her? Was she obsessed with humans, like the fandom have depicted her? Did she even have a voice? You only asked yourself that because you have seen some versions of her without, and they were all very well thought out. “Are you okay?” Relief filled a tiny spot in your mind. She did have a voice, and a very beautiful one at that. It was like a late spring breeze, scented by the early seas, slamming against shore. And she was concerned for you. Despite you wanting to, you couldn’t muster a response. “Why are you crying?” She angled her head to see deeper in to your eyes. This time you had a response. “Because of you...” She was obviously stunned by your accusations, stepping back removing her hoof from you. “...Because of your beauty. You shattered the walls containing my sadness, my anger, my rage. Walls meant to hold pieces of me from the light, pieces that can and will destroy all of which I care for, if I let it.” Her eyes changed, they were no longer the golden pits, full of care and concern that looked upon you before. “What are you talking about? You are crying because I... I am beautiful?” “Yes, you and this whole world. The walls were made for a world of hate and despair, a world deprived of love and beauty. Therefor my defense is one sided, weak and brittle.” You could feel your mind mend, returning to you once more. “I didn’t realize how much I was keeping in... and how much still remains” You paused feeling the part of you that you so tirelessly trying to keep away, pulsing in your heart, wanting out. “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” She uttered with a slight whimper placing her hoof on you once more. “I believe you, and I forgive you. You could never have known that some random human, with a bad case of inner demons would come along and have a near fatal brake down,” You started too get up, wiping dust and tears off. “I believe in improving on my flaws, I wish too thank you for making them apparent.” A small awkward silence passed, “My name is Richard by the way.” You stretch out a hand. “You are a strange... strange... wait did you say human?” “Indeed, I am a human in all my glorious flaws” The little mint pony erupted in to a huge gasp you only thought Pinkie Pie could possibly pull off, she even hovered as the pink pony often did. “A real human, this is so exciting!” She garbed your hand in her hooves shaking it vigorously, giggling like a school girl, or school filly in this case. All you could think of was ‘Well that confirms it, she is the spitting image of the fandom’s Lyra.’ “Oh how rude of me, I’m Lyra Heartstrings, resident musician and leading scientist on humans in Equestria an-” Was all she managed to get out before all heads were turned towards the pony in the sky screaming like a madmare. “Again?” You turned to the sky just in time to see the rainbow of colors charging at you. POW! The impact of a near sonic pony, sent you skidding in to the side of a building leaving a rather nasty dent in the wall. Against all odds in the chaos of feathers and limbs you managed to grab a hold of your assaulter's mane, keeping her stationary. “What! No let me go! Help!” She flailed with her hoofs sending dust and dirt flying in all directions. “LET ME GO!” She spread her wings, preparing for a powerful burst with her wings. In a split second decision you let go of her mane with your right hand and grabbed her right wing. But this didn't stop her, with her left wing she struck the air. The imbalance of a beat with only one wing sent a surge of movement to your right. You manged used this to your advantage. with one swift movement with the additional force from the wing beat, you spun around pinning the winged menace to the wall. “Are we done?” 'wait where did she go? Wait where did the wall go,' SMACK! 'Aaaannd dirt. What was that?' “Stay away from my friends you monster!” The new nuisance with an eery familiar voice, turned to her friend examining Her. “Are you okay Rainbow?” “Urgh...” You roll over to your back pointing straight up in the air. “Human as a matter of fact, and ow! that hurt” You let you hand fall straight to the ground with a small thud. “Well hewman, I won’t let you hurt anypony else” The voice replied with much resentment, but under all that hate there was something else. Fear, or maybe to much love, you always had a hard time to tell them apart. “Human. Its pronounced human... Wait when did I hurt somepony?” You shot up to a sitting position when you realized you had been accused. You looked at the two ponies with a concerned look on your face, scrambling your mind to find a reason for theese accusations. The unicorn! It hit you as a metric ton of bricks would. “Ah I see, did Miss Rainbow over here blow things out of proportion, or was it you Miss purple and magical who misunderstood?” “My coat is lavender for your information.” 'Heh it's just like her to pick about technicality’s” “Oh my apologies Miss lavender.” You gave her a short semi sarcastic bow. “Twilight Sparkle” She frowned. “Well Miss Sparkle,” There was a strange tingeing sensation in saying that name out loud. You suspect that the shock of where you actually were still haven't sunk in just jet. “I assure you I did not consciously hurt anypony, he meddle with human technology, and when the damage was done I carried him, in nothing but my underwear, which is in fact is very embarrassing for a species that wears clothes all the time. To get him to the hospital. That's when I first met our delightful kamikaze flyer over here. And do I smell smoke?” You look to your side, and awe and behold some of your left side was ablaze with a ''lavender'' flame burning slowly scorching your shirt and your skin. You quickly pulled of your shirt and threw it on the ground stomping at it. But your efforts did nothing to the purple flames slowly burning your only thin shirt to a smothering pile of ashes. You took a few steps back as you realized your efforts were for nothing. You gave a loud and very irritated sigh, and turned to the two ponies still a little confused as to what is happening, and started walking towards them. The two ponies shrunk to two tiny spots as you stood over them gleaming guilt on to them. “You two! You owe me an apology for one, attacking the first alien contact you have ever had, and second for burning my only wearable piece of clothing in this wretched climate! I am hungry, hurting, burned, battered, half nude, and not in the mood” “But you started it, by coming here.” The cyan pile of feathers wimped from behind her lavender meat shield. “I STARTED NOTHIGN!” You stopped dead in your tracks took a deep breath and slumped down on your backside. “What am I doing, I'm yelling at two small ponies one of witch probably is the only one who can help me. ''sigh'' Look I'm sorry for yelling and I understand where your actions come from, but you must understand where I stand. I'm stranded here, I never came here on purpose.” The two ponies look at you confused. “Wait, you're lost?” Twilight asked tryingly. “More than you can imagine...”  Your mind wandered to the tiny house you once called home. “But it could be worse, at least this place is populated by intelligent life, and the language barrier seems to be non-existent, not too shabby if you ask me.” “Yeah what's with that, how come you speak equestrian?” “How come you speak English?” “Good point.” The twilight shook her head in disappointment. “Look as much as I love talking, can we take it somewhere else we are drawing a crowd...” You look to the small gathering of ponies who were staring intensely at you and the other ponies but mostly at you. “Erm... hehe, sure we can go back to the library it's not that far.” Twilight jumped up on a crate to address the crowd. “Okay everypony nothing to see, just a small misunderstanding!” There was collective sigh from the crowd as they departed to resume their daily races. “Rainbow can you get the girls, we need to discuss this in number” “Yes mam!” and in a flash she was off. “Hey I found him first! You can't just steal the high of my carrier just like that!” The mint green pony trotted up to the two of you with a disinterment frown on her face. “Whoa there, calm down, she not stealing me, I need her help to get in contact with the princess. I have some things I need to set straight. I'll be back, and I'll make sure not to sell the rights to an interview to anypony other than you,” You get down on your knee and try to give her a reassuring smile. “Oh no I'm not letting you get away you big cry baby, you are the greatest thing that happened to me since Bon Bon,” Her eyes were glued to you with a steel grip. You look to Twilight and back to Lyria, in utter bewilderment, this put a small dent in your plans, all you could think was 'okay lets improvise.' “I'm not getting rid of you am I?” “Nope” “It seems we will be one more for our meeting, is that okay by you.” “Um.. its okay I guess. I never got your name by the way.” “Richard nice to meet you” Short chapter I know, but I'm just getting back in to it, sue me. PS. shutout to excerpt1 for prof reading this. Also have a nice day //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter five: the mane six pluss one //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter five: the mane six pluss one “How could I know that you would react differently to magic!” The lavender unicorn said in a slightly agitated tone. “I'm sorry about your shirt but I didn't know I swear, I only wanted to push you off my friend.” “I know, and you don't need to apologize, I would have done a lot worse if someone were threatening the ones I love.” Twilight stopped and looked at you with a mixed look. “I'm afraid to ask, but what would you do?” One of your unicorn companions took a small step away from you. “Nothing pleasant I assure you.” The calmness of your tone echoed through the street sending shivers in to the two unicorns, stopping them dead in there tracks. “Don't worry, you're on my never ever hurt list.” Twilight and Lyra visibly relaxed, but still they seem unsettled. You walked a bit before Twilight spoke up again. “Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean it,” Twilight looked at you with a small guilt ridden smile, making you feel a little sorry for her. “I'm not fishing for an apology, I was more looking for advice. I need a new shirt, The rest of the clothes I have, is not meant for this warm weather, nor is it very good casual wear.” “Oh I know just the mare, you see Rarity, one of my best friends is a master seamstress...” And then the race was on. Twilights mouth hardly ever stopped as she told you about her friends in detail one by one. As she jabbered on, your mind started the humongous task of processing what was happening. One of the reoccurring thought was “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh this is so awesome!” and the other one was ''Oh dear god don't let me fuck this up'' Your brony excitement was doused by Lyra poking a hoof in your side. She was mockingly imitating the lavender chatterbox that was walking a few paces in front of you, to which you made a silent mock snore. Lyra's response set you a little of blanc, she let out a short and utterly cute giggle. ''Did I just flirt with Lyra? NO! Not going there, not ever!'' Twilight turned to the two of you, luckily oblivions to your half hearted attempt of you being funny, and interrupted your slightly panicked internal dialogue. “We're here, and it seems the girls are already here, good maybe I can get a proper interview now I have a few questions.” The two ponies prepossessed inside with no further thought, while you stopped a few steps from the door, pondering how to get yourself inside the huge tree that served as the town library. The door reached up to your mid chest lengthwise, and was almost as wide as your shoulder span, but only just. You looked at your little problem wondering how best to get through the door, and if you'd actually fit inside the tree itself with out wrecking it. Your previous encounters with equestrian housing was crammed, panicked, and mildly destructive. You weren't fat, here wasn’t a lot of execs lard on your body, you were just built like a compact bus and roughly 6'6 or so feet tall. Thou you might be slightly above average you weren't built like some kind of roid monster. After a few seconds of trying to find a better way, you came to the conclusion that you just had to wing it and hope for the best. You took a large step in to the doorway kinda sidestepping inside, you angled your upper body such that you could bend under the arc with out hitting your head, but I doing so you pressed your injured shoulder up against the door frame making you haste through the process. As you felt you were clear enough from the door. You started to straighten your back hastily to get out of that doorway, unfortunately you only got half way before the sound of skull and wood colliding became audible. A literal avalanche of books and tomes came crashing down, and practically buried you. “Richard! are you okay?” Twilight asked. “Can you pleas explain to me the practical implications of having a bookshelf somewhere you can't reach it?” Came the annoyed and muffled response in a deadpan tone. “Telekinesis,” She lifted a few books off your head with said ability, trying to hold back her laughter. You lifted your head off a book about pony anatomy and reproduction and turned your attention to the huge eyes of the lavender pony in front of you. “Oh right, Telekinesis... interesting.” You said before slamming your face back in to the pile of books. “Um... Alright, Richard these are my friends I told you about, Apple Jack.” Twilight gestured towards the orange farm pony. “Howdy,” She said in that trademark southern voice with a tip of her hat. “Rarity” “Humph, what a ghastly colour.” Rarity remarked. Probably aimed towards the only part of your body not covered in different kinds of Equestrian literature, namely your legs sticking out of the pile of accumulated knowledge at a slightly odd angle. “And this is... Um were did Pinkie Pie go?” And as if on cue the pike pony kinda just appeared at the foot of the pile of books, you knew this because you felt a shift in the fundamental laws of the universe, and the ''imminent doom'' felling, lit up like it was Chinese new year. “Hi my name is Pinkie Pie! Who are you, wait! your Richard, Twilight just said so, you got a strange name. Are you new here? I haven't seen you before, that means you are new, cuz I know everypony in Ponyville, and that calls for a welcome party, do you like cupcakes?” “Yes I'm new here... sorta, and no I don't like cupcakes.” You said as you started to rise from the books. That seemed to put the pore pony in a state of paralysis in the mid of her trademark gasp. A small almost inaudible ''Eep'' seeped out of the pike pony, before she locked her eyes at you, got right up in your face and whispered. “I'll be back, and when I am, you will like my cupcakes whether you like it or not.” Before she practically disappear in to thin air. There was a small silence with you frozen in place mid ascent. “heh heh... Um, excuse her, she's just... Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said scratching the back of her neck. “It's okay, I’ve been apart of worse” You got up to full length, and turned to the small pale yellow pony looking at you out from behind her pale pink mane. “And if I'm not mistaken you are Flutt-” Clonk! Probably the largest, heaviest bound tome came down square on your head. You didn't fall, you didn't yell out in pain hardly even flinched, you did absolutely nothing, even when the literary boulder fell of your head and on to your feet, you just froze. Your expression a dead and hollow gaze. Along with you everything stopped, Fluttershy dipped behind her mane, Rainbow took a defensive stance in front of Fluttershy. Apple Jack lower herself slightly and sidestepped so she stood vertical to you. Lyra took a good few steps away from you, she had seen you like this before and, wanted put as much ground between her and you as possible. While Twilight took an unsure and very careful step towards you. “Richard? Are you okay?” “No, by any standard I'm not okay! I just got assaulted by a fucking library, after a whole day of dodging a rainbow coloured kamikaze. I got the unicorn that helped save me from the Everfree forest nearly killed! And upon entering this place I was attacked by a FUCKING MANTICORE!” “What's with all the shouting?” A purple, scaly and relatively newly awoken baby dragon wobbled down the stairs. “Not now spike!... crap” A realization dawn on you, Twilight hadn't mentioned spike at all during her speech about her friends, and now you fucked up royally. “Who and what are you, and how do you know my name?” “Yeah never mentioned Spike” Twilight said suspiciously. You took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh of irritation, ''So much for trying not to mess shit up.'' You thought as you abandoned all hope of salvaging this. “Well I was hoping to stave this off till I knew how to say this, but... where I'm from you are all works of fiction, you aren’t real, none of this should exist” by uttering those words you died a little inside. The whole room just looked at you whit blank and unbelieving expressions. “How can you say that, when we very obviously do exist?” Twilight said still trying to wrap her head around what you said. “You have no idea how much that hurt to say out loud. I can hardly believe it myself that I am standing in the same room as you six, the first thing I did when I realized where I was was to black out on the spot.” “But HOW do you know us? You said fiction, like a book? Oh pleas don't say I'm in some tacky old book,”  Rainbow dash flew straight up to your face. “Hey, what's wrong with books?” Rainbow didn't even bother to answer the lavender librarian. “Clam down, you're not from any book. Um how to explain... lets see. You know a drawn comic strip, pictures and dialogue along side each other. It's kinda like that, but the pictures move like you would, and talk like you would, and this is displayed on a screen. That is how I know you, once a week there would be a new episode, showing some of you dealing with a problem of some kind, and reporting back to Celestia with a friendship report. So I know all the big events that happened in Ponyville since Twilight came here,...” Your face turned to a concerned frown and you rubbed your chin. The rest of the room was looking to each other trying to decode what you said. Twilight seemed to be the one most flabbergasted off them all. “Um... wah... eh... ho... how is this possible?” It took some time before you caught the question. “To be completely honest, I Have no idea. If I were to guess your universe originates from our universe, HOW it was created is a different question. Or your universe have been bleeding in to ours, but that doesn't rely matter, I'll tell you what matters, not where I am but when,” You turned to Twilight, “When did you last see your brother?” “What does that have to do with anything?” “A lot, if I'm right,” You said simply. “Well I haven't seen him since I moved from Canterlot I didn't realize how much I missed him.” She said as she started to remember back on times long passed. “Okay, this can potentially turn out horribly wrong.” The whole looked at you concerned and confused.To your surprise it wasn't Twilight that spoke, but Lyra. “What are you talking about, what is the problem?” “First rule of time travel, the doctor lies, second rule, no spoilers.” There finally, took me forever but here it is in all its splendor. EDIT I have a minecraft server in the making, check it out our preview server: talesofnorway.tk //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter six: On the to do list //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter six: On the to do list “... let me get this right, the last letter that was sent to princes Celestia was about, Pinkie Pie discovering the many ways of expressing friendship?” You were rubbing your chin as you ransacked your memory to pinpoint your exact location. “Yes that is correct... where is she anyway?” Twilight said from her spot on a small couch. “Making me a cupcake I assume.” You said with a slight shiver, luckily non of them seemed to pick it up. “An' this is relevant how exactly?” Applejack asked from her pillow across the floor. “I figure what happened, doesn’t exactly classify as time travel, but still, I know where I am, but not when,” The whole room just looked at you with the same blank expression. “Yes I know the future, now lets see if you follow the same time line as the show, then the next thing that's going to happen is...” Your voice faded in to obscurity as you mumbled something about a minotaur and how far you could get before you messed something up. “What was that hun? I couldn’t quite here that. I swear you mumble more than Fluttershy.” Said Rarity from her conferrable spot far off to the side of you. “No offense of course,” She turned to Fluttershy who was sitting the closest to you. You had no idea why, she had every right to afraid of you, but you weren’t complaining. “Um look I don't want tell you directly, let's just say that what happens has to happen, and I don't want to mess anything up.” “humf... at least Fluttershy has the decency to tell us what the problem is.” Rarity remarked sounding a little offended at your cryptic and confusing statements. “No one should know there own future, it's bad enough that I know it.” You said clearly concerned with the way this is going. “Look sugarcube we won’t press on the matter anymore if it makes ya feel unconformable, right girls.” Apple jack said. “Humf speak for yourself, I'm asking whatever I want.” Attention was directed at Lyra who has been surprisingly quiet throughout the conversation. “Heh, you're channeling a good human right there.” You say, amused by Lyra's brash tone. “Thank you, how nice of you.” “Don't take that as a compliment, humans aren't that great, believe me” It seemed like the whole room raised a brow at you. “I'll tell you later, I don't feel like traumatizing you anymore.” A strained silence followed. ''Dammit Richard way to go'' “Um... so what next?” Twilight asked. You took a quick moment to review and revise your plans, and try your hardest to not screw up more than you already have, but if you didn't know better karma has other ideas. “Well first thing first I need to send a letter to princes Celestia...” Something clinked in your tired and over worked mind. You got up and walked over to the pile of books that had come crashing down on to your head, still talking. “Next would be to get over to Mlilly's house and gadder my stuff, and see if there is anything I can wear that won't boil me alive, unless fair miss Rarity is willing to make me a new shirt,” You picked up one of the books from the pile and started to cycle through the pages. “Well of course darling, we can't have you looking like something the cat dragged out from the Everfree.” She giggled, obviously excited about making apparel for a bipedal creature, but there was a tiny tone of unwillingness, resentment perhaps? You couldn’t blame her. “hmm... Well, in this case there was a pony who did all the dragging” The room went silent. “That reminds me, I should probably clean up the mess I made out there. Um Apple Jack, you got a shovel?” The room got a little tense as the ponies tried to imagine what you'd need a shovel for. “Yea' back at the farm, what you need a shovel for?” “I don't like digging holes with my hands.” You simply replied, shooting down AJ's curiosity. You slapped shut the red, bound book, you had been flickering through, and discarded it back in to the pile of literature. “Well, there might be a small problem, spoken language is remarkably similar, that is where the similarity end, I can hardly make heads or tails of your books.” Your eyes drifted to Spike and something pinged in your head. “Spike take a letter pleas.” The baby dragon acted almost on instinct, he garbed a quill and parchment from the desk he was sitting by, and got ready to write. “To Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Due to some unforeseen cosmic events, a stranger to thees lands have come, and I find myself stranded here. I request an audience with the seats of Canterlot to discus my unlikely return home. It might interest you to know I am no pony but a human, a race not of this world. I'm Currently located in Ponyville and your student is well aware of my presence. If my presence is of any inconvenience to you please don't stress on my behalf, I'm not going anywhere. Singed, Richard. Got that spike?” The room was filled by intense scribbling and a low mumbling as spike was writing down every word you said as fast as his little claws could muster. “-Richard. Done! Wanna see it over?” “Nah, I trust you, just send it.” In response the purple dragon waddled over to a window and before you knew it the letter was disintegrated in a green flame and on its way to Canterlot. “Thanks Spike.” You extend your hand down to the tiny dragon to give him a high five, and he complied, with a giant grin on his face. “You know you're alright, but if you hurt my friends I'll burn you to a crisp.” Spike said with a clear sincerity, still a little unsure of you, not that you could hold that against him. The baby dragon's excitement and weak attempt at a threat tugged a little at the corners of your mouth. “I understand loud and clear.” The room looked at you a bit unnerved. You suspected they actually took that threat seriously. ''How cute.'' You think quietly to yourself. “What Next?” Twilight inquired, your headache is getting worse. “Next? Clothes, Carousel Boutique, Rarity probably need some measurements to make clothes that actually fit me. Apple Jack can you come there with the shovel? I suspect I'll still be there by the time you get back.” “Sure thing sugarcube.” A slight movement came from behind the yellow mares mane what ever she said AJ drowned it out completely. “What did you say?” You said looking past Apple Jack to Fluttershy. “Yea I'll deliv-” “Sh! Fluttershy is trying to say something.” You realize how rude you were cutting her off like that, but ignoring Fluttershy is just as rude in your book. You take a few step towards Fluttershy and kneel down to her level, all in a very fluid, calm, restrained motion. You brush her soft pink mane aside as gently as possible, the first thing you meet is her big, kind blue eyes. Everything mellows out, the tension is your shoulders you didn't realize you had disappeared, you could feel your pupils dilate, your heart slow and your breathing calmed till it was not even audible. Then she spoke, I don't need to tell you how soft and graceful she speaks, but I'm going to anyway. Her quiet gracious voice sounded like a low, soft autumn breeze running along the tips of yellow treetops, giving of a faint whisper. Her voice was little more than just that, a whisper but her message was crystal clear. To you anyway, you suspect non of the others picked up on it. You gave her a slight nod and a careful smile, and then turned to the stetson wearing equine. “Thank you AJ but you don't need to make the trip to the farm and back, Fluttershy was so kind as to let me borrow her gardening tools, and she lives a good deal closer, so it will be of less inconvenience to you.” “well that was mighty kind of her” “And sorry about cutting you of like that.” You said with a sheepish smile. “Ah shucks, don't worry about it.” And with that everyone who didn't live at the library departed, going there separate ways, AJ to tend the farm, Fluttershy went home to dig out what tools she had, Rainbow dash flew off In to the clouds, you hoped she had gone home or planed on taking a nap, but somehow you felt you'd have to duck some more before the day was over. You, Rarity and Lyra walked to Carousel Boutique you'll be damned if you'll get that unicorn of your back. On your walk to Carousel Boutique you did your best not to attract to much attention to the group, walking out to the side of buildings keeping in the shadows as best you could. But being the only two legged creature in the whole town kinda drags attention. Fillies, colts, mares and stallions, stopped you asked you basic questions, like who and what you are if you like cake or pies, your favorite color and so forth. Some asked about your injuries and a few even commented on seeing you earlier that morning, your response to that was usually a blush and a few apologies. But the random passersby was not that bad, it was more entertaining than anything seeing the children's faces when you told them you were an alien, or the scared stallion when you told them you eat meat. But by far the most headache inducing one of them all was Lyra, her constant rain of questions ranged from general anatomy, hands, feet internal organs, to mating rituals, social norms, and religion. And unlike the random ponies you got no reward from answering thees questions, no reaction just more question. Her willingness to learn and hellbent attitude was admirable, but your mood was rapidly descending to the pits of misery. You got some shelter from Lyras hail of questions when Rarity asked what fashion preferences you had. Sleek, elegant and practical was your response you went in to some detail of how human clothes should cover the body and such, and that color wasn't that important. At last you reached your destination Carousel Boutique, getting inside was a bit tricky but once there it got a bit more conferrable, the store itself had a pretty high roof, almost high ''nokk'' for you to stand fully upright. “Okay darling stretch out your arms if you would,” Rarity flouted a measuring band over to you and started her work, examining you with a professional eye from top to toe. “Now if you would pleas take off your eh... pants, I can't get proper measurements with those baggy things on” You hesitated a bit but you complied removing your green cargo pants. “Don't worry, you have nothing to hide from me, or half the town for that matter.” She giggled to herself. A few degrading minutes later the measurement were taken and Rarity started her work on a new shirt for every day wear. And Lyra sat in a corner taking notes, you didn't need to look to know that she was drawing and writing, and to be frank you didn't want to. A quick hour passed and Rarity emerged from her workshop with a light white slightly baggy button up shirt, perfect for the hot climate. “Here you go, oh I do hope it fits.” The shirt fit you like a glove, even the texture of the textile was spot on. “Rarity this is perfect, spot on. I am pretty sure I wouldn't get better craftsmanship back home. Um now there is this question about compensation, something I can't do at the moment,” You said rubbing your neck a bit uncertain. “Oh don't worry about that, we'll figure something out. No go on, we all have things to do and they won't be done by standing here dwindling,” She said as she opened the door for you. You said your farewells and squished out of the door. Now you weren’t entirely sure where Mlilly's house was in compression to the boutique, but you'd figure it out. By now you had met most of Ponyville, some famous cotes and manes, and some not so famous ponies, but by far the most hilarious one must have been the Dude and the gang, sometimes the little things is all that counts. After a few detours and a few minor problems, with Lyras help you got back to the path you first ran that day, and from there you backtracked to the small out of the way house at the edge of town. You knocked at the door and before you knew it the camo green pony with a fire read mane opened the door. “Hello Milly how are you?” “Hello Richard, I'm good, I was wondering when you'd come back,” She said with a gentle smile before turning to Lyra “And who is this?” “Lyra Heartstrings lead researcher of humans in Equestria at your service.” She said with the biggest smile ever, one that could almost rival Pinkie Pie. You suspect it is becalms she could actually say that and have it mean something now. “A pleasure, so you're the one in charge of keeping track of this big luge,” Milly said as she poked you square in the gut. “Ow!” You exclaimed in response to the unexpected poke “Oh shut it you big crybaby,” Lyra poked you in the back. A heavy sigh filed the moment of silence before the girls started laughing hysterically, it took a second but in the end you joined them in the laugh. “Heh, heh... come inside I was just making some lunch, for Alfred he hates hospital food,” She said as she proceeded inside the house. Lyra followed just after, and you started the increasingly annoying task of getting inside. Once you got inside you took the time to look around. A smell of cleaning agent filled the room, the blood stain you though, ''Can't have red stains on the carpet''. The rifle lay on the floor pretty much where you left it, a good thing to. You picked the 22. up and removed the clip, took out the empty cartage and pulled out the firing pin effectively making it useless. Just as you finished with the gun Milly and Lyra walked out of the kitchen with a few pieces of dinner pie, and she ducked behind the couch faster then fuck leaving a slightly confused Lyra in the open. “Calm down it's harmless now, I disarmed it,” You said as you walked over to your bags that were set in the corner and placed the rifle in its holster. “Are you sure,” She said unsure as she poked her head up from behind the couch. “One hundred present.” After that, you had a few slices of pie to satisfy your huger, explained the new shirt, to witch Milly just laughed. You got an update on Alfred the unicorn who got shot, he was doing good, so good in fact that he was coming home tomorrow. When Lyra heard about the whole ''gun'' thing she reacted rather... calmly. Her interest in human weapons got a bit out of hand, but you weren’t planing on letting anyone get there hoofs on that thing, so you outright refused to answer her questions. After a little while she gave up her quest to get all the answers out of you, and you decided it was time to move on. You had packed up and got directions to the clearing, you were about to say your fare wells to Milly, when she stopped you at the door. “Wait where are you going to stay?” The question hadn't rely crossed your mind. “Um... good question, I guess I'll camp out in the Everfree, I'm not staying to close to town, at least not jet.” Both Lyra and Milly raised a very concerned eyebrow. “I don't think that is a good idea, do you have any idea how dangerous and scary that place is, especially at night.” Lyra added. “Oh don't worry I don't think I won’t forget that,” You shrug your injured shoulder. “Don't worry I can take care of myself, and what ever saw my little struggle with that Manticore would know better than to bother me.” You said with a reassuring and slightly disturbing smile. Sorry for being inactive for so long, I'm ashamed rely, i hope you can forgive me. I swear I will get better. thank you for being so patient. Have a nice day //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter seven: A grave for the past //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter seven: A grave for the past Time: 14.45 Location: Outer park rode, close to the Everfree forest. Currant local date: Unknown The likely, unlikely duo of you and Lyra were making your way to a small cottage on the very boundary between town and the forest. Lyra was getting increasingly uneasy, she hid it well but something about her posture and the way she had started to moved, told you she wasn't all that happy about something, most likely about her proximity to the forest. After a short time of walking you saw the small cottage through a few well cared for trees heavily populated by birds nests and feeding stations. It seem like the whole place was teeming with life but there was something odd. As you got closer, the garden was indeed teeming with life but something was just off, you couldn’t put you finger on it, but if you had to put a word to it, it would be: competitive. As you approached the house you had a distinct feeling of walking in to trouble. Your ''impending doom'' feeling was slowly creeping up your spine, causing your muscles to tighten up and your senses sharpened. Lyra knocked on the door, no answer. You were concerned approaching the house now you just knew there was something wrong. “Maybe she hasn't come home jet.”You paid Lyra's comment no attention, you put your backpack down by the door and started to walk around the house to the backside. “Hey where are you going? Come back!” Lyra ran up to you and stayed behind you a little unsure of what to do. As you approached the corner you heard a voice talking, it sounded like it was trying to calm something down. You rounded the corner, and saw Fluttershy slowly approaching some kind of animal like she often does. You let your guard down a little, Fluttershy and animals can't go wrong, at least it won't jet. When you got closer you saw what kind of animal she was approaching, it was a dog. You were not all to sure what species it was, but what caught your eye was the big gaps in it's fur that reviled gushing sores and scrapes, one of its forelegs was lifted of the ground as if it was in pain. All its injuries seem relatively resent, only a few hours or so, and something else you thought was strange was that it didn't growl, blot its teeth, bark, or do anything for that matter. Any animal injured to this extent would try to protect itself from anything, even from little ol' Fluttershy. Fluttershy must have heard you as you got closer, not that Lyra's shouting ''hey there she is'' helped a lot. She turned away from the animal to face you, and waved, but you didn't look at Fluttershy. Without her knowing the dog had started running towards her at an incredible speed, ignoring its injuries. In realizing what was going to happen next, you went in to a mad sprint, though it reminded more of a primal dash than a human sprint. Even at full speed you were to slow. The dog closed its jaw over Fluttershy's leg and tore her down to the ground and stood over her menacingly. Fluttershy jelled out in both confusion and pain, and at that moment you were no longer human. With both hands knotted in to one big fist you sent the mutt flying quite some distance. Animals were panicking and scurrying away as you stood over Fluttershy bunkered down, shielding her from further harm. The dog recovered quickly from the blow, and was up in no time. The two of you were staring at each other for some time, growling and flaring your teeth, with this look in your eyes that reminded of pure animalistic rage, and instinct, as I said no longer human. Then the dog lunged, and you did the same, trying your best to take the fight away from poor Fluttershy. Though you had the dominant size, the mad dog had the advantage in being able to pick up momentum much quicker, in the very short distance you had to run you didn't get up to speed, and the following result was the dog tackling you and pinning you to the ground trying madly to get at your throat. Struggling to keep the dog at bay you tried desperately to get a vantage that could help to get the dog off. You tried to get your feet under the dog and kick it off, but you feet were too log to get a proper position. Your arms weren’t strong enough to push the dog off or hold it back much longer. You were holding the dog by the mouth and the throat, trying your best to endured, as the dog pushed closer, its teeth buried them self in your palm, and blood started to drip down on your face. As the jaws inched closer and you were starting to doubt that you'd make it. ''Heh, Dying on my first day in Equestria, after surviving a Manitcore attack, running a small marathon with a shot horse on my back, dodging a rainbow kamikaze, being set on fire, and getting assaulted by a library, and what gets me is a rabid dog... how embarrassing.'' You thought as you could feel the breath of the dog on your face. You could practically feel its sharp teeth on your throat, your arms were starting to give away and your eyes were closing. There was a rush of air and the weight of the dog disappeared, first you though the dog had got you but everything felt a bit to solid. You shot your eyes up and looked around. Rainbow Dash had dive bombed the dog from a cloud and knocked it right of you. Seeing your not dead you sprang in to action, you leap over Rainbow who were standing in front of you and Fluttershy flaring her wings. You pinned the dog to the ground before it could recover from Rainbow Dashe's blow, makes you wonder how hard she hit it. You put your boot on its neck and pushed down, you were determined to brake its neck and end this for good, but you stooped. You were pushing so hard on you could feel the individual vertebrates in its neck through your boot. You looked back at the ponies in your company, they did not need to say anything but you knew what they were thinking. Rainbow Dash had a tough guy, ready to fight expression on her face, but behind that a genuine concern for her friends, ready to protect them. Fluttershy's face held a lot fear and confusion, you could clearly see that she did bot fear not for herself or her friends, but for the life at stake. There was a shimmer in her eyes that hurt you more than the dog ever could. And then there was Lyra, she stood a fair way back utterly shell shocked. You could see the wheels turning in her mind, and an all to human expression crept on to her face. “Rainbow dash get Fluttershy inside, and patch her up, I will be there shortly. Lyra get my bag.” You said not looking at them. “Come on! Just do it already, End it!” Lyra shouted. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow looked at her in utter disbelief, and then shifted there gaze to you afraid of what you were going to do next. You turned to look at the mare, with an undefinable look in your eyes. “I am not digging more graves that I have to.” You said just loud enough for them to here you. “Oh come on!” She jelled, shouting more encouragements at you. “STOP!” Everything went silent even the dog stopped squirming. “You stupid stupid equine, stop being so... human! You have seen a human at its worst, and now you have seen at its best. We are nothing to admire or aspire to be like, now do as I say!” Rainbow helped Fluttershy to her feet and took her inside, while Lyra just stood there looking at you for a moment, and you swear you saw a sniffle, before she did as she was told. You rummaged through your backpack and pulled out your first aid kit and some rope. You tied the rope around the dogs mouth before you stated to examine it's wounds. “If you try to bite me I won't be gentle, get it?” All the response you got was a slow blink. After completely surveying the injuries, you started to clean fur and bits of nature off her, or at least you think its a she, you didn't really dare to investigate all to much. She squirmed a bit when you brought out the disinfectant. Lyra stood besides you, silent, thinking, a slow tear forming in her eye. After a short while you finished cleaning her and making sure more fur wouldn't get in the wounds, you were no surgeon but this would do. You leant down and grabbed a hold of the rope holding her mouth shut, and looked her straight in the eyes. “Don't make me regret this.” And with that you remover the rope and stood clear. She didn't miss a beat off the went in to the forest. You cleaned up the small area you had been playing doctor on and started repacking your pack. “I... I'm sorry,” She said with her head hanging low, a few tears dropping to the ground. “I'm so sorry, I just wanted to learn all I could about humans. I thought if I could think like a human I would learn more about you.” You let out a mournful sigh. “Lyra, you have no reason to be sorry, let me tell you something about humans, we are cruel, ignorant, dangerous, unpredictable and stupid, but a single human can do infinite amounts of good, more than a hundred can do combined. We are grate as individuals, but put us together and you can watch how we rip everything apart over time” There was a short pause, the wind just calmly rolled between you. “Study, learn about us, but never learn from us, never be like us, it will only hurt you. Got it?” She gave a small nod, you brushed a tear from her eye and gave her a warm smile, in return she embraced you in a big hug. “How can such a warm being come from such a cold lineage?” She cooed softly. “Sometimes being warm makes you feel the cold even better, and sometimes it inspires us to burn warmer and brighter... sometimes,” You murmurer the last part, as your eyes trailed away. “Now lets check up on Shy, see if she need any help.” You chipped before you lost your self in the thought. You made your way inside, it wasn't as difficult as usual, seeing how the house was home to a range of animals, big and small and, was accommodated as such, but you sill had to crawl. When you got inside you saw Fluttershy with a bandage on her leg, with tiny red dots blended with the white. You did a quick double check on the bandage, not that you tough you could do any better than Fluttershy, she probably had a million times more medical experience than you seeing how she often have to take care of sick or injured animals, but it made you feel better. You turn to Rainbow Dash and looked her in the eyes and gave her a thankful smile. “Thanks for the help back there” “Well, I was aiming for you know,” She said as she poked you in the side and chuckled a bit. “Bwahahaha! You got to work on your aim Dash, I'm not exactly a small target now am I,” You laugh as you tap yourself on the gut a few times to many before you realize you were injured, again. This must be a new personal record you should just wear a helmet at all times. “Oh my goodness, let me see that.” Fluttershy was surprisingly quick over to you, and before you could pull your hand away from the unexpected touch, she had already started cleaning and bandaging your hand. You were just amazed at how agile hoofs can be, sure the show always portrait them as adequately dexterous but still, you hardly felt her touching you at all. Tough some of that might come from blood loss and tissue damage, but nevertheless you were more than impressed. As she finished you looked over the bandages in awe, you mover your wrist around a bit,  you couldn’t feel the bandages hindering movement in any way. “Wow, thank you Fluttershy,” You gawked at the bandages a bit more. “I swear, you've done a better job than I or any doctor for that matter, could have done.” Fluttershy hid behind her mane and mumbled a humble thank you. Something struck you, you straightened out your back the best you could stretched out a hand, and clear your throat. “No, I wish to formally thank you Fluttershy, for you medical assistance and expertise in this instance, I believe I would not have received treatment of higher quality anywhere else in Equestria or on earth for that matter.” She very carefully accepted your hand/hoof shake. “You are very welcome Richard.” She responded as she peeked out from behind her mane, a bit confused. “Now, I regret to inform you lady’s, that I will have to take my leave, I have a grave to dig. I assume the shovel we discussed earlier is in the tool shed in the back.” Fluttershy gave a small nod, and you made your way towards the door, you turned to the rest of the room “Have a pleasant day, all of you.” And with that you picked up your backpack and fetched the massively undersized shovel. You hadn't made it even halfway down the rode before the mint mare that had been practically glued to your hip all day showed up. “Um... so what just happened?” She asked a bit unsure of how to go about her question. “Well, I think that pony is a bit to shy for her own good, so I practically forced her to acknowledge the compliant by turning on a dime and changing the way I both speak and formulate sentences. Making it a much more memorable experience, making her think a bit more about it hopefully reflecting on the compliment and taking it to heart.” There was a rather long pause. “wot?” “Urgh, never mind just go home and archive your notes or something, I need to dig a hole. And before you say something no your not coming, I'd rather do this alone.” “Oh no you're not going anywhere without me.” As you though. “I'm going in the forest you know, and running through forest with something nasty in tow isn't to helpful to your memory, plus I don't think Bon Bon would approve of that, and I think you don't want to see the mess I made in there.” Lyra looked in to the forest then to you and over to the town, and bit her lip. “umm, okay I see your point... just be careful, I want to see you in the same concision I left you in.” She said in a strict voice. “I can't promise anything.” And with that that two of you parted ways. It took you a fair bit of time to find the clearing, but with the instructions you got from Milly you weren’t lost for long. As you entered the early afternoon sun, the cool forest air cleared your lungs and mind, and then you saw the bits and pieces from your camp, a broken axe handle, dried blood spewed over the grass, and the huge figure from last night. A big mournful sigh escaped you as your eyes inspected the still figure a bit more, before you continued over to a far corner of the clearing just by the tree line, and started dinging, a hole you never thought you had to dig. //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter one: A safe place //-------------------------------------------------------// chapter one: A safe place (You know what, I’m going to refer to the main ‘him’ as ‘you’ from now on, I know it’s bad changing this far out, but screw it. I’m to darn lazy to rewrite the prologue so deal with it) Location:Equestria. The Everfree Forest. Time:21.45 The lights consumed you. At first there was nothing but the soaring bright lights, of  the Northern-Lights, always shifting. You feel no pain to speak of, you would think that this much energy should generate some heat, but is seemed cold almost refreshing. You raised a hand, holding it outright, the lights licked your hand like fire, but it doesn't burn, you can feel the flame dance all over your body, but it left you unharmed. Suddenly the light retreated, expanding out in a circle, with a confused looking human at its center. As the light retreated gradually reviling your camp. you allowed yourself a slight hope that you didn’t have to brake your promise. But fate apparently doesn't like you. When the lights have retreated in to the sky you see, to your dismay, the largest moon you have ever seen. You realized you were not were you were suppose to be, panic, anger and other fun feelings gripes you. “Hey come back! Where do you think your going? You can't just leave me her! What gives you the right...” You continue to shout and yell at the night sky, dealing out a somewhat colourful dish of curses and analogise in a Norwegian dialect few know, some best not be described in detail. But to give you an idea, Otter breath and Sheep fucker, are some of the less colourful ones. Unknown to you, your little performance of mild Viking curses, was being observed from a distance. A slight rustle from a behind you, halts your verbal onslaught at the empty sky. There was a long painful silence. You scan for anything you can use to defend your self with. your eyes wasn’t fully adjusted to your dark soundings jet, but eventually your eyes fall on your axe, that was lying only a few feet away from you. A few thence minutes followed, you were listening for any movement that might give whatever was stalking you away. As you heard a second rustle pretty much from right behind you, you make a mad sprint for the axe.  You snatched it off the ground, turning to see the creature that was stalking you had given chase. “A Manticore?” The shock of the mythological creature's sheer existence, and not to speak of its determination to have you as his midnight snack, had you stunned. The Manticore lifted his right paw, preparing to bring it down with lethal force. You took a step back and brought up your axe just in time. The force of the hit snaps the axe handle in two and send you flying several feet in the air. You hit the ground with a loud thud, after a few dazed seconds you get on your feet. You examine your now broken in half axe, and you feel a spike of anger run through you. “Owh you’re gonna get it now!” You fling the lower part of the handle at the Manticore, it connected just on the side if its head. This feeble attempt of an attack distracted the creature just long enough for you to close the distances between the two of you. The Manticore took a swing at you, but with your current momentum and direction you dodged it with ease. As you got right in front of it, you transfer all your momentum and strength in to your arm and brought the stumped axe right up and in to the creature’s throat. Severing several main arteries and utterly destroying its voice box. The screams of pain were reduced to sickening coughs and gurgles. With a flick of your wrist you pull the axe out, and streams of warm blood spray out all over you, and the clearing around. The massive creature collapsed and hit the ground with a gut wrenching thud. You stood towering over your attacker, blood dripping from your chin, panting like a maniac, with a sad look on your face. You started feeling bad for the Manticore, it had most certainly lost, but it wasn’t dead. You knew that bleeding out like this was a slow and painful death. You never liked to see suffering in any form or size, especially from such a proud beast. You walked over to your backpack and opened you rifle bag that was hanging on the side, you pulled out your grandfathers rifle. You walked over to the crippled lion scorpion hybrid, with rifle in hand. The Manticore eyed you closely as you walked over to it, you could see the terror you were causing. “Find peace,” You brought the barrel up to the head of the huge creature, bringing with you a swift death. Just as you were going to pull the trigger, the tail came swinging right at you. The stinger dug deep in to your arm injecting its venom, and with the last of the power, the broken animal could summon, it ripped your arm right open. You stumbled a bit yelling out in pain, but you recovered quickly. You sett your eyes on the Manticore glaring death at it. It might have been your stare, or it might have been the fact that it used up all its remaining energy in its last attack, but non the less, it was dead. You let out a sigh of relief and sadness. You have just ended a life, you have killed lesser beings before but you never enjoined it. You look down at your maimed arm, it was bleeding heavily. ‘A little more than a scrape’ you thought to your self. You recall something you read somewhere: The mythological creature known as a Manticore from Greek mythology, is fabled to have a anticoagulant venom that makes its victims bleed for long periods of time, after the initial wound is dealt... You have no idea where you read it, or even if it true, but you knew one thing. You needed to stop the heavy bleeding and fast. You extract your first aid kit from the bowels of your backpack and start examining the wound. It wasn't a clean cut, nor was it a full blown tear, it was something in between. Small flaps of flesh hang from the sides and the depths of the wound was surprisingly smooth. You knew what you had to do, but the though of it made you sick. You stuffed some sterile cotton in the wound, and wrapped a role of bandages around it, you even tied a belt right above the cut to minimize your blood lose. Now with the painful task of dressing your wound temporally, done, you could work on a more permanent solution. You started collecting firewood and dry tinder, it went painfully slow with only one good arm, but you managed to get a fire going. Now came the hard part, after letting the fire roar on a little, you started cleaning your wound, pulling out all the blood soaked cotton and what not. You had to stop the bleeding, a wound this size, and the possible anticoagulant in your body meant your body could not do it on its own, so you had to do it for it. You had to burn the wound shut. You pulled out a stick that was glowing red at the tip, and steeled your self for the pain that was to come. “This is gonna suck as-aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh...” Your screams of pain roared through the night sky like a wolf’s howl.                                                                  \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ “What do you see?” The couple was galloping through the dense forest, searching for the source of the screams. “Wait a sec” The crystal blue unicorn’s horn started to glow. “This way!” He yelled as he took a sharp left in to the thick vegetation. A green mare following right behind. After a short while they passed through the threshold between the forest and the clearing.                                                                    \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ You had just finished burning your self, and had started to disinfect and wrap the now black wound. You herd the rustle from behind you. 'Not an other one!' You thought to your self as you spun around, bloody bandages still hanging from your arm, and grabbed your rifle. The two presences stopped dead in there tracks at the sight of a huge bloody bipedal creature. They were expecting a pony instead they got, what looked like a big hairless ape. Your eyes widen, and you lowered you firearm, it all suddenly clicked in to place. “I’M IN EQUESTRIA?!!!” You finally buckled under the pain, the exhaustion, and the mental pressure that comes with seeing Equestrian ponies. You paced back and forth in the clearing ranting something about interstellar travel and the bronys being to blame. The two ponies just stood stone still shell-shocked. You felt a tap in your brain. “Oh dear, the fail safe.” You said, you knew what came next. “Don’t forget my hat,” You toppled, slumping down on the ground.                                                                        -------------------------------------------- Location: Your mind Time: Irrelevant You woke up in a void constructed to house you during these ill-advised down times. “Urg... I hate this place. Hey, wheres my tree?!” You shouted, remarking the lack of anything. Out of nowhere a tree appeared. It looked like it was drawn on to the void with a pencil. “Good, now make me a lake while your at it” You said walking over to the tree. Before long a lake appeared, still colored in the same gray fashion as the tree but non the less, a lake. “And now starts the waiting game, a game I am so very, very, bad at” You pick up rocks and start skipping them across the empty void of your mind. (sorry it took so long. Our Internet have been shait as of late. And a writers block had a firm grip on me, in other words I started procrastinating and didn't want to stop) (In other news: I’m sure there are heeps of errors in here, so have at it.) P.S: --- = drastic shift of time, place and character.  \/\/ = minor jumps in time, space, and person. P.P.S: I want to start a blog about something, thoughts? P.P.P.S: Have a nice day P.P.P.P.S: fixed some grammar nothing to dramatic.