Author's Note

This my be a run on chapter but it helps the main character get aquatinted with the elements and others. Also it would have been extremely short with around a two thousand word chapter and I’m trying to expand upon that until I can write five thousand ones much easier. It will also make dialogue with the Main 6 easier.

(After editing)

Holy shit that took TWO DAYS. No wander editors I find on this site don’t have stories. Editing makes writers their bitch. Well, this is the finished product with added stuff and more descriptive writing. I’m sorry if it will take longer for the next chapter. School is not in my favor right now so expect it sometime... two weeks from now, maybe. I don’t know. It will come out when it comes out. Let me know if I missed anything.

SEE Y’ALL LATER!!!

Chapter 1: Welcome to Equus (Edited)

All was quiet in the Canterlot Gardens as the skittish animals scamper away from the gardeners that work daily to maintain the beauty of the garden that they slaved over. Each cut from the hedge trimmers was masterful and precise sense the ponies that maintained it took pride in their work.

Their sweat dripped off their muzzles as the hot sun beat down on them with its rays. Many of them wiping their foreheads with a gloved hand to get rid of the foul-smelling liquid that they produced. The rest ignored it entirely as they were engrossed with their work because they wanted to make an impression on their princess that lived in the castle north of the garden.

Each eloquent shape of the bushes and hedges were designed by some of the top landscapers to impress the solar monarch with the design. Many would travel the garden to see the beautiful leafy statues that covered the garden except for the maze that was directly in the center of it all.

Each twist and turn of the maze was rounded and cut to perfection as the gardeners shaped the walls perfectly. Each wall was ten feet tall and had an award above it to prevent cheating of any brave soul that wished to traverse the long maze until they reached the center. It wasn’t impossible, only time-consuming. This was why the royal sisters constantly walked through to escape their guards to have some breathing room.

The sisters were in the center at the time as a swirling vortex appeared before them. It wasn’t sudden or constructive as it was first a small distortion in the area. It grew as lightning crackled into the transparent sphere and taking the ground with it. The sisters were stunned as it collapsed on itself before exploding to create the nine-foot, swirling colored portal in front of the rulers.

Lightning crackled from the swirling vortex as the sisters desperately tried to get away from it before realizing that it wasn’t pulling them in. They got up with an embarrassed blush on their faces before examining the mass of constantly moving colors.

“What is this sister?” A navy blue alicorn asked as she slowly stepped forward towards the portal. She was six feet tall with a darker blue dress on with black regalia around her neck that showed a crescent moon on it. Her mane flowed in a nonexistent wind and mimicked the night sky as did her tail. Her cyan eyes examined the vortex as they took in every detail from the colors to the size of the swirling mass.

“It’s a vortex, they normally appear after the innate magic gathers and condenses until it can’t anymore. Creating what you see here, but they normally collapse after a few seconds. It must have been more condensed than I anticipated, or something is keeping it open.” A white alicorn replied as her light grayish magenta eyes studied the same mass. She was eight feet tall with a pinkish white dress on. Her regalia had a purple diamond in it with some curved lines going around the rest of it. Her mane held the same flowing by the nonexistent wind and held the colors light cerulean, light turquoise, very light cobalt blue, and pale heliotrope that was mimicked by her tail.

“Should we request the presence of the Elements, Celestia?” The navy blue alicorn asked after taking her eyes off the portal in front of them. The one now known as Celestia looked at her younger sister with worry as she feared that nothing good would come of this.

“Yes, Luna. Summon them at once!” Celestia demanded fearfully while staring into her sister dead in the eyes. Celestia put a shield spell over it to prevent whatever was on the other side to stay in her trap.

Luna fled from the vortex after destroying the ward to fly to the dragon fire candle to write Celestia’s student an urgent message. She hoped that if whatever kept that vortex open for so long, was peaceful. If not, she feared to see what was on the other side and hoped that the Elements of Harmony would be enough for whatever it was.

In a meadow at the edge of the town of Ponyville were six girls celebrating the defeat of the nightmare moon. They kept it small and agreed on a picnic that they had around noon as they got to know one another. Laughing echoed through the grassy plain as one had just finished a funny story that she heard from a friend.

It was cut short as a reptilian girl in light brown shorts, a lavender shirt, and white shoes ran up to the six. She was about the age of twenty-one and was about five foot eleven. The average height for a girl her age in the world of Equus. Her green spins showcase that her reptilian nature came from the dragons while her purple scales showed off the fur color of the magic that came from the unicorn that hatched her egg.

“Twilight! Twilight!” The young dragoness yelled as the six turns to her. Each with varying degrees of confusion and annoyance.

One was a five-foot-nine lavender unicorn that was a couple of years older than her at twenty-three. Her dark lavender blouse made it clear that the mare was the local librarian in the town. With the blouse was a skirt of the same color with black high heels. Her violate eyes took the distressing features of the dragoness that quickly approached.

Next was a light grayish gold Pegasus that had long grayish rose hair that she used to hide behind when feeling nervous. She was twenty-two while standing at five foot ten, being the tallest in the group. She had a grass green sweater on with an enchantment to cool down or heat up depending on the weather and having blue jeans with white running shoes. Out of the six, she was the most adorable.

Then was a light grayish raspberry earth pony with a brilliant raspberry mane that curled and resembled cotton candy. She was about five foot eight and was twenty years old. She had a white and red striped, short dress that came to her knees and hugged her form. Her white shoes had designs in red to fit the tight dress around her. Despite what most think, she keeps herself fit even though she eats enough sweets to give anyone type two diabetes. She was also known to break the laws of physics most, if not all, the time as she will store things in her mane like it was a pocket dimension.

After she was a light gray unicorn that was on the borderline of white with an indigo mane that curled at the end and was tamer than the pink ones. She was five foot seven and around twenty-one years old. Her black dress had dark purple gems on the collar part of the dress while it had a slit going up the right leg. Her high heels gave her the appeal of a noble in the nation of Equestria and other nations as well. Her azure eyes studied the dragoness’s attire with mild disgust and annoyance.

Next was a mare with a brilliant gamboge coat and a blond mane that blinded with her coat. She was a built twenty-four-year-old that was five foot nine. She had a plaid button-up shirt with tight-fitting jeans and brown boots that went halfway up her leg alongside a stetson of the same color. Her mane was up in a ponytail to keep it from getting in her eyes and hindering her profession. Her sap green eyes glared at the dragoness for disrupting the laughs they shared before falling after seeing the distressed look on the girl.

Last was a grayish cerulean coated mare that had a mane that mimicked the rainbow with all its colors. Cerise colored eyes bore holes into the dragoness for interrupting the picnic. Her tracksuit was a navy blue that hung loosely from her while her black running shoes fit her perfectly without a doubt. Her mane was unkempt so it looked more like a stallion’s mane cut. She was the shortest at five foot six and was about the age of twenty-two.

“Letter from the princesses.” The dragoness explained after stopping near them while holding out a letter for them to read.

‘Dear Elements,

My sister and I have experienced the creation of a vortex in the middle of our maze. Unlike the rest, it stayed in its one area for a matter of minutes instead of seconds. We ask that you come and examine this while being at the ready for an attack from whatever is on the other side.

Sincerely,
Princess Luna’

The girls were in total shock after hearing about the swirling mass that was created in the middle of the princess’s garden. With wide eyes, they rushed to their house to prepare for what they thought was an attack. Except for the pink one who just skipped to the train station immediately without packing for anything.

The rest met up with the pink one as they stepped onto the train and headed for the castle that was resting on the side of a mountain not far from their quaint town. Fear ran through them as they hoped what was on the other side was friendly... or could be stopped by the Elements.

The seven arrived at the Canterlot train station with varying degrees of fear as they examined the town. Luckily, it was completely fine as the nobles have yet to notice that something was wrong. They sighed in relief as they got their bags from the train as they intended to stay after the crisis was over.

None of them wasted time in getting to the castle to see the main issue that arose in the gardens. They didn’t stop to take in the intricate designs of Canterlot as the occupants moved out their way to not be run over by the seven.

The guards posted on the outside of the wall saw their approach and opened the large door that hid the passageway to the castle. Their golden armor reflected the sun perfectly to show who they were and that that they were coming.

The six continued through the castle, guided by the lavender mare until they reached the maze where Luna waited impatiently for the six. Her foot tapped on the marble floor with loud clanking echoed through the halls while her face showed a hint of irritation from how long the seven took to get there along with worry from the sudden events that took place.

“Follow us Elements!” Luna yelled showing that her voice was consumed by panic. She leads them through the maze until they found the barrier that Celestia maintained.

Her long horn far outmatched many others along with Luna’s as the height of it determined their magical prowess. Celestia’s horn grew brighter as a box covered in eloquently cut gems appeared out of thin air. She opened it to reveal the six elements that resembled their cutie marks.

A lightning bolt for the cerulean Pegasus, A pink butterfly for the gold Pegasus, A blue diamond for the light gray unicorn, a red apple for the blonde earth pony, and a blue balloon for the raspberry earth pony. All of them in the shape of a necklace while the lavender unicorn had a tiara with a purple six-pointed star in the middle.

“Princess, what’s happening?” The lavender unicorn asked in confusion and fear. The solar monarch turned to her with a motherly smile before answering.

“This vortex appeared a short while ago, Twilight. Something is keeping it open.” Celestia responded with her motherly tone.

“Whatever’s on the other side, we can take ‘em.” The stetson wearing earth pony proclaimed.

“I hope so Applejack, I hope.” Just then, the vortex began to shift as something was crossing... or falling out of it.

On the ground laid a hairless ape-like creature with blue jeans, black and white shoes, a shirt that said eat, sleep, play with a musical note on it, and silver-lined glasses that were colored black. Near him was a bag filled with some of its belonging that was carried by the creature and a few leaves along with him from an unknown location. In both of the pockets was a rectangular bulge with a circular shape on one side that was followed by a chain.

The creature groaned loudly showing itself discomfort as it sat up straight while propping itself up with one of its arms. The other rubbed the back of his head before flinching at a sharp pain that ran through its head.

“That is the last time I use a tree branch to get up a hill.” It said in a masculine voice while opening its eyes to reveal a dull gray eye color. It ran its hand over the bump on the back of his head before he screamed, “FUCK!” It’s another hand shot up to the bump in reflex before he decided to finally stand. He towered over most of the girls and was as tall as Luna but he was sorely lacking in the mussel department seeing that he was extremely skinny.

One thing ran through everyponies mind, ‘what was on the other side of that vortex?’

Before they could tell the creature to leave and return home, the vortex collapsed leaving him stranded in the magical land of Equestria until they could find a way home for him.

The creature saw the nine and examined them in fascination. His mouth curled into a wide smile as he landed in his favorite TV show back on earth, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Unfortunately, it was replaced with dread after he realized that he was nowhere near his home in an unknown land. His eyes widened after the initial shock as he let out a scream before curling up in a ball and having a panic attack. Causing him to go unconscious.

(Hours before the vortex)

I woke up after the sun’s rays beat down on me causing me to wake up after six hours of sleep. I normally got up around eight-thirty in the morning as I found it hard to sleep before two fifteen.

I immediately recognize the bed above me as it showed that my brother used the bed before he got to my sister’s room after she moved out. I had two windows in my room but one had a black cover over it to keep any unwanted eyes from prying through the blindless window.

I turn my head to the side and found a black nightstand with my PlayStation 4 and 3 on it with all the games as well. The wall was cutting into the room, but gave me a closet to store my clothes. On the wall was a mounted flat screen that I mainly used for gaming.

I reached down to grab my phone that was an iPhone 6s Plus while my Bluetooth earbuds were still charging after they died yesterday. I checked the time on my phone as well as the weather and began to pack after I found it was about to rain. I packed an extra pair of clothes to change into if I didn’t get back in time after the downpour as well as I packed my charger, laptop, wireless mouse, four books, and a poncho.

After that, I got dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt that said eat, sleep, play that had pictures of a fork and knife, a bed, and a sixteenth note. I grabbed my brown belt and slipped it through the belt loops before attaching my pocket watch to a belt loop. I then put my phone in my right pocket and my wallet in my left if I wanted to buy something on my hike to my quiet place that was on the other side of town. I was about to exit my room before I remembered that I was missing my glasses. I grabbed them and put the case and lens cleaner in a side pouch on my back.

I got on my bike after telling my mom and stepdad that I was heading out for a while to my little quiet place. I did this often so they didn’t worry about me getting in trouble. My bike was mostly black and dark gray with a little red on it and a phone holder on the handlebars.

On the way there, I stopped by the local gas station and bought two one-liter Doctor Peppers and a water bottle. I slipped the water bottle into the remaining side pocket and the sodas in the main pocket.

I continued on my way after that little delay until I came to a forest where I had my little hideout when I need some peace. Unfortunately, I had to climb a steep hill that was above a creak, and going around would take twenty minutes at least so I climbed up.

The leaves on the ground made it hard for me to get a good footing, but I was able to make it halfway up when I had the bright idea to use a stick to help me. I gripped the stick hard, but it snapped on me causing me to fall backward. I hit my head on something hard before I felt like I was falling for a while. I kept my eyes shut because I feared that I would die soon and keeping my eyes closed would help me stay calm.

I opened my eyes after I hit the ground back first knowing that something inside must have broken because of the soda.

I then began to open my eyes to find I was no longer in a forest, but in a maze in the land of Equestria. I am a major brony so I absolutely adored this world until it came crashing down that I could be stuck here for the rest of my life. Panic filled my every being after that thought as my world began to be consumed by darkness until I finally went unconscious.

I woke up in a comfy bed that wasn’t mine which I didn’t care about because it was comfortable and I began to drift to sleep again until a voice spoke up.

“Time to get up~.” A female voice cooed in a motherly tone. I groaned before laying face-first into the pillow with no regard for who that was as I began to try and sleep again, but the voice spoke up again. “You don’t want to miss breakfast do you~?” I threw my pillow at the voice because I hardly ever used it anyway because not having a pillow was comfier for me.

The covers were pulled off me as I felt a cool breeze over my body which made me question what I was wearing. I cracked my eyes open a little but found no clothing on me at all which caused my eyes to shoot open before I rolled off the bed to cover my shame.

“I wasn’t expecting that.” She sounded chipper and giggled at the end making my soul die a little in embarrassment after I have been revealed in my naked form to a being of the opposite sex.

“Can I please get my bag? I had clothes in there that I can wear.” I didn’t care that I was extremely nervous around anyone, but clothes are my priority.

“Aww, come on. We can’t have a little fun?” The way she said that made me blush even harder than I originally was. Not to mention my member was at full attention.

“No! Not ready for that shit!” My embarrassments were slowly turning into anger as I absolutely didn’t want to do this now.

The bag landed on the other side of me with a soft thump causing me to rummage through while keeping my lower half covered. I found my change of clothes at the bottom and marveled at the fact that nothing broke, thankfully. Unfortunately, the Doctor Peppers were shaken up to the point where they would explode if opened... I’ll let them sit.

I got dressed in black jeans with a black shirt that said Red Regiment Marching Band with last year's show on the back with it being a glass slipper. I loved that show because it was fast and extremely fun to play. The show was a Cinderella show that was originally a Rapunzel show, but we made due and won every competition that season. I sighed after realizing that I moved to a different county this year and things are about to go downhill for me.

“Ready,” I said as I stood at full height until I found a light green mare in a french maid outfit with a blue mane.

“After you cutie~?” She asked which caused me to blush as I never have been talked to like that in my entire life. Not to mention that nervousness that I felt when around new people began to swell up in my gut causing me to keep my head down and put my hands in my pockets.

The maid noticed this and got close making me move away from her to keep myself from having a random spike of fear. I have never been that good in any social situation, even in NJROTC. I can safely say that I blame my Aspergers Syndrome for my nervousness.

When I was in a crowded area, I was always tense and would avoid eye contact at all costs. When people would talk to me, I would try to answer, but I would never even produce a single word. Hell, when someone would lift a hand from across any room, I would always flinch because of fear of being hit. The only way I wouldn’t do that right away is if something important is happening and I would panic, forcing that anxiety away in favor of the new, more important emotion.

“What’s wrong?” She asked in a caring tone that she only received a mumble from me. It is always hard answering someone that I just embarrassed myself in front of, apparently, it’s even worse when they were flirting with me. “What was that?” She lifted a hand to one of her ears so she could try to hear me. I gulped down my fear to muster up as much courage as I could to answer, but the same thing happened to make me lower my head in failure. “Just relax and tell me at your own pace. I won’t judge you.” She gave me a comforting smile as we stopped in the middle of an empty hallway as I took a few, comforting deep breaths as I was finally able to create a coherent answer.

“Severe social anxiety and no self-confidence,” I said in a light whisper which was around my normal tone of voice. It was hard for me to speak above that in public, even if it was just me as I was just plain fearful of someone overhearing what I say to myself. “What’s your name?” I don’t know why, but I was inclined to know her. She seemed nice and I was finally able to break through my own initial fear as the rest slowly went away.

“Helping Hand.” She chuckled in a playful way which I just found adorable in my own opinion. I chuckled a little as the fear finally, completely disappeared from me... or until someone passed by causing me to lock back up for a short while.

“Hunter Herrero.” She got closer, but I did not move to get away which was when I realized that she was around my neck area in height.

We shared stories about each other to get to know one another which was nice. I laughed when something particular funny made me laugh or whence when I heard about a painful or heartbreaking story that was sad. Soon we knew a lot about each other’s personality just from doing this. She was playful and nice while I was quiet and tame to how I use to be, and trust me when I say I was tame. I use to be as energetic as Pinkie Pie on a sugar high which is saying something about how I was like.

“Here’s the dining room, enjoy the food.” I nodded before pushing the doors open and seeing all nine of the ponies and dragoness I saw yesterday eating their breakfast.

They were having a conversation about something when we entered with varying degrees of happiness and laughter. Helping left after I froze in the doorway to the dining hall which caught the attention of everyone in the room.

All eyes shifted to me causing me to do an about-face and walking just out the reach of the door and having a mini freak out. I breathed heavily in a vain attempt to calming my pounding heart from being at the center of attention. My hands shook while my eyes were wide in complete fear from the sudden attention.

I felt a hand on my shoulders which caused me to look at it until I noticed the green-colored hand. I tracked the hand up the arm until I found the smiling face of Helping Hand which, oddly enough, calmed me to the point where I could think straight.

She turned around and lead me into the room with the nine still staring at me in wonder and confusion. She leads me to my seat where I promptly sat down slowly like I was being judged by everyone in the room. Most were studying me with careful eyes like I was going to do something horrible at a moment's notice or was worried about me from the noises that I produced from the hall. I was not trying to be quiet at all when I was freaking out.

“I apologize for your majesty. From what I heard him tell me, he is a very shy individual with severe social anxiety, no self-confidence, and, judging by the way he was around the corner; I don’t think he has any social practice.” Helping Hand said which made me smile a little at her simple explanation that actually was spot on.

Another side of me wanted to walk out of the room after I began to get looks of sympathy and pity which I hated. I tried my best to avoid that at all costs which is hard when you get a fuckin’ panic attack in the middle of class after being asked a question for the class.

I sighed after finding a medium in between before picked up the fork and knife as I examined the plate in front of me. It held waffles, hash browns, and bacon. I dug in silently as my fearful gaze switched from one pony to another... I may be a little paranoid. My hands were shaking so badly, it was hard to believe that I was a trombone player from the ferocity of the shaking.

“There is no need to be afraid. From my sources, you are still in grade school.” Celestia said with that angelic voice and motherly smile. Something happened as those two sentences made me calm down a little and stopped shaking violently, but one question rose above the rest of my thoughts and I may have already had my answer.

“You looked through my bag, didn’t you?” I asked with a deadpan expression as she had no way of knowing that because we recently just met and I’ve never told them. I may be a nice person, but if I have a chance to embarrass someone, I will do it without hesitation, and sometimes it would be on accident. Apparently, I was dead on as she blushed before laughing sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head after being caught. “Well, you're correct in your assumption. I will be entering tenth grade this year. Actually, the first day of school is... today.” My eyes widened as the implications of what I just said came crashing down. ALERT ALERT, panic levels rising— never mind, they broke. “The days I’m out will be going on my high school transcript! I need that if I want to get into my first choice college!” I take this extremely seriously because when it comes to getting accepted into my choice college, I will throw my timidity out the window in favor of panic or excitement.

I stood up and began pacing as my left hand propped up my right arm by the elbow while the right rested over my mouth. My eyes widened while my pupils shrunk to pinpricks as fear slowly began to settle in my very being.

“Calm down, they will most likely accept you even if y’all out all those days.” Applejack responded with indifference. This made my panic rise as it wasn’t easy for me to maintain the grades I have and applying for it is more of impressing the school staff than writing on a piece of paper.

“I only have a nine percent chance of being accepted in that art school!” My panicked gaze switched to Applejack after that comment so she could understand that it isn’t that easy. My gray eyes soon looked crazed after that simple fact of the chances I have in getting in. Eventually, it turned to hopelessness after I realized that I didn’t have good chances of getting in and hardly any chance of being one of the two they would pick from my state. “I’ll never get in.” My tone was hopeless and saddened by the fact of it all. I sat down with my hands covering my face while I was shaking it from side to side after hearing from me that I didn’t have good chances. It was the truth with an added effect of pessimism that made my heart drop to the bottom of my chest as a pit formed in my stomach.

“Don’t think like that—” Pinkie began before I cut her off with a harsh voice. It had so much venom that it could poison a manticore with its own venom... if that makes any sense.

“I’m a pessimist. So fuck off.” I slammed my head into the table repeatedly as I groaned to let some of my frustration out. This is why I play video games. It acts as a vent for me to release my pent up anger, which is a lot. Horror soon took over my features as I finally realized that I used Pinkie as my new vent and immediately tried to rectify my mistake. “Sorry, but getting into this college is one of my main objectives right now. I’m trying my best in keeping my grades above a B so I have a better chance. Now that I think about it, I’ll have a better chance of getting accepted into Broward College. At least I’ll have a ten percent chance of getting in. I really hope I get into this college.” I let my head fall to the table causing a loud thump to shake the table, plates, and glasses. It was actually pretty calming that the clatter of the cutlery was soothing to me and I was surprised that my glasses didn’t break yet.

I stopped my train of thought after the cutlery finally began to settle after my constant banging my head on the table before that thought. My glasses... where are my glasses? I wanted to bang my head onto the table again after I forgot about my glasses. I didn’t really need them, but I’m nearsighted when it came to my vision and it would make my life a little easier if I had them as I read every sign I see.

I felt around my face for them but felt nothing except a stinging sensation after remembering my sunburn that took over my head. It hurt a lot which made me hiss in pain before wincing in complete pain as that stinging sensation spread across my face. The beach is fun and all, but fuck the sunburns.

“Where are my glasses?!” I yelled in fear after I realized what else I was missing. I began to think of how oblivious I was not to notice the missing clothes that I wore. “And, on that note, where are the clothes I wore yesterday?” Celestia brought her hand up to reveal my glasses in a polished light. I whistled in admiration at the kindness that was shown to me in the hour I knew them. These ponies would be great allies as they mostly only know kindness from what I’ve seen and any nation would be grateful to have them on their side.

“Your clothes were dirty, so we placed you under the covers before using magic to undress thou and placing your items from your pockets to your bag,” Luna responded with a slight blush at the admittance from the lunar monarch. Why did I respond in such a way that made it sound like I was flirting with her? Why did I even make a sexual innuendo in front of a royal audience? Why am I so impulsive?!

“At least buy me a drink first,” I mumbled softly, but not quite enough as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash fell back laughing at my attempt of a joke. Luna blushed harder in response and visibly tried to shrink away from the humility I accidentally placed on her. I looked at her with pity and mouthed ‘sorry’. She looked at me with pleading eyes that asked to end it, but I have no idea what to do.

The two picked themselves off the ground while stifling a few giggles that they tried to hide... emphasis on tried. Twilight glared at them that promised death and made those two stop in a matter of seconds which surprised me. “Okay, it’s time for introductions now,” Twilight said with a light blush after that comment and tried to move away from it, but I wouldn’t let that happen just so I could mess with her because I’m that kind of person. “Name?”

“Hunter Herrero. Age, seventeen. Gender, male. Occupation, none.” Better to get that out the way for now or until they get more questions that I’ll need to answer.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, The two at the heads of the table are Princesses Celestia and Luna, and this is my dragoness assistant, Barbara.” She pointed to the respective holder of their name. “Well, next question, what are you?” Fuck, I forgot about that.

“Human and before you think my skin color is red, it’s a sunburn and will go away in time.” I waited for someone to speak up if they had a question.

“Is human your race or are there different races for humans?”

“Human is a species and I’m of Caucasian and Hispanic descent.” I looked at her and found that she had a pencil and paper while writing all this down. Most likely magicked in by her that I didn’t want to question further so I could retain my sanity in this unfamiliar/familiar land I found myself in.

“Okay, I got it. Now, we have a few questions about your world.” She had this odd look like I knew something that she didn’t... I guess that makes sense. “Tell me everything!” Dammit.

I sighed before my groan of annoyance gave way to a vicious and evil smile after I thought this through. I chuckled slowly and methodically which obviously made chills go up through their spines. I began slowly and my deep, dark voice spoke creepily, “Well, it all started with nothing...” She did say she wanted to know everything, so I’ll start with The Big Bang.

“... and that brings us up to the present.” I finished as I spent the next hour or three explaining the creation of the universe, how our planet was created, and the history of the planet. Most looked like they wanted to die right then and thereafter the long history lesson that I lectured. “Congratulations, I just wasted,” I dove into my bag and retrieved the phone that told me it was indeed three hours, “the last three hours of your life. Have fun living three fewer hours of your life.” My evil smirk was extremely noticeable.

“What!” A white unicorn with a two-toned blue mane yelled in anger. She had golden armor that made it hard to see what her normal clothing was. She had a sword propped against the side of the table which was around the size of a short sword.

“Yup, this was purely to consume everyone’s time and piss everyone off.” I had a victorious smile at my accomplishment that I was able to complete.

“But you wasted your time, too.” A pink alicorn observed while cocking her head to the side. She wore an equally as pink dress that was a little darker and her mane wasn’t ethereal like Celestia’s or Luna’s.

“You think I care. I don’t have a life except playing video games, playing my instruments, and school. I really don’t give two shits.” I’m seriously not trying to censor myself as it would be more trouble than it’s worth.

I analyzed the two before me were the main characters... of a few episodes. The female version of Shining Armor and Cadence came in when I was explaining how my planet formed which was interrupted while pulled into a hand salute after the guards were notified of a commanding officer on deck. That was a very awkward introduction to the mare because she was confused about what to do and I was taught not to relax until saluted back.

“Sorry for the salute. NJROTC implanted that in me after we began.” I apologized to the female Armor that just looked away with a small blush. She very awkwardly dismissed me which led to a very short awkward moment of silence for that amount of time.

“It’s fine. I was just... caught off guard. I’m Gleaming Shield and this is Cadence.” Gleaming introduced with a small smile which made me smile as it was infectious and absolutely adorable.

“Hunter Herrero.” I held out my hand and she shook it. I winced after I found out that she had a ton more strength than me which made her retract her hand.

“Sorry, I don’t know my own strength.” She apologized with wide eyes that were trained on my hand before I waved it off with a pained smile before cradling my injured hand.

“It’s fine, I’m extremely weak which was the main reason I joined ROTC. Also, I’m resilient so it should be a minor annoyance in a few minutes.” I smiled reassuringly as I really didn’t want her to blame herself as she seemed like a good person... er, pony.

The questions continued until everyone else just continued to have idle conversations which I didn’t take part in. I had nothing to contribute and I wanted to finish eating my breakfast that was now cold, but extremely delicious.

I looked at the room and found Helping standing in the corner with another maid with a small smile. I silently beckoned her over which made her look relieved as she may have been like me and had to do something.

“Yes?” She asked with her smile as I pointed to a seat for her to sit in so I could show her what I meant by video games.

I just pull out my laptop and mouse before clicking one of the games I had on it. It was Monster Hunter World and I was tasked to kill diablos, but I didn’t bring my headphones so the fight was blasted through the speakers. It was drowned out by the talking and Helping looked amazed at the details that were put into this game. Unfortunately, no matter who you play with or who’s watching, the rage will always win.

“DAMMIT!” I yelled after I died a third time, ending the mission and sending me back to the hub area. I threw my head back in frustration as I needed to cool down for a bit after the aggravating fight. “So fucking close!”

“Calm down. What were you doing?” Applejack asked with wide eyes after my outburst. I was a terrifying person when angry and my outburst was no exception.

“W-was it that fight that aggravating.” Helping asked with a little fear making me take a few deep breaths to calm down. I shut off the game and turned off the laptop to conserve battery until I find an outlet. The room I woke up in had an outlet since it has a lamp inside so there must’ve more.

“I was playing Monster Hunter and got fucking killed by a Diablos after I was so close to killing it. It aggravating and I have random moments of rage at the game. It helps me vent... in away.” I responded in a calm tone that surprised most of them after the outburst not even a few minutes ago.

“Maybe I could help. Just use a projection spell so we can help.” Gleaming said with a smile as I shrugged. I turned on the game and started the game file until it got to the title screen as the music came through the speakers on my laptop.

“Please don’t break this. I need this for school and I don’t have the money to replace this.” I asked in a high pitched voice that was low enough for it to still sound like me. Twilight nodded before her horn glowed in a lavender aura before it grew larger before directing it to my laptop as fear coursed through me.

Twilight cast the spell and the title screen appeared on the wall behind Celestia. Jaws dropped at the quality of the video game before them that was a work of art on its own.

“I-impossible. No game can be played on that thing and not this good.” Twilight said quietly in disbelief. My headshot in her direction with a glare as I took offense to that.

“Hey, my laptop was specifically made for gaming... that I could afford, but it’s still good,” I responded with an offended tone as I clicked on the character that I mostly played on.

I had some bad armor that you could make at the beginning of the game and I made it harder for me. Was it a good idea, no. Do I regret it, maybe... okay, I never had enough resources to make a better one. Actually, this is the best as it has twenty-four armor when fully upgraded. And that was just the helmet. In conclusion, the hunter armor is my favorite armor that I have at my disposal right now.

I ran around the hub area, buying everything that I needed, and heading to the smithy. I went to the training area so I could show the movie set and attacks that I would normally do. I didn’t show the sword form so I can see how good Gleaming would adapt to a new move set. Not a good idea, but I could do this again with her help and it might be faster. Although, I had to ask...

“So why was this spell created?” I asked with genuine confusion. I had an idea but I doubt that was the reason as I had a problem with second-guessing myself, but what can I do in this situation.

“For projectors, if they malfunction,” Cadence said with a wave of her hand. Holy crap I was so close. I thought it was made to create projectors, but I was fifty percent correct. I turned back to the screen as I began to head to the quest board that had my quest.

“Okay, now I’m going to get that quest.” I was able to hide my amazement as I went to the quest board for the mission. I got the quest and waited for the mission to load which took a little while before I set out. My character pulled up two fingers and whistled which caused a wyvern to fly above him before my character used a grappling hook to attached to the monster so he could fly.

My character land in the camp as I went to the place where I first found its footprints and went from there until I got sidetracked as I collected all the resources I found. One thing I learned in this game is that tracking it was half the battle as I ran around the map, collecting any and all materials I could find within the area. It soon made itself known after I completed the trail to get to it and began to attack it with precise hits and dodges.

This continued on when Gleaming began telling me what I needed to do after I died the first time. She had no idea what the enemy's attack patterns were so I did my best without her so she could see what I needed to do. I told her the weak points on the monster and told her that cutting off the tail is the top priority so I could collect it to improve my switch ax and any other weapon in the game. She was amazed that killing monsters is much more important than just taking out threats, but making weapons and items so that they could survive. Eventually, we stopped our talking to get back to the game where I was making my way to the monster.

Fortunately, when you track a target monster in the game, the map tracks it until I leave or die three times. I got to the target monster as Gleaming began to tell me what attack I needed to do by the buttons used for an attack. Gleaming was a huge help as she was able to analyze and memorize the attack pattern in a few minutes before it changed drastically. She studied it before it one hit me making my curse loudly as sweat poured down my face from the tension from the fights.

While I was respawning, I looked around to see guards enraptured by the game in front of the wall and the teamwork us two used. I turned back to the game with a newfound determination to complete this mission. I saw Helping staring at me before she looked back at the screen with childlike excitement which made me look at the rest to see the same faces or they were hanging off their seats.

A few more minutes in and I was able to cut off the tail as the monster fled before I took the resources from the tail. I smiled evilly as I was about to use my secret weapon in the game as I have yet to show the next form of the switch ax. My test was about to begin as the meter on the top of the screen was full and I was about to use most of it to kill the target.

I ran to its inevitable last location as I went for a wild horizontal swing before I switched the weapon into its sword form for maximum damage. I dodged masterfully as I attacked with Gleaming soon got my attack pattern down and gave me tips as the heart monitor on the bottom of the screen got orange and thinner. She knows her way around weapons as she literally only saw the attacks once and found the best way to defeat the monster.

The time was about to be up as I switched it back to ax form to preserve its most devastating attack until I got hit again, but it was weak enough for me to just barely live causing me to run away. I was wasting time, but I didn’t want to die and all the hard work be for nothing. My teeth gritted as I ran out of health potions a while ago which made me mad for the pour management of my items.

My cat companion, Midnight, named after my cat, used this green bug to heal me as I smiled making my head back into the fray with courage. I switched the weapon back to sword form as I did the elemental discharge, which hit the monster’s head, causing my character to latch on and shove the sword into the face until the explosion at the end threw my character off it violently. He hit the ground and would have continued to slide on the ground if he didn’t plunge his blade into the ground, effectively keeping him in place.

It’s death animation commenced as I jumped out of my chair in excitement and let out a cry of victory for the intense battle. Many followed as the suspense in the fight left everyone on the edge of their seats, even the princesses cried out in victory. The room was filled with cheers that would have made anyone outside feel envious of not being able to see the amazing spectacle of a successful monster hunt.

“Woohoo, hahaha! Finally!” I yelled in excitement as sat back down and got the resources from the monster. “That’s... enough Monster Hunter for today.” I clicked off the game as my desktop had the Amnesia background on it with every other game I downloaded and some papers for old projects or notes for my old classes... I did say I use it for school, didn’t I?

I looked around as I pulled up Bloodborne and began to play without any regard for everyone else. I skipped the Cleric Beast early on to Kill Father Gascoigne with a little more of a challenge. It would be easy Blood Echoes if I kill the beast and it would be the extra push I would need to level up.

I looked around as many were enraptured by the game making me smile evilly as the thought of their reaction of the first visceral attack came to mind. My dark chuckles went unnoticed by the silent crowd as the sound bounced off the walls of the room, making the game two times louder.

“This is going to be fun,” I whispered as the fight initiated the fight against the beast and hearing many screams from the blood that was spilled on the ground from man and beast alike while I continued to play.

“I hope you're happy with your self.” Helping scolded as I sat in my temporary room in the castle. I finished the fight with the Cleric Beast extremely fast which made Helping grab my hand and force me to pack everything up before we went back to my temporary room.

“Vary. Their reactions were hilarious! I guess I should have played Modern Warfare 3 instead, but the temptation was too great.” I laughed as Helping continued to glare at me. She sighed before taking a seat next to me and laying back with her hands over her head. “I call it payback for what you did for a wake-up call.” My smile was as innocent as I could muster for my payback against her. It still looked like I was up to something, but I didn’t give a damn what it looked like, that shit was hilarious.

“Fine, I’ll give you that one.” She removed her hands to reveal a small smile with her eyes closed. I pat her on the head from my sitting position on the bed and was tempted to lay back so I could relax.

We stayed quiet for a few minutes before I got up and went to my bag as the doors opened up. On the other side were Celestia, Luna, and Twilight with annoyed faces and a necklace with a gem for the main piece.

“Why?” Was all they could say as I shrug my shoulders and added ‘not’ at the end of that one-word question. That is my response for every time someone asks me that as it is an extremely justified answer. Hell, give me the powers of Discord and you’ll never know the difference except I’m a completely different species.

Celestia sighed as she noticed Helping Hand in the room with me and gained a small smile, “You work fast. Not even one day.” She said with that damn grin, but I was the king of comebacks when it came to stuff like this.

“Not yet,” I said with a grin of my own causing her eyes to widen at the comeback, “and at least I’ll buy her dinner first.” Luna blushed as I refused to let her forget that moment because I’m a horrible person. I’m healthy enough to admit that.

“Can we please get to why we’re here?” Twilight squeaked in embarrassment as her hands covered her blushing face.

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes in annoyance after losing my present form of fun. I crossed my arms in annoyance, but I didn’t want to be on probation because I pissed off the wrong people.

“Okay, we are here to give you this,” Luna said while handed me the amulet which caused me to quark an eyebrow in confusion as I put it on to not be rude.

“This amulet will change your form at will so you can blend in without being the center of attention. Don’t want to keep you here because you had a panic attack in the middle of the street.” Celestia said making me chuckle sheepishly as they left. They began to walk out of the room before Celestia stopped and turned her head to look over her shoulder at me. “Also, Welcome to Equus.” She added as the doors became encompassed in a golden aura before the doors shut.

I walked back to my bag and pulled out one of the one-liter Doctor Peppers and looked around the room for cups. Apparently, there is an entire cabinet with glasses. I got two and filled them both up before handing one to Helping.

“Relax, it’s soda.” I downed the drink in less than a second. “Better enjoy this while it lasts.” I filled the glass again as Helping filled her second glass. “Cheers.” Our glasses clung as they made contact with one another.