Chapters *“Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu
My name is Zachary Rivers, or that’s what I used to be called before I was sent to some colorful world after getting shot on the battlefield. The last thing I heard was one of my squadmates saying they have a sniper and then the next thing I knew the only thing I saw was black. As the world faded around me I sat in the darkness of my own mind and a voice called out to me.
“Mr. Zachary Rivers. Mr. Zachery Rivers. What have you gotten yourself into today? I know that you want to protect your country and all but, you didn’t have to get shot you know. "
“First off, who in the fuck are you? Second off, Fuck you . Third off, Where the fuck are you and where the fuck I’m I at?” I yelled at the voice.
The voice sighed and said. " Let’s set some rules here. The first rule is. Your language needs to be more, how should I put this? Less vulgar. The second rule is, Treat me as a god because if you haven’t realized yet I am one. The final rule is, you will stay calm as our conversation will determine what choices you have or if you have a choice in the matter of where you chose to go after death. Now since you asked some questions I have to answer them, The first question I have already answered I am a god and you will treat me as such. Second question, I am everywhere and nowhere at once but if you want a form I’ll give you one if you want one extremely badly.
“Sure, show me what you really look like so I put a face to a name.” After the final word came out the darkness formed into a being showing only light in the room I was in. That moment was the only moment in my life that I was scared of what was shown to me. I saw a beautiful woman that looked like she was out of a world that is only seen in dreams. Her long hair shinned with colors of the rainbow that glistened after a rain shower, She had the body of a goddess’ hourglass figure. If I wasn’t frightened at the sight I would stand on one knee and ask her to marry me in an instant.
“Now your final question to me was. Where are you if I was correct? Now don’t get even more scared now but right now you’re where I like to call The Waiting Room or as you humans call it Purgatory. Now I know what you are thinking and yes you are dead, a .30 caliber bullet to the brain leaves little to no chance of survival. Now on to judgment.” She said while quickly moving towards me and putting her hand on my forehead. “Before you ask why I’m doing this I am thinking if I want to give you a choice from the actions of your sins and what goodwill you have done in this life.”
That’s when I broke and started crying from the memories forming from childhood and on to now, all the good things that I’ve done for other people? That’s not the way I was raised. My family taught me one thing and that was to protect what we believed in and destroying what we didn’t. I believed that I was in the right, I was taught that you have to act like a king then you can get somewhere. This went on for about five minutes but it felt like an eternity.
“Well, I’ve decided that I will give you a choice of where you will spend the rest of your life.” She said while removing her hand. “You have three choices on where you can go. The first the choices should be obvious on what there are, Heaven or Hell.” She smiled as she was about to say the last choice. “I can send you to a world that only had two major fights, Equestria.”
After I did some mental fighting in my head I came with the reasons for where I would like to go, Hell was out of the question. I wasn’t really opposed to Heaven but I can’t stand the color white and gold everywhere so I asked. “What is Equestria?” She looked shocked after I said that. “You know what? Forget that I asked and send me there. I’ve stopped caring” She didn’t look amused when I said that but you know fuck it, whatever I was done with this talk.
“I was hoping you would choose that one.” She smiled and said. “Now one more thing pick a number one through three.” As she raised three fingers up. “This will determine something when you get there.” Her smiled vanished as she seemed to know what I would choose before I said it.
“Give me two.” After I said that she vanished and the white room along with her, the only thing that appeared afterward is a town in the distance below me and the feeling of falling at a speed that I was unfamiliar with. Something in me yelled at me to open up my wings. “Wings?” I said to myself I don’t have wings. The town was closer, about three hundred meters from where I was at that second. I could see the town and what was in it. Ponies are what I saw, not the regular ones back when I was alive but multicolored one with horns and wings. “Are those suits and dresses I see?” Before I realized that I was almost at ground level. “Fuck I’m gonna die again.” I said under my breath.
All I see is darkness again but this time didn’t hear her voice again. What I heard was a heart monitor? As I fully awoken from the darkness again the first thing I saw was a pony in a nurse outfit and a medical cross with a heart on her ass. "
“Oh, you’ve awoken?” She said in a cheery tone. “Are you in any pain?” She asked quickly and scanned my body. “My name is Nurse RedHeart and I’m the one that’s been taking care of you for the past year.” My eyes widened I’m not sure if I was dreaming but a year stuck in the hospital and being nursed back to health by a fucking pony. Of all the shit that I read this takes the fucking cake.
“So you’re telling me that I’ve been in the hospital for a year? After I said that I looked over to my right and outside the door, there was a pure white pony with a rainbow mane the seemed to flow in the wind in the hallway. “Why does she seem so familiar to me?”
The nurse looked and said, " That is Princess Celestia one of the Princesses of Equestria the other being her sister Princess Luna.” She smiled and went out to check on another patient in a separate room.
“Fuck me.” I said as I fell back into the bed and closed my eyes.
Author's Note
New Fanfic from three years of not doing anything and having HEAVY writer's block
“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”
As I wake from my slumber, I take a quick look at my surroundings. I see a mirror, some pony guards in dark blue and black armor outside my door, and a second pony about the same size as Princess Celestia or whatever her name was talking to the nearby guards. Her mane mimicked the stars of the night sky. Except for this time I noticed that she had both wings and a horn. I’m not sure if I was still dreaming but the last I checked ponies didn’t have traits of both a Unicorn and Pegasus at the same time. At the same time, I felt like I was in the presence of a god. At the time I wanted to learn more about this strange pony and ask her a few questions but it seemed at the time she was busy. I look over to where the mirror is and get out of the bed I was in. I looked into the mirror and looked deeply into the eyes of the pony I was looking at.
My hair that is now a mane was a light blue with grey streaks down the middle. My body was a dark grey. It wasn’t dark enough that is was black was it was close. My eyes were a light red but I can’t complain about that. I turned my body to the side and looked back at the mirror and that I had wings. That was what the voice was telling me about better learn how to use them later. I also looked at the same area where that nurse had that mark on her ass. I also had one, it looked like crosshairs out of a scope of a sniper rifle. Fucking great. As I remembered all that happened before I landed or should I say crashed into the hospital. I slammed my hoof into the mirror and shattered it into at the very least one hundred pieces. I calmed down after a few minutes and I looked to the right forgetting that there were ponies outside the door.
“My, I hope you’re not in pain after that.” The blue pony said. “Before anything, my name is Princess Luna.” After she said that I gave her a closer look. Looking at her mane, it didn’t mimic just stars but up close it looked like a galaxy was in it. I felt something move in my heart.
“No, I’‘m not hurt. Just angry at myself.” Something told me not to reveal that I wasn’t from this world and just create a new life here. I should see if they have a military force in this world. “Before you ask it’s because I crashed in the middle of a city and made a crater large enough to hold a remake town square from the impact. I said as I tried to look away from Luna but something keeps making want to look at her and give her a kiss. That is something I want to keep in the darkest corner of my mind. Kissing an animal was one of the last things on my list to do and it falls under dying again.
“After I got word that you crashed in Canterlot and seen the damage that the drop caused. I wanted to see if that very same pony lived and after a year she does.” She laughed softly and smiled brightly. “However before I get too far into what happened that day can you tell me what happened before you landed here?” Her demeanor changed from what I can be called a young schoolgirl in cuteness to a tyrant within a second.
“Well, that’s something that I can answer, my sister.” The voice said before walking into the room. “She lost control while in mid-air and couldn’t recover in time. Also my little one my name is Princess Celestia.” That’s when I remembered the voice or whatever that was before I almost died again. Her voice is almost the same. Is she the one that sent me here after the incident on the battlefield? Her mane was the same and the woman’s in the darkness. I couldn’t retain all of this information at once. I passed out. Some soldier I was.
Three Hours Later
Again I woke up in the bed I was in. The shards of the mirror that I broke some time ago were cleaned up and the window was open. Is that a castle in the distance? As I focused my attention on the voices whispering about me. Something about the different type of magic or something. Something about a being named Discord and his magic. As soon as I sat up on the bed the talking stopped. Did I hear something I wasn’t supposed to hear or were they waiting for me to say something?
“Just act like you didn’t hear anything and don’t ask too many questions." The same voice from earlier that told me to open my wings said. ”Remember you’re not from here and you know not from this world as a whole.”
Luna cleared her throat and said. " Well, before you pass out again, my sister and I wanted to ask some questions.” It seemed like she had a scroll or something next to her. As she lifted the scroll and a quill with her magic she asked. “First your name so we know what to call you. The second thing is where do you live as you were about to get discharged from here.” She got ready to write and it seemed like time stopped
“Well, this is awkward.” The woman from the darkness said. “You don’t have a name for this world nor a place to stay. How will you get out of this one Mr. Rivers or should I call you Twilight shocker?”
“First fuck you, second that’s a dumb name but I’ll use it only to get out of this line of questioning, also what about a place to stay?” I said in my head to the voice. As I looked back at the princesses they looked like were ready for any type of answer so fuck it. I’ll go with it. “My name is Twilight Shocker, and I live here in Canterlot.”
“By god you HAVE to be some form of fucking idiot.” The voice yelled at me. “You better hope that they believe that you live in the city of nobles.” I looked over at both the princesses and hope that they believe that garbage lie. Because if not I might have to spill everything from the time I was alive and transitioning to now.
Princess Celestia looked like she saw past my bluff but just shrugged it off. Princess Luna however, looked like she was thinking of something to fight against my answer. “So your name is Twilight Shocker and you live in Canterlot?” She raised an eyebrow and asked. " I think it’s strange that you share the name of one of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle.” She looked over at Celestia. “Sister, what do you think of all of this?”
“I think its just pure coincidence that she has the same name as my dear student. I think Twilight might be happy that another pony has the same as her.” She laughed and summoned a scroll and quill as well and quickly wrote something down. As quickly as she wrote it down it disappeared in a green flame. Wait, did she say she? Before I died I was a guy. Maybe I didn’t listen to my voice when I was talking to Luna before I passed out but this is no way I am I female now.
“Yeah pure coincidence, also do you have a mirror or something?” I asked quickly and nervously. I needed to know and I needed to know NOW.
“Look across from you the mirror you shattered earlier was replaced.” Princess Celestia said raising a hoof towards the mirror. She was right I was a woman. I wanted this to be a dream but there was no waking up. Is this what they mean by reincarnation was a bitch because this might what they were talking about. As I was about to speak the green flame from earlier appeared again. This time Princess Celestia was reading and laughing. Why was she laughing I have no idea but it must be good news or something. “Good news, My dear student wants you to head to her house in Ponyville. She wants to talk with you on the subject of family and some other things that she wants to keep a secret until she feels like you are ready for those type of questions.”
Time to remember some terms about zoology about horses. “So your student wants a random mare she hasn’t even met yet to come to her house in a city I’ve never been to?” I look at Celestia with displeasure in my eyes. Luna just looks back and forth between me and her sister trying to figure out how to answer a question like that.
“It won’t be just her. She said with excitement in her eyes. “Who knows you might even find your true self there in Ponyville. You might even find somepony special there.” She had a wicked grin after that and summoned a bag, a ticket to Ponyville and a bag of gold coins. After that, she left out the door. There was something unsettling on how she said find your true self.
“Well since she didn’t tell you Twilight’s house is unmissable and if you can’t find it just ask around and the locals will tell you. Also two things. One, the train station is about five minutes flying from here about twenty if you walk. Two, I wouldn’t keep either Twilight or her friends waiting.” She said and left out the door.
The nurse came in and handed me my discharge papers and I was able to leave. It's like she was just standing at the door waiting for the two princesses to leave. Before I left I put the ticket and the bag of coins in the bag and tossed it over my shoulder. It was comfortable for now. I need more information about what’s going on. The voice, Celestia, and why in the FUCK I was I FUCKING mare. Other than that I make my way to the train station and handed them my ticket and I board the train. New life and a fucking pony body. What else fucking dragons and bug horses. Knowing my luck maybe both.
The loss of young first love is so painful that it borders on the ludicrous. Maya Angelou
Two hours later
After spending two hours on the train from Canterlot, I stepped off the train and started to head my way into to town center. The only problem is that I have no idea where I'm at. I attempted to ask the stallion in the booth to where the center of town is. He shrugged me off and told me to ask somepony else. Fucking rude bastard. There was one pony that stood out from the crowd. Her mane and tail were pink and poofy, her body was also pink but a lighter shade. Her ass mark or cutie mare as I learned on the train, was three ballons. Her eyes were. Fuck she's staring straight towards me. As I was about to turn away to ask another pony about where in the hell was the center of this town. A pink blur shot past me. The next thing I see is that very same pony right in front me.
Hey, I've never seen you around here before. Are you new to Ponyville? Are you new to this world? What does your cutie mark mean? Oh-oh-oh, I bet it has something to do with how you'd died in your past life. She said quickly to the point of confusing me in the sprial of words Wait did she something about my past life? How does she know about it? I haven't told anyone about it. "My name is Pinkie Pie and I'm the element of laughter. "I know what you're thinking." She said in a flurry. "How do I know these things about you? Well, that's a secret."So Twilight or should I call you Twil because one of my friends is also named Twilight." Her flurry of words are giving me a headache. I need to stop this as fast as possible.
"Alright first sure just call me Twila. Second, you know where Twilight is? Third, Just slow down and take me to Twilight. I say slowly so she can understand me and how important it means that I meet Twilight.
"Sure let's go before it gets dark" Pinkie said. Looking up I did realize I was about late afternoon and something told me to get in before dark.
Ten Minutes Later
"And that's how I met the rest of the Elements!" Pinkie yelled in excitement. "Here we Twilight Sparkle's home and library." A tree? A fucking tree? A fucking pony that lives in a fucking tree that's also a fucking library? What does she have a pet dragon or some shit? As I knocked on the door to the tree/library I heard a kid.
"Coming!" The kid yelled quickly. He didn't sound like he was on the ground floor. I knocked again to where he was at. "I said I was coming! Really do you have any patience? This time he sounded closer. I have to admit these pony ears were a lot better than my human one by a huge margin. I smiled as I was about to knock on the door again. This time a young dragon with green scales and a purple body appeared. Fucking dragons man.
He looked at me and said. "Well, you're something else." What did he mean by that? I started getting nervous thinking that he also knew about my past life. "Hey Twilight, I think this is the pony that the Princesses were talking about!" He yelled up the stairs.
A voice responded. "Give me a second spike, I'm almost done up here." Her voice sounded heavenly. It sounded like angels speaking directly towards me. As I stayed in my own personal daydream imaging what this Twilight pony would look like. A voice was talking to me I didn't care. I was on cloud nine at the moment.
"Hey, Twila." Spike said trying to get my attention. "Hey, Twila!" He yelled even louder. "Pinkie, do it." As soon as Pinkie heard those words she pulled out a cannon and placed it about three feet away from me. "Pinkie don't kill the mare now. She just got to Ponyville." Spike said to Pinkie.
"What spike?" She pulled the string the cannon not hearing what Spike said in that second. Darkness took me in its embrace. Did I die again? It didn't feel like it. The woman wasn't there this time. Maybe I just passed out again. It seems like almost everything makes me pass out. Add that to the list. Why I pass out, The voice, Celestia, and the woman. Well, this gives me time to think in the corners of my mind. Right now this is no connection to Celestia and the Woman. Why does Pinkie know about my past and why do I have feelings for a pony that I haven't even met?
Three Hours Later
"Holy hell. What in the fuck hit me like a ton of bricks?" I say as I wake from my hazy dream. I look around my surroundings. I'm on a couch. Good, I'm still alive. I look to my right Pinkie, a white mare with a purple mane, and a yellow mare with a like pink mane are there. The yellow one looks scared of something or shy can't tell which one just yet. To my left Is a purple mare with a purple mane with some form of highlights. A blue mare with a rainbow colored mane and tail. I just have a feeling they call her rainbow or something like that. It just fits. A orange mare with, is that a cowboy hat? Holy fuck it is. Then there's spike. Spike looked back and forth at me, the purple mare and, Pinkie.
"Well, Pinkie she's still alive. Why did you think firing off a cannon at close range was a good idea?" The purple mare said. She looks angry and Pinkie acts like she did nothing wrong at the moment. Note to self, Stay as far away from Pinkie as possible.
"But Twilight she's fine and out of the daze that she was in." She smiles and laughs for a bit. "So I did something right." She laughs even more. Wait did she say Twilight? I look at the purple mare and I look at her and try to match the visualization that I had in my mind. Nevermind that, the real version was better than that anyway.
"So, you're the Twilight Sparkle that I needed to see?" I say with the tiniest shred of confidence that I have left. I think the rest of it is back in the dream. "My name is also Twilight, but as I can guess Pinkie told you my short name to avoid any confusion." Twilight nodded. "My full name is Twilight Shocker but again you can call me Twila or Shocker. I'm not sure why the name Twila Shocker make much better sense than Twilight Shocker but whatever man. "However I do want to know everyponies else's name so we can know each other a bit better." Why did I say that? I only wanted info about Twilight. I don't care about the others. "I already know about Pinkie and Spike." I said.
The first one to talk was the blue one. "My name is Rainbow Dash and I'm the best flier in all of Equestria. I'll be part of the Wonderbolts one day!" She says proudly. What the fuck are the Wonderbolts? Who the fuck are the Wonderbolts? Again add to list of shit I need to figure out.
The Orange one was the next to talk. "My name is AppleJack and I run a farm called Sweet Apple Acres." Make sense I do smells apples in the air. Wait how the hell does she run it?
The white one was next." My name is Rarity darling and I run the Carousel Boutique here in Ponyville". Again how? Upon looking at Rarity closer I noticed that she was a unicorn. That's how.
The last one to speak was the yellow one. "M-my name is-is." She stopped at almost every word. "Fl-flutt-Fluttershy." After she that she ran out of the room.
Twilight just sat in the corner of the room and shook her head. "She takes care of the animals close to the Everfree Forest. Twilight said. "But I think it's about time that we all head home for the night, Twila can stay here since I have a spare room. Everyone said goodnight to each other and Pinkie said that we'll have a party soon for my arrival. Let it be short and sweet. After Twilight showed me where my room was and where everything was. We headed to bed. After passing out today I wasn't really tired but I know I needed sleep.
I sat there thinking about how the day has gone by. Where was the voice today? Why do I have feeling towards Twilight? Does she even like mares? STOP brain why are you doing this. Looking out the window I see that the moon was full tonight. Luna guide my dreams tonight. Why I'm I ask Luna to guide my dreams? I think this body and the voice has a connection. I fell asleep looking at the moon.
Author's Note
Yeah, I didn't bring out the chapter the day after Ch.2 like I said I would. What will happen within Twila's body and mind? The war continues.
A little learning is a dangerous thing. Alexander Pope
The morning after
“Holy fuck. That had to be the best sleep I have ever had.” I said while slowly coming out of my daze. The beds here can only be compared to the memory foam mattresses back on Earth. Were those silk sheets? How fuck rich is this pony? What was her name? Twilight right? I know she doesn’t make that much running a library. As I was still trying to figure out the cost of living here, two things hit me. The first thing was the sudden urge to run to the bathroom. The second was food. “More shit to add to the list. Great”
Twenty Minutes Later
After using the bathroom and taking a shower I look out the window. The sun wasn’t fully in the sky yet but it wasn’t on the horizon. It seemed it was just about nine in the morning. If not that then earlier. Maybe it was the military training forcing me to be out of bed at an ungodly time, I'll figure that out later. but I turn around to head down the stairs. I think that’s where I saw a form of living area. That adds a question to what I need to ask Twilight. Why does she live in a tree and how can she live in a tree. As I take the final step to the ground floor, I hear the voices of Twilight and Spike.
Spike’s POV
“But Twilight, why would you want her to stay here?” I ask. “She’s hasn’t been here for a whole day and you want her to stay?” The only thing going through my mind was why? Did she see something in her? Was she trying to joke around?
“Spike, I just want you to think. Why would a pegasus just fall out the sky? Why didn’t she attempt to slow her descent using her wings? Why does she have the same first name as me?” Twilight said walking frantically around the living room. “Why would Princess Celestia ask me out of all ponies to question her? Why-” I cut her off before she loses most of her sanity.
“Twilight calm down. First, did you ask Celestia anything?” She shook her head. “Ok, First let’s do that before anything else.” I took out a quill and some paper. “Ready Twilight?” She took a deep breath and nodded.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I know you are busy and all, but I need to ask a few questions. The first thing is, why did you ask me of anypony to question Ms. Shocker? The second thing is, why does Ms. Shocker have the same first name as me. The final thing is, should I ask her to stay here for a few more days before she goes back to Canterlot? I’m sorry if this is a small request compared to some of the things that you have to do being a Princess but, I need your help on this. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
“Send it Spike.” She said in a worrisome voice.
“Already on it, Twilight.” I said while rolling the scroll and burning it in dragon-fire.”Sent.”
Twilight Shocker’s POV
As I headed down the stairs the smell of burning paper in the air. Was my sense of smell this good before? I don’t think so, whatever. As I reach the bottom of the stairs I see Twilight. Her mane was a complete mess like she hadn’t slept all night but I guess I can’t say much. This is a library, I should find something that can help me style my mane and the rest of the things that need explaining. How can I approach this? I can’t just ask if she had any sleep. Fuck it let’s just do it.
“Hey Twilight, are you okay over there?” I ask worrying if she’ll just get irritated from sleep deprivation. “Hey, Twilight.” She quickly looks at me, then Spike, then me again. Until she finally looked down at the floor. She said something under her breath. Something about the Princesses. Wish I had this type of hearing as a human. Maybe being a pony won’t be so bad. I walk closer to Twilight and say. “Twilight if something’s wrong please tell me.” She looks at me with a blush across her face. Wait why was she blushing. Was she embarrassed? If so at what? “Twilight?” As soon as I finished her horn glowed and she vanished. Fucking magic.
“Yeah. Twilight had to do something important.” Spike said. I could tell he was trying to make an excuse. “I think I should go help her do that thing.” He quickly runs upstairs.
“Well if that’s how it’s going to be, I need to find some books to help me in this world!” I yell out. After looking around for what feels like an hour I only found three books that might help me for now. “So I have A Mare’s Biology, Equestrian History, and A Dummies Guide To Flying. What should I read first?” I need to know how different a mare’s body is from a stallion So I think I’ll get to it. “Decent size book, maybe the size of an average college textbook.” After skimming through the table of contents I find something that catches my eye. “Heat cycles and you. What the fuck is a heat cycle?” I say quietly. My ears twitch as I hear footsteps upstairs. “So Twilight woke up of something. Glad she feeling better.” I quickly turn to the page that the chapter starts.
Welcome to Heat Cycles.
I closed the book right there. “Fuck that. There is no way I’m going to fucking a stallion, heat or no heat.” I slammed the book and threw it to the side. I haven’t gotten to the book to help me at flying. I look outside and it looks like the sun was going down. “Holy fuck how long was I reading for. Better question.” I say as I lay down for a few minutes. “Where the fuck was Twilight? If she did come down I didn’t hear her. I know she didn’t stay in upstairs all day. " Looking at the book I threw I thought. " I should get that. Twilight seems like the type to care about her books. " I get up and get the book. " I really shouldn’t try to piss her off. She hasn’t said anything to me yet. Hasn’t question me. Strange, Princess Celestia said something about questions. Fuck it” I laid back and fell asleep.
I awoke to the sounds of talking and laughing outside the Library. How long was I out for? I look out the window and was that the sun was higher than it was. It had to be about three in the afternoon. Shit I was out for about five hours? My ears twitch to the sound of a page turning. Is it Twilight? I turn to look.
"About time you woke up." Twilight says in a slightly nervous voice. "Listen I have a few things I need to ask you."
Deep in the Everfree Foreset
“So, she sent another one here, has she? She should know that I will kill this one too.” I say as I close my book. “Emerald, Sapphire, appear before me.” As I hear hooves galloping towards me I count softly. “One, Two, Three, Four.” As I finish the galloping stops. I open my eyes and see two ponies bowing before me.
“Yes, Master?” Both the mares say. “How can we serve you today?” They both look at each other and then looks down.
“I need a favor from the both of you, tell Azure Shadow that she has a target. You can also tell her that her request is granted” They both nod. “Now leave.” I say in a demanding voice.
“Yes, Master.” Both of them bows and leaves.