I Dream

by Timeless Lord Slayer

Rating: mature
Tags: Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Sex, DJ P0N-3, Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human, My Little Pony Comic, Romance
Length: 32521

"You get one shot to make it out alive. I took the shot...and it changed me."

Dreams.

Aspirations.

Hopes.

What are yours? Can you make them reality? Can you shape reality to your will, can you take hold of them, and make them real? Or...will they take hold of you? Will they take hold of you, shape you...and make you something else?

And will you become something lesser? Or...more? Will you serve yourself, then, or others?

One man seeks to find out, in a land where such dreams dwell. Past traumas and impending ones be damned.

This is a Displaced story. Fair warning. Crossovers will be allowed now.

Loose ties to the MLP Comics. Some portions from them will be present, others will not.

This is a RGRE (Reversed Gender Roles) story. Fair warning.

This story is NOT tied to Pyro Mance's "When The Bass Drops" Not anymore.

This is NOT a typical hero Displaced. Not even a hero in the strictest sense. Just a guy trying to make a difference where he can, and messing up sometimes. This is quite purely a slice of life fic. Adventure is present, but not at all the main focus.

Sex will be shown in some chapters, and those chapters will be labeled, both in the title and when the sex starts, so that you can skip the sex.

Gore will be present, but not in any great amounts, at least not until much later in the story.

Now, I hope you all enjoy this story of mine. It's been on my shelf for absolute yoinks, so it's high time I get it out there.

Published 2019-09-02 20:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-11-02 21:59:47 UTC

1st Meditation (OLD)

Wind blows through the town of Ponyville.

A man groans as he wakes, idly clutching the necklace under his shirt.

A woman stares up at the early morning sky, a frown on her face.

Old failures cross their minds.

The man looks up at the sky, an old chill in his heart.

The woman clutches her shirt, an ache in her heart.

They both sigh and smile, then get up.

Sounds were what registered first. Birds, the breeze rustling leaves on the trees and blades of grass.

Touch registered next. The warmth of the sun on his skin, the tender embrace of the pleasantly cool grass, the calming breath of the world... And a number of things poking into his back. Groaning, the man opened his eyes and sat up in one smooth motion. Immediately after he raised an arm to cover his bespectacled eyes, wincing at the - to him - harshness of the light. Squinting and letting his eyes adjust, he looked around.

"Wait, what?" he muttered to himself, eyes widening.

Everything looked very, very different. Thin black lines outlined nigh everything, color upon color upon bright color seeming to beg his eyes to stare at them all, and overall, everything looked like he was in some sort of animated world. He appeared to be in a courtyard of sorts, and a decently-sized one at that. The walls were mostly purple, with gold trim and accents and a few darker purple accents. It seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why. The apparent "art style" of the world was strange. Not cartoonish, but not exactly like the animes he watched, either. Somewhere between cartoonish and realistic. Slowly, he lowered his arm, eyes wide as could be, and simply stared slack jawed, mind running faster than a drug dealer from the police.

'...Who the fuck drugged me in my sleep? Why is everything so colorful? WHY IS EVERYTHING OUTLINED?!' These thoughts and many, many more of their kind sped up his heart rate.

A rustling in the wind and the feeling of something light rapidly tapping his bicep made him look to said bicep, where a yellow sticky note was attached. Snatching it off in the hopes for some explanation - and the hope that this was a dream and that he was essentially pranking himself - he began to read.

"Life is like riding a boat down a stream while there's a heavy cover of fog. You can make things out when they're close, but beyond that, you're practically blind. And there's always rocks in it. Did I mention that? Well, either way, there are, and they'll trip you up something awful if you don't see them and maneuver around them.

Most times you can't. And most times you get angry, or scared, or sad. But you have to keep going. You have to keep failing. You have to keep getting up, and learning from what has happened. Even if it isn't a mistake you made yourself. You can learn from it.

Take life as it is. Not as it will be, or won't be, or could be. Take it as it is. Remember what you learned. - A Friend."

"...What the H happened last night?" the man wondered aloud.

Suddenly, he heard doors opening to his right, and snapped his head to the sound. A number of figures came out of the doors, chatting loudly, most of which he didn't recognize, but four of them he did.

"Alright everycreature, go ahead and have fun at reces-" the daffodil colored Pegasus stopped abruptly as she noticed the man.

Many of the other figures did as well, all of them staring wide-eyed at the man. A small orange dragon had her maw hanging wide open. The same went for a small, light cyan insectoid equine and a Persian blue Griffon.

The man simply stared back. "...I'm just gonna, uh...." He looked to the grass below him, then back to them briefly. "Uh, yeah." With that eloquent 'explanation' he flopped onto his back and stared up at the clear blue, sunny sky.

It was a wonder he didn't simply pass out.

Sadly, he didn't. If he had, his mind might have gotten some reprieve. 'I'm in Equestria. I'm in freaking Equestria. I'm in FREAKING EQUESTRIA!' He placed a hand over his eyes. 'Okay, okay okay okay. Breathe. Breathe.' And so he did, as slow and yet even as he could whilst also trying to calm his thoughts.

It was a fairly one-sided battle. 'How did I get here? Let's pull out a list.' He gripped the grass underneath him, breathes coming in shaky and a fair bit fast instead of slow and steady. 'Sense of touch is working. Not entirely unusual for a dream. No points for it being a dream, but no points against it. Can still hear things, but not in my head. One point for not being in a dream.' He breathed deeply again, shuddering slightly as he did. 'Can smell too. I've been told that's not unusual either, but I've never had that happen in a dream... Point to not a dream.'

The sound of hooves and claws in the grass made him sigh. 'Okay, great. Yeah, no, great. Just ruin my attempt at calming down and being rational. Just fine guys.' Lowering his fair-skinned hand, he looked up to find numerous faces looking down at him. They'd crowded around him, apparently.

Fluttershy spoke up. "U-Um, w-what are you doing here?" She asked, mane dangling down almost to the point that it touched his face.

Smolder crossed her arms. "And why do you have swords?"

"You know this is, like, a school, right? And that weapons aren't allowed on the grounds?" Gallus asked, raising a brow.

"A-And, um, could you tell us how you got here?" Ocellus queried, book held in one hoof.

The man sighed deeply again, closing his eyes briefly. 'Alright. Truth or falsehood, brain?'

'...Fuck it, had enough of my own falsehoods back home, so, new start, clean slate.'

He opened his eyes, fair baritone answering their questions. "Didn't get that far yet in my thought process, didn't notice I had them..." he looked down at the sheathed blade at his hip, sat up, and looked to the other on his back, and paused a moment. "...Despite them being familiar," he continued in a near mutter, before looking back to them. "I can see that it's a school now, and, again, didn't get that far in my thought process."

All of them blinked at him, eyes of myriad colors meeting his simple yet still unique hazel green eyes.

Smolder frowned. "Okay, now you're sounding suspicious as heck."

Gallus and the other students nodded. "I'd suggest talking more honestly. Otherwise we'll have to get the Guards."

"Now now everycreature," Fluttershy began, holding out her hooves in placation. "Let's give..." She paused, then looked to the man. "I'm sorry, um, are you a colt, or stallion, or...?"

The man sighed again, sitting up straighter. As he did, he wobbled slightly. "Okay, that's different," he muttered under his breath. 'Did I get taller?' He briefly glanced around, noticing his head was above all of theirs. '...Apparently so. Questions for later.' He shook his head lightly. "Sorry, lost in my thoughts. Anyway yes, I am male. Where I'm from they call me a man." He rolled his shoulders. "As for my name..." He paused, then frowned. '...Well, that's another not good thing. All I remember about my name is my first initial.' He heaved a breathe. 'Alright, guess I'll have to make one up.' "...Just call me Hamin."

Once more, they all blinked. Slowly, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, and every other student looked to Fluttershy. Thankfully for the man, she didn't falter. Much.

"L-Let's give Mr. Hamin a chance, alright everycreature?" She looked back to Hamin and cleared her throat. "Now, Mr. Hamin, could you explain more, please?"

Hamin grunted. "Alright, just give me a minute to try and remember." He noticed the eyes of the students narrow. "Relax, kiddos," he said with a surprisingly easy smile. "I can promise you on my grandfather's grave I ain't here to harm."

Silence followed after that. Whether it was from the sincerity or not, Hamin didn't care, closing his eyes and trying to recall what led up to all this.

Pain. Pain worse than when Kev nearly split my finger in two. Pain worse than when I broke my chin open. Pain. Pain. So much pain.

Darkness. Flashing lights. Blood. Blood burning in my veins. Bones stretching. Body stretching. Skin ripping. Muscles tearing. Red. Black. Gold. Blue. Green. Red. Black. Gold. Blue. Green. Red.Black.

Pain. Pain. Pain. PainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainPAINPAIN-

A firm jostling shot my eyes back open and I gasped, immediately clutching myself and curling up a little. I barely registered the tears that had started to build in my eyes or whoever had me by the shoulders until I heard the soft voice of Andrea Libman and felt warm wings wrap around me.

"Shhh, shh, it's alright, it's alright, you're safe..." Fluttershy said gently.

I simply let her hold me, pressing into the embrace as I continued to feel tremors rock my body. "I-I-I, s-sorry, I," I chuckled weakly. "S-Sorry, guys. This is pretty p-p-pathetic, h-huh?"

Fluttershy tightened her grip on me. "No, it's not." She said firmly, rubbing my back now. I tensed up a lot. Tried to hold back the tremors. It didn't really work, but eventually, they stopped, though I didn't know how long it took. Didn't care really. Slowly, Fluttershy let go of me, smiling warmly and kindly. "Feeling better?"

I took a good few deep breathes, just to be sure, then nodded. "Y-Yeah." I shook my head, then cleared my throat. "*Uhem,* yeah." A final breath, before I decided to finally answer their question. "I uh... If it's alright with you all, I'd uh, rather not talk about how I got here." I frowned, feeling a final tremor before looking around. My frown only deepened, seeing all the worried youths around me. I looked back to Fluttershy. "At least, not until I come to terms with it. And...not in front of kids."

Fluttershy frowned herself, but eventually nodded before looking to all the kids. "Everycreature, go ahead and enjoy recess." She looked to me. "Mr. Hamin, why don't you come with me? I think I might know somepony who can help you."

Author's Note

Well, here it is. My oldest idea. Oldest story, too, at least technically. Given it a LOT of revamps, nigh-complete rewrites and many years of polishing, but, here it finally is, ready to read by all of you lovelies.

Hopefully it's at least decent.

Thanks for reading, guys.

-Timless Lord Slayer

2nd Meditation (OLD)

Author's Note

This is an old chapter, one that hosts a character that I am not going to use again, nor am I allowed to use again. For now, it, and all other old chapters, will still remain visible, but they will not be canon or even truly used.

From now on, these old chapters will be left as a memoriam to the relationship me and Pyro once had.

2nd Meditation (OLD)

Wind blows through the town of Ponyville.

A man groans as he wakes, idly clutching the necklace under his shirt.

A woman stares up at the early morning sky, a frown on her face.

Old failures cross their minds.

The man looks up at the sky, an old chill in his heart.

The woman clutches her shirt, an ache in her heart.

They both sigh and smile, then get up.

The walk through the halls of the School of Friendship was mostly silent, full of rumination on both sides. They passed many students, all chatting, laughing and joking around like young teens are wont to do. However, when Fluttershy and Hamin came close, they promptly quieted, before turning to each other and muttering queries and the like about the new face.

Hamin barely paid any attention, focusing instead on the architecture in an attempt to let his mind cool down. 'Always thought the school looked nice in the show. It's good to see it looks as nice in person.' He frowned, almost instinctively placing a hand over the hilt of the blade sheathed at his waist. His eyes sparked with melancholy contemplation. 'Still hard to believe this is real. I mean, sure, I dreamed of coming here before, just like a lot of bronies, but...' He bit his lip, gaze falling to the smooth, carpeted white marble floor. '...I'm really alone now. More alone than I've ever been.' He let out a small self deprecating chuckle. 'And that's saying something.'

Fluttershy looked up at him after his chuckle, but when he waved it off, she simply nodded and returned her gaze forward, hooves clip-clopping on the cold floor.

'He seems so...defeated. I don't think I've met any pony or creature so sad.' She frowned, glancing up at him, then to his weapons. 'He looks like he's some kind of fighter, but...' She glanced to the snow white, linen cloak draped around his person. '...A wanderer too. A mercenary, maybe?' Her frown deepened as she looked away. 'I can't imagine how hard that is for him.' Once more, she glanced his way. ‘And I can’t say I’ve ever seen a creature like him before...could he be alone? I didn’t see any mares with him...’

“You, uh, having fun staring at me?” Hamin asked, looking to her with a raised brow.

Fluttershy’s face flushed crimson, and she snapped her head back to the hallway ahead, hiding behind her hair with an adorable squeak.

Hamin chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind.” He jerked a thumb to himself. “It’s normal to stare at things that are out of the norm. So don’t sweat it.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I-I-I wasn’t-! You aren’t-!” She flushed a deeper red and looked away. “N-N-Nevermind…”

Hamin, still smiling, simply shrugged. “A’ight.” He turned his gaze forward. “So, how much further-OOF!” Suddenly, a flash appeared above him, and immediately after a hole appeared and a black figure shot out, knocking him to the floor with a ton of force.

“Ugh...there goes my bones…” Hamin groaned, before looking up and seeing a woman in a black and purple bodysuit, gold gauntlets and leg armor glinting. A matching, four-finned helmet adorned her head, a brown, tattered cloak resting across her shoulders. Hamin’s eyes widened. “Woah, hey, are you okay?” He asked, carefully sitting up in a way that hopefully wouldn’t hurt her.

The woman's eyes opened slightly, seeming very dim. She tried to move but stopped immediately as dozens of slash-like marks appeared over her body, revealing purple and black code underneath. Little squares matching the color of her suit and flesh drifted off her, fading as they got further from her.

"...Where…?" She started only to go limp, her head lolling back as her eyes closed.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” Fluttershy rushed over, looking the woman over. “What happened to you?”

Hamin, seeing all the slashes, immediately went into emergency mode. “Not the time! We need to get her a doctor, or a magical expert!” Hamin instructed, getting up. “We’ll have to postpone my problem for now. Where’s the infirmary, or the nurse’s office or whatever?” He picked the woman up in his arms, holding her bridal style.

“R-Right! This way!” Fluttershy nodded somewhat shakily, but zoomed down the hallway nonetheless.

Hamin followed right after her, booted feet pounding on the carpet as they ran. “I don’t know who you are…but you better get through this, lady…”

The door to the nurse’s office burst open.

“Quick! I need a magical theory specialist, a doctor, and a programmer!” Hamin shouted.

“Now why in the world would you need a-” Nurse Redheart lowered her book from her muzzle only to see the unconscious woman, her wounds still leaking code. “Oh. Oh Celestia!” Redheart dropped her book, galloping over and looking at the wounds. “What...What happened? What even is...this creature?” She looked to Hamin, eyes widening. “What even are you?”

Hamin growled. “Stop gawking and get to work! You have a heavily wounded patient here!” To emphasize his point, he gestured to her wounds and her paling face.

“R-Right!” Redheart pointed to a table in the center of the room. “P-Put them over there.”

Hamin nodded, walking over and placing the strange woman on it. He then snapped his head to Fluttershy. “What the heck are you doing? Go get those specialists!”

Fluttershy ‘eep’ed, nodded, then flew off. That done, Hamin looked to the woman and her wounds. He could feel himself get the tiniest bit dizzy, but pushed through it nonetheless. “We need to find a way to stop the bleeding first.”

Redheart nodded. “R-Right. Put pressure on their wounds, I’ll get the bandages!”

Hamin looked to the woman, frowning as he heard Redheart scurrying to find the right medical supplies. ‘Can’t say I know this’ll work, but...If it means she lives, then that’s all that matters.’ With his heart and mind made up, Hamin applied pressure to the two biggest wounds on the woman’s body.

However, to his surprise, the code wasn’t bleeding, it was disappearing. Aside from that, it mostly stayed inside her. “Wait, what?”

Redheart came over, bandages in hoof. “The bleeding isn’t stopping? That’s not good!”

Hamin shook his head. “No, it’s not bleeding, it’s just… I don’t even know.” He then noticed some of the code that did fall off and disappear reappear where her wound was. “It almost looks like it’s...repairing itself.” He frowned, realization dawning on him like God had smacked him upside the head with a book. “I’m not even sure we can do anything.”

“What in Celestia’s name do you mean? Of course we can! We just-” Redheart tried to argue, but Hamin raised a hand to stop her.

“Do you have space travel?” He asked firmly, looking her in the eye.

Redheart tossed the bandages on the floor. “What the buck does that have to do with this?! We have a patient-!”

“Answer the question,” Hamin said with steel in his tone.

Redheart growled, mane fraying. “No! Of bucking course we don’t! Space travel is fiction!”

Hamin nodded. “Good to see where you are all at, then.” He looked back to the woman. “That tells me straight up that you all don’t have anywhere near the right tools or technology to help her heal faster. And I don’t either, for that matter.”

Redheart’s face seemed to burn with anger, her face flushed red. “WOULD YOU MAKE SOME BUCKING SENSE?!”

Hamin glared at her. “Alright.” He raised two fingers, one on either hand. “This is your technology level.” He shook the finger on the right hand. “This is the level of tech that she is made out of.” He shook the finger on the left hand. “The distance is way too far. She is literally a being made up of the code you guys probably use for video games. And video games are honestly the most advanced thing you have.” He raised a brow. “Am I wrong?”

Nurse Redheart ground her teeth together loudly. Hamin sighed. “Look, trust me, I’m not trying to make you angry, and I cannot tell you how much I hate that I can’t help save a life that’s right in front of me. But we. Can’t. Do anything.”

Redheart glared fiercely into his hazel green eyes, her own teal ones shimmering with anger. He met the glare with his own easily. Neither backed down for the longest time, to the point one almost thought they’d be there all day. But, eventually, Redheart groaned and fell back on her plot, waving him off. “Fine. Fine! But if she dies-”

“She won’t,” Hamin interrupted, looking to the woman.

Redheart sighed. “And you know that how?”

“She won’t,” He repeated simply.

Redheart sighed once more. “Fine.” She stood up, then walked over to the door. “I’m going to help find professionals either way, though.”

He didn’t say anything, even as she left and the door closed. Slowly, however, his fists clenched, his gaze on the woman hardening. “...Please...let me make a difference. Don’t let her die...”

Whether his plea was heard or not, he didn’t know.

He only hoped.

3rd Meditation (OLD)

Wind blows through the town of Ponyville.

A man groans as he wakes, idly clutching the necklace under his shirt.

A woman stares up at the early morning sky, a frown on her face.

Old failures cross their minds.

The man looks up at the sky, an old chill in his heart.

The woman clutches her shirt, an ache in her heart.

They both sigh and smile, then get up.

“So, you are Hamin, yes?” Luna queried, looking up at the man.

Hamin nodded, standing up from his chair and performing a deep bow. “Yes, Your Highness.” He replied.

Luna smiled thinly. “It’s good to see you know etiquette, but please, rise, you needn’t bow.”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. We simply wanted to ask you a few questions.”

Hamin simply sat back down and nodded, then looked across the three royals. “I assume you’d like to know if I came from the Mirror somehow?”

Twilight nodded. “You and...her, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He looked to the strange woman, asleep on the hospital bed. “...” He clenched his fists in his lap. “To answer your question, no. I’m not from the Mirror World. I don’t think she is, either. Don’t know for sure, though.” He placed a hand on his chest. “I’m from a planet called Earth, in the Solar System, in the Milky Way Galaxy.”

There was a silence for a long span of time, the three Princesses shocked into silence. Then…

“You’re an alien?!” Twilight squeed, before bouncing over. “Oh my gosh! You have to tell me everything! What’s Earth like? What’s it’s magic like? Or it’s culture? Oooh, so many questions!”

Hamin sighed, as if tired. “I couldn’t tell you all that accurately off the top of my head. I’d need time. But, I can tell you that I don’t recall ever seeing true magic on Earth.” He looked to the woman once again. “...Pretty sure some higher power dropped me here. I just...don’t recall how or why or...anything, really.” He shivered. “...Not sure I’m ready to relive it all, either.”

Twilight frowned, stepping back. The Sisters were much the same.

“So...then you are from a different reality?” Celestia surmised.

Hamin nodded slowly. “Yeah. And I’ll be brutally honest here…” He looked to them. “In my reality, all of you are just...fiction.” He looked to the woman. “So is she, but...she seems a bit different. Not sure. Never looked much into the Megaman franchise.”

Dead silence. Hamin looked to all of them to see them staring at him with wide eyes and gaping mouths. “Yeah, that’s about what I figured.”

“Well, that’s…” Luna blinked, as if not even believing her sight at the moment. “That’s…quite a bomb to drop.”

Hamin gave her an apologetic smile. “Yeah, sorry. I just figured it would be better to tell you straight up than lie about it for days or months or years on end.” His eyes turned downcast for a moment. ‘Had plenty of that back home. Don’t need more.’ His eyes returned to their tired yet alert state, and he looked up at them. “Any more questions?”

Celestia shook her head, as if to clear some sort of mental fog. “Y-Yes, actually.” She cleared her throat. “Fluttershy and some students said you were armed. And when we inspected your weapons, what we found was...well, both disturbing and intriguing.”

Hamin perked up slightly at that. “Yeah? What did you find out?”

“Well, the...katana, appears to be made out of bone. Dragon, bone. As well as ivory and some form of iron mixed with some kind of enchanted ice we can’t make any sense out of,” Twilight explained. She shifted on her hooves. “Was...did you kill to make that weapon?”

Hamin shook his head. “No. It was just...on me, when I got here. The sword, the cloak, the greatsword, the book… Only things I recognize as actually mine were the watch, the music box,” he moved a hand to his shirt, clutching a small item hidden underneath. “This necklace, and the MP3.” At their confused stares, he rolled his eyes. “Basically the same as the portable music players you guys have.”

“Oh,” they went in unison. After that was a small pause, all three of them seeming to be contemplating something.

“Still...we’ll be keeping an eye on you, for safety reasons, you understand,” Celestia told him, looking up from the floor.

Hamin frowned, dropping into a moment of thought himself. “Am I to be imprisoned?”

Luna shook her head. “No, but you will be placed under supervision.”

Hamin looked up at her. “Whose?”

“That would be my student, Starlight,” Twilight said, a small hint of pride in her voice.

Hamin grunted. “A’ight then. Anything else?”

They all looked to each other, then back to him. “No, that’s just about everything.” They turned and started to walk out the doors. “We’ll inform Starlight. For now, please, take some time to yourself.”

“...Yeah, I plan to,” was all he said as they left and closed the doors behind them. As they did, Hamin immediately stood up and began pacing. His thoughts were running a mile a minute, too fast for him to puzzle anything out. Thus, frustration arose.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He screamed. It was a not a scream of rage. Not purely. Sadness, loneliness, regret, pain, doubt, fear… It was a scream filled with pure emotional turmoil and little else.

Stomping over to a wall, he punched it, uncaring for how it hurt his hand. “Fucking why?! FUCKING WHY?!?!” He punched it again. And again. And again. Until his knuckles felt like they were bleeding. Then, he slumped to the floor, tears flying from his eyes. “Fucking dammit… Why? I’ve got nothing now… NOTHING!” He pounded his other fist into the tiled floor. More tears flowed from the eyes beneath his glasses. “Family’s gone, probably no way back, friends are gone, so say fucking GOODBYE to them!” A hand went to his face, trying to hold back the onrush of sorrow.

He didn’t stop crying for a long time. He didn’t truly know how long, either, but he didn’t care. He needed to vent. And he knew it.

So, for nearly an hour, he cried, on his knees and on the floor, until finally he calmed down, wiped his tears, and stood up. He then took several deep, shuddering breaths, and looked to the woman still resting soundly on the bed. “...Alright.” He said, walking towards her. “...Alright. I’ll just...focus on what I can do now, I guess.” He said with uncertainty. Sitting back down in the chair, the man looked out the window, waiting as he had been for the woman to wake up.

Another hour passed before a low groan escaped the mysterious woman's throat, her eyes slowly blinking open. "Ah, shhh-" she cut herself off, scooting back to support her back while bringing a white glove up to her helmet as she winced.

“Morning, sleepy head,” came a deep baritone from her right.

She opened her eyes and looked over in the direction of the voice, hand still on her head. There, she saw a tall man with short, chestnut brown hair and hazel green eyes, glasses covering said eyes. His skin seemed to be fair and pale as a ghost, and he wore a white dress shirt and light blue vest along with a white linen cloak, the hood pulled down. Black slacks covered his legs, and a light and well-trimmed beard covered a portion of his face.

“How ya feeling?” he asked, smiling kindly.

"Like I dropped a nuke on myself," she replied with a groan. "That's not untrue, though…." She paused and leaned her head back until it rested on the wall, eyes closed. Her eyelids moved and twitched until a flash of green plus signs flashed around her body, her wounds sealing shut.

She sighed in relief and looked at him again. "How long was I out?" She asked.

“About three hours,” the man replied. He rested his cheek on a hand. “Mind if I have your name? Mine’s Hamin. Or, at least, it’s the name I gave myself. Only really remember the initial of my real name.”

"Amelia Jaeger," the woman answered, starting to look around the room. "So, where am I? The princesses transport all the way back to Canterlot for medical treatment?"

Hamin shook his head. “Nah. First time they’d seen you, from what I could tell. This is Ponyville. You kinda just appeared and fell on top of me, covered in slashes. Oh, also, pretty name. I like it. Very poetic.”

Her eyes stopped exploring, slowly coming back to look at him sideways. "Alright," she murmured quietly, starting to take the blankets off her legs. "Well, how's about I just go find them and clear all this up. I'm sure Amber Leaf is losing her mind and driving them, and Sombra, absolutely insane." She'd shimmied her legs over the bedside as she spoke, boots on the floor as she got ready to leave, never taking her eyes off of him.

Hamin sighed. “Lady, Sombra’s gone. Trust me, I know that for a fact.” His own eyes followed hers. “You’re in a different Equestria. Take a second look around you. Did yours look like it was literally drawn by some fan artist?”

"Not that this isn't fun, but I'm going to need you to knock it off, pal," Amelia growled, fists tensing as she stood on her feet. "I need a straight answer. Where are Celestia, Luna, and Amber Leaf." She paused and lifted her hand with her fingers extended, lights starting to flash in the bottom corner of her right eye. "I won't ask again-" She stopped as the light in her eye blinked red. "No… signal…?"

Hamin let out a breath. “Was trying to tell you, dork.” He gestured around them again. “Also, again, look around. We are literally drawings.” He pointed to the obvious black outline of his arm. “See what I mean?"

"It was… always like that," she muttered, eyes searching just before her range of vision. "Where… where's Amber Leaf?"

Hamin frowned. “Sorry. I don’t know if she even exists in this Equestria.”

"You keep saying that," she whispered, focusing in on him again. "What do you mean by that?"

He blinked. “Oh. Shit. You don’t know.” He coughed into his fist. “Well, uh, to put it shortly, multiverse theory is true. Earth has its own multiverse, and Equestria/Equus/whatever has its own multiverse. We’re in an Equestria that’s separate from yours, just like your Earth, or wherever you came from, are in a separate...dimension, I think it was?” He shook his head. “Either way, this Equestria is not like the one you were in.”

The woman stared at him for several long, silent moments. Finally, she sat back down on the edge of the bed, eyes wide. "...You said Sombra was gone," she murmured, eyes on the floor. "How long has he been gone? How long has it been since Celestia and Luna took back the Crystal Empire?"

Hamin shrugged. “Dunno. I only just got to this world three hours ago myself.”

Amelia put her hand over her face at that, blowing out the breath in her lungs. She stared at the wall for a few moments with her hand over her mouth before she shook her head. "This can't be happening," she muttered, voice a lot tighter than a moment ago. "Not again." She tossed her hand and cleared her throat, standing back to her feet.

"Thank you, Hamin, for all the help," she mumbled before going for the door. "But I think I need to find the princesses."

Hamin looked back at her. “They left already, actually. Pretty sure they’re back in Canterlot now.” He stood up, then walked towards her. “But if you want to see them, then we’ll have to go talk to Starlight.” He patted her shoulder as he walked by her. “Come on, she should be in the lobby.”

The woman only nodded, following behind him. Pushing the doors open, Hamin led the woman out of the room and down the halls. “So, which character are you supposed to be?” He asked after a short while. “I don’t know the Megaman series all that well.”

"My base model is Bass.EXE," she replied, her voice sounding dull. "Although, it looks like the model was changed to fit my gender and personal facial features."

“Ah, okay,” he replied, continuing on his way.

As they walked down the hall, a doctor passed by, blinked, then whirled around. “What are you doing out of your bed?!” she cried, galloping after them.

Hamin sighed and turned around. “She’s fine now, don’t worry about it.”

The mare growled at him. “I’ll be the judge of that, thank you very much.”

Hamin raised a brow. “Do you have knowledge of the physiology of digital beings?”

The doctor faltered. “Well, no but-”

Hamin jerked a thumb towards Amelia. “She’s a digital being. And from what I can tell, she’s fit to be released and walk around.”

The doctor opened and closed her mouth numerous times, before groaning and shaking her head. “Very well, very well.” She looked to Amelia. “But I want you back here tomorrow so we can run some tests to be sure you’re alright.”

"If it makes you feel any better, doc," she answered, mildly waving her hand.

The mare nodded, adjusting her glasses with a hoof. “Good.”

“Thanks, doc,” Hamin said, before turning around and waving. “See you later.”

Amelia said nothing more as she continued down the hall, her cloak shifting seemingly on its own.

Finally, they reached the lobby, where a pink mare was waiting on a bench, idly reading a magazine. Hamin waved to her. “Hey. You’re Starlight, right?”

“Hm?” Starlight looked up. “Oh!” She put her magazine down and trotted over. “You must be Hamin! It’s nice to meet you!” She offered a hoof, and Hamin bent down to shake it with his hand.

“Same to you,” Letting go, he gestured to Amelia. “I know this is pretty sudden, but Amelia here wanted to talk to the Princesses.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know it’s kinda late to do that since they probably just got back to Canterlot, but is there a way she can at least send a letter or something?”

“Amelia?” Starlight looked to the woman with confusion at first, before her eyes widened. “So you’re the one made out of code…” Starlight’s eyes seemed to sparkle. “I know this is sudden, but can you tell me how you work?”

Hamin cleared his throat. “Starlight, I don’t think this is the best time to ask that. She’s kinda in need of some help, not a game of twenty questions.”

Starlight blushed lightly and chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “R-Right, sorry!” She cleared her own throat. “Well, I can take you to Spike. He should be in the Castle right now, and he can send a letter to them for you. Will that work?”

Amelia nodded. "How long will it take for the letter to reach them?" She asked. "If it's like snail mail back home, running there would be faster."

Starlight blinked. “I don’t know what snail mail is, but Spike can just use his dragon fire and send it straight to them.”

The woman let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank god," she murmured to herself, her shoulders sinking slightly. "I really didn't want to have to use all my battlechips to ask one question."

Starlight blinked again. “...I’m just gonna, file that away for later.” She shook her head, then turned to the doors. “I’ll wait outside while you sign a release form.” With that, she trotted out the doors.

Amelia sighed and rolled her shoulders. "Never did like that about hospitals," she muttered, turning in search of the front desk. "Always too much paperwork."

Hamin chuckled. “I can agree with that.” He walked by her, gesturing for her to follow. “Over here,” he said, walking towards the front desk. She followed behind him, falling to silence again.

“All done?” Starlight asked as Hamin and Amelia walked out of the hospital.

"In every manner of speaking," Amelia replied, a slight aggravation added to her dull tone as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Hamin chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad.” He looked to Starlight. “Shall we go?”

Starlight nodded. “Yup. Just follow me.” She said, before turning and trotting towards the crystalline, tree-like castle in the distance.

Hamin followed after her as Amelia walked beside them. The woman took in her surroundings, noting every detail. "How far south are we?" She asked, watching some ponies go by.

“In relation to what?” Starlight asked, looking back at her.

"The Crystal Empire," the woman answered, bringing her eyes back to the mare. "The Princesses mentioned Canterlot a couple of times, but I always assumed that it was a weeks march or more, not three hours."

Starlight blinked. “You know the Princesses? Weird. They seemed just as confused as to who or even what you are when they were here.”

The woman stared back at the pony before she gave a sigh. "I just want to find some form of normalcy," she muttered, looking to the sky. "Any sort of normalcy in this already weird world."

Starlight frowned. “Well, I’m here to help if I can.” She looked to Hamin. “Same goes for you, Hamin.”

Hamin smiled. “Thanks.” He turned to Amelia. “And just so you know, I’m also here if you need me.”

"Thanks," the woman replied, rubbing at her helmet over where her temple would be. "I'm just… very tired."

“Well, you can sleep when we get to the Castle, if you want,” Starlight offered, then blinked. “Oh, right!” She cleared her throat. “You wanted to know how far south from the Crystal Empire we are, right?” She hummed. “I think it was somewhere around a two day’s ride on the train or a twelve day walk from here.”

Amelia's eye brow arced. "There's a train going to the Crystal Empire?" She asked, her tone starting to change from curious to worried.

Starlight nodded. “Has been for at least three, almost four years, ever since the Empire returned and Spike and the girls saved it from Sombra.”

The woman stared at the mare, her walk slowing until she was stopped. "But the princesses liberated the Empire," she whispered, her voice now full of tension.

Starlight slowly stopped her self, along with Hamin, who was giving the woman a worried look. “No…?” Starlight turned around to face Amelia, a confused look on her muzzle. “The Princesses tried to liberate the Empire, but Sombra cursed it and it disappeared for a thousand years. It only came back three years ago, which is when Twilight, Spike and everypony else saved it.”

The woman stared at Starlight, her eyes wide. She didn't make to say anything, just stood in the middle of the road. Her eyes slowly peeled themselves from the pony and up to the castle in the distance. Her cloak began to flap wildly, a dark aura starting to rise off her body. Like a bullet from a barrel, she took off, a flash of green aura bursting around her as she dashed off towards the castle.

“Wh- Hey! Amelia, wait up!” Hamin cried, before running after her.

“Amelia!” Starlight called, following after them both.

The woman paid no mind to either of them, racing towards the castle doors with all the haste she could muster. She reached the front door and threw her shoulder into it. Naturally, the golden portal slammed open, revealing the immaculate main hall in all its glory.

The woman stopped, panting in the middle of the hall as more darkness poured off her body. Her eyes darted around, green eyes slowly turning to red. "I need… I… I need…" she stammered, hands clenching and unclenching as she looked for direction.

The sound of Hamin’s and Starlight’s cries from behind her gave her pause, her reddening irises turning to look at them, her breaths coming heavily as her shoulders heaved. She looked back to the interior of the castle, looking for the next entry.

Up a flight of stairs, she saw a set of more golden doors behind a balcony, likely leading deeper into the castle. However, there were two hallways leading to the right and left as well. Her eyes narrowed at the door, her form buzzing before she appeared in front of it, throwing it open with one hand.

A circular hallway was what greeted her, numerous doors lining each wall. Her eyes widened at the sight of each of the doors. Almost all the green left her eyes, leaving behind bright red. With an unearthly wail, she screamed to the ceiling, black aura surging out and blowing the doors open.

A frightened yelp echoed down the hall from the left, alerting her to the presence of someone else. Red eyes turned to the sound, dark aura simmering down slightly. She walked forwards and down the hall. Finding the door where the sound came from, she flung it open to find a young, purple baby dragon hiding under his comic book in a large library.

She looked down at the tiny dragon, red eyes glowing amongst the shadowy mist. With an uncanny calm she walked towards him, stopping as she towered over him. "...Census," she murmured, staring down at him. "Death records and censuses of the Crystal Empire pre-disappearance."

Spike blinked, looking up from his comic. “Wh-what?”

"I want records…" she murmured, her hand glowing purple, the comic doing the same as it floated off of him and to the side. "Of everyone in the Crystal Empire. Everyone who was alive when it disappeared...."

Spike gulped. “R-Right! On it!” Flapping his wings, he flew up to one of the shelves, searching for the books Amelia wanted. Thankfully, it took him far less time than it would Twilight, and he touched back down in front of her carrying a pile of books. “H-Here you go,” he stuttered.

She took the books from him wordlessly, walking to the nearest table and sitting down. She started to flip through the pages, scanning much faster than any living being could, searching for a single name.The further she read, the more her aura died down and the red in her eyes receded. Finally, she closed the last book, putting her elbows on the table and face in her hands.

She hadn’t found any names she recognized, save for the one at the very end. ‘King Sombra. Status: Deceased. Cause of death: Purification by Crystal Heart. Long live Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor!’

Spike slowly padded up to her. “U-Uh, is everything-?” The sound of rapid footsteps and hard hooves on the floor interrupted him. “Huh?”

The next moment, Hamin and Starlight appeared in the door. “Amelia!” Hamin called, before rushing over to her side. “Amelia, are you alri-?”

"You were right." The deadweight of the words hit like cement. The woman dropped one hand to reveal the look of absolute defeat she wore. "I'm in a totally different world. My friends are gone, I'm a thousand years from where I should be, history is different, and everything I thought I knew is worthless."

Hamin frowned, looking to Starlight for a moment, seeing her ears lowered. Sighing, he looked to Amelia and put a hand on her shoulder. “If it helps any...I’m basically in the same boat. And, well, like I said, I’m here if you need m-”

"How does that help?" She asked harshly, looking up at him. "I just fought a war, tore myself to pieces, and watched all the ones I cared about get hurt and disappear in front of my eyes. And it was all for nothing. I just end up somewhere else, restarting at square one." She looked away from him and leaned towards the tabletop. "I don't even know if what I did saved them or if the virus killed them anyway…."

Hamin removed his hand, looking away, eyes distant. He was silent as he took in her words , mulling over his own choice. “...I may not have seen my family or those I cared about get hurt like you, but I’m just as alone here. No family. No friends. Not even acquaintances.” One of his hands went for the hilt of his sword, squeezing the pommel hard. “...All I remember is being in a dark place and being tortured.” He grit his teeth, but looked back to her. “But you know what? I’m standing here, ready to help you, because I’m moving forward anyway. I’m broken and more alone than I’ve ever been, but I’m moving. Forward.” He gave her a hard stare, which she met, and for a while they kept that stare down...until his eyes softened. “...And I know that someone as strong as you can do it too.” He gave a small smile. “You’re stronger than me, at least, so you can do it. I’ll be right here, helping you out the whole way. I’ve got nothing else, after all.”

Amelia stared up at him for a second before looking away and giving a small nod. "I guess… you're right," she murmured, starting to get to her feet. "There's no use in moping around." She looked back towards the others, her emerald green eyes falling on Spike. "I'm sorry I scared you earlier."

Spike gave a small smile. “It’s fine. I think I get what was going on now.”

She let a hint of a smile cross her features before looking to the others in the room. "So, what now?"

Starlight smiled herself. “Now, we get you settled in.”

4th Meditation (OLD)

Wind blows through the town of Ponyville.

A man groans as he wakes, idly clutching the necklace under his shirt.

A woman stares up at the early morning sky, a frown on her face.

Old failures cross their minds.

The man looks up at the sky, an old chill in his heart.

The woman clutches her shirt, an ache in her heart.

They both sigh and smile, then get up.

Hamin and Amelia stared at the door in front of them.

It was a nice door, to be honest.

“Why are you putting us in just one room again?” Hamin asked slowly.

Of course, nobody seemed to care. Poor door.

Starlight chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with a foreleg. “Well, a lot of the rooms aren’t exactly...ready, so you two will have to share a room while we clean out another for one of you to use.”

"Okay," Amelia murmured, her arms crossed as she stared at the door. "Only one question from me. Where are the bathrooms?"

Spike was next to speak up. “There are four up on this floor.” He pointed down the right side of the hall, then to the left side with another claw. “Two down either hall. There’s a bunch more on each floor, for a total of at least twenty.”

"That's a relief," the Navi sighed, relaxing a little before looking at Hamin. "No offense, but sharing a bathroom is not something I look forward to ever doing again."

Hamin shrugged. “None taken.” He looked to the door again. “Let’s just start getting settled in.” Pushing it open revealed a fairly well-decorated room.

A closet lay on the far right end of the room, a window to the left of it with a small collection of potted plants on it’s sill. A vanity lay to the right of the closet, but aside from that, the room was mostly barren.

What drew the two’s attention immediately, however, was the singular bed in the room. Not even a double bed, or anything larger. Just a single bed.

Hamin turned glacially to Starlight and Spike.

Amelia only stared at the bed a moment. "...You guys have a spare bed somewhere else," she began before looking back at them. "Right?"

Spike and Starlight exchanged nervous glances, then looked back to the two. “‘F-Fraid not,” Starlight answered.

"Uh-huh," the woman grunted, turning back to the room and pursing her lips. "...What about extra pillows and blankets?"

Hamin simply sighed and walked in. “You can sleep on the bed, actually.” At Spike and Starlight’s incredulous looks, he answered, “Believe it or not, I actually like sleeping on floors.” He patted his cloak. “This is really all I’ll need to stay warm anyways.”

"And I'm saying neither of us has to take the floor if they have pillows and blankets," Amelia replied hot-headedly.

Hamin rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, Amelia. I don’t mind.”

“We-” Spike tried to say, but the NetNavi interrupted, too distracted by Hamin.

"Y'know," she began to counter, kicking a hip out to the side. "I never could understand why some people would rather be uncomfortable when the option to be comfortable is right in front of them."

Hamin raised a brow. “Because more comfortable for me would be solid ground instead of an overly soft bed.”

“Uh-” Starlight attempted to interject, however, once again, the woman beat her to the punch.

"Yeah, okay," the woman muttered, rolling her eyes. "Because it makes sooo much sense that the crystalline floor feels better than a mattress."

Hamin shrugged. “I’ve slept on concrete before. Not much different.”

"But the point is that you don't have to," the Navi urges. "We could both be snug as a bug and it'd require very little effort."

“Except we don’t know if they even have blankets or pillows,” Hamin countered, crossing his arms.

“WE DO!” Starlight and Spike finally shouted. Amelia looked at him and gestured to their hosts, an 'I told you so' look on her face.

Hamin sighed. “Fair enough.” He looked to Spike and Starlight. “Could we have a few?” Starlight summoned them above his head in response, where he caught them. “Thank you.”

“We’ll leave you two to it. Let us know if you need anything else,” Starlight told them, before trotting away, Spike following after her as the door closed behind them.

Amelia let out a little sigh, not an agitated one, simply enough to let the tension out of her shoulders. "Whelp," she said clapping her hands. "Do you still want the floor? I might be able to make a bed frame using one of my battlechips."

Hamin only nodded silently, going about setting up his temporary bed by spreading the pillows and sheets out.

Amelia watched him for a moment before she gave another sigh. "I'm sorry," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "I shouldn't have kept pushing."

Hamin shrugged once again. “I’m not mad at you. I’ve been yelled at for far worse and far less. It’s normal to me.” He waved her off. “Don’t worry about me, alright? I’ll be fine.” He went back to his work, straightening the blankets multiple times, obviously trying to get it just right.

She continued to watch him for a moment before going towards the bed in the room. She smoothed the blankets with one hand before sitting down on the edge. A second later and she laid back, trying to get her head as comfortable as her fins would allow.

Hamin, having set up his temporary bed finally, sat cross legged on it and finally started to take inventory of everything he had on him. First was, of course, the giant, ornately sheathed blade on his back, under the cloak. He grunted, the weapon falling solidly to the ground as he held it wrong.

“Alright, that’s one thing I’ll need to get used to,” he muttered, before pulling the sheath off. As he did, his eyes widened at the lustrous, almost alien, neon blue crystal that made up the blade. “Well...damn.”

"Hm?" The woman hummed, tilting her head back. "Holy sh-" she rolled over to get a better look. "Is that… no, not diamond." Her eyes flashed a moment or two. "...Blue Moonlight Crystal…?"

Hamin chuckled. “All I know is that this is my favorite weapon from the Dark Souls series,” he ran a hand across the flat of the blade. “The Blue Moon Greatsword.” His smile turned melancholy. “...A companion in battle and journey if there ever was one.”

"Huh," the woman breathed, her eyes still scanning the blade a moment. "Sounds like the right kind of weapon for a warri- dormant?"

Hamin turned his head to her, an odd twinkle to his eyes. “It’s dormant? Is that what your scanners say?”

"Yeah," the navi replied, crawling over the bed. "Any idea what that means?"

Hamin’s smile grew. “I might.” He looked to the blade. “In the game this weapon came from, it didn’t have any special abilities. It’s description even called it a lifeless weapon, and implied it was an imitation of another weapon.” Hamin’s smile turned obviously eager. “But something tells me whoever sent me here knew me well.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Either way, it probably means I need to meet some sort of requirements to unlock its special ability or abilities.”

"Maybe… this is the original…." Amelia stopped, her green eyes ceasing to flash as she gave a slightly sheepish look. "Sorry, I'm naturally curious. I guess that I'm an info scavenger now doesn't help."

Hamin chuckled. “It’s actually great that you are. I love having intellectual conversations. Got fuck all for them back home.” He patted the blade. “But no. The original blade was The Moonlight Greatsword, a weapon that appeared in nearly every FromSoftware game save one or two. That one was supposedly made from pure moonlight, which is different from magic, somehow.”

"You're talking a solid light blade?" Amelia questioned, crossing her legs as she sat up on the bed. "Like condensed and hardened light particles?"

Hamin shrugged. “Not sure, but I’m willing to bet so. However, if that were the case, it would glow more. In the games, the original Moonlight Greatsword looked, for all intents and purposes, like metal. Albeit dark cyan metal, but still.” He smirked. “And it was all set in a post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy series.”

The woman hummed with interest, nodding her head to each side. "Sounds like a game I probably would have enjoyed playing," she murmured, looking towards the sheets with a melancholy smile. "Once upon a time, anyway."

Hamin hummed. “If you like deep and dark atmospheric games, sure.” He looked to her. “But what do you mean by, ‘once upon a time’?”

"Well, I mean, look at where we are," the woman replied, kicking one leg over the side. "I don't know about here, but my old world didn't have video games or a way back home."

Hamin winced. “Yeeeeah, that’s something I’m going to have to get used to myself.” He looked to the Bluemoon Greatsword, then sheathed it. “But considering what we’ve seen, I can confidently say there’s a chance that there’s video games in this Equestria.” He frowned. “Then again, I’d honestly rather read books or practice with these weapons before I think about sinking another portion of my life into video games.” He pulled up his tunic enough to expose his stomach, peering down at it in curiosity. “...And I seem to have somehow gotten a six pack, despite knowing for a fact I didn’t have one before. Oddly not sure how to feel about that.”

"Like the luckiest person in the world," she laughed quietly, glancing at him. "Getting abs like that without the brutal exercise? Sir, that is a blessing."

Hamin shrugged. “I guess so.” He shook his head. “Anyway, sorry about my little gaff. I have a tendency to do that a lot.” He gestured to her. “Why don’t you spill your beans? Heavens know I did already back at the hospital, and I’m still not sure all the stress is out.”

"Well, you already know my name and what I am now," she began, waving a hand through the air. "Asides from that, not much to tell. I was a stunt pilot for the military and my plane went down while I was practicing maneuvers. When I woke up, I was in the far north and changed into what you see now."

Hamin whistled. “Damn. Almost like I’m a magnet for veterans.” He shook his head. “But as far as transformations go, at least you weren’t turned into an actual monster. Like, say, a Bloathead. Or a Giant Toad. Or...whatever, ya know?” He gestured to her body. “I mean, at least you still look good.”

She huffed and gave a smirk, crossing her other leg over her outstretched one, leaning back on her hands and arching her back to show off her… assets. "And I still rock a tight one piece," she purred, looking at him from the side.

Hamin laughed, slapping his knee. “I damn well bet!” She held the pose a moment longer before she burst into laughter as well. Hamin let his laughter die to chuckles, before shaking his head with mirth. “Honestly though, you must’ve had to beat guys off with sticks back home.”

"How do you think I got this?" She replied, bringing a finger up to point at the scar over her left eye that went as far as to show up on the helmet over said eye.

Hamin winced. “Oof.” He rubbed his chin. “Reminds me of the one I got on my chin here. Split it right open.” He raised his head so she could see the erratic growths of beard around a very roughly crescent shaped scar. It almost looked like someone took a small pointed hammer to his chin and cut it afterward.

"Yikes," Amelia winced as she saw it. "What happened?"

Hamin shrugged, smiling. “Slipped and fell on concrete. Back of my parents house was concrete for a while, and there were a few chips in the concrete. I happened to hit my chin on one such chip.”

"Talk about bad luck," she muttered, wincing again at the thought. "Though, it could always be worse, I guess."

Hamin nodded. “Oh yeah.” Hamin and Amelia sat in silence for a moment after that, before he decided to continue with his inventory check. “Hmm, you wanna see if you can make heads or tails of my new katana?” He asked, pulling out a blade of what seemed to be bone, and somehow, as if it was smelted into it, traces of glowing blue metal. The blade end was sharpened bone, whilst the middle was an icy blue metal.

The hilt was decorated lavishly. A very unique skull made up the guard, it’s jaw wide open. The oddest part, however, was that the skull almost reminded Amelia of a strange fortune cookie, but with more teeth than even a shark. The pommel was oddly simple, made of what seemed to be enchanted ice, if how it wasn’t melting was any indication. The handle was lavish in comparison, seeming to be made of golden vines.

She nodded an affirmative before her eyes began to shine. She frowned after a few seconds only to wince as a red line slashed through her eyes. "Ow!"

Hamin dropped the blade, walking over to her hurriedly. “Are you okay?” He asked, frowning as he looked her over.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Just… it bugged my vision for a second and had one hell of a message…."

Hamin blinked. “What do you mean?”

"It said…" she started to answer, still frowning. "'Avert thine eyes elsewhere.'"

Hamin slowly turned to the lavish katana. “...I think that might make me the wielder of two possibly sentient weapons now.”

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you," the NetNavi noted, blinking her eyes before finally looking up clearly.

“I’ll say,” Hamin agreed, sitting down next to her. “I only really know how to use a katana, and even then I’m not the greatest. I’m good, I guess, but still.” He gestured to the greatsword. “But that? I have zero idea on how to wield that thing effectively. I’d be better with a bow than a greatsword, and I haven’t used a bow since I was 16.”

She looked up at him with some surprise. "Huh," she muttered before she shrugged and gave a little smirk. "Well, if you want a more hardy training partner, you can always ask me." A light glinted in her eye. "I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Hamin looked to her, then gained a smirk of his own. “Hell fucking yes. I have not had a good sparring partner for ages!”

Her smirk grew to a full on grin. "I could use a better fight than any golem could give me," she answered, energy returning to her demeanor.

Hamin gave a nervous smile at that, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ehhh, not sure I’d qualify as a ‘good’ fight, but I’ll try.” His smile was just as eager, however, despite the nervousness. “At the very least it should be a fun learning experience.”

The woman’s grin grew slightly mischievous at that. “This is going to be,” she paused as she planted her hands between her legs. She pulled her legs back until she was in a handstand before launching herself across the room, landing nimbly at the door, flashing a cheshire grin. “So much fun.”

Hamin chuckled nervously. ‘I get the feeling I’m in for a beating…’

“So, uh…” Hamin looked across the grassy hill to Amelia. “Are we using weapons, or should we start with the basics? ‘Cause I only know a little bit. Most everything else is ingenuity...”

“Let’s skip on weapons for now,” the Navi suggested, starting to stretch. “Armaments are an extension of our bodies. If we can’t make your body a weapon, you won’t be able to handle one properly.” She stopped and threw a little smirk his way. “But, luckily, the basics and ingenuity are what fighting’s all about.”

Hamin sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good.” He clenched a fist a few times. “Last match I recall ended with my brother trying to teach me to get used to my weapon vibrating in my hand by having me punch solid earth.” He chuckled. “Thought I would get an infection.” He shook his head, lowering his hand and placing his weapons to the side before starting to do some of his own stretches. “But hopefully I’m more used to it by now.”

“Yikes, I’d hope so,” Amelia grimaced before she ended her stretches. She stopped, planting her feet next to each other and straightening as much as she could, putting her hands together at her waist. She breathed in, bringing her hands up her body, then out, pushing her hands down. She repeated this for about thirty seconds before opening her eyes, her green eyes hard as steel.

“You want some pointers as we fight or after?” She asked, stepping into a fighting stance.

Hamin slowly got into his own stance, and it was...very, unique. His stance was stereotypical, but not in the martial arts kind. Nay, he looked like he was about ready to draw his katana from its sheath, despite said katana and sheath being to the side. Yet, his right fist seemed to be taking the place of the blade and sheath, as well. “During, if you don’t mind,” he answered, features similarly hardening.

“Let’s get started, then,” she answered before rushing forward, head ducked and fists raised as her feet never strayed from the path set by her shoulders.

Despite his reaction being slightly slow, Hamin still stepped to the side in a crescent motion, kneed her in the gut, then grabbed one of her fists and made to toss her to the side. Air rushed from her as she relaxed her back and tightened her abs, her body wrapping around his knee as he grabbed her hand.

He cursed as she did this, nearly losing balance but reacting all the same with an uppercut to her jaw with his free hand. Her loose arm came up, the back of her hand diverting his fist as she planted her feet, one directly behind his legs, parallel to his center. Her free hand shot out, grabbing his collar and pushing him back, her leg acting as a trip.

Naturally, he fell right on his ass with a grunt. She took her hand from his collar and grabbed onto his hand that still gripped hers. She rolled over his body, pulling his arm straight over her body, wrapping her legs around his shoulder. Once on her back, she arched her back, hips pushing his shoulder away from her as her hands pulled his arm towards her.

Hamin sighed as she did this, struggling for only a moment before letting out a final curse, “Damn.” He chuckled, glancing her way. “Well, figures I’d be down after only one shot.” He tried to meet her eyes, but couldn’t, as her hips and...more, were in the way. “Also, lovely as the view is here, I doubt you really wanna give me said view this early.” He grinned. “We only just met, after all.”

“Watch the comments,” she replied jokingly, craning her neck to look at him. “I’m in a great position to pull your shoulder out of it's socket or kick you in the jaw.” She relaxed her back and released her grip with her hands and legs, rolling backward and onto her feet. “Here,” she held her hand out to him.

Hamin grunted, taking her hand and letting her pull him up. “Sorry, bad way to make conversation I guess.” After she pulled him up, he put his hands on his hips. “So, teach, what did I fuck up on? Aside from my comment, that is.”

“Your balance was off,” she answered almost immediately. “And you didn’t follow through on your throw. Instead, you just dragged me into a better position.” She pulled her arms to her hips and widened her stance until her feet were as wide apart as her shoulders. “When you step, you need to think in terms of an octagon, keeping your feet on two of the eight sides and your center, well, in the center.” She brought her hands up, stepping back with one foot and forward with the other, her forward foot at an angle to her rear foot. “You’ll never lose balance that way, or at least, it’ll be much harder to be taken off balance.”

Hamin rubbed his bearded chin. “Makes sense.” He looked down at his feet. “Funny thing is, when I was on Earth, I was actually lopsided, so I had to have a better balance than most.” He hummed. “After looking in the mirror earlier, I can say I’m not lopsided anymore, so my balance has taken a hit.” He chuckled. “Though my stance and footwork were the main problem, right?” He asked, looking to her.

“Mostly,” she answered with a slight nod before stepping out of her stance. “And be sure to follow through on any move you make. Hesitation will kill your balance, too.”

Hamin winced. “Yeeah, hesitation was always a big thing with me.” He shook his head. “Either way, duly noted.”

“Good,” she smiled, crossing her arms and cocking a hip slightly. “You want to go again or is your shoulder throbbing?”

Hamin rolled his shoulder a bit. “Nah, it’s fine.” He looked to her, eager grin back in full force. “Let’s go again.” Amelia leaped into the air, spinning as her heel shot out towards his head. Surprise fueled his reaction, grabbing her heel and with strength he did not realize he had, tossed her aside. Hamin blinked. “Well...da-”

The woman cut him off with a yell as she rolled and launched back at him, planting herself in front of him and feinting a punch towards his nose.

His reaction was to deflect the punch, then follow up with a boot to her gut. This led to a sharp hook meeting his abdomen, dangerously close to his liver.

He gasped in pain, stumbling back...only to grit his teeth and immediately perform a snap kick, almost as if he was planning it. The Navi tried to withdraw her arm quickly, her reaction only fast enough to turn the kick into a glancing blow to her side and arm. This was, however, where he furthered his brief advantage by hooking his foot around her arm and slamming himself and her to the earth. Amelia let out a huff of air as they landed, the woman sucking in for just a moment as she attempted to roll and slam her heel down on the man.

He, in turn, let go and rolled away himself, narrowly dodging the slamming of her heel as he sprung back to his feet. She pulled her leg back and pushed off the earth, ending up a few yards away from him in a fighting stance.

He grinned at her. “Looks like I managed to catch you off-guard,” he gloated.

She smiled in return, a small glint in her eye. “Won’t happen again,” she assured darkly.

Hamin chuckled. “Probably not, but, hey, we’ll see, won’t we?” He tensed after those words, as if readying to lunge.

The young woman lowered her stance slightly, grounding herself in preparation for his assault.

Instead, however, he ducked low, grabbed a handful of dirt, and tossed it at her face, all in one swift, fell swoop. The woman ducked down, the soil landing on and dirtying her helmet as she thrust her fingers into the ground.

“Let’s play dirty, then,” she growled, eyes flashing red momentarily as she ripped a chunk from the ground and threw it at him.

He rolled under it, coming out of the roll with an uppercut to her chin. However, as soon as he finished the roll, it was obvious he was disoriented from said maneuver. The Navi leaned out of the way of the punch, grabbing his wrist and shooting her knee towards his solar plexus.

He didn’t react in time, bowling over and clutching his stomach as he suddenly gasped for air. Amelia responded by jumping into the air with a snarl, bring her boot down to stomp on her opponent.

Again, he didn’t react, and took the blow full force, once more gasping for air, as well as gasping in pain. The woman dropped, straddling his chest as she started throwing punches.

Once more, he didn’t react, taking all of the blows. Fear was in his eyes as he gasped for air and from pain with each punch. Red glinted in the NetNavi’s eyes as she continued to rain down blows, each swing only barely losing momentum.

The fear in Hamin’s eyes reached a peak, and suddenly, they hardened in an instant, and three words boomed from his lips like the peal of thunder, instinct fueling his words as much as the flame inside him was. “Fus Ro Dah!” These words alone catapulted the NetNavi off of him and a good few dozen feet away.

Hamin panted as he tried to sit up, clutching his chest and wincing as he got his breath back before glaring at Amelia. “What...the...fuck?!” He demanded.

The woman grunted, pushing herself up on her arms. “I…” she murmured, eyes closed as she put her hand to her head. She grimaced before blinking several times. “I don’t know,” she replied, looking up at him with some form of remorse in her now pure green eyes. “Are you okay?”

Hamin scowled for a time, before taking several deep, shuddering and pained breaths. “No. No I am not. I just learned I can shout, which apparently comes with a sore throat, and I’m in a lot of pain.” He slowly got up, groaning as he did. However, he fell back down immediately, gasping in pain. “Fuck! Feels like something’s broken.” He sighed in aggravation, glaring at her from his position on the ground. “You mind helping me up, or are you gonna pummel me again?”

The woman practically jumped to her feet, rushing over to help him up. “I’m so sorry, Hamin,” she apologized. “I still don’t know what causes my rage out.”

Hamin grit his teeth from the pain as she helped him up. “I’d- Nngh! Suggest figuring that out before we spar again anytime soon,” he replied. A hand went to his chest, groaning again. “Fuck, yeah, that’s broken. Shit, this is not the kind of first I wanted to have.” He sighed.

Amelia grimaced again as he said this. “Let’s get you to the hospital,” she murmured, voice a bit on edge. She put his weight on her before starting back towards town.

Hamin and Amelia hobbled along in silence for a while, before he sighed. “Look, sorry I’m lashing out here, it’s just…” He grimaced as pain lanced through him. “...Nngh, was a little worried you were about to make me into red paste. Only people I know who flip sides like that have been on my hate list immediately.” He sighed again, looking to her. “Just...are you really sorry?”

She nodded her head, the expression in her eyes telling the truth. “You have every right to be upset,” she answered. “What I did was uncalled for and should never have happened. That’s one of the big points of martial arts, control. And I lost it.” She fell silent, eyes hardening at the horizon as her lips drew into a line.

Hamin studied her face, before sighing and following her gaze. “Fair enough. For now, it looks like we’ll have to spar after you figure out that control bit.” He hissed in pain as he stumbled over a rock. “Right now though, I’d really like to get myself into the doc’s.”

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, her lips turning down in a frown. After a moment, she stopped and started to shift him again. “Get on my back,” she ordered.

Hamin shot her a look. “Yeah, no. I’m not one for being treated like a kid.”

“I can get us to the hospital faster if you get on my back,” she explained with a roll of her eyes. “Plus, I can keep you from shifting as much to keep your breaks from getting any worse.”

Hamin frowned, opening his mouth to retort, before sighing and doing as she instructed, a light blush on his face. “I fucking hate this…”

“It’ll be over before you know,” the young woman assured, before a dark purple aura started to shimmer around the pair. It held tightly to the both of them, the pair rising into the air. “Hold on.” The warning barely left her lips before they rushed off, the Navi’s aura keeping him still as they flew.

“Jesus!” Hamin cursed, holding on tight so he wouldn’t fall off.

Amelia narrowed her eyes as they raced over Ponyville, the hospital coming into view a few moments later and not long after, they landed a few yards from the front entrance. “See?” She said, her aura cancelling out as their feet touched down. “What’d I say?”

Hamin grunted as he slowly got off of her. “Fair enough,” he said, hobbling into the hospital with her. After waving a doctor down, Hamin was taken into another room whilst Amelia was told to wait in the waiting room. The young woman found a seat in the farthest corner of the room, slightly shrinking back from the ponies around her.

She looked around sharply for several moments before giving a deep sigh. ‘Great first day in another new world…’ she thought to herself, leaning her head back.

5th Meditation (OLD)

Wind blows through the town of Ponyville.

A man groans as he wakes, idly clutching the necklace under his shirt.

A woman stares up at the early morning sky, a frown on her face.

Old failures cross their minds.

The man looks up at the sky, an old chill in his heart.

The woman clutches her shirt, an ache in her heart.

They both sigh and smile, then get up.

“You did WHAT?!” Starlight screeched.

“He’s just a male!” Fluttershy echoed.

Amelia could only wince at these words, glancing around to see various other mare nurses and doctors walking by, some shooting her a stink eye. She looked around for a moment more before holding her hands up. “Look, we thought it was a good idea to have a sparring match,” she started to summarize. “Unfortunately, my… anger got the better of me….”

“Anger? What the hay would make you angry at him?” Starlight queried, frowning at her.

The NetNavi sighed. “It was an issue I started to notice in my-” the woman stopped, her expression freezing a moment before she took a deep breath. “In my previous dimension. In combat, I would start to get angry until I couldn’t focus anymore and was no longer aware of my actions. Over time it got easier to control, but….” She trailed off as she diverted her eyes away.

Fluttershy and Starlight shared a look, then sighed. “Just...try to be more careful, okay?”

The Navi closed her eyes and nodded. “I won’t let it happen again,” she murmured, looking up again. “But that does mean I’m going to need more practice.”

“Absolutely not,” said a familiar female voice. They looked to see the same doctor who’d been in charge of the Navi standing there, adjusting her glasses over her black dappled snout. “Mr. Hamin has a broken nose, several blunt force lacerations, and multiple broken ribs. I cannot advise more ‘practice’,” she made air quotes with her hooves. “Until he heals fully, and even then I’d prefer you refrained from such dangerous activities. The poor thing barely knows how to fight, and he shouldn’t need to in the first place.”

“I meant with something a little less alive than Hamin,” Amelia replied with a roll of her eyes. “I’m hot-headed, not stupid. To spar with him while still not completely in control of myself could end worse than a trip to the hospital. I could actually end up killing him.” The Navi let that expression fade as she looked at her hand as if there were an invisible stain. “That’s not something I want to repeat anytime soon.”

“Repeat?” Fluttershy asked, frowning.

The dark Navigator closed her eyes tight for several seconds. “...There was a scuffle in which I lost control,” she all but whispered, eyes glued to the floor, hands trembling slightly as she clasped them together. “From what I analyzed later, I cut off my opponent’s wing and they broke their neck in the fall. Even serving in the military on my Earth, that was the first time I actually took a life… and I didn’t even mean to do it….”

Silence reigned for a time, and when the Navi looked up, she saw the eyes of those around had softened a fair bit. The doctor sighed. “Alright. I’ll leave that matter alone for now.” She cleared her throat. “I came here to let you all know how Mr. Hamin is doing.”

“How is he doing?” The NetNavi asked, genuine concern in her voice as she looked up again.

“Well, he certainly doesn’t like being confined to a bed, I can tell you that much,” The good doctor let out a light snort. “He’s also apparently not fond of being hospitalized, but, other than that, he should make a full recovery in about two week’s time.” She levitated a clipboard up to her face, flipping through it. “Our magic thankfully works well in tandem with his biology, so good news there. Though what we found most peculiar is that his magical signature, when we ran our initial tests, labeled him as an adult dragon, yet also something akin to an Alicorn, which is preposterous.”

Starlight and Fluttershy blinked once. Twice. Starlight then cleaned her ear, as if thinking she’d misheard. “I’m sorry, but...what?” Fluttershy nodded her agreement.

“Even I’m a little in the dark here,” Amelia admitted, casting a quizzical look at the mare. “I may not have ever met any adult dragons, but Alicorns are nothing new, and an Alicorn he ain’t.”

The doctor shrugged. “This is just what we could gleam from our magical analysis of him. However, he did mumble something while we carried out the test, now that I think about it. Something about a Dragonborn?” The doctor shook her head.

It was Amelia’s turn to blink before sighing and putting her face in her hand. “Motherfucker…” she muttered to herself, wiping her hand over her face. “Well, that explains the dragon.”

They all looked to her.

“Do you know something?” Fluttershy asked.

“If he’s Dragonborn, then he has litteral dragon’s blood flowing through his veins,” the woman explained, looking up. “That probably explains how he was able to knock me out of my rage.”

“...WHAT?!” the three mares cried.

The woman winced and shook her head at the combined shout. “Maybe now wouldn’t be the best time to mention he gains power by devouring dragon souls….”

“
” they cried again, louder, eyes wider than should be possible and manes fraying. The doctor even dropped her clipboard.

“Cut it out!” Amelia shouted in return, holding the sides of her helmet. “Look, the only way we know for sure is to run tests on whether or not he can perform a certain kind of magic and, if he can, how powerful that magic is.”

The three mares tried to calm down, each of them taking deep breaths.

“O-Okay, so, he...can devour souls…?” Fluttershy asked, looking to Amelia with pleading eyes.

“It’s more accurate to say ‘absorb’,” the Navi elaborated, rotating her fingers in front of her. “But exclusively dragon souls, and really the only dragons that got absorbed were hostile and planning to cause global annihilation.”

“Okay, you’re literally just making me freak out more here,” Starlight said, sitting on her plot and fanning her face with a hoof. “Please back up and explain more fully.”

“I second that statement,” the doctor said.

“Okayokayokay,” the program answered, waving her hands. “In the lore of the Dragonborn, they are heroes of dragon blood whose purpose is to defend the world from a dragon named Alduin. Alduin and his followers want only to wipe the entire world clean and rebuild it in Alduin’s image. The Dragonborn hunts down Alduin and his followers, killing them and absorbing their souls so that he may better use their power to protect the world.” She stopped and looked over each one of them. “Is anyone following me?”

“Somewhat?” Starlight said, wobbling a hoof.

“I’m a little bit more confused. I’ve never heard of a dragon called Alduin before, and I used to study history,” the doctor said, adjusting her glasses.

“S-same here,” Fluttershy meekly agreed. “M-minus the whole history thing.”

“I’m not surprised,” Amelia agreed with a shrug. “Considering the story I just told you comes from a video game. I wouldn’t believe it either except,” she paused and activated CyberSword, the blade extending into the air, “video games seem to be a common theme with us.”

They all blinked, then sighed.

“Well, that helps,” Starlight grunted. “Sort of.” She shook her head and looked to Amelia. “So, these Dragonborns...what’s so special about them other than being able to steal power/souls from dragons?”

“They’re typically stronger, faster, more durable, and heal much faster than your average individual,” the Navi listed, extending a finger for each item. “Then there’s their magical ability and the Voice, a form of spoken magic. That’s what gets more powerful through dragon souls, as dragons are masters of Shouts.”

The doctor hummed, picking up her clipboard again. “That would explain why most of his wounds are healing so fast...normally things like this take months for ponies to heal from, but we just chalked it up to his biology…”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “What are Shouts? And what is the Voice?”

“The Voice is what people call the magic of dragons,” Amelia explained further, the thought of how the Graybeards feel each time a player rolls through striking her. “Shouts are basically the spells of the Voice. Phrases like ‘Fus Ro Dah’ and ‘Yol Toor Shul’ are spells projected by your voice. Each spell has different effects and the more words you know of a phrase, the more powerful the Shout.”

“I imagine there’s more to it than that,” Starlight mused. “I mean, just saying the words seems too easy.” For emphasis, Starlight said, “Fus Ro Dah,” and nothing happened.

Amelia chuckled a bit. “That’s because you have to have dragon blood,” she replied, an amused look on her face. “Or be taught by a dragon, or taught by someone who already knows how to use the Voice. Otherwise, any two-bit con could use it.”

“I see…” The doctor mused, rubbing her chin.

“Still though, what about the whole Alicorn thing, Doctor...?” Starlight asked, turning to the doctor.

The other mare blinked, before chuckling. “Oh, sorry. I’m Doctor Heal Pulse.” She adjusted her glasses, smiling. “Anyways, from what we gathered, he has what seem to be dormant runic tattoos all over his body.” She flipped the clipboard over, showing them all a picture not too unlike an x-ray of the ‘tattoos’ that ran all across his form. “Those seem to be one of the sources of the Alicorn-like magic, but his signature seemed to go beyond even that. To what degree we can’t know without further testing, but when we asked him about them he said he only knew of something similar called ‘Will Lines’. He then later said it would be impossible for him to have them, though.”

“And now I’m back to being just as confused as the rest of you,” Amelia admitted. “I have no idea what any of that means.”

Heal Pulse shrugged. “We can figure that out later. For now, I’d simply suggest making sure that he does not strain himself and give him some time to heal. He should be able to move within a week and a half, and as long as he does not strain himself, he should make a full recovery in the aforementioned two weeks.”

“You’re the doc, doc,” Amelia replied, giving a little stretch. “I’ll help make sure he doesn’t do anything to aggravate his wounds. It’s the least I can do considering I inflicted them.”

Heal Pulse nodded. “Good.” She checked her watch, frowning. “Shoot. I have to get going. See you all later, alright?” She then trotted off briskly without any further words.

Starlight sighed deeply after the doctor left. “This is gonna be quite the headache to tell the Princess’.” She groaned. “Much less Spike.”

“I honestly think Spike might take it alright,” Amelia thought out loud, now leaning back. “He seems pretty level-headed. And once we explain that it’s video game logic, it might help curb any fears he has.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Considering how he and Button and Sweetie have bi-weekly game nights, I wouldn’t doubt it.”

Starlight blinked, looking to Fluttershy. “He does?”

Fluttershy nodded. “Mhm.” She quirked a brow. “Have you really not noticed?”

Starlight sighed, slumping. “I think being the Headmare and hanging out with Trixie on top of all this has made me too busy to notice…” She shook her head. “Anyways, let’s just give Hamin some time alone for now. I think he needs to sort out his thoughts.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Amelia agreed, letting out some air. “It’s not every day you learn you have power that can match gods.”

1st Meditation (NEW:EDITED)

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

I know, I know, this chapter is literally exactly the same as the original first chapter, minus the whole intro, but, that's because it doesn't really need any changing in my eyes, both because it doesn't contain Pyro's character, and because it just...feels right, to me, to keep at least this part the same.

I honestly don't think I could make something much different than this for this story. But anyways, I apologize for the confusion, everyone, as well as for worrying you all with the last blog. I do still need time, but...well, truth be told, I want to make things up to you all before I even think about taking time to myself.

So, to do that, I'm working on updating all my stories this week and the next, starting with this story.

Hopefully you all will enjoy the updates and changes.

1st Meditation (NEW:EDITED)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Sounds were what registered first. Birds, the breeze rustling leaves on the trees and blades of grass.

Touch registered next. The warmth of the sun on his skin, the tender embrace of the pleasantly cool grass, the calming breath of the world... And a number of things poking into his back. Groaning, the man opened his eyes and sat up in one smooth motion. Immediately after he raised an arm to cover his bespectacled eyes, wincing at the - to him - harshness of the light. Squinting and letting his eyes adjust, he looked around.

"Wait, what?" he muttered to himself, eyes widening.

Everything looked very, very different. Thin black lines outlined nigh everything, color upon color upon bright color seeming to beg his eyes to stare at them all, and overall, everything looked like he was in some sort of animated world. He appeared to be in a courtyard of sorts, and a decently-sized one at that. The walls were mostly purple, with gold trim and accents and a few darker purple accents. It seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on why. The apparent "art style" of the world was strange. Not cartoonish, but not exactly like the animes he watched, either. Somewhere between cartoonish and realistic. Slowly, he lowered his arm, eyes wide as could be, and simply stared slack jawed, mind running faster than a drug dealer from the police.

'...Who the fuck drugged me in my sleep? Why is everything so colorful? WHY IS EVERYTHING OUTLINED?!' These thoughts and many, many more of their kind sped up his heart rate.

A rustling in the wind and the feeling of something light rapidly tapping his bicep made him look to said bicep, where a yellow sticky note was attached. Snatching it off in the hopes for some explanation - and the hope that this was a dream and that he was essentially pranking himself - he began to read.

"Life is like riding a boat down a stream while there's a heavy cover of fog. You can make things out when they're close, but beyond that, you're practically blind. And there's always rocks in it. Did I mention that? Well, either way, there are, and they'll trip you up something awful if you don't see them and maneuver around them.

Most times you can't. And most times you get angry, or scared, or sad. But you have to keep going. You have to keep failing. You have to keep getting up, and learning from what has happened. Even if it isn't a mistake you made yourself. You can learn from it.

Take life as it is. Not as it will be, or won't be, or could be. Take it as it is. Remember what you learned. - A Friend."

"...What the H happened last night?" the man wondered aloud.

Suddenly, he heard doors opening to his right, and snapped his head to the sound. A number of figures came out of the doors, chatting loudly, most of which he didn't recognize, but four of them he did.

"Alright everycreature, go ahead and have fun at reces-" the daffodil colored Pegasus stopped abruptly as she noticed the man.

Many of the other figures did as well, all of them staring wide-eyed at the man. A small orange dragon had her maw hanging wide open. The same went for a small, light cyan insectoid equine and a Persian blue Griffon. The Griffon, however, wore armor. Golden, armor. With a blue star in it's center breastplate.

The man simply stared back. "...I'm just gonna, uh...." He looked to the grass below him, then back to them briefly. "Uh, yeah." With that eloquent 'explanation' he flopped onto his back and stared up at the clear blue, sunny sky.

It was a wonder he didn't simply pass out.

Sadly, he didn't. If he had, his mind might have gotten some reprieve. 'I'm in Equestria. I'm in freaking Equestria. I'm in FREAKING EQUESTRIA!' He placed a hand over his eyes. 'Okay, okay okay okay. Breathe. Breathe.' And so he did, as slow and yet even as he could whilst also trying to calm his thoughts.

It was a fairly one-sided battle. 'How did I get here? Let's pull out a list.' He gripped the grass underneath him, breathes coming in shaky and a fair bit fast instead of slow and steady. 'Sense of touch is working. Not entirely unusual for a dream. No points for it being a dream, but no points against it. Can still hear things, but not in my head. One point for not being in a dream.' He breathed deeply again, shuddering slightly as he did. 'Can smell too. I've been told that's not unusual either, but I've never had that happen in a dream... Point to not a dream.'

The sound of hooves and claws in the grass made him sigh. 'Okay, great. Yeah, no, great. Just ruin my attempt at calming down and being rational. Just fine guys.' Lowering his fair-skinned hand, he looked up to find numerous faces looking down at him. They'd crowded around him, apparently.

Fluttershy spoke up. "U-Um, w-what are you doing here?" She asked, mane dangling down almost to the point that it touched his face.

Smolder crossed her arms. "And why do you have swords?"

"You know this is, like, a school, right? And that weapons aren't allowed on the grounds?" Gallus asked, raising a brow and toting his own weapon - a spear. The man was about to make a comment on that, but thought better of it eventually.

"A-And, um, could you tell us how you got here?" Ocellus queried, book held in one hoof.

The man sighed deeply again, closing his eyes briefly. 'Alright. Truth or falsehood, brain?'

'...Fuck it, had enough of my own falsehoods back home, so, new start, clean slate.'

He opened his eyes, fair baritone answering their questions. "Didn't get that far yet in my thought process, didn't notice I had them..." he looked down at the sheathed blade at his hip, sat up, and looked to the other on his back, and paused a moment. "...Despite them being familiar," he continued in a near mutter, before looking back to them. "I can see that it's a school now, and, again, didn't get that far in my thought process."

All of them blinked at him, eyes of myriad colors meeting his simple yet still unique hazel green eyes.

Smolder frowned. "Okay, now you're sounding suspicious as heck." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd suggest talking more honestly. Otherwise we'll have to get the Guards." Gallus cleared his throat and tapped his spear to the ground. "We know you're the Captain of the Guard, Gallus. We meant more than just you." Smolder said, rolling her eyes.

Gallus gave her an indignant look. "I can take some weird monkey just fine by myself, Smolder."

"Now now everycreature," Fluttershy began, holding out her hooves in placation. "Let's give..." She paused, then looked to the man. "I'm sorry, um, are you a colt, or stallion, or...?"

The man sighed again, sitting up straighter. As he did, he wobbled slightly. "Okay, that's different," he muttered under his breath. 'Did I get taller?' He briefly glanced around, noticing his head was above all of theirs. '...Apparently so. Questions for later.' He shook his head lightly. "Sorry, lost in my thoughts. Anyway yes, I am male. Where I'm from they call me a man." He rolled his shoulders. "As for my name..." He paused, then frowned. '...Well, that's another not good thing. All I remember about my name is my first initial.' He heaved a breathe. 'Alright, guess I'll have to make one up.' "...Just call me Hamin."

Once more, they all blinked. Slowly, Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, and the students looked to Fluttershy. Thankfully for the man, she didn't falter. Much.

"L-Let's give Mr. Hamin a chance, alright everycreature?" She looked back to Hamin and cleared her throat. "Now, Mr. Hamin, could you explain more, please?"

Hamin grunted. "Alright, just give me a minute to try and remember." He noticed the eyes of the students narrow. "Relax, kiddos," he said with a surprisingly easy smile. "I can promise you on my grandfather's grave I ain't here to harm."

Silence followed after that. Whether it was from the sincerity or not, Hamin didn't care, closing his eyes and trying to recall what led up to all this.

Pain. Pain worse than when Kev nearly split my finger in two. Pain worse than when I broke my chin open. Pain. Pain. So much pain.

Darkness. Flashing lights. Blood. Blood burning in my veins. Bones stretching. Body stretching. Skin ripping. Muscles tearing. Red. Black. Gold. Blue. Green. Red. Black. Gold. Blue. Green. Red.Black.

Pain. Pain. Pain. PainpainpainpainpainpainpainpainPAINPAIN-

A firm jostling shot my eyes back open and I gasped, immediately clutching myself and curling up a little. I barely registered the tears that had started to build in my eyes or whoever had me by the shoulders until I heard the soft voice of Andrea Libman and felt warm wings wrap around me.

"Shhh, shh, it's alright, it's alright, you're safe..." Fluttershy said gently.

I simply let her hold me, pressing into the embrace as I continued to feel tremors rock my body. "I-I-I, s-sorry, I," I chuckled weakly. "S-Sorry, guys. This is pretty p-p-pathetic, h-huh?"

Fluttershy tightened her grip on me. "No, it's not." She said firmly, rubbing my back now. I tensed up a lot. Tried to hold back the tremors. It didn't really work, but eventually, they stopped, though I didn't know how long it took. Didn't care really. Slowly, Fluttershy let go of me, smiling warmly and kindly. "Feeling better?"

I took a good few deep breathes, just to be sure, then nodded. "Y-Yeah." I shook my head, then cleared my throat. "*Uhem,* yeah." A final breath, before I decided to finally answer their question. "I uh... If it's alright with you all, I'd uh, rather not talk about how I got here." I frowned, feeling a final tremor before looking around. My frown only deepened, seeing all the worried youths around me. I looked back to Fluttershy. "At least, not until I come to terms with it. And...not in front of kids."

Fluttershy frowned herself, but eventually nodded before looking to all the kids. "Everycreature, go ahead and enjoy recess." She looked to me. "Mr. Hamin, why don't you come with me? I think I might know somepony who can help you."

2nd Meditation (NEW: EDITED...again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

The walk through the halls of the School of Friendship was mostly silent, full of rumination on both sides. They passed many students, all chatting, laughing and joking around like young teens are wont to do. However, when Fluttershy and Hamin came close, they promptly quieted, before turning to each other and muttering queries and the like about the new face.

Hamin barely paid any attention, focusing instead on the architecture in an attempt to let his mind cool down. 'Always thought the school looked nice in the show. It's good to see it looks as nice in person.' He frowned, almost instinctively placing a hand over the hilt of the blade sheathed at his waist. His eyes sparked with melancholy contemplation. 'Still hard to believe this is real. I mean, sure, I dreamed of coming here before, just like a lot of bronies, but...' He bit his lip, gaze falling to the smooth, carpeted white marble floor. '...I'm really alone now. More alone than I've ever been.' He let out a small self deprecating chuckle. 'And that's saying something.'

Fluttershy looked up at him after his chuckle, but when he waved it off, she simply nodded and returned her gaze forward, hooves clip-clopping on the cold floor.

'He seems so...defeated. I don't think I've met any pony or creature so sad.' She frowned, glancing up at him, then to his weapons. 'He looks like he's some kind of fighter, but...' She glanced to the snow white, linen cloak draped around his person. '...A wanderer too. A mercenary, maybe? Can't be safe for a young colt...' Her frown deepened as she looked away. 'I can't imagine how hard that is for him.' Once more, she glanced his way. ‘And I can’t say I’ve ever seen a human outside of the Mirror World before...could he be alone? I didn’t see any mares with him...’

“You, uh, having fun staring at me?” Hamin asked, looking to her with a raised brow.

Fluttershy’s face flushed crimson, and she snapped her head back to the hallway ahead, hiding behind her hair with an adorable squeak.

Hamin chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind.” He jerked a thumb to himself. “It’s normal to stare at things that are out of the norm. So don’t sweat it.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I-I-I wasn’t-! You aren’t-!” She flushed a deeper red and looked away. “N-N-Nevermind…”

Hamin, still smiling, simply shrugged. “A’ight.” He turned his gaze forward. 'I'll just have to deal. Family, friends or not...at least I have the chance I always wanted. The chance to make a real difference. Not just for one or two people, but for way more. That's what I should be focusing on.' He reasoned, gaze hardening. Slowly, it turned to Fluttershy. 'She doesn't look the exact same as Fluttershy from the show...mane's all different. She seems to have a few wrinkles, too.' He frowned. 'Maybe I got dropped here after the show actually ended?'

"We're here," Fluttershy announced, bringing the man's attention to the door he'd missed.

He blinked. "Oh, uh, heh, so we are."

Fluttershy smiled lightly, then turned to the door and rapped her hoof against it three times. "Starlight? I have somecreature here who needs help."

"Come on in," came the familiar voice of Kelly Sheridan.

Fluttershy opened the door soon after, revealing Starlight, who looked up from a set of papers at her desk to see the two. Her eyes widened a bit.

"Well, you're certainly new," Starlight noted. "Fluttershy, could you close the door?"

As the two walked in, Fluttershy did just that, and soon after Starlight's horn lit up, followed by the walls of the room. "There, soundproofing's done. Now, you're a human, right?"

Hamin blinked, then slowly nodded, standing awkwardly by the door. "Yeah, I am."

"Hmm. You've kept you're human shape, you have swords, and what looks like armor... All of that is a lot different from what we know of the Mirror World..." Starlight muttered, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

Hamin sighed, looking out the window behind Starlight. "I'm...not from the Mirror World."

"You're not?" Fluttershy and Starlight asked, eyes going slightly wide.

Hamin shook his head. "I don't want to talk about exactly how I got here, but... I can tell you I'm not from the Mirror World. I'm from a planet called Earth. We...well, my world, suffice to say, did not have humans with technicolor skin. Most humans simply had a shade of peach skin, or brown skin. Not the full range of blues, purples, reds, and stuff like from the Mirror World."

"And yet you still know of the Mirror World. Mind telling us how colt like you knows that?" Starlight asked, moving some of the papers on her desk to the side as she steepled her hooves. Somehow.

'Well, that 'colt' bit confirms this is a RGRE world even more.'

Hamin paused at the accusation. "I..." He opened his mouth to speak, a lie forming on his lips, before he stopped short. He sighed. 'Well, lying is certainly still a hard habit to kick.' He shook his head, then finally locked gazes with Starlight. "This...world, and even this greatsword on my back, they're...well, from what I know, they're all from media in my own world. You guys, this building, my sword, all of it is from some form of media on my world."

At their shocked looks, he continued. "You guys are from a show called My Little Pony. The fourth generation of it, at that. As for my greatsword...it's from a much, much darker place. A game called Dark Souls."

The two stared at him for a long span of time, the man shifting on his feet a few times as he waited for them to respond. Then, slowly, Starlight's horn lit up, and a bag was summoned from nowhere with a flash of light, startling Hamin a moment, as it slowly drifted over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy wordlessly took it with a hoof, then placed it on her back.

"Remind me to pay more attention to Discord's ramblings," Starlight said.

Fluttershy nodded sagely. "I think that might be a good idea."

Hamin frowned, looking between the two mares. "So...you guys aren't gonna flip out?"

They shook their heads. "We've seen enough outlandish things to kind of...grow used to it all. Living with Discord only helps with that."

Hamin opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. "...Fair enough." He said with a sigh. "So...you guys know of other worlds, then? Besides the Mirror World?"

They both nodded.

"Discord's opened our eyes to it a bit. He's never shown us everything, but, well... he doesn't have much reason to lie anymore," Fluttershy explained, smiling a little.

Starlight chuckled. "You do have the guy kinda whipped, Fluttershy." Fluttershy glared at her, and she wisely changed the subject. "Still, I never thought we'd get a visitor from another world...not to mention one that knows of us..." Starlight frowned, gazing at her desk in thought for a moment, before looking back up at Hamin. "What all do you know about our world?"

"Pretty much everything major. I never watched the full show, but I know the big events. Discord's return, his reformation, his growth, your guys' growth...there's a lot of ground I'd need to cover," Hamin began, shifting on his feet again. "Right now, though, much as I know this is important...what do you guys plan to do knowing all this?"

"That depends," Starlight began. "You don't have anywhere to go, right?"

Hamin shook his head. "Not really. I'm...well, as far from home and my planet and universe as can be, really. All I've got is my knowledge and what you see on me."

Starlight smiled sweetly. "In that case, we can set you up with some lodging. However, since you're an extraterrestrial being, the Friendship Council will need to be called..." Starlight paused, then the smile became uneasy. "...aaand probably the Convocation of Creatures." She waved it off. "Still, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Hamin sighed. "Alright. At least I don't have to worry about a place to live."

"For now, at least. Obviously you'll have to become a working member of society, but for now, yes, you have a place to live," Starlight said with a wide smile.

Hamin grunted. 'That was less heartwarming than I would've liked to hear.' "Fair enough. So, where will I be staying?"

"Thaaat's one thing," Starlight said, smile becoming obviously uneasy. "It's not entirely up to me. So, right now, well..."

"We'll need to send him to Twilight and collect the girls, won't we?" Fluttershy said, raising a brow and giving Starlight a knowing look.

Starlight giggled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Unfortunately. Sorry, big guy. Normally we handle refugees better, especially when they're male, but uh, well..."

Hamin heaved a breath, shoulder's slumping. "I'm a special case. It's fine." He turned around, walking towards the door. "I get it. I'll be outside in the courtyard. Just come find me when you're all ready." He gave no other words, opening and closing the door behind him. Oddly, it felt like he was going to slam it shut, but, he didn't.

Starlight looked to Fluttershy. "He seemed...really defeated."

Fluttershy nodded slowly, looking towards where the man had left. "Yeah. I'm a bit worried, honestly."

"You and me both. This is gonna be killer for all of us. I mean, we have an extraterrestrial lifeform on our world! A male one at that!" Fluttershy shot the unicorn a look. "What? It's true! We both know how hard it was to keep everyone calm at the last Convocation of Creatures!"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I meant how he feels, Starlight."

Starlight blinked, then frowned. "Oh. Yeah, that's..." She took a breath. "...That might be a doozy."

Fluttershy looked back to the door. "Yeah..."

Author's Note

EDIT: Added a new intro

EDIT: Changed the name of the World Council to the more correct 'Convocation of Creatures'.

I want to make one thing clear with this chapter. It may be a new start for the story, but it's a new start for me, too. One without a brother who was with me for over five years. One without someone who helped me through countless struggles...and one with the knowledge that I wasn't good enough to realize how bad I kept hurting him.

This story is chiefly about growth, about someone who is and feels completely alone, trying their best to improve and make a real difference.

I only hope it's message helps others who haven't learned the important lesson of continuous self-improvement.

And that it keeps the same heartbreak I've gone through from happening to all of you.

-Timeless

3rd Meditation (NEW: EDITED...again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

'This is a lot more than I expected I'd get,' I mused as I flipped through the pages of the massive book that had been attached to my hip. It admittedly took a bit of finagling to figure out how to unlatch it, but thankfully I got it. Currently I was propped up against the tree I'd woken up near, trying to ignore the gazes around me as I read through the tome I'd been given.

From what the table of contents showed, this book has all the biblical, mythological, scientific, and historical knowledge of humanity. Though when I flipped to the last page of the table of contents, I found a section that seemed wholly committed to describing the technologies that humanity had only dreamed about having. Or at least, that it had dreamed about having before I was dropped here.

I would definitely be reading more from this book in the future.

Closing it for now, as I was overwhelmed enough, I went through the rest of what I had. First was the Greatsword. It looked just like it did in Dark Souls 2, made of and seemingly chiseled from luminescent blue crystal - and somehow not in a knapped fashion, meaning it actually had a solid and not serrated bladed edge that most carved blades had - and after some inspection, it seemed to be real. Whether it was the Bluemoon or true Moonlight Greatsword, though, I wasn't sure. I had trouble telling the two apart even in game, and it was worse in reality. My katana, though, was arguably much more ornate and likely more storied than the greatsword.

For one, the blade had the same texture as and look of Dragonbone from Skyrim, with the edge seemingly lined with hard ice. I wanted to say it was Stalhrim, but decided to leave that actual idea up for when I had this thing inspected by an actual smith. It could have been some other blue material for all I knew. The handguard was arguably the most alluring thing about it, though. Why? Because it looked like it was made out of a ring of teeth. Not human or pony, but some kind of carnivore. Wasn't sure what kind, mainly because I don't know shit about animal bones, I only knew they were certainly carnivorous. The handle though was thankfully simpler, being made of what looked like wrapped feathers. Golden ones, at that. So, simple, but still fancy.

Honestly, it didn't feel right to me to own something so grandiose. It felt like it should go to someone more worthy, but...whenever I thought that, I immediately felt like it was still mine, and mine alone.

Another thing I was going to have to think about.

The other items on my person were at least more familiar. And...more personal. One was a necklace of red acrylic with a symbol on it, which I was glad was still around my neck like it had been for some time. I had a black tourmaline crescent, rounding off the two gifts I'd gotten from my sisters. The last ones were the Victorian-style pocket watch I'd gotten from a con years before, my old MP3, and a music box. The music box I found after rifling through what was in my pouches. Because, apparently, I had pouches. Like I was about to go on an actual adventure.

Anyway, the music box was...special, to say the least. One I'd gotten from my sister, on my birthday. One that played a favorite melody of mine - the Song of Storms.

I won't be losing any of these. That much I was going to make sure of.

They were all I had left of home, after all.

"A home I've left. Technically willingly, at that," I muttered. I'd always dreamed of coming here, to Equestria. But...now, the reality had really hit home. I had no support here. No one who knew me. Yeah, I had more and greater opportunities here, but...was that really the case? Part of me argued that I could have made just as big a difference back on Earth if I'd only tried, but...now, that chance was gone. Even if I did make it back home, there would be no guarantee it would be the same.

Or that I would.

Sadly, or maybe thankfully, before I could get too much deeper into thoughts about home, I heard figures approaching. Putting my music box away along with the rest of my things, I looked up to find the Elements not far from me. Maybe they'd all been teaching classes today? That was the only idea I could come up with for how they assembled so quickly.

Nonetheless, most of them seemed surprised to see me as I stood up, towering over them by...Wow, I really was taller. It looked like I'd grown a good few feet, though I could be wrong. Either way, they were all the same height as a German Shepherd, at least.

"So, this is the guy you were talking about, Star?" Rainbow asked, rainbow mane set up in the same way Spitfire's was in the show.

Starlight nodded. "Yup. This is..." Starlight stopped short, hoof hanging in the air, then blinked. "Oh, wow. Just realized I never asked your name, big guy."

I gave a small smile, trying to hide the sadness behind my usual mask. "Just call me Hamin."

"Well, it's nice ta meet ya, Hamin," Applejack greeted, tipping her Stetson up and offering a hoof. "Put 'er there!"

Hesitantly, I knelt down and grabbed her hoof, shaking it...and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't shake back so hard that my arm would pop out of its socket. Small victories, I guess. After letting go and standing back up, I regained my smile.

"Good to meet you too. Good to meet all of you, really," I said genially, before pausing as I finally noticed that all the kids were gone. "Where'd the kids go?" I asked, looking around the courtyard.

"Considering you came along out of nowhere, and the fact that this is pretty urgent, we canceled school for today," Starlight explained.

"Unfortunately, yes," Rarity sighed, deflating a bit. "And I was so looking forward to showing my students how making quilts together can be such a good bonding experience..."

Rainbow grunted. "Ugh. Don't know how you handle that coltish stuff, Rarity."

"We were all kinda just sleeping," Pinkie admitted.

I opened my mouth to say something, then immediately thought better of it. It was Pinkie, after all.

The others seemed to agree, as they all stopped, looked to her, and sighed.

"What? Sleeping can be a bonding experience too!" Pinkie argued.

"Let's just get going to Canterlot. Hamin, mind getting a bit closer? I'm going to teleport us," Starlight said, horn lighting up.

I winced. "Well, never been teleported before, but sure, let's cross that off my list." Hopefully it doesn't make me feel nauseous like so much media says. Stepping closer, and even kneeling down a bit to their level, we all grouped up, Starlight's horn glowed to a blinding degree, and then, there was a deafening silence. It was like all air and matter had been sucked out of where we were, because I swear I felt like I just had all the air in my lungs disappear and constrict at the same time. My vision didn't swim, but just seemed to...halt, or stop, for a strangely long yet short amount of time. Then, it all came rushing back.

Now, I didn't feel nausea, thankfully, but MAN did my vision swim, and MAN was I out of breath. I practically collapsed on the floor, taking in heaving breathes and coughing like something had gotten stuck in my throat.

"Sorry about that, I forget that some ponies, er, creatures, tend to have that reaction when they first teleport," Starlight apologized, laughing nervously.

I didn't respond for a moment, still trying to get my breath back, but when I did, I let out a final breath, if a bit shaky, whilst I stumbled to get back to my feet. "I-It's fine, just... Warn me next time...or better yet, d-don't teleport me at all."

A familiar voice giggled, bringing my attention to the throne ahead of me, and the large purple alicorn on it, a robust purple drake standing next to her.

"Well, that's certainly a different brand of humor than I'm used to," Twilight said, a smile on her lips. "I take it you are this human that Starlight told me about?" She asked.

I swiftly bowed, even though I was still a bit shaky and nearly fell on my face. "That would be correct, Your Highness. Hamin. I...don't recall my full name, I'm afraid, so if it pleases you, just call me Hamin."

All present giggled or laughed, making my cheeks heat up. I remained bowing, however.

"Well, yer certainly more formal than ya were with us," Applejack noted, probably smirking as she held back more giggles.

"I almost feel slighted," Rarity said, probably smirking too.

"Heck, if I had recruits bowing to me like you, dude, I'd be way over 20% cooler," Rainbow said, snickering.

As they all calmed down, and my cheeks continued to burn, Twilight spoke, "You don't have to be so formal, Hamin. I might appreciate it, but I appreciate familiarity more."

I blinked, more heat coursing through to my cheeks as I looked up finally. "I...don't understand. Why would you want to be so familiar with a stranger?"

Twilight only smiled as the rest laughed. But...it didn't feel malicious. "Because strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

My eyes widened. That was something I always liked to think of. People would always say it and I'd agree, but...whenever it came to be used on me, I...

I shook my head forcefully, then managed a smile. "Thank you." I shifted on my feet. "So... Aren't you guys going to ask my intentions, or something?"

Twilight laughed this time. "Hamin, by this point we've all learned to tell when somecreature is hiding something." She lightly tapped a golden shod hoof to her horn. "Masked casting helps with that."

My eyes widened. "You...used a mind reading spell?" I shook my head. "That's...all kinds of messed up. I didn't even feel it!" I took a step back, shaking slightly. What had she heard? What had she seen?

Twilight's smile changed. I could tell. Everyone else's had too. "I'm sorry, Hamin. I really am. But, you must understand, we've had to resort to a lot of different means to keep the peace." She sighed, looking out of the stained glass windows I only just now noticed.

Much as I wanted to admire them, I was too caught up with the fear and revulsion of having my mind read.

"That's...that's still too far," I said shakily.

"It is," Twilight surprisingly agreed. I thought she'd disagree, but...

I shook my head again. "Just what kind of political hellscape have you all lived through?" I breathed, looking around.

Twilight sighed again. "Again, I'm sorry, Hamin. The reason you had to be brought to me is simply because Starlight, while she may be a very powerful unicorn, doesn't have the full experience to be able to do masked casting. Yes, while we do also have to introduce you to the Convocation of Creatures, chiefly we had to make sure you didn't have any ill will, colt or not." She frowned, eyes hardening. "The only concern I have is that I could only read certain thoughts. You have high level wards in place, so, while I do trust you a bit better now, and I believe you won't harm us..."

"You want to be certain, yes?" Rarity supplied.

Twilight nodded. "Yes."

I clenched my fists. "...Just... Can we just get this over with, then?" At their slightly widened eyes, I raised a hand. "I'm sorry, but...having my privacy broken, and the shock of being in a new world...I need time to myself."

I could feel and see their gazes shift as they looked at me. I hated it. I hated making others worry about me. Hated them worrying about me in general. But I needed time. I knew I did.

Spike spoke up. "I'll show you to a room, then. We can all talk again tomorrow."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you." With that, the older drake and I left the room. I didn't want to see their worried faces.

They all felt too fake.

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

4th Meditation (NEW: EDITED...again)

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

Yo yo yo, folks! How ya doing this morning/afternoon/evening? Good? Goood~. I, for one, am on a bit of a writing spree. I'm actually right in the midst of writing another chapter - said chapter is open on another tab, already partially written - and I'm loving it~!

I've got so many plans I want to see done today, and by jove, they shall be done!

Catch you all on the next chapter!

-Timeless

4th Meditation (NEW: EDITED...again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

This wasn't right.

That's all I could think of once I was inside my guest suite. I barely cared about the lush interior. I barely cared about how cool it was to sleep inside a castle, even if only for a time. I barely even cared that my pacing was causing a ruckus from all the gear I now had on me.

I only cared about one thing.

How betrayed I felt.

This was supposed to be an escape. A world of wonder and light and joy and new opportunity. But that had been smashed quickly, both during my time in...the Void, and now, with my privacy being disregarded.

How much did she hear? How much did she know? In fact, was she talking to the others about my thoughts as I waited here? Sure, she said she hit two wards, which implies that she didn't get everything, but that could've been a lie to make me think she hadn't gotten everything. Hell, she could be spying on my thoughts right now!

My fists were clenching and unclenching, I was glaring a hole into every wall I saw, emotions starting to wear on my mind, begging to be released.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to raise more suspicion. I didn't want the guards coming in here, much less did I want to risk them coming in here and restraining me for lashing out too much.

It was all too much. Too much to process. Too much to hold back.

The hopes that I'd had for my life here had been put on a lifeline, and now? Now that line had been burnt, and the ashes liquified via blender and drunk by a demon, a demon named Twilight Sparkle.

I slammed a fist into my cheek at that.

She's not a demon.

"I'm just...overreacting, right?" I reasoned, uncaring for how my cheek hurt, or how I'd almost bit my tongue in the act. I shook my head violently. No. "NO." I shot back at myself. "Not this time. This time it's warranted." My fists clenched again as I glared down at the carpet. As I did, I suddenly noticed something about my arms.

They were glowing. Specifically, the exposed parts had glowing lines, like tattoos, on them. And they were glowing almost every color of the rainbow, like they couldn't decide what color to be.

My eyes widened. "What the...?"

They widened further as I noticed a familiar pattern in the lines.

They were Will Lines. The very same ones that almost every Hero, every descendant of the Archon of the Fable series' Old Kingdom and Albion, had when they were charging Will, their brand of magic. I reached my left hand out to touch one of the lines over my right forearm. It was a feeling that threw me for a loop, because it ranged from feeling like the skin was on fire, to being cold as ice, to being staticky, then to a number of other feelings I wasn't sure I could describe.

"I'm...a Hero?" I breathed, pulling my hand back and looking at my left forearm now. It was the same.

My thoughts once more raced. If that was true, then I could perform feats of Will, and there'd be nothing short of other magic that could stop said Will if I unleashed it. I recalled very well that Will could only ever be dampened, or channeled, by other materials and minerals. It could never be stopped, not truly, not unless it was via more Will, or likely some form of dispelling magic or anti-magic.

Ideas poured into my mind at this.

If my previous thought was right, and Twilight is reading my thoughts even now, then I only have so long to think up a plan. A plan, to leave here. While, yes, staying here would mean more safety, and that I'd gain more brownie points with the ponies, that was only in theory.

I reminded myself that this world was not the very same MLP I knew. Obviously, it was set after the show ended, a fair while, in fact, if Twilight truly did have to learn to mask her magical corona to cast mind reading spells. If she had to take time to learn that just to survive the political landscape here, then who knows what else she, or even the rest of them, had learned to do?

They could be far more ruthless than I initially thought.

Now, granted, Twilight hasn't interjected my thoughts yet, even after all this, so there's a lesser chance she knows my plans, but still... I can't afford to falter here. If I do, I could be sentenced to a worse life, either way. I could, for instance, be put in prison because she's only remaining silent so that she could reach here quicker, or something along those lines. I could also, for instance, be forced to deal with pony society as it is now, which could be worse with all the other races now flocking here, to say nothing of the obvious RGRE elements.

Was still processing that last bit honestly. I honestly shuddered on the way here when me and Spike passed some stallion servants talking about ball bras.

I shook my head. Back on topic, brain. The best choice right now is to escape and edge myself into society at my own pace, not hers, or theirs.

With my mind made up, I tried to focus on the feeling of my Will. It was a little hard, as it was slightly more difficult than how my brother taught me to control my aura. I had to visualize to a bit of a greater degree, and for longer, but in time, I got it, and was rewarded by my hands alighting with wispy purple magic.

I smirked. "I am so going to overuse this spell in the future." With that, I slammed my palms together, then slowly drew them apart, the purple magic coalescing and dropping to the floor in a heap.

The door to Hamin's room exploded outward in a shower of expensive wooden splinters, startling the guard nearby, and she was only further startled when she saw three small, goblinoid creatures of purple, wispy magic burst out at the same time, similarly wispy maces and axes in hand.

"By the Princess!" she cried as one of them grabbed her by the shoulders. The mare struggled in it's grasp, but couldn't shake it off. "G-Get off me, you plothole!" Hamin took this chance to run out of his room, the other two goblinoid shades following him. "Wha- Hey! Get back here!" She tried to push the goblin grappling her off, but it only shoved her to the ground and held her there.

Hamin didn't look back as he ran down the halls with his two summons. "Never thought I'd actually love Hobbes more, but, I do," he muttered as he ran. As he did, he saw two guards round the corner, both in the violet barding of the Night Guard.

Before they could even react, he flicked his hand at them, sending his two other summons at the Night Guards and turning sharply towards the window.

As the two summoned Hobbes wrestled the Night Guards, Hamin pulled out his katana, then smashed the glass window to his left with the pommel. "Well, was hoping I could make it to the front gates, but, this is why I made three summons," he muttered. He bit his lip as he noticed the fall below, but shook his head. "It's only about ten feet...Just remember what Kev said, Hamin..." he breathed, before jumping out the window, wincing as the glass tore into his clothes, and soon landed on the ground below, simply letting his legs curl as he landed and tucked into a roll.

"Ugh, my everything..." He groaned as he came out of the roll. His vision swam a bit, he'd dropped his katana and had to pick it back up, and he felt the voice in the back of his head complaining about how much glass he'd have to pick out of his body later, but he shrugged it off eventually. Shaking his head, he looked down at himself despite his thoughts. "Guess it's a good thing my bones aren't hurting...thank you, Hero physiology." He shook his head again, looking around. "I must be in the gardens." He noted, seeing all the fine shrubs, rosebushes, and the hedge maze. He nodded. "Good. Lots of ways to lose any tails."

With that, he rushed headlong towards the hedge maze straight ahead of him.

A whistle was blown soon after he reached the hedge maze, ringing loud and clear through the night's crisp air.

"Shit," the man cursed. "That'll draw more attention for sure," he noted as he ran through the maze. 'Just keep going straight, Hamin. Keep the wall in sight,' he told himself, eying said white brick wall from the top rim of the hedges.

He saw thestrals fly overhead, and cursed under his breath. "I don't know if I can focus enough Will to fire anything at them while I'm already running, so I'll have to keep away from them, and just do this..." With that, he ran into a dead-end, stopped, closed his eyes, and focused on his core. He imagined the earth, and souls beneath it, channeling through him, up into his core, and up into his hand and coalescing.

Opening his eyes, he soon saw the same wispy purple Will in his hand, and tossed it at the ground with a grin. Soon after, three more ghostly goblinoids - Hobbes, as he knew them - climbed out of the earth and formed up around him.

"Keep them away as best you can, but don't hurt them unless needed," he told the summons.

They simply jabbered in ghostly Hobbe gibberish, but he somehow knew they understood. Nodding to himself, he and the three summons tore back out of the dead-end and continued the escape.

Lantern lights almost alighted on them a number of times, forcing the group to take a much more winding path than Hamin wanted, but thankfully, they soon reached the end of the gardens and the maze, where a wall was. And, it had some overgrowth.

Hamin looked over the vines and overgrowth with unease. "Fuck, I've never climbed something like this before!" he swore. He glanced back at the lantern lights that were closing in, biting his lip. He turned back to the wall. "Well, time to learn, and quick, I guess," he breathed, latching onto the vines and trying to pull himself up.

It was difficult. He wasn't as fit as he would've liked - sure, fit enough to not be too unhealthy, but still not enough to be toned or a true musclehead - and it was taking it's toll on him. Cardio may have been his best trait athletically, but it was still a bit much. The fact that he almost fell multiple times thanks to loose vines didn't help either.

But, eventually, he reached the top of the wall. Turning his head back, he looked to his summons, "Alright...you three...don't kill or maim, but...have some fuckin' fun with them...prank 'em a bit, yeah?" The three summons cheered, and with that, raced off towards the nearest search party.

Hamin pulled his legs over the wall and looked over the edge. From what he could see, it was just wild mountainside from here, and what looked like the river that ran throughout the city. He bit his lip, a plan forming in his head for the days to come.

"Well, high-ho silver, I guess," he said with a sigh, before hopping off the wall and running into the wilds of the mountain that lay just to the side of Canterlot itself.

It was only when he reached a clearing that he realized his mistake.

"...This isn't wild mountainside," he said worried eyes frantically looking around. It wasn't to the side of Canterlot, either. Not exactly. He gulped. "It's a fucking park."

6th Meditation (EDITED...again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

It was looking more and more like Twilight hadn't been reading my thoughts. Which was good, as it meant I was now just one step farther from her and her reach of power, as I was currently walking through the brush leading out of Canterlot. The night dragged on for a long while, I'd had to take several stops to...ahem, drain the lizard, (the less said about that the better) and the moon was lowering in the sky. That and...I'd been trying and somewhat failing to put the events of said night out of my mind.

'On one hand, I just discovered I came here with more than just gear. Will is certainly not expected, but, at least it's easier than most magic I've heard of in stories.' I reasoned as I continued to trudge through the underbrush.

The foliage was getting lighter, and I knew I'd have to cross onto the actual road soon, but I decided to do that as late as possible. I frowned as I tried to glance back at the blade on my back.

"So...you're the Bluemoon Greatsword?" I asked. "Forgive me for being blunt-" I paused, then turned my head back, scowling. "-Actually, no, fuck that. HOW, are you the Bluemoon Greatsword? Only the Moonlight Greatsword can use moonlight energy!"

'I am YOUR Bluemoon Greatsword. That is why. The one from the game you know and love simply did not work because none believed in it quite enough, nor had your spirit. Benhart believed, yes...but he did not have your spirit. Your Will.'

"...Will with a capital 'W', or...?" I asked, trailing off.

'Yes. You are not a typical Hero. Your Will is similar in power to Garth, The Hero of Will's, in strength. Greater, in fact. As such, your Will is almost naturally attuned to me...and your other blade.'

I blinked, looking down at the katana at my hip as I kept walking. "But...why, then, is it not talking?"

'Tis not ready to, O' Master.'

I grunted, rolling my eyes. "Riiight." We walked on in silence after that, me simply keeping an eye on the sky and road, and listening to the running water nearby.

Eventually, the Greatsword spoke up again. 'Are you not going to clean up, Master?'

"When I'm farther away, I will. We're still too close to the capital to warrant stopping now," I replied curtly.

'...Fair enough.'

I did want to stop, though. My feet ached something fierce, I still had glass in me and on my clothes, I still smelled of vomit, on top of sweat and blood, and I was just overall tired. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally.

So yeah, shit sucked right now.

But, I had to forge on. Otherwise, I'd be facing much, MUCH worse times ahead. I did not fancy going to jail, or being executed, or turned to stone, or whatever the Elements would do to me.

Even though my body and spirit were weary, I had to forge on. I had to have hope. Hope that someday, things would be better.

'And they shall, o' bearer mine.' A new voice in my head said.

I stopped in my walking at that. Slowly, I looked down at my hip, where my katana was.

"...I see you decided to join the party too," I said with a sigh.

'Indeed. I simply needed proof that you were the One.'

I blinked. "The fuck do you mean? Like a chosen one? 'Cause pal, I am far, FAR from that bullshit."

A chuckle. 'Perhaps not a chosen one, no. No, o' bearer mine, you are simply my true wielder.'

I raised a brow at the katana. "You've had other wielders?"

'Indeed, o' bearer mine. I am the Faith of the Weary. Their Wrath. Their Sorrow. Their Anodyne. And, most importantly...yours.'

I stared down at the blade, then sighed again and started to walk once more. "Well, great. Another happy fucking companion."

'Take heart, o' bearer mine. As you so thought, you must only continue to have faith, and all shall be well.'

I groaned. "Yeah, yeah..." I took a breath and released it. "Yeah... I know..." I said in a much more tired, lower tone.

I wanted to sleep, honestly. Everything had taken it's toll, and the adrenaline boost I'd gotten had worn off hours ago, the pain creeping in more and more.

Yet, rest was not in the cards fate had dealt me currently, as much as I hated it. I still had to keep running, so no one could find me.

A rush of air suddenly blew me on my back, and I grunted in slight pain, looking up to see- Oh.

"Oh. Shit," I breathed.

A dragon. An actual fucking dragon was hovering above me. I hadn't been watching the sky enough, I was too distracted and tired, and now there's a fucking dragon above me! I mean, sure, I knew dragons more openly came to Equestria now, but WHAT THE FUCK?!?

It stared down at me, piercing golden eyes seeming to inspect me. It's scales gleamed like platinum in the moonlight. "You are the new Chainbreaker? Krosis."

I blinked again. "That...was that Dovahzul?"

"Ah, so you know our Tongue. Good," the dragon spoke, humming.

I shook my head slowly, backing up a bit. "W-Well, I uh, know some, but not by heart..."

"At ease. I am not here to kill you. That would defeat my purpose, Chainbreaker," the dragon assured.

I didn't feel very assured. Dragons may have had their exceptions in the Elder Scrolls, but many were still menaces to mortals. Equestrian dragons honestly weren't too much better. I did not fancy my chances. Stilll...what the fuck was a Chainbreaker? It was obvious the 'C' was capitalized, and thus the word had deeper meaning but...what was the meaning?

"S-So, uh, what is your purpose here, then?" I asked slowly and carefully, hand on my katana.

The dragon opened it's mouth to speak, only to stop short and looked up. I frowned. "Uh...something, uh, wrong?"

"The time has come earlier than thought," the dragon said with a hiss.

I shuddered at said hiss. "U-Uh, what do ya mean?"

It swiftly landed, lowering it's head to me. "There is no time. Climb on. We must move with all haste."

I blinked. "Whyyy...?" I looked up to where the drake had looked, and my eyes soon widened.

The clouds were swirling in the late-night sky above Canterlot, and a deep green glow was emanating from within them. Not only that, but small, winged figures were swarming out of it.

I recognized the scene, even if it wasn't from up close. "How the fuck...?"

"There is no time! Get on!" the drake beside me barked.

I jumped, and, not wanting to make him angry anymore, swiftly climbed on. Much as I would normally be very happy to ride a dragon for real, this was not the time, or the place. I grabbed firmly onto his horns, and without much more warning, he flapped his wings and took off towards the city.

Already I could see the other form coming out of the spiraling clouds. A dragon. It wasn't red like from the game, not entirely, but instead an assortment of red, purple, and black, with similar patterns around it's eyes - not unlike Sombra - and, after it unfurled itself and exited the spiraling vortex that was slowly closing up, I noticed the same patterns on it's wings and around it's chest, specifically around its heart. It also had four legs PLUS wings, instead of the dragon I was on and it's two legs and wings.

But it was far, FAR larger than the drake I was riding on now. And falling much faster than we could reach it. The vortex had dropped it almost right above the city, and while we were flying, we were at least three, maybe four miles out from it.

The bigger dragon landed in the city of Canterlot to a heralding cacophony of screams, followed by a bell tower. I could see the smaller winged figures better now, too. They were harpies, straight from Dragon's Dogma.

The drake I was on had to use his breath and maw to keep some at bay, and while I wanted to unsheathe one of my blades, I was not confident I'd do it without falling off. So, shakily, I tried to summon my Will again. I tried to focus on fire, on heat, tried to imagine it coursing through me and into my palm, and soon enough, I felt, saw, and heard fire crackling in my palm.

That done, I grit my teeth and took aim at the closest harpy. Once it got close enough, I Iobbed the ball of flames at it, burning the she-witch's wings and making her plummet to the earth below. I did this over and over, missing a fair few times because I suck at throwing, much less lobbing, but still hitting quite a few since there were so many.

The guard were too scrambled to do anything about us, too caught up fighting the harpies and the other dragon. Most, however, simply ran away.

The city folk below were of similar minds, screaming as they ran for their lives. I noticed that even some dragons, minotaurs and yaks were running away. The other dragons running away was curious, but I focused more on where we were apparently heading to.

Straight for the dragon.

"Um, hey, why are we heading straight for the big thing that obviously wants to fucking kill everything else?!" I asked over the din of the wind.

"We must fend the fiend off!" my designated driver explained.

"Fucking WHAT?!" I cried, looking down at the platinum dragon in shock, Fireball spell fizzling out.

"Steel yourself! We are going to land!"

"Fucking whHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!" I cried again as we dove down for where the larger dragon had landed.

My mind raced for the umpteenth time today. I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to die to some fucking dragon! But... I looked down at the streets below me as everything rushed past. Time seemed to slow. People were running. Scared for their lives. Many probably had already lost those lives.

And I was just told to fend this thing off.

I was just given the chance I'd always wanted in life.

A chance to make a difference. To make a real impact. Small ones had kept me satisfied over the years, but this? This was on a whole other level. This was something that would change a nation, or at least this city. Before, all I changed was someone's mood, and temporarily at that. This...this would have lasting changes.

I could change things for the better here.

I could save lives.

I'd never gotten that chance before. Wasn't eligible for the Service, or the Police. Too unpredictable, too dangerous, with my psychosis. But now?

I had a chance.

I turned my view back to the massive dragon we were diving towards, and my gaze slowly hardened, even though I shook. I ignored the fact that the ponies had betrayed me. Because now? It didn't matter to me. They were in trouble. They needed help. My personal feelings were far below second now...because lives were at stake. I could feel adrenaline slowly kick in again as I focused my gaze on the huge dragon we were creeping up on quicker and quicker. I ignored the feeling of impending doom, the fear...and pushed on. Time sped back up.

I...would make a difference.

Once we were close enough, I jumped off from my ride, ignoring all fear of heights, ignoring the tensing of my body, plummeting towards the back of the much larger dragon below.

As swift as I could, I unsheathed the Bluemoon Greatsword, and angled it down.

I rocketed towards the beast, and as it turned to look up at us, I slammed the greatsword into it's eye. My aim had been off due to my lack of experience with greatswords and plunging attacks, but that just meant the cut was more brutal.

It roared and shook it's head about, flinging golden blood and ocular fluid, but shaking me off and making me rocket towards a building. I slammed back first into hard stucco, felt something snap, gasped in pain, and slid down to feel my legs break.

I screamed in pain, looked shakily down at my legs, vision blurring.

'Master!'

'Bearer!'

I then immediately looked back up at the dragon as I saw and felt my greatsword embed itself right next to my head. The dragon lowered it's claws, having obviously flicked my greatsword at me after plucking it out of it's eye.

My vision continued to swim. I could vaguely make out the continuous screams, and the fact that the other dragon was lying across the shattered square with a number of broken scales and maybe some blood, but not much else. Shapes and forms were hazy. Everything was fading.

I coughed up blood. For real this time. I looked shakily down at myself, realizing that I really might die. One of the voices in my head pointed out my spine had punctured a lung.

Was that why I felt like I was drowning?

I hated drowning.

Visions of being held underwater by my old swim teacher flitted through my mind.

Panic did too.

But I could still hear screams. Screams that weren't mine.

I glanced around. Others were still in danger. I had to help. Forget about myself, OTHERS WERE IN FUCKING DANGER! I force myself to look back up, to try and move. I gasped in pain at that, falling right back down. My lungs burned and I gasped for air but only coughed blood again. Everything was white hot pain. Crackling, white hot pain, but wet as well. Burning pain. But I still tried. I needed to.

At the very least, I could look up at the fucker, and glare at him, show him that even if I died, he wouldn't kill me. Wouldn't kill my spirit.

The larger dragon looked down at me, noticing my glare, likely, eyes black and glowing green now. They were...oddly clear, to me, despite my swimming vision.

"Dideba ghirsi. Namdvilad sheidzleba sheako. Tkven namdvilad ghirsi k’andidat’i khart shemdegi bmulistvis.

Gikharoden, akhladkmnili. Sanam shen dgakhar did gzas.

Shens guls shevinarchuneb, magram tu daak’maq’opileb gansatsdelebs ... maik’ls mogartmev mas.

Damshvidobebit."

Time slowed down again as I saw it lower a single, massive claw towards me. Lower it went, and lower, until it reached my chest, and pain erupted through me. Pain that put the previous few seconds to so much shame it was all in a doghouse. I looked up with a wordless, voiceless gasp as my heart was ripped out of my chest.

The Dragon raised it up, towards it's maw, opened it, and dropped my heart in. I only saw the faintest glow from my heart as the Dragon closed it's maw, felt the pain in my body grow to be too much, before I blacked out.

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

What the bigger Dragon said was Georgian. Basically, it means this.

"Praiseworthy valor. Laudable indeed. You are surely a worthy candidate for the next Link.

Rejoice, newly Arisen. For before you lies a grand path.

Your heart I shall keep, but if you meet the trials...mayhaps you shall gain it back.

Farewell."

Keep in mind it's a very rough translation. Like, VERY rough. I'll look for something better in the future so that the words are more correct.

Either way, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Even more is coming!

7th Meditation (EDITED...yet again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

"He is the Chainbreaker," the platinum dragon explained with a groan as Fluttershy wrapped him in large, large bandages in the airship docks, on the rim of Canterlot.

"And that is?" Twilight asked, her mask of steel donned as she looked up at him, betraying no emotion to the wyrm.

"Cursed...and blessed..." the dragon croaked.

"Explain further, please," Starlight pressed, glaring at the drake.

"He is...kin...to Dov...and woe...to the Chained..." the dragon continued, wincing as Fluttershy pulled his bandages taut.

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. "In case you haven't noticed," she began testily, mask cracking almost instantly. "You have just caused an international incident by attacking OUR capital, helped a wanted felon COME BACK IN, and now you're telling me that this felon is bucking 'blessed'?!?!" The dragon simply glared at her. She glared back, as did many of the others. Twilight stomped up to the dragon's snout. "I don't want vague riddles, drake, so spit. It. Out."

"The man you found is just as this gentleman explained," said a familiar voice from above. All present looked up to see Discord hanging out of a portal, arms crossed and a more serious and ancient look to his features than any of them had seen from him.

"Discord. Good, maybe you can explain this," Twilight said, stepping back from the drake. "Because at this point, I'm about ready to arrest everyone."

Discord sighed. "Even that would do little to help you or your ponies, Twilight dear. In this case, at least."

Twilight frowned, looking up at Discord. Fluttershy did much the same. "Honey?" she asked.

Discord shook his head, giving a small smile to his wife. "It's...fine, Flutter dear. I just need to do this." He looked back to the rest, clearing his throat. "This drake is a Timeless Dragon, a child of my mother, Eris. And no, she was not chaos incarnate like me. I was...an unwanted, child." He shook his head, suddenly looking older, somehow. "His kind are rare, as are the type of dragon that attacked Canterlot."

Spike blinked, quirking his head at Discord. "You mean they aren't the same race?" He gestured to said drake. "They're both dragons."

"You, Spike my boy, are a Terran Dragon, born of the offspring of both Timeless Dragons, and the kind who attacked Canterlot, Chained Dragons. Chained Dragons are arguably much more rare nowadays than even their cousins," Discord explained, snaking down out of the portal and floating lazily around the apparent 'Timeless' Dragon, who remained silently glaring at Discord.

"Ah'm sorry, but...yer saying there's three different kinds o' dragons?" Applejack asked, giving the draconnequus confused eyes.

"I'm kinda wondering about that too," Rainbow added, raising a hoof.

"I'm wondering what this has to do with the felon," Twilight said, tapping a hoof impatiently.

Discord sighed. "The Chained Dragons are not like Timeless Dragons. Timeless Dragons are born immortal. Their souls go back to my mother in her plane when they die, and they do not stop aging. Chained Dragons are born mortal, and made into Chained Dragons after killing a True Chained Dragon, born of my...father, Faust," He continued to float lazily around the drake, seeming to droop as he did. None of his usual bluster was present.

"Wait, Faust is a guy?!" Pinkie cried, zipping up to Discord and grabbing him by the cheeks.

Discord gently pulled her off. "Yes, Pinkie." The others stared in shock. He sighed again. "Regardless, Chained Dragons are born when a True Chained Dragon takes a mortal's heart and curses them with immortality, and then fail to kill the True Chained Dragon," as they all made to interject, he waved them off. "Not the 'I can't die', type of immortality, but the 'live forever' type." They closed their mouths. "Chained Dragons were also made to create chaos, all under the weak pretense of testing mortalkind. Timeless Dragons," Discord tapped his tail against the platinum drake's snout, who snorted out smoke. "Were made to manage mortalkind, keep them orderly. Naturally, they both butted heads, and the Wyrm Wars were started."

"Wyrm Wars? I've never even heard of it," Fluttershy said, frowning as she hopped down from the drake's side.

Discord shook his head. "Simply ask a Dragon Lord. After this, I'm sure they'll spill everything about it. They can't afford to hide it all now."

Spike's eyes widened. "You mean Ember knows about all this?!"

Discord nodded, pointing to Spike. "Bingo. Every Dragon Lord learns of it, from their predecessors." Discord let a small smirk play on his face. "If you'd kept the title back then, you would have learned for yourself."

"But this still doesn't explain the whole 'Chainbreaker' thing, darling," Rarity pointed out, stepping forward.

"Exactly," Twilight said through grit teeth.

Discord rolled his eyes, but nodded and flipped onto his back. "The Chainbreaker is a legend stemming from...well, honestly, no one knows. Legends tend to pop up like parasprites," he shrugged. "Regardless, the Chainbreaker is a mortal born with the soul of a Timeless Dragon, but bereft of a heart like a newly Chained, or Arisen, as some hicks call it." He waved a claw airily.

"The Chainbreaker can steal the soul and knowledge of a Dov directly, and instinctively use the Thu'um, the Voice," the drake spoke up again, interrupting Discord. "However, much as when the legend began and my brethren panicked over the sheer thought of being slain so permanently, most of us have come to an agreement, and have decided to aid the Chainbreaker, and give our knowledge freely."

"Okaaaay, but...how did Terran Dragons come about?" Starlight piped up.

"Dissenters and deserters in the Dovah Kein, whom eloped or simply did not agree with either side, and procreated," the drake explained tiredly.

Twilight, meanwhile, was not so curious about such things. "So, what, this bucker who maimed two of my guards is destined for greatness?"

"Twilight, calm down," Fluttershy said, fluttering over and placing a hoof on her barrel. "I know you're still mad, but-"

"But nothing, Fluttershy! He maimed two innocent ponies!" Twilight spat, stomping a hoof and cracking the stone beneath.

"You may try to contain him, Kiir do Uth," the drake began, "But you cannot. The Chainbreaker is unbindable." He glared up at Discord. "For the Chainbreaker bears not just the soul of a Dovah and a silent heart, but the blood of a Fatemaker, something you, Kiir do Tahrovin, seem to have forgotten."

Discord shuddered. "More like I didn't want to," he muttered under his breath.

All present, save the dragon, stared at Discord.

"Discord, are you saying you're...scared, of that guy?" Twilight asked slowly, carefully.

Discord laughed, waving it off. "Oh please, not in the least! I could take the poor thing out with a snap, just like everything!"

Fluttershy frowned, flying up to her husband and placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Discord...please. Don't lie to us."

Discord winced at this, looking across all of his friends. "I..."

The Dragon laughed, interrupting the moment. "Hah! Of course the Kiir fears the Chainbreaker! The Chainbreaker destroys fate, makes his own by right of might and power!"

"Thaaaaat's it," Discord said, curling in on himself. "Black. Blades. Knights. Queens. Torture. 'Teaching'," he shook himself violently.

All present paled.

Twilight took a step back, mane slowly fraying. "You...you're lying." She looked to Discord. "D-Discord, tell me he's lying!"

Discord shuddered, looking away. Twilight's mane frayed more as Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hooves, eyes wide, before she rushed to try and calm Discord as he fell into what seemed to be a panic attack.

Spike looked off to the medical wing. "What...what do we do, Twi?" He asked, looking shakily back to her.

Twilight shook. With rage, fear, or something else, not even her friends were sure. Then, her horn lit up and a guardsman appeared in a flash of violet light. The guard squeaked in surprise.

"You! Tell the Guard to increase watch on the felon to maximum! You hear me? Maximum!!" She released him from her magic. "Now go!!"

The guard 'eep'ed and scurried off at that.

The dragon chuckled again. "Foolish Kiir. You have just made things worse."

Twilight stomped off, towards the castle. "Starlight, keep that dragon under watch too! " She barked. "Spike, send a letter!"

Starlight uneasily watched as her friend and Spike walked off, Spike sharing a look with the rest of his friends before following his sister-in-law.

A week had passed since the attack. Canterlot was reeling. It's citizens were reeling. Outcry and outrage against dragonkind was twofold now. Ponies, and even yaks, minotaurs, changelings, hippogriffs, griffons and other races blamed dragons for the attack.

Some families and indeed many reporters claimed that dragons had been planning this all along, that they had been secretly marshalling forces to attack Equestria. The Yak Coalition, The Hippogriff Kingdom, The Griffon Empire, The Changeling Republic, the Minotaur Principality and many other nations worried that the dragons were planning an attack on them, as well.

The claims from the media that this was simply a threat to the world at large did not help, either.

As such, many nations were deporting dragons back to their home in the Dragonlands.

Dragon Lord Ember tried time and time again to deny the claims, to call for a Convocation, but the nations refused to gather together.

"You could try to annihilate us all after gathering us up! Forget it!" The Minotaur Prince stated in an interview with the press.

The Changeling Republic was about the only nation that remained silent on the subject, but still spoke volumes with its acts of rapid deportations of dragons.

And all the while, Twilight was consulting with her old mentor and peers, the Sisters, Cadance, and the Pillars of Equestria. Turmoil was abound in Equestria and the world at large, and Twilight distanced herself from the Friendship Council.

The Council tried to assuage fears of the dragons, and many citizens even pointed at Spike, the Friendship Ambassador, claiming he was a spy for the dragons, that he was only trying to 'corral and ease the masses for another strike'.

Above all, however, was the rapid influx of beasts all over the globe. Many ancient and forgotten horrors now prowled the lands, preying on the innocent and coming from all manner of hidey-holes. Some speculated they came from Tartarus, but none could confirm.

Some even wondered if Grogar had actually, finally returned, yet no sightings of the old, mad, diabolical Goat had been made.

And yet, there was also talk of how a strange biped had managed to wound the great dragon whom had attacked Canterlot. How he rode a platinum dragon in the dark of night, raining fire upon the she-devils who swarmed the Marble City, and taking the beasts' eye, forcing it to fly off to the unknown and lick it's wounds.

Many wondered what had happened to the biped. Some rumors said he was in Canterlot Castle, under heavy guard.

One thing was certain, however. The world had fallen to utter chaos.

And Discord, for once, was scared of it.

"I really am sorry, Twilight, but I'm afraid I just cannot find anything about this 'Fatebreaker', there are simply no records!" Star Swirl said apologetically as he walked down the halls with Twilight. Grumbling, the old mage added, "There were oodles of records and documents on Husks and heroes of old, but not a scrap on much else!"

Twilight sighed deeply. "It's fine, Star Swirl, really. We've been searching for two months now, and with Ember closing off her borders due to increased aggression and militarization from the other nations, we can't really get in to her own archives. Especially since she'll only talk to Spike at this point." She looked at the path ahead, lips turning down into a thin line as his words summoned some memories to her mind. "But Husks...what do they have to do with this whole thing?"

Star Swirl's brows furrowed. "It is rather peculiar... Husks have been with us for as long as can be remembered, and aside from them having no true emotion or will of their own and the marks upon their hooves or talons or what have you, anything on their connections with this fiasco seems to have been erased from history."

Twilight's own brow furrowed. 'Maybe Maud knows something...it's not like she's aged like the rest of us. Could also try just calling a gathering of other Husks, but the problem is there's no guarantee they'll answer...' She shook her head, thoughts turning back to the cause of the problem. "The prisoner is another problem. He's healed up way quicker than expected, but he's still in a coma."

"And we cannot question him, yes," Star Swirl ran a hoof through his thoroughly storied beard, age having taken far more of a toll on him recently. Gone was the surprisingly spry old stallion, and in his place was a weakened, shambling old mage, complete with a few liver spots under his trusty cap. The mage's legs wobbled, and he nearly collapsed as he walked.

Twilight caught him easily, smiling sadly down at the withered stallion she once looked up to. "I'm sorry I've pushed you so hard." She sighed, steadying him with her magic gently. "Come on. Let's get you to your room."

Star Swirl wheezed out a laugh. "I'd almost be sad that I'm so pathetically old now, but," He smiled up at Twilight, mirth in his eyes. "If it means I can still pass wisdom on to the youths of tomorrow, I'll take it."

Twilight giggled. "Getting sappier with age, aren't you?"

Star Swirl wheezed out another laugh.

"So you can't reach him?" Twilight asked for the umpteenth time.

Luna sighed, putting her book down. "No, Young Sparkle, I can not."

Twilight sighed herself. "It just doesn't make any sense... You've entered others dreams when they're in comas, so why not his?" She similarly put her book down, staring at the coffee table.

Luna let out a breath and placed a hoof on Twilight's. "I know this is difficult, Young Sparkle. But for now, we must simply wait. We can do naught else."

Twilight frowned, looking off to the side. "Yeah...I know..."

It was cold. So cold. So very, very cold. Yet...I didn't care.

I looked around me. All was peace. I was at rest, sitting on a high, high mountaintop, overlooking the vast world below and all it's splendors. Lush, vibrant forests, beautiful sky, tundra, the beauty of nature reclaiming it's own, taking cities back to forests and jungles, more breathtaking mountains...it was amazing.

Finally. I was finally, finally at rest. A part of me said I shouldn't be resting, that I hadn't done enough, but...I was dead now.

Right?

That's why I was here, right? This was Heaven? I reasoned that I had to be in Heaven. Sure, I didn't see God, or hear him, or even Jesus, but...it just felt right. Still cold...but...right. And it made sense, too. It was supposed to be cold on a mountaintop, right? I guess even Heaven didn't stop that. Or maybe it was because this was my personal Heaven and I subconsciously wanted it to still be cold?

Whatever. It didn't matter. What did was how peaceful I felt. That I was actually, finally at peace.

I watched with a smile as a hurricane milled through the landscape below, only doing as nature intended, and supplying me with a nice little show at the same time. I was given yet more when I saw a storm spawn around it, complete with flashes of lightning.

I witnessed the majesty of both, the ferocity of both, and yet saw how they renewed land afterwards. How the hurricane removed most of the ruins, leaving only nature behind. How the lightning struck and burned trees that were too stubborn to leave life, and left them barren. It was terrifying...but, beautiful. I saw how the rain of the storm gave the ground nutrients to grow, watched as said ground sprouted flowers and grass and plants abound, saw trees grow anew from the seeds that had fallen from the boughs of the other, now dead, trees. It was beautiful.

Weird shapes danced in my eyes, but quickly went away. Probably some errant snow on my glasses, so I wiped them clean to be sure.

I soon saw a snowstorm below, and after felt it reach me, felt it pelt it's frigid payload on me one load after another, but, the cold, while it bit, didn't bother me. I shivered, but I wasn't bothered.

Soon enough it washed over me, and I still felt peace. I watched animals go about their routines, hunting and scrounging for whatever bounties they could find to nibble on.

More weird shapes danced in my eyes, a bit less this time, but still only a minor annoyance as I scrubbed my glasses clean again.

I closed my eyes, laying back on the snow of the mountaintop and relishing in the cold. This...this was bliss.

This was my Heaven. Solitude, but not the totally quiet and unnerving kind. Just the exact right kind.

This...was my Rest.

Author's Note

EDIT: Decided to add some info about some important subjects early, instead of farther down the line like originally planned. AKA the info about Husks, and that Maud is one. Why does she not age? Find out~

EDIT: New intro!

Ayyyyy, it's the old maybe-maybe-not-cliffhanger! Sorry, but, this is how it'll stay until I can figure out a better cliffhanger. Still, I hope you all enjoyed, and that you can understand the hidden messages!

For now, have a good one, and look forward to more, because I'm pumping them right out!

-Timeless

8th Meditation (EDITED)

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

Sorry it's so short, folks, but I figured giving you all something, even a teaser like this, would be better than nothing. However, you can expect an update on The Storm Queen soon, as well as on Shadow of Rage along with one of two new stories on the horizon.

For now though, this is all I can get out before the festivities around here pick up. I hope you all enjoyed it, even if it was short.

Thanks for reading!

-Timeless

8th Meditation (EDITED)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

"Has there been any developments yet on the prisoner's queer equipment?" Celestia asked, lifting a tea biscuit to her muzzle with her magic and daintily biting into it.

Twilight sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead with a hoof as she leaned on the table in a very undignified manner. "Not in the least. The only thing we've picked up from his equipment, thanks to Luna," she nodded to the midnight blue mare across the table. "Is that the blue greatsword is made of moonlight. Unique moonlight we can't quite pin down, but nothing else." She groaned. "And that Japonese katana of his was just...insane. The amount of materials in it, the level of magic, all of it makes me wish we were able to figure out more about it. As it stands all we know is that it's almost certainly a God-level artifact. One we've never heard of or seen, either."

Celestia shared a look with her sister, both frowning. "A mortal with that level of equipment hasn't been seen for many years..."

Luna nodded. "Not even one wielding our own artifacts."

Twilight nodded slowly. "I know. As for the rest of it, all of it seems pretty pedestrian. His music box played a nice melody, but there was no magic to it." Twilight seemed to lean yet more on the table. "That book of his made no sense, either. It's language isn't like any I've seen. Heck, it almost feels like a cipher, but if it actually is one, then I have no idea where to start." She rubbed her forehead with a golden shod hoof. "The necklace he has wasn't that unusual, simple acrylic, though the symbol was unusual. There was a black tourmaline crescent in his pocket as well, but it wasn't enchanted or anything either. There was a pocket watch, but the only other thing of actual note was his, uh...I think Sunset called it an MP3?" She shook her head. "Musical device, basically. Couldn't get it to open, though."

Luna hummed, taking a sip of afternoon coffee - because you can never have enough coffee, in her opinion - before asking, "And he still has not wakened?"

Twilight shook her head with a frustrated grumble.

Celestia shared a look with her sister, then looked back to her junior. "And have you gained any information from the drake?"

A shake of the head.

Celestia frowned. "Unfortunate."

"Princess!" came a Guardsmare's voice behind Twilight. Trotting up to the table, she saluted. "Apologies for the interruption, but an urgent matter has surfaced."

Twilight sighed deeply, then straightened up and turned her head to look at the Guard. "What is it?"

The Guardsmare paused a moment, shifting her weight, before answering, "The prisoner has disappeared from his cell."

"...WHAT?!?"

The three alicorns - though mostly Twilight - all but tore down the halls of Canterlot Castle, panic, or at least worry, in their steps.

"Was there any sign of teleportation magic? What about invisibility?" Luna queried the Guardsmare as she barely kept up with them.

"Not that we were aware of, Princes- er, Luna," the mare replied. Luna frowned, and they all picked up speed. Soon enough they reached the stairs leading down into the dungeons, where Twilight all but flew down the steps, the others close behind her.

Despite all their haste, when Twilight, the Sisters, and the guardsmare arrived at Hamin's cell, they could see that their haste was not rewarded. Throwing open the heavy titanium door, Twilight saw only an empty cell, with none of the countless wards activated.

Somehow, Hamin had escaped without tripping a single one of those wards. Twilight's mane started to fray as a scene from days past flitted through her eyes. The blood, the screams, the head that rolled on the floor, and the glassiness in those navy blue eyes. His eyes.

Her eyes narrowed as her magical aura flared. "...Guardsmare." She began through gritted teeth.

The guardsmare saluted. "Yes, Princess?"

"...Is the prisoners equipment missing as well?"

An uncomfortable pause. "...Y-Yes, Princess."

Twilight took a deep breath. Then another. And another. It barely helped. "...Send out a warrant of arrest. Bounty included. I want this fugitive found, and I want him found now. Am I understood?"

The guardsmare nodded. "Yes, Princess."

"Good. Then go."

"Yes!"

As the guard ran off down the halls, Twilight took one final breath...then let out a Royal Canterlot Scream.

Another poster was posted on yet another notice board. On said poster was a roughly drawn sketch of Hamin, with the words, 'WANTED; ALIVE - 50,000 BIT BOUNTY.'

As the guard who posted the poster walked off to continue their duty, a few creatures took notice of the new bounty. Tearing off the scrap of paper with a claw, they looked it over with a grin on their beak before looking back to their comrades. "Well heck, girls, looks like we might have a good hunt on our claws!"

A changeling giggled, sheathing her knife. "How much is this one?" The griffon showed the wanted poster to her comrade, who whistled lowly. "Well damn. That is a catch. He looks pretty exotic, too."

"I'll say," a Minotaur Cow mused, bending down to inspect the poster.

"Well, if we're hunting again, we should get started, eh?" an amber colored stallion urged, hopping off his stool.

The griffon nodded, grinning still as she pocketed the poster. "You'll get no argument from me. Let's grab the others, too."

The changeling smirked, bumping hips with her companion. "Tartarus yeah."

1st Invocation: What are you?

It was heavy.

Heavy and warm and cold and black as Dark. Like the bottom of the ocean, but...there was no water. I didn't hear it. I didn't see it. But...I felt it.

There was no light. But I could see the definition of a dark, stone cave, it's stone as black as Night.

Oddly, it seemed to gleam in some of it's harsher edges when I looked at it. The gleam made me shiver despite the warmth I felt.

"This is what we face now. A foe unto all wounds of mortals and all dreams of tyrants and oppressors are born to and from. A foe from the Dark whom makes His own Night."

"You remember, don't you?"

"Do you remember?"

"Do you remember?"

"You must remember?"

"Remember the Mark."

"Remember the Mark?"

"Remember the Silence."

"Remember Him."

"Remember Them."

"Remember."

"Remember?"

Voices. So many voices at once it made me shake and shiver with warmth and cold and fright at once. I saw little blue flames dancing in the dark- no, not dancing, standing, solitary, alone but not alone, together in unison distance, whole as one even apart.

It scared me, but my chest felt light with warmth at the sight. Like it was right. Wrong. A wrong made right.

I didn't understand.

Remember? Remember what? Where am I? What is this?

"Remember?"

"He does not remember."

"He must. We must. For him."

"A motion carried. But we cannot carry it."

"We must move it."

"As they will."

"Gods? Gods' will? Pah!"

"You know Our disdain. You know our refrain."

"But we cannot refrain."

"We must contain."

"We must remain."

"We must restrain."

"We must obtain."

"The dream we share."

"The dream we shared."

"The dream our souls shared."

"The dream we are."

"To fight. To live. To die."

"To be children."

"The Oldest Dream of Children Born."

"Is to be a Hero, Reborn."

"When glass anew, takes a stew, to make anew, a friendly dew, in summers rays, in lightning's heat, find your storm, repents repeat."

What? I don't understand! I don't want to be a hero! I just want to help! To provide! To support! Encourage! I don't want fame! I don't want to be a hero!

I just want to see them smile!

The flames changed. Smiles. So many smiles. Small, big, differing from owner to owner. A woman dressed like some kind of thief. A man in heavy, silver armor that looked like a bat's head and face. A man with a scarf and a single knife. A dagger? A man with a pickaxe, wrapped in bandages. A woman with an antique gun. A man with a massive bow. Another with an axe. Another with several axes.

Many more lit the field of black, dark stone. All smiling, one way or another.

As one, they put their countless hands on my shoulders.

"Follow the Path as they will, and you will be fine. As will they."

An image. A flicker. Home. Friends. Friends?

Mom? Dad? Sis? Kev?

A flash. A burn. A laugh. A tear. A crackle, a shaking I never knew before, rocking me to my core.

I felt my face hit warm, hard, wet stone with a crack, and I knew no more.

5th Meditation (NEW:EDITED...again)

Author's Note

EDIT: New intro!

Still going hard! Next chapter is coming right up!

5th Meditation (NEW:EDITED...again)

A youth lies in the mud, staring up at the grey clouds above.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

Gritting his teeth, he gets to his feet, and marches on the muddy path.

Blood slips down the side of his bespectacled face.

He dons his mask.

He glances to the masses of bodies either side of him.

He runs forward, up the muddy path in the storm.

His heart searches for the sky behind the clouds.

The next few hours were spent being very, very nervous and cautious, for me. After I realized I'd fallen into a park, I'd immediately looked for a safe and stealthy way to the river. I hadn't taken enough of a good look when I was on the wall to notice that this long stretch of 'wild mountainside' was really just a park, and honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised. Canterlot always had conflicting and contradicting visuals and showings in the show. It was no wonder I'd get it wrong, since even my senses for it were skewed from my thoughts of the show.

Regardless, I was glad that, at the very least, there were few ponies - and even better, few guards - in the park at the moment. Sadly, after a while of trying to be stealthy and cautious despite not seeing anyone, I felt the backlash of summons disappearing from this world.

They came all at once, like a massive migraine that just slams into you like a Tonitrus to the head. I doubled over, clutching my head and biting my lip so hard I knew it was bleeding. I could hear their voices screaming at me, not in anger, but despair, despair at having failed me.

After what felt like hours passed by with me doubled over in a bush, I slowly removed my hands from my head as the pain ebbed away with dull, fading throbs. I wiped my lip of blood.

"Fuck...note to self; Summon spell backlash is an utter bitch," I muttered to myself, before slowly moving on.

I moved from bush to bush, hiding spot to hiding spot, staying as far away from light posts as I could. It was a chore, but I was not gonna allow myself to get caught, not at this stage, not when I'd already gotten so far.

Sadly, fate obviously had other plans, as two thestral Night Guards alighted just twenty feet from my hiding spot just as I was about to leave it. Cursing mentally, I retreated deeper into the bush and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

"Dammit, where the buck did that stallion go?" one of the mares cursed, holding a lantern in one hoof, eyes alert and ears perked up.

"Tartarus if I know. Geez, and this was looking to be an easy shift again..." the other groused, similarly alert and obviously unhappy.

I grit my teeth. 'I need to distract them, make them head somewhere else so I can move on,' I thought.

And yet again, fate dealt me another bad streak, as one of them looked right at me. "Hey, Shadow, see that blue glimmer over there?" she whispered, pointing to me.

I froze as the other turned her head and squinted her slitted red pupils at me. "Yeah...I do." She raised her voice. "Better come out! We can see you!"

"Don't try anything funny, pal! We don't wanna hurt a stallion if we don't have to!" the other called.

'Fuck, the Greatsword's luster blew my cover!'

I stood motionless for a moment longer, before letting out a breath. 'Greatsword, don't fail me now...' "Alright... I'm coming out," I called to them, slowly standing up. As I did, though, I pulled the object that had given me away from my back, trying to make sure that they didn't notice. At the same time, I tried to focus on my aura, and pour it into the Greatsword in the hopes that it was the Moonlight Greatsword, and not the Bluemoon Greatsword. Then, just as my head popped out of the bush I was in, I made an upwards swing and pushed my aura out of it.

I was rewarded with something far greater than I recall even the Moonlight Greatsword being able to do, as a massive, far darker blue wave of moonlight shot out at the guards, startling and hitting the two of them with an immense force.

I stared in shock at the results. The ground was torn up in the wake of the wave of moonlight energy, and the guards had been knocked back. My eyes widened as I looked closer. They hadn't just been knocked back. It had dented their armor. Cut their wings, too. Even some of the bushes and trees had been torn to shreds, looking almost vaporized.

I paled.

A voice, however, interrupted my quickly spiraling thoughts.

'You called for me, O' Master. Do not dismay for those you cannot afford to care for now.'

"Wh...But...I...I just..." My mind was still spiraling. I felt sick, but in more than one way. In the first, I was terrified and sickened that I had actually just gone with the flow and hurt two living, breathing creatures. In the second way...I was sickened by how much I enjoyed the destruction I wrought. By how HE was laughing.

'Master, you must move. Ponder later, else you will be forced to much more drastic measures than this.'

I stared at the greatsword in my hands. I knew it was from the greatsword, I just...did. But...what I'd done, the fact I'd hurt others, it still...

I shook my head, shakily and unsteadily placed the greatsword back in it's sheath with some difficulty, then ran past the two heavily wounded guardsmares. "I'm sorry!" I cried as I ran past.

Like a coward.

I shook my head as tears filled my vision.

No. No. Not now. Not when my life and future was even more at stake. Not when I'd gotten so far. Not...not after what I'd done. I couldn't bear to face a court now. Not now.

So, I ran. I forwent all pretenses of stealth and simply ran for the river. I ran until I reached the river, then continued alongside the channel of it. I ran harder as I heard another whistle. I ran like when I first saw a wolf. I ran like my parents were going to yell at me and berate me. I ran until my feet hurt and my lungs burned.

I ran...like a coward.

I collapsed outside one of the sewer entrances under a bridge. My lungs were so on fire I swore I'd cough up blo-

Bile swiftly rushed out of my throat and into the watered stones beneath me.

I was only marginally glad it wasn't actually blood, but remained there on the ground to catch my breath, even as I threw up again. Shaking from both adrenaline, fear, and probably cold, covered in glass shards still, a few thorns, and now some of my own vomit, I was not in the best of minds.

Honestly, this was now the official worst day of my life.

What with losing my home, my family, my friends, my world and support, my lifelines, being tortured in the Void, having my expectations and hopes for a better opportunity here dashed and spat on, I was at my lowest. Lower than when I lost Kev to that bitch. Lower than when I lost Laura. Everything was shit.

And like every time, it was my fault.

I slammed a fist into the stones below, uncaring for how it covered the appendage in my vomit. "Dammit..." I cursed, tears welling up in my eyes and being let loose down my cheeks swiftly. "Why..." I said silently, trying and failing to bite back a sob, despite how the tears came rushing down. "Why...?" I slammed my fist again. "I could've found another way! I could've thrown a rock! Or talked to Twilight! GodDAMMIT!! Why am I always so FUCKING impulsive?!? Why, dammit?!? Fucking why?!"

'You had little choice, Master.'

I growled. "Shut the fuck up! You don't know a damn FUCKING THING!" I snarled at the sword.

'But I do, Master. While it is true that you could have spoken to the Princess, it would not have ended well. Eventually, when she found out your condition? You would have been locked away. And those guards? You had no choice either.'

"Bullshit! She might've just sent me to a therapist! A-And those guards-! I- God, I hate it! That was all impulse! Instinct! I fucking hate my instincts! Nothing good ever comes of them! " I slammed my fist again, sobbing openly. "Just more suffering...!"

'Psychosis is not a trait you will find in ponies, Master. It is a once in a- Ahem, blue moon, trait. Like the filly Cozy Glow.'

I simply scowled again, sobbing more.

'And once more, those guards would have just brought you to her, and your inevitable suffering. You had no choice.'

I bit my lip, uncaring for how it hurt from the previous biting-open I did. "H-How do you even know all th-this?"

'Simple, O' Master. Thou art mine, and I am thine. We are linked, soul and mind and heart.' I could almost feel the smile in it's voice. I hated it.

"S-So, what?" I began, sniffling. "You're just yet another voice in my head, only more r-r-real?"

'If you wish to put it that way, yes. And I will not be the last. One more remains, but they shall awaken on their own, when the time is right.'

I grit my teeth, slowly sitting up and slumping against the wall near me. "Who...wh-what the fuck are you, anyway? A-And what do you e-e-e-even mean?"

'I am the Bluemoon Greatsword, O' Master. Yours. As for what I mean...well, that is not for me to say. However, the fact remains that you cannot blame yourself for this. This...was bound to happen.'

I growled, wiping the vomit and new, fresh blood from my mouth and lips. "I fucking hate this, sti-sti-still..."

'Because you agree, yes? In some small, pushed away corner of your mind?'

I didn't reply, simply glaring up at the underside of the bridge.

'I thought so.'

"St-Still... There were other ways to keep those guards away, than just...just..."

'Maiming them? True. But, we are freshly bonded. You have yet to learn your strength, and your limits.'

I sighed. Then, took several deep breaths in and out to at least try and calm myself down. Slowly, I sat up, shaking a bit still, and still bleeding a bit from the glass in me, but I ignored it. "...F-Fine," I said, shaking off the final tremors. "But we're talking more later."

'I supposed as much. For now, though, we should continue moving. We must leave the city.'

I nodded. "Yeah..."

Shaking myself one final time, I started to make my way along the river again.

"Moonlight energy?" Twilight asked, eyes wide. "How?"

The guard shook her head. "We don't know, Your Highness. From what they could gather, though, it was a hefty amount, and focused."

Twilight placed a hoof on her forehead under her horn, staring down at the floor in thought.

Spike placed a hand on her shoulder, then looked to the guard. "Keep us updated, and send out more patrols. We need this guy found."

The guard saluted, then trotted out of the room.

Spike looked back to Twilight. "You okay?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. It's...It feels like I just started a similar incident that Celestia did with Sunset."

"Ah...don't quite see how that fits, Twilight," Applejack spoke up, frowning and with dark circles under her eyes.

"He wasn't exactly your student or protege, after all," Rainbow agreed, yawning.

"I think she means that the magnitude of the mistake feels the same, darling," Rarity supplied, rubbing some sleep out of her eye.

"I shouldn't have told him. I should have just left it out, lied, even," Twilight began, frown deepening.

"It's too late for that now," Spike said, squeezing her shoulder a bit. "Now, we know he's dangerous. That those two wards were reason to be worried. Now, we know what to do."

Fluttershy nodded. "He's right. We have to find him."

Twilight took a breath, looking out the window. "Yes...yes, we do." She stood up from her throne, walking over to said window. "And when we do, we'll show him the error of his ways."

Starlight raised a hoof. "There's a bigger problem, too. From what he told me and Fluttershy, he knows a lot about us."

Twilight paled. "I...didn't see that when I read his mind, though."

"Could have been those wards," Rainbow suggested, frowning. "Still, that means he knows us. Which means he could have critical information he could use against us." She looked to Starlight. "Did he say what he knew, exactly?"

"Discord's reformation, our 'growth' and a bit more, but nothing solid or concrete," Starlight explained. "He seemed...really troubled, as well. Sad. Never explained exactly why."

"We need to find him and find out. Now," Twilight hissed.

"We do. But, we should be cautious," Spike informed, nodding. He looked out the window. "We don't know what he can do yet."