The taste of iron was striking. Putting a hand to your face, a sticky red substance oozed from your forehead. “Well, that’s definitely gonna scar.” You complained, wiping away as much blood as you could. Yo readjusted the cloth that was drapped around your mouth. Hopping back to your feet, you dusted off any dirt that may have gotten stuck to your pants.
“It’s a shame. You came all the way to die, human.” Something snarled through the fog over Everfree Forest. A beast strolled towards you, it’s yellow irises shining through the mist.
“I have a name.” You snarled at the Nue, a male one at that. A hybrid of a monkey, tanuki, tiger, and… What else? You felt like you were forgetting something. The chimeric creature lunged at you, it’s claws itching to tear into your tanned flesh. Rolling out of to the side, the beast landed with a heavy thud. It whipped around to the rear. It’s tail stirred to shot out toward you. Catching it, you remembered what the last animal part was. The Nue’s snake tail hissed, struggling to escape your grasp. It opened its maw and released a deep violet gas.
Poison. Poison that’ll kill you if you didn’t stop it. But the cloth around your face would help...hopefully. With your free hand and held breath, you gripped one of the python’s fangs and yanked it out. The Nue howled in pain. He kicked his hind legs back, his clawed toes missing your honey tonned flesh by inches. You let go and jumped back from the chimeric creatures.
“How dare you!” The Nue growled.
Sighing, you said, “I just needed to ask a question.”
“I’ll die before I work with a human like yourself.”
“Well, aren't we rude. I'm kinda offended.”
“Feel however you want, you’ll die-,” The Nue lurched forward as if he was going to attack before falling to the ground. He groaned, his injuries getting the better of him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that last part.” You laughed, smirking as you walked over.
The Nue’s gaze met yours. His black irises didn’t waver. With clenched teeth, he said, “Fine. End it.”
“End it?” You questioned, walking over to the defeated creature, “Relax. That’s not my style.” You gently laid your hands onto the beast’s furry torso. With a deep breath, Mana swirled within your stomach. Your hands emitted a bright golden light. Within seconds the Nue was healed, walking around as if the fight never happened.
Stretching its limbs, it snarled at you. “I don’t… Why?”
“Told ya already. Killings not my style.” You took of your face cloth, a move that could’ve gotten you killed. “You might wanna be careful. Healing magic’s not my forte, so you might experience a little pain later.”
“Don’t think this makes us allies.” The Nue said, panting heavily. “But, I can at least answer your question.”
You smiled. “Recently, more and more mystical creatures have been coming out and attacking people. Why is that?
If the Nue had eyebrows, he would’ve raised them. “That is nothing new. The supernatural world has existed long before you humans appeared.”
“That’s not what I meant.” You took a moment to composed your question. “The supernatural world and the human world are colliding, I want to know why. Nues are the smartest creatures I know, please.”
Your plea must have amused the “Ah, you mean the harmonic overlap.”
“Harmonic Overlap?”
The Nue sat on it’s behind, “Every thirty moons, a gateway opens in the human world. During that time, the supernatural world and the human world overlap. Two worlds converged into one.”
“So,” You put a hand on your chin, thoughts racing through your mind, “When is Harmonic Overlap?
“It’s already started, silly boy.” Your eyes widened. He must’ve seen your expression because he then added, “But it won’t last forever. In three days, the gate will close and will remain close for another thirty moons.”
You nodded, “Alright… Thanks for the help.” You turned to leave, but the Nue called after you.
“Aegis.” You swiveled around. The Nue swallowed, “Thank you.” You beamed.
“Anon. My name’s Anon.” You replied. The Nue snorted as it turned and limped away. You did the same.
What’s up, old man.” You called as you entered your house. It wasn’t long before an elderly man reading an ancient looking book came into view.
“Well, you’re up early. School’s not for another two hours, whippersnapper.” Your grandfather said. You closed the door behind you and sat in a nearby chair.
“I know. But, I had to straighten something out.” You huffed as you laid back in the fluffy armchair. “Hey, Gramps. What do you know about Harmonic Overlap?”
Your grandfather shot his book and looked toward you, “First, go shower.” He pointed down the hall, “You’re getting blood over the furniture. Then we’ll talk.”
“Gramps.” You whined.
“Gramps, nothing. Go.” Sighing, you did as you were told. Letting the hot water drum on your bare skin, you thought over the Nue’s words. Thoughts raced through your brain, events that may or may not happen played out in your head. Eventually, the water stopped, and you toweled off, haphazardly throwing on clothes, and zipping up your jacket. As you finished redressing, you looked yourself over in the mirror. Your forehead gash had stopped bleeding but in its stead, a giant claw mark stood.
“Great...” You muttered. A few moments later, you were dry and dressed, sitting in front of your grandfather’s withered form with your school bag at your side.
“So, what have you learned?”
“Well, the Nue told me-”
“Nue?!” Your grandfather expression contorted into one of severe horror. “Anon, don’t you know how dangerous they are?!”
“I wore a cloth.” You shrunk in your chair, “Plus, he was really friendly once I defanged his tail.”
“You fought it?!”
“...No.”
Your gramps sighed, sinking into his armchair. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Anyway. What have you learned so far.”
“Something about Harmonic Overlap? The supernatural and the human world becoming one? Every thirty moons...”
“Right. During Harmonic Overlap, the divide between the mystical and mortal is nonexistent. And it’s the job of the current Aegis-,” He pointed at you, “To maintain balance between the two.”
“Isn’t that my job anyway?” You asked.
“Definitely. But now, even more so. The fate of both worlds hangs in the balance. My grandson, you'll be facing your biggest challenge yet.”
“Geez, no pressure or anything.” You mumbled, looking down at the wood floor.
Your grandfather looked out toward the clock hanging on the wall. “You should get going. You’ll be late.”
“See ya later, old man.” You slung your book bag over your shoulder and left the house.
Thunder Tail and Colt Ice. Shimmer’s persona attack dogs, and your personal arch enemies. Not to mention Canterlot High’s star football players. The two circled around you, making an escape almost impossible. The shouts and howls of the students defended you. You looked off to your side. There Fluttershy sat, hiding within her knees. Her seafoam eyes turning red and puffy, and her face turning crimson. You sighed, realizing that you would have to fight your way out.
“How many times we gotta teach you this lesson, Nonny.” Thunder Tail spat the nickname as an insult as he pushed you back into Colt Ice. Colt Ice threw his arm around your neck.
“We’re gonna make sure you understand this time.” Colt Ice quipped. A strong blow came to your stomach. You retched, bile climbing up your throat. Curling your hands into fists, you struggled against the quarterback's crushing hold as more blows rained down. Your face heated up and his fist continued to drive into your flesh. You stomped down on Colt’s foot and he yelped in pain, releasing his grip in the process. Thunder Tail swung at you. You ducked under his arm and drove your fist into his chin. His chin bounced off your fist and he fell back. His breathing was heavy, his face turned red with anger. The students were eating the display up. Their chants and howls grew louder until…
“That’s enough!” A voice boomed. The crowd parted and scattered as Vice Principal Luna approached, arms crossed and expression fierce.
This wasn’t going to end well…
“Anon, I just don’t know what’s going on with you.” Principal Celestia rubbed her temples, looking sternly down at you. You escaped mostly unscathed, only acquiring a few bruises, a black eye, and a split lip. “Just what do you have to say for yourself?”
“Hey, if they didn’t want any trouble, they shouldn’t have picked on Flutters.”
The Principal let out an aggravated sigh. “While I understand your motives, as a leader of a team, you shouldn’t resort to such hasty violence.”
“Then what would you have me do? Sit back and let them treat her like that!?”
“Of course not. Perhaps next time you’ll try maybe speaking to them instead of just lashing out. Or report their behavior to a teacher rather then taking matters into your own hands.”
“Like I haven’t tried that already! Clearly words can’t get through their thick skulls. So I figured maybe my fists might knock some sense into him.”
“And clearly that reaped results considering that this has been the third time
this month you’ve been in trouble from fighting.”
You didn’t have a retort for that, so you just looked down in your lap, completely silent. Principal Celestia let out another sigh. “Anyway, just like Thunder Tail and Colt Ice, I’m afraid you must face some sort of consequences as well.”
She thought for a minute before saying, “And I know just this thing. The Fall Formal’s coming up and I want you to be apart of the planning committee.”
“...Eh?”
“You heard me.” Principal Celestia smirked.
“My punishment is planning the Fall Formal? That doesn’t sound all that bad actually...What’s the catch?”
“I figured this would put all that pent up energy to good use. There’s no catch here.”
“. . . . Ok, fine then.”
“Good, you’ll meet with Pinkie Pie after school.”
“...Shit”
“Language.” Principal Celestia scolded as she signaled for you to leave. And leave you did, dread filling your soul...
Author's Note
Aegis;
- The protection, backing, or support of a particular person or organization.
- (in classical art and mythology) an attribute of Zeus and Athena (or their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) usually represented as a goatskin shield.
The Aegis is the human guardian of the hidden magical world, and an important ambassador, negotiator and peacemaker between the magical worlds. The title is passed down by bloodline and you are the current titleholder.
So yeah, here we are. My first ever story on FimFic. Let me know what you think, what should be changed, and how I can improve this story by leaving a review. See you next chapter.
