//-------------------------------------------------------// The Child of Twilight Sparkle -by zoward- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 15 years ago In Canterlot castle, deep underground in a dungeon there was a human child. He had white skin, blue eyes, and blond hair. He was wearing an old tan shirt and old brown trousers with old brown shoes. He had a serial number branded on the right part of his chest that said B-3562. His body was covered in bruises, because he was kicked and beaten often for amusement. Sometimes the guards would let out one or two of the other slaves to see if he would ever fight back, but he never did. He was actually one of the very few who didn’t. It was okay for the guards to have fun, but if they caused any serious injuries or even deaths, the cost of the slave would come out of the guard’s salary. In the dungeon, one of the guards walked over to the cage that the human child was in. He looked at the human child before speaking to him. “Princess Celestia ordered me to find you and bring you to meet her in person.” The human child looked at the guard with a confused look on his face. “Me?” He asked in case it wasn’t painfully obvious. The guard put his front left hoof on his face before saying, “Yes you, B-3562. let’s just go because I don’t wanna have this conversation any longer than I have to.” The human child got up on his feet. “Alright, let’s go.” He said in a voice that showed that he was totally ready to get out of here. The guard had a surprised look on his face. “Really? That wasn’t expected, but alright.” The guard unlocked the door and let the human out. The human child followed the guard down a long path through the dungeon. The guard was a unicorn stallion who had a white coat and was wearing golden armor. While they were walking another guard joined them. The other guard was also a unicorn stallion who had a cobalt blue coat and also golden armor. The human child looked at the blue guard. “What are you doing here?” he asked sounding curious. The blue guard kicked him in the back. “I’m here to make sure you don’t escape.” He said. “Also don’t question what we’re doing.” The human child felt dumb. “Of course, I forgot. Sorry about that.” He said realizing his mistake. “So where are you taking me?” The blue guard kicked him in the back again except this time harder. “I said don’t question what we’re doing, and we’re doing as you were supposed to be told, taking you to see Princess Celestia in person.” “I’m sorry for questioning you. I promise it won’t happen again.” The human child said sounding serious. The blue guard looked at the human child with a serious look. “Yeah, it better not happen again.” He said. “You should feel honored to even be able to see Princess Celestia. As if you even deserve to.” The human child wanted to say something back, but he decided that would be a stupid decision, because he was taught that he would get beaten if he tried to talk back to any of the guards. So he stay silent. A few minutes later, they arrived in front of Princess Celestia. She had a white coat, a blue, pink, purple, and turquoise mane, purple eyes, and a picture of a sun on the side of her butt. She was wearing a golden crown with an amethyst in the middle of it and a golden necklace also with an amethyst in the middle of it. “Welcome, young one. I have been meaning to speak to you.” Celestia said. “Guards, I wish to speak to this human alone.” He knew that this was a bad sign. He hoped that she wasn’t going to torture him, or kill him, or even worse, and he’s even experienced worse. He just acted cool. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” He asked sound like he wasn’t scared at all. “I feel that there is something special about you. I’m not really sure what, but I can sense it.” Celestia said sounding like she knew exactly what she was talking about. He believed her completely. “So, what about me being special?” He asked sounding confused. Celestia looked at his with a look that showed she knew he didn’t understand. “As I said before, I’m not completely sure, but I know somepony who I’m sure will be able to.” The human child started to worry. He thought that some crazy scientist might test horrible experiments on him to see what it would be. A few seconds of his thinking Celestia continued what she was saying. “That was actually the other reason I had brought you here.” She said. “You’re going to be living with one of my little ponies.” The human child looked at her. “This isn’t going to be some angry slave driver that will beat me, will it?” He asked sounding very worried. “Of course not. She is quite nice, and I’m sure you will like her too.” Celestia told him. Her horn began to glow. A picture appeared out of nowhere. She gave to picture to the human child. “This is the mare you’ll be living with. Her name is Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia gave him the picture. He looked at the picture of a unicorn with a purple coat, a dark purple mane and tail, with a lighter purple and pink stripe, purple eyes, and a picture of a pink star with 5 stars surrounding it on the side of her butt. “She looks nice.” He said. A few seconds later Celestia gave him another picture. It was a picture of what appeared to be a tree made into a house. “This place will become your home.” Celestia told him in a serious tone of voice. He looked at the picture. “It looks nice.” He said. “When am I going to be leaving?” Celestia looked at him like that was an obvious question. “Right now, of course.” She told him. Suddenly, the two guards that brought him here were back. “Guards, send this human to my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, and make sure he is delivered there safely.” Celestia ordered the guards. Both of the guards dragged him out of the room. They all walked down a long hall out of the palace. They made him ride in a wagon. It was a very long, and sick inducing ride. There were also others there. One of the less healthy slaves got really sick and died during the trip, so the wagon had to stop near a ditch for the guards to throw him out. He tried to fall asleep for most of the trip, but he couldn’t because of the endless bumps it went over. At one point during the trip he heard a few ponies and humans yelling so he looked out from a window of metal bars. He saw two guards near a woman and a little girl. “Please look away!” The woman yelled to the little girl who he imagined was her daughter before she got pushed near a wall. “I love you!” One of the guards grabbed a sword and cut her throat before they both started to walk away. The little girl looked like she was about to start screaming. He felt angry. “Those guards make me sick.” The human child said in his mind. Aside from that there wasn’t too much going on during the trip. It was mostly just running over rocks and feeling sick. After what felt like forever, they finally made it to Twilight’s house. The human child felt like he would puke if he had actually eaten anything. It was very cleared that he was starved from the way his body looked. The guards opened the door and let the human child out. The guards went over to the door and knocked on it. A few seconds later the purple unicorn he saw in the picture came out. “Is there something you need?” The purple unicorn asked both of the guards. “We came here because Princess Celestia ordered us to bring a Human here.” The white guard said. “We overheard her talking since we didn’t trust him alone with the princess and she said something about how she thinks he’s special and that you might be able to find out how.” The blue guard said. “I do my best at that.” Twilight said to both of the guards. “Does that mean I get to live here?” The human child asked. “Sure.” Twilight said. He hoped that she was as nice as she is now when she’s not around other ponies. They both talked for a few minute. It was mostly Twilight asking questions. She noticed that the human child was wearing a gray metal collar on his neck. “Why is he wearing that on his neck?” she asked the guards. “That’s there in case he acts badly, you can pump magic into that collar and choke him. If can only be used by you, by the way.” The blue guard asked. Twilight looked at the blue guard like he was going to say something important. “Is he usually very aggressive?” Twilight asked sounding concerned. The blue guard looked at her like she was joking. “Well, he’s had zero escape attempts and zero guards or other slaves attacked, he never even fought back whenever guards or other slaves attacked him, so I would say no.” The guard told her. “That reminds me, you have to agree to this long paper.” The guard’s horn began to glow before a long piece of paper appeared. Twilight spent the next few minutes reading and signing what ever the paper said. The human child stood there watching. He was just hoping that this wouldn’t go on for an insane amount of time. Thankfully, it didn’t. After that the guards went back to the wagon and walked away. “Come inside. We can talk in there.” Twilight said. “Okay, mistress.” He told her. “Did you just call me mistress?” Twilight asked him sounding confused. “Well, I was taught that I was supposed to call my owner master or mistress. Was I not?” He told her sounding like he didn’t know what to do. “You can call me Twilight Sparkle, Twilight, or mistress, if you want.” Twilight told him. “I’ll just call you mistress because that’s what I’m familiar with.” He said. After that they both walked into Twilight’s house. He thought it looked nice. He noticed that there were a lot of books all over to walls. “Is this a library?” He asked his new owner. Twilight looked at him like that was a stupid question. “Of course it is.” Twilight told him. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you: what’s your name?” While they were talking a purple baby dragon walked into to room. “My name is Spike!” The baby dragon said. Twilight and the human child she was talking to both looked over at Spike. “It’s nice to meet you.” The human child said. “What are you doing here?” Spike asked. “Two royals guards said that Princess Celestia sees something special about this human and she has tasked me with find out what.” Twilight answered. “I’m not really sure what it was that she saw in me, but okay.” The human child said. “So, what is your actual name? You never told me.” Twilight asked. The human child looked at Twilight for a few seconds. “Well, back in the dungeon in that palace, I was called B-3562.” He showed her the number branded on his chest. “But that’s just what the guards called me there.” He said, “My real name is Jack.” “Well it’s nice to meet you, Jack.” Twilight said as she raised her hoof towards him. He shook her hoof. “Yeah, it’s nice to meet you.” Spike said as he raised his claw towards him, which he shook as well. “It’s nice to meet you both, too.” Jack said before he stopped shaking theirs hooves and claws. After that they all stood around silently not knowing what to talk about next. “So, would you like to tell us about yourself?” Twilight asked Jack. “Sure, I guess.” Jack responded. “How old are you?” Twilight asked, “I know that sounds like a random question, but I didn’t get a good opportunity to ask.” “At the moment, I’m only 8 years old. Why do you ask?” Jack asked. “I was just curious.” Twilight said. Jack took a moment to look at his hands. While he was doing that Twilight also looked at them. “I don’t think I’ve even seen human hands up this close before.” Twilight said as she was examining his hands. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say.” Jack said. Twilight looked at his hands so intensely that it was almost uncomfortable. “What are you doing?” He asked Twilight. “I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I’ve rarely been this up close to a human before.” Twilight said sounding like she didn’t mean to upset him. “It’s okay, I really don’t mind.” Jack said. A few seconds later she stopped staring at his hand. They all stood around silently again thinking about what to do next. After a few seconds Twilight came up with an idea. “Would you like me to give you a tour of the library? Since you’re going to be living here at least for a while.” “Sure, I don’t see why not.” Jack responded, “Where are we going first?” “I’m not really sure.” Twilight told him, “Where would you like to see first?” “I can’t really say because I have no idea where anything is.” Jack answered, “So I guess you’re just going to have to show me what ever you want, in what ever order you want.” “Follow me.” Twilight said. Jack followed her upstairs. “So this is the upstairs.” Jack looked around and saw mostly more books covering the walls. Twilight walked over to a door. Her horn began to glow as she used her magic to open the door. “This is the bathroom.” Jack looked around the bathroom. He saw pretty much everything that he had expected from a bathroom. A toilet, a sink, a shower, a lot of cabinets. They went downstairs into another room. “This is the kitchen.” Twilight showed Jack the kitchen. It looked very simple. There was a table near the center of the room with a few chairs surrounding it. “This is as the name implies, where we go to cook.” Jack still didn’t say anything. A seconds later Twilight went back upstairs while Jack followed her. She went up a latter which Jack climbed up still following her. “This is where I go to look out and see all of Ponyville.” Twilight said. “I’m guessing this place I’m in right now is called Ponyville?” Jack asked. Twilight looked at him like that was a stupid question. “Of course it is. Where did you think we are?” She said. “To be honest, I had no idea. Most of Equestria I’ve never seen before. I’ve spent most of my life in that dungeon in the palace.” Jack said. Twilight could very clearly tell that he wasn’t kidding. “That place you were in was Canterlot palace.” She said, “This is the Golden Oak Library we’re in right now.” Jack looked off at the orange sunset. “I don’t think I’ve seen that sun for years.” He said. “It feels great not to be locked up in that dungeon.” “You’re not going to be locked in any dungeons here. I’ll treat you well.” Twilight said in a serious but still kind voice. “Thank you.” Jack said as he looked off into the sunset. A few seconds later he looked back at Twilight. “What should I do now?” “I don’t know. I’m going to head back downstairs. You can follow me if you want, or you can continue to look at the sunset.” Twilight said before she started to climb down the ladder. After that they went back down the stairs to the bottom floor. “I guess I’ll follow you.” Jack said. He climbed down the ladder right after Twilight finished. “Would you like to sit down?” Twilight offered. “You seem kinda tired, so I just thought I’d ask.” “I’ll sit down.” Jack went over to a chair and sat down. “Why do I look tired?” Twilight had a look on her face like he was joking. “You look like you haven’t rested in years.” She said, “You look seriously underweight.” Jack looked like he was mad. “That’s because I am highly malnourished, and I haven’t slept in days, in case it wasn’t painfully, painfully obvious.” Jack said. “That’s why I don’t have the energy to fucking do anything! Those guards back In the castle were too cheap and lazy to feed me anything!” Twilight looked like she did something wrong. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry for saying anything.” Twilight said sounding sorry. Jack looked more sorry. “No, I’m sorry I got mad. I’m not really that good at controlling myself sometimes.” Jack said sounding embarrassed. Twilight went over to a chair next to Jack and sat down next to him. “I hope that you’re enjoying living here, at least so far.” Twilight said with a small smile on her face. “I’m enjoying it.” Jack said as he looked over at Twilight. “I may only have known you for about 15 minutes but I think you’re a good owner.” “Thank you.” Twilight said as she still smiled at Jack. “I’ll try to make it as comfortable living here as possible.” “As I said before, I’m enjoying living here so far, even if I only did for 15 minutes.” Jack said. “Is there something you would like me to do?” “Why would I want you to?” Twilight asked looking curious. “Because I’m your slave, and you’re my boss. That’s why.” Jack said. “I’m not your boss.” Twilight said. “Yes you are. Well, if there’s something you would like me to do, fell free to tell me. I guess I’ll just wait here until then.” Jack said. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Twilight said before she got up and walked into a different room. Jack still sat at the table alone doing nothing. “I don’t know how my life is going to end up being here, but it’s looking good so far.” Jack said to himself quietly. After a few minutes of waiting around for something to happen he put his head on the table and fell asleep because he was tired. A few hours later Jack woke up. He got his head off from the table and opened his eyes slowly before blinking a few times. “I knew that was all a dream.” He said quietly. “What was a dream?” He heard a voice from behind him. “This is real life.” Jack turned around to see Twilight next to 5 other ponies. “Nothing was a dream.” Jack said. “Everything is real.” He looked at the 5 ponies that were next to Twilight. “Is this a home invasion?” “This isn’t a home invasion, these are my friends.” Twilight said. “I brought them here because even though it’s super later at night, I thought it was important enough for them to know about this that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow.” “What couldn’t wait ‘til tomorrow?” Jack asked while he looked at the ponies next to Twilight. “I wanted to show my friends to you.” Twilight said. “Alright, introduce your friends to me.” Jack said as he got up from his chair. “So who would like to introduce themselves to me first? Or would you rather I go first?” “I’m, um… I’m Fluttershy.” Said a pegasus with a light yellow coat, a light pink mane and tail, light blue eyes, and a picture of 3 butterflies on the side of her butt. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” Said an earth pony with a pink coat, a pink mane, pink tail, light blue eyes, and a picture of 3 balloons on the side of her butt. “I’m Rainbow Dash.” Said a pegasus with a light blue coat, a rainbow colored mane and tail, dark red eyes, with a picture of a cloud and rainbow on the side of her butt. “Ma name’s Applejack.” Said an earth pony with an orange coat, a light brown cowboy hat, a blonde mane and tail, green eyes, and a picture of 3 apples on the side of her butt. “And I’m rarity.” Said a unicorn with a white coat, a purple mane and tail, blue eyes, and a picture of 3 diamonds on the side of her butt. “The ponies back at that dungeon called me B-3562, but my real name is Jack. You can called me which ever you want.” Jack said to everypony. “I’ll call you Jack, I mean, If that’s okay with you.” Fluttershy said. “Me too.” Rainbow Dash said. “Me Three!” Pinkie Pie said “I’m callin’ ya, Jack.” Applejack said. “I’ll call you Jack, darling.” Rarity Said. “Then I guess it’s decided. Jack is my name from now on.” Jack said. “So, is there anything else you wanted me to do? Or did you just want me to see your friends?” “I didn’t really think about what we would actually do after this.” Twilight said sounding embarrassed. “I guess you could talk to each other?” “Okay,” Jack said sounding exited to do this. “So what do you all like?” “Animals.” Fluttershy said still sounding shy. “Parties!” Pinkie Pie said sounding hyperactive and energetic. “Flying.” Rainbow Dash said sounding confident and almost like she was bragging. “Apples.” Applejack said sounding like a cowgirl. “Fashion.” Rarity said sounding very civilized. “Magic.” Twilight added to the group. Jack stood there silent for a few seconds. “I like, um…” He looked like he was thinking hard. “I’m not really sure what I like.” Twilight and her friend all looked at him confused. “How do you not know what you like?” Twilight asked. “You honestly can’t think of anything you enjoy doing?” Rainbow Dash asked. “You must be kidding.” Pinkie Pie said. Jack looked at them like he was totally serious. “I seriously can’t think of anything that I like. As far as I was taught, the only thing I am meant to do is serve my owner for the rest of my life.” “That’s so messed up.” Rainbow Dash said sounding mad. “I agree.” Applejack added also sounding mad. Jack looked at them while nodding his head. “Those ponies are fucking monsters. They cared nothing for me, or any other human!” “I’ll make sure you never have to go back there again.” Twilight said in a very serious voice. “I fucking hate that shit!” Jack said in a mod voice. “But it’s the law, so I can’t do anything about it.” Twilight and her friends all looked at Jack. Twilight walked towards him before saying, “You know, if you want this all to stop, you should try to do something about it. Just remember that Dreams can come true.” Jack smiled at Twilight. “Thank you, Mistress.” Jack said. “But I don’t think that I or any other human or pony will be able to end slavery until well after I die, if ever.” Twilight’s friends looked at him confused. “What did he just call ya?” Applejack asked Twilight. “I was told that that’s what I’m supposed to call my owner, and she agreed to me calling her that.” Jack answered. Jack, Twilight and her friends stood around silently not sure about what they were going to do next. “So, is anypony bored? Because I am.” “I am.” Twilight agreed. “We should fucking do something interesting.” Jack said almost sounding exited. “But what?” Twilight asked. “I didn’t really think about that. Anypony have any ideas?” All the ponies stood silently. “I guess we could just sit here and talk about each other some more?” Jack suggested. “I really am so non-creative that I’m going to suggest that.” Twilight and her friends spent the next hour talking. Jack mostly just looked at them trying to stay awake. Him not sleeping for days was finally catching up with him. At some point he couldn’t go any longer and he collapsed onto the ground. He landed on his face when he fell. Twilight and her friends stopped talking to each other and went over to see if he was okay. “Is he okay?” Pinkie Pie asked Twilight. Twilight put her hoof on his back. She could feel him breathing. “I think he’s just sleeping. He did say earlier today that he didn’t sleep for day.” Twilight told her friends. “Why would he do something like that?” Pinkie Pie asked. “I think the guards in the dungeon didn’t let him sleep.” Twilight said. Of course she wasn’t completely sure if that was true. “Maybe he just didn’t like sleeping.” Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t think he would to the point that he would never rest.” Rarity said. “Um… should we wake him up?” Fluttershy asked still sounding shy. “Nah, he looks totally fine.” Rainbow Dash said like she wasn’t worried at all. “I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. he’s had a long day getting used to having a new home, and I think we should just let him rest.” Twilight said. Twilight and her friends all looked at each other. “We shouldn’t just leave him of the floor, though.” Rarity said. “You should go back home. I’ll go bring him to bed.” Twilight said. “Okay, I’ll see you some other time then, I guess.” Rainbow Dash said. “Bye.” Pinkie Pie said. “I’ll see ya later.” Applejack said. I’ll see you later too.” Fluttershy said. “Me also, have a nice rest of the night.” Rarity said. All of the ponies walked out the door and left. Only Twilight was still there with Jack sleeping on the floor. Twilight picked up Jack with her magic and put him on her back. She walked up the stairs carefully not wanting to wake him up. When she got upstairs she went over to her bed. She lifted up the blankets, placed him on the bed, and pulled them over him. “Goodnight, Jack, have sweet dreams and sleep tight.” Twilight whispered as softly as she could. Twilight went to the other side of the bed from where he was sleeping from and curled up next to him. “I don’t know when, but I promise that one day, you will be free.” She whispered. “But until then, I just hope that you’ll enjoy your life here.” Twilight fell asleep almost immediately after that. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 Present day Twilight was in her library sitting down while reading a book. “I should go check to see how Jack is doing.” Twilight said before closing her book and going upstairs. When Twilight reached the top of the stairs she saw a human looking at her. He was wearing light gray pants, black sneakers, a white T-shirt with a black vest over it, and black finger-less gloves. “Hi, Jack, I just came up here because I wanted to see how you were doing.” Twilight said to the human. “Everything okay up here?” He may now be 23 years old but he still looked young. His hair was now light blue. Almost the same as Rainbow Dashes coat of fur. “Yeah, I’m doing pretty well up here.” Jack said. “How have you been doing lately?” “Pretty well, It’s mostly been a pretty standard day, I mostly just studied and occasionally went and got something to eat.” Twilight said. “Not much interesting happened so far.” “Me neither, I’m currently just waiting for something interesting to happen though.” Jack said. Twilight could tell from the tone of his voice that he was exited. “That reminds me, I wanted to ask you something.” Twilight said. “What the fuck is it?” Jack asked curiously. “Would you like to join me for breakfast?” Twilight offered. “I know that you haven’t eaten anything today, so I thought you might be hungry.” “Of course, if you want me to do something, then I will do what ever it is.” Jack said in a serious voice. “So if you want me to join you for breakfast, then I’ll do that.” Jack followed Twilight downstairs into the kitchen. “So what’s for breakfast today?” Jack asked. “I hope it’s not a slice of stale bread for the entire day, because that’s what the guards fed me back at that dungeon in Canterlot palace.” “When are you going to stop worrying about that dungeon?” Twilight asked annoyed. “You haven’t been there in over 15 years, and you’re never going back.” Jack looked at Twilight like he didn’t believe her. “You don’t know that.” He said. “I could end up back there later today for all you know.” “Do you really think that would happen?” Twilight asked starting to get annoyed. “No, but it could still happen.” Jack said. “So what actually is for breakfast?” Jack and Twilight both made it to the kitchen. “Pancakes are for breakfast.” Twilight pointed to a table with stacks of pancakes. Spike was also sitting near the table. “Good morning, Twilight and Jack, how did you sleep?” Spike asked while he went over to the table to sit down. “Pretty well.” Twilight said. “How about you, Jack?” “I didn’t sleep at all.” Jack said. “I stayed up the entire night staring at the sky.” Twilight and Spike both looked at each other confused and then to him. “Why did you stare at the sky the entire night?” Twilight asked. “Also, for a human who didn’t sleep at all for an entire day, you look and act really well rested.” “Thank you, and the reason I stared at the sky was because I was looking to see if the stars are in different places each night.” Jack said. “Did you find out if they did?” Twilight asked curiously. “Nope, they’re were in the exact same spot as the were the night before. I know because while I was looking that night, I painted exactly where every star was.” Jack said. “Wanna see?” Jack took out a picture of the stars from his pocket and showed it to Twilight. She thought it looked beautiful. “Wow! You are a really talented artist.” Twilight complimented his picture. “Have you ever considered drawing?” Jack put the picture back in his pocket before saying, “Nah, I’m don’t really draw that much. I guess I never really thought about it that much.” “Maybe when Celestia said you were special, she meant you were good at drawing, because you really are.” Twilight said. “But I still feel like there’s something else I just don’t know.” “Me too.” Jack said. “But for now, let’s just eat, because I’m hungry, and I still wanna eat my food while it’s hot.” Twilight looked at him. She didn’t show any emotion on her face. “You really are a strange creature.” She said. “Thank you, I try to be.” Jack said as though it were a compliment which he took it as one. Jack and Twilight both went over to a table and sat down on a chair. Twilight of sitting to the left of Jack and Spike was sitting to his right. “What flavor of pancakes are they?” Jack asked Spike. “They’re blueberry flavored. couldn’t you tell?” Spike asked before he started eating. “No.” Jack answered simply before he also started eating. “Mm, these are actually really good.” “Thanks” Spike said. “I started making them about 15 minutes ago, while when you were almost done staring at the stars.” “Well it tastes really good for something made in that amount of time.” Jack complimented. “I’m used to cooking fast.” Spike said. “I at least know how to.” “I Don’t even know how to cook at all. Well, that’s not completely true. nopony ever taught me, so I mostly learned what I know by watching you and Twilight cook.” Jack said. “I didn’t know that you wanted to learn. I could have always taught you if you wanted me to.” Twilight said. Jack started eating more of his pancakes. “I didn’t really ever bother to tell you because I thought you wouldn’t care.” Jack said with his mouth full. Twilight looked at him disgusted. “Maybe you should talk after you’re done chewing.” Twilight suggested. “Sorry about that.” Jack said after he finished chewing his food. “It never really stuck out to me to be able to cook well. that’s the other reason I never asked you.” “If something interests you, of course you can ask me to teach more about the subject to you.” Twilight said. “Maybe I’ll be able to cook for you from now on. It would be nice for me to actually be useful for something.” Jack said. “I’m sure you will.” Twilight continued to eat her pancakes. After he finished eating more of his pancakes he continued, “So do you have any plans for today.” He asked. “No.” Spike answered. Jack waited for Twilight to finish chewing before she answered. “Not really.” Twilight said. “How about you?” Jack paused eating to say, “I don’t have any plans either. I’m probably going to do whatever shit you tell me to do, but that’s about it.” Jack continued eating his food. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do with m life, but I’m probably just going to spend it doing what ever you say, and to be honest, I’d probably rather keep it that way. Twilight and Spike both looked at him. “Why?” Twilight asked. “It’s simpler this way. I get food and shelter, and you get work done without doing it. It benefits us both.” Jack said. Twilight and Spike said nothing and continued eating their pancakes. While they were eating they heard knocking on the door. “Who the fuck is that? Twilight, did you order any mail?” Jack asked as he had to stop eating his food because he was rudely interrupted by the knocking. “No, I didn’t buy anything.” Twilight said. Jack could tell she was telling the truth from her tone of voice. “Spike, is it for you?” “I didn’t buy anything either.” Spike said. “Right, I know what to do.” Jack said as his face looked serious. “I’m ready to decapitate whatever is outside invading our library.” “Is that really necessary?” Twilight asked thinking he was going a little too far. “It could just be one of our friends outside. shouldn’t we check first before you kill anything?” Unfortunately for Jack, he belonged to Twilight and had to do what ever she said. “Ugh, fine. I’ll check to see who it is first.” Jack said. Twilight could tell he was upset. Jack stopped eating his food and went over to the door. He opened it to see who was outside. When he did, there was nothing there. “What the fuck?” Jack said to himself. “I really thought I heard knocking. Oh well, I guess I’ll just go back to breakfast.” Before Jack closed the door he saw a letter on the ground. He picked it up from the floor inside before closing the door. “Mistress! I found a letter on the floor!” He yelled for Twilight to come and see. “Can you read it to me?” Twilight asked while eating her food. “No, I can’t read, remember?” Jack said annoyed. “Why not?” Twilight asked. Jack stopped looking at the letter and towards Twilight. “According to the guards, teaching a human to read is illegal and I could be given the death sentence if you did such a thing. So that’s kind of an obvious question.” He said. “I thought we agreed that we would just keep it a secret.” Twilight said. “I know, but I still don’t wanna risk it.” Jack said nervously. “I already have enough things to worry about.” “When are you going to learn to take risks? If you don’t, you’re just going to be living like this forever.” Twilight said. “I’m already happy with my life right now.” Jack said. “Can you please just read to letter?” “Sure.” Twilight said still disappointed. “Give it here and I’ll read it out loud.” Jack sat down at the table and listened to what his owner was going to read. “Dear Twilight, you have been invited to a party at Sugar Cube Corner. Arrive at 7 pm. You can also bring Spike or your human with you if you want. From Pinkie Pie.” Twilight finished reading the letter. “Cool, there’s going to be a party later today.” Jack said exited. “Are we going?” “Of course.” Twilight said happily. “I don’t have anything important to do then, and I don’t think you do, based on your reaction.” “I don’t.” Jack said. “I’m totally free the entire day.” “Perfect!” Twilight said “Spike, are you coming?” “Sure, I don’t mind coming with you two.” Spike said. “What are we gonna do in the mean time?” Jack asked. “I don’t know.” Twilight responded. “We could see how one of your friends are doing.” Jack looked like he was about to start laughing. “I don’t have any friends.” He said. “I’m just just you, I’m so focused on working that I have no time to make any friends.” Twilight looked at him like she was annoyed, which she kind of was. “What are you talking about? You have lots of friends.” Twilight said. “Like who?” Jack asked sure that Twilight would not be able to answer. “You have Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie. You have me and Spike.” Twilight listed until Jack stopped her. “Alright, fine. I have friends. Are you happy now?” Jack said kind of annoyed. “You know, it’s okay to have friends.” Twilight said like she didn’t want to upset him. “I know it is. It’s just that, I don’t know. I don’t even know why I got mad at you.” Jack said. He realized that Twilight and Spike finished eating their pancakes so he grabbed their dishes and brought them to the sink. “I don’t know why you got mad either.” Twilight said. “Since Spike made breakfast, I’ll clean the dishes.” Jack said as he was rubbing a wet sponge on a plate. “Thank you.” Spike said. “It’s the last I could do after being made breakfast.” Jack said as he was cleaning a plate. “Feel free to go back to doing what ever you were doing while I clean these.” Twilight and Spike both walked out of the room while Jack continued to do the dishes. A little bit later Jack finished cleaning all the dishes. He made sure they were so sparkly clean that he could see his reflection on them. After a few seconds he said to himself out loud, “It looks clean enough to me.” later he thought about the time since he had spent so long on making the dishes as clean as possible. “Oh shit! What time is it?” He said to himself. He looked over at the clock which said 12:00 pm, which wasn’t too bad. “Really? it’s only noon? I thought I had spent much longer cleaning.” He said to himself like some creepy dude with an imaginary friend. Jack went upstairs to see Twilight reading. He didn’t want to interrupt her so he just walked past her. He watched her read until she was finished so he could talk to her. “I was wondering, is there anything that would take an extremely long time for me to do that I could do until it’s time for me to go to the party?” He asked. “Not really. There isn’t really anything I need you to do right now.” Twilight answered. “Sorry.” “It’s okay. I guess I’ll just stand here and watch you read that book like some creepy dude.” Jack said. “As I said before, you really are a strange creature.” Twilight said before she continued to read her book. Twilight continued to read her book. hours past before she stopped to look around. When she did, she noticed that Jack was nowhere to be seen. “Jack! Are you still here?” She asked wondering where he went. She thought that he was going to stand there and keep watching her. Twilight closed her book and decided she would look for him. She went over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. “Jack! Are you in there?” She asked before opening the door. He wasn’t in there. She went over to her bed and lifted up the covers while say, “Are you sleeping here?” “Where are you? Are you trying to hide from me?” Twilight asked before walking downstairs. She went in the kitchen. “Are you cooking in here?” She asked to find that the kitchen was exactly how it was when the ate breakfast. “What are you up to, Twilight?” Spike asked as he walked into the kitchen. “Are you cooking dinner?” “Has it really been that long?!” Twilight asked in shock. “All I did was read an extremely long book!” “Um, yeah, It’s been that long. Right now it’s about 6:30.” Spike said as he pointed at a clock. “I’m looking for Jack, but he doesn’t appear to be around.” Twilight asked concerned. “I have no idea where he is.” Suddenly Twilight heard footsteps. “Were you looking for me?” Jack asked as he joined Twilight and Spike in the kitchen. “I’m right here.” “Where were you?” Twilight asked. “I thought you left.” “I was just looking outside.” Jack said. “I was protecting the library. Thankfully, nothing dangerous appeared.” “Why were you worried about that? You didn’t seem worried earlier today.” Twilight asked. “I don’t really know why. I guess I wasn’t thinking about it earlier but while you were reading, I decided to take a break from watching you since I got tired, and I looked outside instead.” Jack said. “Was I not supposed to?” “No. you didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t really pay much attention to you since I was reading my book.” Twilight said. “I don’t even know who’s fault it is.” Jack said. “It’s not anypony’s fault.” Twilight said before hugging him. He simply hugged back. “I guess I got worried since I couldn’t find you.” “I can take care of myself you know.” Jack started to look annoyed. “Even if I lived with you most of my life.” “It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re safe. Celestia told me.” Twilight said before she stopped hugging him since the moment had passed. “But you’re right. Maybe I do try to protect you more than I should.” Jack simply smiled at her. “You were just doing ask you were told, similar to how I’m simply doing what I was told.” He said before he went over to the counter to grab a glass of water. “How long has there been a glass of water sitting on the counter?” Twilight asked. Jack took a sip from the glass before answering, “I have no idea. I just decided to drink it since it was standing there and nopony else seemed to want it.” “That reminds me, I wanted to say that the party is going to be starting soon.” Twilight said. “Are you ready to go?” “Jack finished drinking his water and went over to the sink to clean it while saying, “Yeah, I’m ready.” “We still have a few minutes before we leave so you can finish cleaning that if you want.” Twilight said. “Or we could go right now and be early if you want.” “I’ll clean this up and then we can go.” Jack said. After a few minutes he finished cleaning the glass and put it back in the cabinet where it belonged. “Alright, Mistress. Let’s fucking go!” Jack said. Jack, Twilight and Spike all walked out of the library and began to head to Sugar Cube Corner. “How long do you think it’s going to take for us to get there?” Jack asked. “Not long,” Twilight answered. “I made sure we left with enough time to get there in time.” “Good, because I don’t like to be late.” Jack said. “Are you at all worried about the library?” “Why would I be?” Twilight asked. “I’m not worried. I think it will still be there when we get back.” Spike said. “You might think I worry more than I should, and I probably do, but sometimes I can’t help it.” Jack said. “I’m not saying that worrying is a bad thing,” Twilight said. “And I don’t think you worry too much.” “Thank you.” Jack was mostly silent during the trip. He occasionally said a few words but he didn’t say much. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. I have no idea what’s going to happen, if we’re going to be okay or not.” “You’ve been saying that for the past 15 years and we’re still alive.” Twilight said. Jack thought about how he could change the subject, because he really didn’t want to keep talking about this. “So, how much further are we going to have to go?” He asked. “I see it right over there.” Twilight pointed her front right hoof at the bakery. “Yes! We’ve finally made it!” Jack sounded like he was very happy he jumped up and down, running while yelling. “That extremely long adventure will finally be over!” “What are you talking about? We’ve only been walking for about 5 minutes.” Twilight asked “Fuck that, why do you always have to ruin my fun?” Jack lowered his eyebrows and stopped jumping around. “Why do you always get mad?” Twilight got mad too. “You take everything too seriously!” “I do not! Maybe it just felt like I was walking a long way because I’m so fucking tired right now!” Jack said. “You could have slept. I had almost a day now to get some rest.” Twilight said. Jack no longer looked mad. “I don’t know what I was doing. I just like to look at the sky sometimes, and question my entire existence.” Jack was even looking at the sky while speaking. While Jack was staring at the night sky he almost ran into the door but thankfully he stopped looking up long enough to notice it was here and stop himself. “Maybe I should pay more attention to where I’m walking.” Twilight smiled at him. “That would be a good idea.” Jack opened the door for her. “After you.” He said. “Thank you.” Twilight walked through the door before Jack followed her in and closed the door behind him. When they both got inside the lights were off. “Who turned the lights out? I can’t the a damn thing.” Jack said while looking around. Suddenly, the lights turned on and a lot of ponies that Jack did, and didn’t know yelled, “Surprise!” Jack stood where he was shocked. “What are we celebrating?” Pinkie walked over to him and said, “You’re 15 year anniversary here in Ponyville!” “It’s also the 15th year I’ve been a slave to your friend.” Jack said like he wasn’t exited at all. “Well sure, it was that too, but come on, we have lots of food and games. Follow me!” Pinkie grabbed his right arm and dragged him inside. He met Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity while he was inside. “What’s going on?” He asked them all. “I’m doing pretty good.” Rainbow said. “I’m good.” Applejack said. “I, um… I’m good.” Fluttershy said. “I’m doing just fine.” Rarity said. “My day was pretty boring to be honest. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t see anything new or interesting happen.” Jack said before he went over to a table and sat down. Jack and Twilight’s friends both talked for a while. At some point Jack went over to another table to get a slice of cake since they were serving cake. “I fucking love cake, and swearing while fillies and colts are listening!” Jack got himself a slice of cake and returned to the table he was at. He saw that Pinkie and Twilight had joined. “What’s up, Pinkie? We were just talking about how we were.” Jack said as he sat down at the table with them. “I spent the past few hours working on this party. Do you like it?” Pinkie asked. “I fucking love it!” Jack said before stuffing his face with cake. “Aren’t you going to say hi to me?” Twilight asked. “Sorry about that, hello, mistress.” Jack said with his mouth full. “On second thought, you could just continue eating.” Twilight said. “Sorry for talking with my mouth full.” Jack said as soon as he stopped eating his cake. “I’m gonna go get another.” Jack left the table to go get another slice. “Sometimes I really don’t understand him.” Twilight said while watching him walk away. “Maybe he doesn’t know better than to act the way he does.” Rainbow suggested. “I think that’s just the thing. I think he doesn’t know better.” Twilight said turning to the rest of the group. Jack went over to grab another slice of cake. After he took it he turned around to see three fillies staring at him. The first one was an earth pony with a yellow coat, a bright red mane, orange eyes, and a pink bow on her head. The second one was a unicorn with a white coat, a pink and purple mane, and green eyes. The last one was a pegasus with an orange coat, a purple mane and purple eyes. Jack looked down at them before saying, “Hi Apple bloom,” He pointed at the earth pony. “Hi Sweetie Belle,” He pointed to the unicorn. “And hi Scootaloo.” He pointed to the pegasus. “Hey there, Jack.” Apple Bloom said. “Are you enjoying the party? Cause we are.” Sweetie Belle said. “I’m enjoying it.” Scootaloo said. Jack put his slice of cake on the table before saying, “Yeah, I’m having fun too. I mostly spent it eating cake and talking to friends thought. Yes, I have friends, so don’t bother me about it.” “I knew you had friends.” Scootaloo said. “You’re my friends.” Apple Bloom said. “Me too.” Sweetie Belle said. “I’m friends with all of you too. Don’t ever forget that.” Jack said. “That reminds me, I saw Applejack and Rarity a few minutes ago. I saw Rainbow Dash too.” They all looked at him. “Where?” Sweetie Belle asked. Jack pointed to a table where Twilight and her friends were sitting at. “They’re over at that table over there.” He picked up his slice of cake from the table and began to walk over to Twilight. “That reminds me of something.” Scootaloo said. “Me and my friends were wondering if you would come to our tree house soon.” “Why?” Jack asked before he started eating his cake. “Because you’re our friend.” Applebloom said. “We like spending time with you.” “I’ll keep that in mind.” Jack said as soon as he stopped eating. “I didn’t talk with my mouth full this time.” They made it over to the table that Twilight and her friends were sitting at. Jack sat back down on the chair he left from earlier. “I’ve found some of my friends while I was getting cake.” He said. “Also, I spent so much time talking with them that when I got back here, I already ate my entire slice of cake.” “Would you like to get another?” Twilight asked. “Nah, if I do then when I get back here it’ll be gone again.” Jack said. “You can never trust me with food, Just know that.” “I completely trust you with food.” Pinkie said. “Me too.” Applejack said. “Thank you, but I don’t trust myself.” Jack said. “Are any of you going to get some?” “I already did.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m really enjoying this party by he way.” Jack said. “I think that Pinkie did a great job preparing it.” “Thank you.” Pinkie said. “The party has only just started. Pinkie Pie Parties only end once everypony leaves.” “Well I’m going to party until I’m the last one here.” Jack said. “Or until getting no sleep today finally catches up with me. Which ever one comes first.” “I’ll meet you back at the library then.” Twilight said. “I’m still going to stay as long as I can though.” “On second thought, I think I will get another slice of cake.” Jack said as he picked up his plate and walked away from the table. “I don’t think it’s healthy for him to be eating so much cake.” Pinkie said. “I dunno, I think he’ll be fine.” Rainbow said. “He eats this much all the time. That doesn’t mean I don’t worry about him, of course.” Twilight said as she watching him grabbing another slice of cake before walking back to the table. “What did I miss?” Jack sat back down at the table before eating even more cake. “By the way, I overheard you’re conversation and I kinda have to agree that I think I eat way too much cake.” “Then why do you do it?” Twilight asked. “Cause I like cake!” Jack said before eating more cake. “You know, there’s more you can do at this party than just eat cake.” Twilight said. “You could dance, you could play games.” “I think I’ll go dance, because I’m sick of so much goddamn cake.” Jack said as he finished eating his third slice of cake. He walked away from the table and started dancing. Twilight simply watched him dancing. He looked like he was having a good time. She looked over to her friend before saying, “Sometimes I worry for him. He’s my human and he may be happy most of the time, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s held captive.” “He looks like he’s having a great time out there.” Rainbow said. “I don’t like it any more than you do.” Rarity said. “Those guards were meanies to be so hurtful to such a kind creature.” Pinkie said. “I agree.” Rarity said. “What can we really do about it, though?” Twilight asked. “As He said before, it’s the law and we can’t change that.” “Dreams have come true before.” Applejack said. “Maybe this one will too.” “I’m at least glad that he’s happy and safe now.” Fluttershy said. “I know, but I’m still worried about his safety. I was assigned with protecting him with my life,” Twilight said. “And he said that it was his job to protect me.” They all stood silent while She looked at them. She waited to see if they had anything to say, but they didn’t. A few seconds later she looked back at Jack who was still dancing. “You were right, he does look like he’s having a great time.” Jack spent the next several hours partying. He spent the majority of it dancing and occasionally grabbing a slice of cake. At some point he was sitting on a stage with Pinkie. He said into a microphone, “Hey all you ponies out there! I just wanted to say thanks to every single one of you! For making this the best 15 year anniversary in Ponyville ever!” He had bags under his eyes and he could barely even stand up. Pinkie looked at him concerned. “Are you sure you’re absolutely one hundred percent okay?” She asked. He hiccuped before saying, “What the fuck are you talking about? I feel fucking fantastic!” “But you look really tired. Are you sure you haven’t partied too hard?” She asked. Jack lowered his eyebrows. “I’ll party all night!” His legs started to give out on him. Twilight and her friends stopped talking and went over to look at him. “I’ll be here until I’m the last one here.” He could barely even speak. “Is he okay?” Fluttershy asked in concern. “I’m great! Fucking perfect!” Jack said before his legs fell onto the ground. He almost fell off the stage but he was able to get off and onto the floor where he collapsed onto the ground. “Did he die?!” Pinkie yelled looking like she was about to panic. Twilight put her hoof on his chest and could feel him breathing. “He’s alive. I think he just fell asleep.” “Is he gonna be alright?” Applejack asked. “He does this sometimes when he doesn’t get enough or any sleep.” Twilight told her friends which didn’t stop them from looking worried. “I think he’s partied too hard.” Pinkie said. “What should we do with him?” “I think I’m going to bring him back home. Thank you for throwing this party by the way. I promise I’ll help you clean up as soon as I get back after bringing him home.” Twilight said as she picked him up with her magic and put his on her back. She walked out the door and back to her library. “I guess we should start cleaning up for tomorrow.” Pinkie said. “Yeah, we probably should.” Rainbow agreed. They all began to clean up the party. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 Jack opened his eyes slowly. One they were fully open he blinked a few times before looking at his surroundings. He was lying in a familiar bed. He looked to his left and saw nothing. He turned to his right and again, saw nothing. He grabbed the covers and lifted them off his body before getting off the bed and putting them back the way they were. He was wearing pajamas with white and light blue vertical stripes, and was barefoot. Jack groaned before saying, “What happened?” Suddenly he remembered. “Oh yeah, I went to a party where I spent hours dancing and eating so much goddamn cake.” Jack looked around to for a clock to see how long he was out. He found a set of stairs nearby and walked down them. when he made it to the bottom, he looked at the walls covered in books and eventually found a clock that said 8:15 am. “That was earlier than I expected to wake up.” Jack said before he continued walking across the room except this time, for a calendar. After a little searching he found one that said July 7. “Well, at least I didn’t spend an entire decade sleeping.” Jack said to himself. “I wonder where everypony is. Am I alone here?” Jack walked into the kitchen to see if Twilight or Spike were there making breakfast. “Yo! I’m hungry, bitches!” He yelled while he walked into the kitchen. He didn’t find Twilight or Spike anywhere. “I guess I’ll look somewhere else.” Jack walked back upstairs where he went up a latter to the top of the library. “I remember standing here for hours looking at that sky. I do that more often than I should.” He didn’t find Twilight or Spike there either so he went back down the ladder by grabbing the left side, and sliding down with his left hand before using his left leg to jump off. He went over to a closet and opened it. He grabbed his clothes out of it before taking his pajamas off and putting his normal clothes on. “I guess I’m the only one here right now.” He said. He went back downstairs and grabbed a book before walking over to a chair to read it. The book talked about how humans were known by ponies for thousands of years, and when they were first discovered the lived alongside ponies as friends. Before he could read any further he heard knocking at the door. He panicked and put the book back where he found it before he went over to the door to answer it. When he opened it, he saw Twilight and Spike standing there. “Yo, what up?” Jack said while he could feel himself sweating. “You look hot. Are you okay?” Twilight asked before she walked inside. “Yeah, are you alright?” Spike asked as he followed Twilight. “Yeah, I’m totally fine here. I was just staring out a window waiting for you to return.” Jack closed the door after they both walked inside. “If you were looking out the window, why didn’t you notice us when we were walking here?” Twilight asked. Jack stood silently as he tried to think of an excuse. “I was looking out a different window staring at the sky.” Twilight and Spike both looked at him confused. “Okay.” Twilight said. “I’m sorry that I left you here alone, but I didn’t think you would wake up so early.” “It’s alright, I’m pretty used to being alone.” Jack said as he was think of excuses if his owner asked him any uncomfortable questions. “But I don’t usually leave you here,” Twilight said. “And even when I do, Spike is generally here.” “Are you worried I’m gonna run away or something?” Jack said as he stared out a window. “No, I don’t think you’re gonna run off, I just don’t want you to feel lonely.” Twilight said. “I learned to accept loneliness because of that cursed dungeon back at Canterlot.” Jack said as he turned over to look at Twilight. “I know I may not have even been near that place in 15 years, but I think the memories of it will stick with me forever.” “You always bring that place up, when are you going to stop it?” Twilight asked. “I’m not sure if I ever will, but if it bothers you, I’ll try to.” Jack said. “After all, I follow your commands whatever they may be.” “I still try to at least give you some feeling of freedom. Even if it is just in this library.” Twilight said. “I thank you for that, even if I might not have freedom, I at least sometimes feel like I do here.” Jack said. While they were talking they both heard knocking at the door. “I wonder who that is?” Twilight said as she walked over to answer it. Jack stood back prepared in case it might be a home invader. “Don’t worry, I’ll back you up if it’s an intruder.” He said. Twilight opened to door to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo outside. “Hi girls.” She said. “Did you come to visit me?” “We came to see Jack.” Scootaloo told Twilight. “Yesterday he said that he would come play with us.” Sweetie Belle said. “Is he here?” Apple Bloom asked. “Yeah, I’m right here.” Jack said before walking over to the group. “If My mistress agrees then I’ll let you abduct me.” “Of course you can go play with them if you want.” Twilight said. “Alright then, I guess I’m going to do that.” Jack said. “We’re heading back to the tree house.” Scootaloo said. “I guess I’ll follow you.” Jack said as they left. “Try to stay safe.” Twilight said as she waved goodbye to Jack. “I will, and I’ll make sure the girls are safe too.” Jack said as he followed them. “I’ll try to return before midnight, but I’m not making any promises.” “I trust you. Have fun.” Twilight said before she closed the door. The journey over to the tree house wasn’t very long. It only took them about 10 minutes to get there. At one point they were stopped by a mare unicorn with a light green coat. “What is a human doing running around with 3 fillies?” She asked. Jack and his friends stopped walking immediately to respond to the stranger they just met. “We were just heading to a house to play.” Jack said, “Why does it matter to you?” “Shouldn’t you be back at your home working for your owner?” She asked. “No, I think that I should be able to play with my friends if they want to.” Jack said. “I bet your owner doesn’t even know about this.” She said. “They do. They told me that If I wanted to, I could play with them.” Jack said. “I don’t even know why I’m having this conversation.” “Because I got your attention.” She answered. “I’m going back to walking.” Jack said before he continued his journey to the tree house. The mare continued to walk in the direction she seemed to have been going before Jack talked to her. “Do you know who that was?” Jack asked. “Nope.” Scootaloo said. “Not me.” Apple Bloom said. “I’ve never seen that mare in my life.” Sweetie Belle said. “Let’s just hope that we never see her again.” Jack said. “Why not?” Apple Bloom asked. “I’ll explain when we get to the tree house. For now let’s just focus on getting there.” He said, “I think we’re almost there anyways.” He was right because they were only walking for the next 5 minutes before they made it to the tree house. “Well what do you know, we’re already here.” He waited for his friends to go inside before following them. The entrance had a ramp which lead up to the tree house. When they were all at the top, Jack grabbed it and lifted it up so that nopony could get up. “Um… What are you doing?” Scootaloo asked. “I was just lifting up the ramp so that nopony can attack us.” Jack responded before walking into the tree house. “Hmm, this place looks bigger on the inside than on the outside.” “That’s what everypony says.” Applebloom said. “Are you really worried about being attacked?” Sweetie Belle asked. Jack stared at her while he raised his right eyebrow. “Of course I am, you never know when danger might appear.” “Were probably going to be fine.” Scootaloo said. “Yeah, but I’d still rather be careful anyways.” Jack said while he was looking out a window. “I’m more concerned with your safety than my own to be honest.” “Well… I’m at least happy that you care about us.” Sweetie Belle said. “I still worry about myself,” Jack said before he stopped looking at the window and turned to face them. “It’s just that I worry about you all more.” “We all care about you, don’t we girls?” Applebloom said. “I care about you.” Scootaloo said. “Me too.” Sweetie Belle added. “I can take care of myself. I train with weapons after all.” Jack said. “I’ve been training with swords since I was 9 years old, but I wasn’t allowed to carry one with me until I was 16. but you probably already know this.” They all stared at Jack. “You never told us about that.” Scootaloo said. Jack lowered his eyebrows with a slightly angry frown. “Of course I didn’t. It was kind of a between me, Twilight and her friends.” Jack sat down and crossed his legs. “What was interesting is that before I was 16, I wasn’t allowed to carry a sword with me, but after I was 16 I was pretty much forced to have one.” They all stared at Jack. “What changed when you were 16?” Scootaloo asked. “Twilight decided that I needed to be able to defend myself in case I got attacked.” Jack said as they all sat down on the floor ready to hear the story. “Well, it all happened 5 years ago.” 7 years ago Jack was standing near a bookshelf sorting books. The way he sorted them was by color because he wanted Twilight to think that was the best way he could do it. Once he was finished he said to himself out loud: “Hmm, looks perfect.” A few minutes later Twilight walked in. “Jack, how are you doing?” She looked at the bookshelf that he organized. “Why did you organize those by color?” “Because it looks beautiful,” Jack said jokingly before he started to look more serious, “and because I don’t know how to read.” “So you don’t know any other way of organizing the books?” Twilight asked. “Nope.” Jack said. “Since you don’t like it, I guess I’ll destroy my own work and start over.” Jack kicked the bookshelf causing all the books to fall into a giant pile on the floor almost hitting Twilight. “Why did you do that?” Twilight asked shocked, “You worked so hard on that and you just wasted all that time!” “You didn’t like it that way so I’m going to do it again differently.” Jack said, “Also, if I accidentally hit you with any books, sorry about that.” “You didn’t hit me with any books, but I still don’t know why you did that.” Twilight said. “Thinking about it, I’m not sure why I did that either. It was a goddamn masterpiece, and I just threw it away.” Jack said. In the present Everypony stared at Jack before Scootaloo interrupted the story by saying, “Wait a minute, How were you in danger?” “I was getting there,” Jack said as everypony sat back down on the floor as Jack continued the story. “But since you don’t really seem to care about this part I’ll just skip over to the part where the serious shit started.” 7 years ago Jack was sitting down on a wooden chair near a table staring out a window upstairs. A few seconds later he started to hear hoofsteps that sounded like they were coming from the stairs. He saw Twilight walk up them. “What up?” He asked. “Not much, I just came up to see how you were doing. I thought you might’ve been bored from sitting down looking outside.” Twilight said. Jack turned around and got up from the chair. “You know, It’s something to do when I have nothing else to do.” Twilight walked over to him while saying, “Are you mad?” She asked with a slight frown on her face. Jack looked at her confused, “Why would I be mad?” He asked as he walked down a few stairs because the window had a very short staircase. “Are you mad about the life you have to be living right now?” Twilight said. “What do you mean?” Jack asked. “Well… I mean, do you ever wish you were free? Do you ever wish you weren’t held captive by my kind?” She asked. “I’m happy with living here, and I’m happy with my current life. I’ve kind of lived it for 8 years so I’m pretty used to it.” Jack said. Twilight got on her back hooves and hugged his chest with her front hooves. He hugged her back. “I love you.” She said to him. “I love you too… Twilight.” Jack said out loud. While they were hugging a door in front of them opened. Behind it was a unicorn stallion royal guard with a cobalt blue coat and standard royal guard golden armor. He gritted his teeth and slammed the door in anger before he walked away. Jack and Twilight stopped hugging. “Did you hear that? I thought I heard the door slam shut.” Jack asked in concern of the noise he thought he heard. “I think I did.” Twilight answered, “I Think it came from that door over there.” She pointed her front right hoof at a door near the stairs. “Do you think somepony broke into the library?” He asked. “I’m not sure, but I think we’re going to find out in a few minutes.” She responded. “So who’s gonna go check it out?” Jack asked. Twilight looked at him. She could tell he was afraid because he almost started crying. “I’ll go check.” She offered. “No. I’m going to go check out what the hell is going on here.” Jack said as bravely as he could. Even if he tried to act brave, she could still tell he was scared. “Are you sure you can handle this?” She asked. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think there’s any other choice.” Jack said before he gave his mistress another hug. “Wish me luck.” He said before he stopped hugging her and went over to the door. He opened the door and walked through it. He gave Twilight a small smile as he slowly closed the door before walking downstairs. “I really hope I was just hearing things and I’m completely safe, but I know that’s not gonna happen.” He said to himself as he slowly walked downstairs. When he got to the bottom of the stairs the room looked exactly like how he remembered it. There wasn’t a single detail that stood out to him. He looked around but still nothing. “Huh. Maybe I was just imagining things.” He said to himself. A few seconds later he felt a blast of magic his him sending him flying across the room landing on his chest. He looked behind him to see a blue unicorn stallion guard. “Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my owner’s home?” Jack demanded to know. “What was the meaning of that?!” The guard yelled furiously. “Nothing, honest!” Jack looked at his right arm to see he was slowly losing blood. “Don’t lie to me, human! You were up there corrupting the mind of Princess Celestia’s students!” The guard yelled somehow even louder and angrier than before. “What’s your problem, dude?” Jack asked. “You’re the one who broke into our home and think I’m doing something wrong?” “To corrupt the mind of such an important mare is something to be ashamed of attempting.” The guard said as he grabbed a Royal Guard’s Broadsword with his magic. The sword was almost entirely black except the grip which was a dark purple. It had a guard that almost looked like block like wings with a dark purple eye in the center. “Yeah, this isn’t gonna end well for me.” Jack said as he looked at his left leg to see he was bleeding there too. The guard picked Jack up with his front right hoof. He prepared for his life to end right there and then… but nothing happened. A few seconds later he heard a familiar voice. “What is the meaning of this?!” Jack heard from the kitchen. The guard put Jack down and turned around to look at who was talking. “Princess Celestia, I can explain.” He desperately tried to think of an excuse for what he had done. “Oh my goodness, what did you do to him?” Jack heard a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane and blue eyes. Twilight walked downstairs while saying, “Hey, Jack, are you okay down here.” She looked to see what was going on. “Oh my goodness are you alright, Jack?!” She ran downstairs to check in on him. Twilight put her front left hoof on his chest. “Jack, are you alive?” Her eyes soon filled with tears. “I think so… but I’m losing blood fast.” Jack said putting his left hand on his left leg where he was cut in an attempt to slow down the bleeding. “Who is responsible for this?!” Twilight asked in anger. Jack build up the strength to speak. “It was that blue guard.” “Me and Shining Armor were in the kitchen. He cannot be lying.” Celestia said. They all turned to stare at the blue guard. “This looks pretty bad.” He said. “Do you honestly think that I would believe that this poor creature provoked you in some way?” Celestia said. “Um, uh...” He tried to think of something to say. “Blue Star!” Shining Armor yelled. “For attacking this innocent creature I strip you of your rank! You are no longer a royal guard of Canterlot!” “What?! But, I-” Blue Star was interrupted by Celestia. “Blue Star! Get out of my sight, and get out of this creature’s home!” “Um uh, but-” Blue Star was interrupted again. “NOW!” Celestia yelled in a voice Jack and the others have never even heard before. Blue Star couldn’t even think of anything to say and just ran over to the exit. When he got outside he ran away as fast as possible. “Yeah… we fucked that dude up.” Jack said as he raised his muddle finger up while having a small smile on his face. He then collapsed back onto the floor. They all ran over to Jack to help him. Celestia’s horn began to glow as she pointed it near his body and began to heal him. “What happened to you?” Shining Armor asked. “I think it’s kind of obvious. I walked downstairs to find this blue guard appear and nearly kill me. If you came even a few seconds later I probably would’ve been dead, so thanks for saving me.” Jack said. “And thank you for healing me, Celestia.” “You are very welcome. It’s the least I could do after what happened.” Celestia said. “I guess what I just don’t understand is what the shit happened to make that guard so freaking angry?” Jack asked. “He always did show a hatred towards humans.” Celestia said. “Even today I am clueless as to what caused it.” “Well thankfully, we’re probably never going to see him again.” Shining Armor said. “Yeah, That fool got what he deserved.” Jack slowly tried to get back up before he fell back down. “Yeah, I think I’ll wait until I get healed a little more before I start walking again. I think my leg is still bleeding a little.” “Please don’t force yourself to do more than you think you can.” Twilight said concerned for his safety. “Why did he even do this to me? I’m technically Twilight’s property so he doesn’t even have the right to do that.” Jack said. “But he couldn’t understand that and he lost his position as a royal guard for it.” “You’re right,” Shining Armor replied, “And since he couldn’t respect that he lost his position as a royal guard.” “I can’t really say I feel bad for him.” Jack said as Celestia continued to heal him. He felt like he was almost able to get back up on his feet. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” “And what may your question be?” Celestia asked. “Why was it that you came here anyways, and how come you only came to save me after I almost died when you were only in the kitchen?” Jack asked. “We were searching for you and Twilight. Blue Star must have decided to search for Twilight himself.” Celestia answered. “Alright, I’m gonna try to get back up on my feet.” Jack said as Twilight grabbed his right arm. He slowly began to get up on his feet. A few seconds later he was standing as Twilight let go of his arm. “You did it!” Twilight yelled happy for him. “Yeah, I think I can walk again without hurting myself.” Jack said. “So as I was saying before, why did you need me and mistress?” “I was checking to see if you were safe. I had already seen all of your other friends.” Celestia said. Jack stared as Princess Celestia confused. “Of course we’re safe. Why wouldn’t we be?” He asked. “Didn’t you hear?” Shining Armor began to speak, “There was a recent attack on a slave wagon. There were dead guards everywhere.” “No I didn’t hear about that.” Jack said. “I needed to see if Twilight and you were safe.” Shining Armor said. “You know, maybe we should go clean up.” Jack suggested. “There was already a group of royal guards set out to deal with them.” Shining Armor said, “I guess I could check in on them to see how they’re doing.” Jack looked at Shining Armor. “Should me and my mistress come with you? I think we would be better off if more of us went.” “I don’t know, It could be dangerous. What does Twilight have to say about that?” He asked Twilight. “If you really feel you need to go, I won’t try to stop you. After all, it’s just cleaning up. How bad could it really get?” Twilight said, “I can never stop you from doing dangerous thing, can I?” “No you can’t.” Jack said with a grin on his face as he stared at Twilight, “Anyways, let’s go!” 3 minutes later Jack, Twilight and Shining Armor were at the location of the attack. Celestia Went back to Canterlot Palace because there was business she needed to attend to. They all found the wagon that was attacked. There were two earth ponies who seemed to be moving it that were lying on the ground dead. They could tell because their blood covered the ground near them. The wagon seemed to be tipped over and the cage at the back was wide open. When Jack went over to investigate the inside was completely empty. “Well, I think the coast is clear so we can probably start to clean up.” Jack said as he looked around to see dead ponies and humans scattered across the area. A few seconds later Jack thought he saw one of the bodies move. “Did you see that?” He asked. Jack looked over to Twilight and Shining Armor but they were still trying to get rid of the wagon. Shining Armor was trying to push it back on it’s wheels while Twilight was pulling it back up from behind. The body of a stallion earth pony with a light gray mane slowly got up from the ground. “Is everypony gone? Is it safe to sneak away from the battle now?” He whispered to himself quietly. Jack didn’t think that the stallion saw him yet so he turned to his right to see a corpse of a stallion unicorn with golden royal guard armor who had a Traveler’s Broadsword right next to him. The sword had a short dark gray blade, a dark brown grip and a dark gray hilt. He lifted his body up with his left hand and grabbed the sword with his right hard from under the dead stallion’s body. He dropped the body back on the ground and looked at he blade of his sword. Since the stallion was looked in the opposite direction of Jack he decided to sneak up on him. A few seconds later the stallion turned around and saw Jack holding a sword walking towards him. “This isn’t what it looks like!” Jack yelled while panicking. You must be one of the humans on that wagon. Probably The only one dumb enough to have stuck around.” The stallion said as he reached for a Traveler’s Broadsword on the ground next to him. “Come on, I just almost died a few minutes ago. I don’t want to again.” Jack said desperately attempting to make peace. “Too bad! You have to fight me anyways!” The stallion said. “I’m not going to let all of the humans escape. Even If I don’t remember finding you, but that doesn’t matter now.” Jack raised his sword and stared directly at the stallion. “Alright, let’s just get this over with.” He said before he charged straight at the stallion. As Jack was ready to swing his sword the Stallion swung downwards first. Jack jumped to the left before swinging his sword to his right. The stallion blocked it with his sword causing Jack to lost balance for a few moments. Jack saw the stallion swing his sword to his right by spinning around so Jack jumped backwards before he jumped forwards with his sword in the air. He landed hitting the ground with the blade of his sword but missing his target. He lifted he sword back up and stabbed his blade straight at his opponent. The stallion was hit by the sword knocking him back on his hind legs. Jack saw this as an opportunity and swing his sword right cutting his chest open before stabbing him one last time in the stomach which sent drops of blood across the ground and onto Jack’s clothes. Jack pulled his sword out of the stallion’s chest and kicked his corpse onto the ground. He then turned to Twilight and Shining armor yelling, “Hey guys! Did you just see that?” They stopped trying to move the wagon and ran over to Jack. Twilight stared at him in shock, “Oh my goodness what happened to you?!” She asked looking at the amount of blood splattered onto his clothing. “Well, what happened here was that stallion on the ground next to me came back from the dead and tried to kill me.” Jack said annoyed. “So I say we should get out of here in case more of the fools come back up and attack us.” “I agree, Jack.” Twilight said. “Let’s head back to the library. I still have some cleaning up to do there anyways.” “Sure, let’s go. You coming, shining?” Jack said. “I’ll come back and help you clean up the place.” Shining said. Jack began to talk to himself quietly as they began walking back home. “Maybe that one slaver survived all the destruction… or maybe he just played dead and hoped everypony was gone.” “Sorry, what were you saying?” Twilight asked. I Don’t know, I was thinking of how that one stallion was alive.” Jack answered in confusion. “This has just been a long day over that past few minutes.” “Yeah, it sure was. But I’m sure we’ll be able to get back on track.” Twilight said trying to stay positive. “I sure hope so.” Jack said. In the present “So yeah, that’s pretty much what happened.” Jack said as everypony stared at him. “You nearly died twice within a few minutes?” Scootaloo asked. “Yeah I did.” Jack answered. “Apparently that stallion was no match for me.” “You kept a sword with you since then?” Apple Bloom asked. Jack frowned slightly and lowered his eyebrows, “Well, I did for a few months until I broke it while fighting a group of bandit. That think saved by life.” “Do you know what ever happened to Blue Star?” Scootaloo asked. “No, I never saw that sick bastard since. I was quite surprised to see him cause last time I saw him before that was when I got sent over to my mistress’s place.” Jack answered. “I sometimes think he’s out plotting his revenge against me for costing him his job… But he never came.” “Are you really worried he’s gonna come after you 5 years later?” Sweetie Belle asked. “To be honest, I don’t know what to expect.” Jack said as he looked out the window towards the sunset in the mountains. “Wow, has it really been so long?” “That was kinda a story.” Apple Bloom said as she joined him by the window. “My mistress, is probably going to be wondering why I’ve been gone for so long. I should probably head back home.” Jack said. “Alright, I guess We’ll see you later.” Scootaloo said. “Me too.” Sweetie Belle added. “I hope to see ya soon.” Apple Bloom said. “I promise I’ll see you all soon.” Jack said as he went down the ramp outside and began sprinting like a maniac all the way back to Twilight’s library. “That human keeps getting weirder by the day.” Scootaloo said. “Tell me about it.” Sweetie Bell added.