Red Claw

It's been six days since I came into this world and Twilight has done some tests on me, trying to get my memories back and such, each ended in severe migraines or black outs. So it was decided that I would have to regain my memories, if I even could, via some method other than magic.

During my first day Twilight handed me some books to read and we found out quite quickly that I couldn't read the words presented. We were both highly confused that I could understand and speak the language, but not read it at all. We spent the entire day as she tried, unsuccessfully, to teach me the alphabet of what she called Equish.

The second day was spent with more lessons on Equish in the morning and some questions about the world. She told me that I was in Equestria on the planet Equs, giving some information about places like the Crystal Empire and such. Truthfully, it didn't exactly stick, nor did it sound familiar. She said that although devils were known by her people, I didn't look like one that they had ever seen. So, we agreed that I was most likely from another world.

The third day continued the lessons, though this time I actually made some progress. I finally pushed myself to ask what exactly she was and I found out that she was a pony type called an Alicorn and that there were several types such as Unicorns, known to be able to use direct magic, Pegasi, known to be able to fly and interact with and change the weather, Earth Ponies, known for physical strength, the connection to the ground and plants, there were also a nocturnal variety of each type called Thestrals that seemed interesting. She also told me that Spike was a dragon.

The fourth day made some more progress on my Equish alphabet. She asked me some questions about my history, where I was from and such, and her questions were snubbed thoroughly as I reminded her that I had already told her and the princesses everything I could remember. She moved on to the so called, 'evil pieces' and I told her, "I don't have a clue how to even summon them right now." So, the day ended as it began, empty and slow.

The fifth day gave some good results as I figured that, other than the Equish alphabet, our languages were basically the same. So we spent the rest of the day on the alphabet and by the end of it all I could read equish, though not fluently.

The sixth day was an interesting one, Twilight decided that she wanted to measure how much power I had. So, I told her, "well fire away." She closed her eyes as a magenta hue glowed brightly on her horn. Then suddenly my arm began to pulse, my flesh felt like it was burning, then it finally changed into a bright red scale mail armored piece with a green jewel on the the back of my hand and yellow spikes on it. We were both extremely surprised by this occurrence, however, she still studied my power.

"You, have a power like that of an average unicorn and should be able to cast spells like levitation or things of that nature, but there is something that I couldn't put my hoof on your power is... well... different. I need to some more study on it to understand," she said slowly. "This," she started and pointed at the armored claw, "this seems to be like, well... like dragon magic. Not to mention your devil's blood. There's just far to much going on to get a good read on you." She wrote all of this down in note pad I hadn't seen.

Then after ten seconds passed, a word screeched loudly from the jewel, one simple word, "BOOST!!" We both got surprised even more and ended up on the ground, then the armored claw disappeared and my arm showed through. We sat up and took a slow breath.

"Can you summon it back?" Twilight asked. I shook my head and looked at my arm.

"I don't think I can right now. However, I did get a little bit of a feel for it," I told her as I tried to summon it once more. We stood up and heard the door to the castle open, followed by multiple hooves.

"Twai, yah here?" We heard from the entrance, the mare's accent was quite thick.

"Yeah, we're a bit worried since we haven't seen you in a week," another mare stated with a bit of tomboyish tone.

"It's fine, I'm in the library w..." Twilight started, however she stopped when she looked to me. Then she began to panic her breathing heavy as she said low, "how am... am I... going to explain you... I was going to wait... wait at least another week..." The sound of hooves got closer and the library door flew open. "Buck..." was all Twilight said then she passed out. I jumped forward and caught her before she hit the hard crystalline floor. Then, I saw five quite beautiful mares, one was around an earth pony at five foot two inches and had an orange coat with a blonde main and tail, both put up in a pony tail, and emerald eyes, she wore a pair of jeans cut fairly short, a flannel with the sleeves pulled to her elbows, a white shirt that was tight against her c cup breasts and a cowboy hat. There was a magenta eyed pegasus at four foot eight inches that was flying right behind her who had a light blue coat, a mane and tail that reminded me of a rainbow; she wore a snug pair of spats on her toned hindquarters, as well as a sports bra and a tank top on her streamlined torso. Another earth pony at five foot who seemed to be the pink on pink as her coat and mane were varying colors of pink, though her eyes were bright blue. She wore a white and blue striped shirt, that held her b cup breasts handily, with a denim skirt and a pair of white leggings. There was a purple eyed unicorn at four foot eleven inches that had a pristine white coat with a perfectly coiffed indigo mane and tail. She wore a a white button down shirt that covered her c cup breasts quite well and a dark purple skirt. Then far in the back was another pegasus at five foot one inch with aqua marine eyes, a buttery yellow coat and a long soft pink main and tail. She was wearing a knee length green dress, and although I couldn't tell very well with the way she was standing, she seemed to be the most endowed of the group. The look they gave me was downright terrifying.

"Hi, I'm Twilight's new friend... well, at least that's what it seems like... friend slash project... yeah that's it... my name is Draeg," I said quickly as I tried to wake Twilight up. When she didn't wake up within the first minute, the looks only got darker.

Twilight suddenly woke and I thought, I'm saved. "D...Draeg... what happen..." She started then she noticed her friends. "Oh... well, buck..." she finished. I helped Twilight to her hooves and she looked to her friends, "I guess there's no time like the present. Draeg, these are my friends. Applejack," she pointed out each one as she said their names, "Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy." She pointed to me and said, "this is Draeg, he is a devil that is under my watch for now." The looks got very, very dark as she mentioned that. However, thankfully, after she pointed out that I had little to no memories and that I had shown nothing but kindness to her, the looks disappeared though it still seemed like they didn't trust me.

"Howdy there partner," Applejack said as she walked up to me and grabbed my hand with a strong grip. "Is it true what Twai said about yer memories," she said as she tightened her grip.

"Y... yes it is," I answered and she nodded and let go of my hand. I shook my hand a bit trying to get some of the pain to go away.

"Good thing, you ain't lyin', as Twai said I'm Applejack," she put forth and they seemed to trust me a little more, but only a little bit.

"Rainbow Dash, fastest pony in Equestria," Rainbow stated as she flew up to me, I nodded and she smiled.

"Rarity, owner of Carousel Boutique and creator of liveries and creative fashions," Rarity said from her spot, "it seems likely that, based off of what Twilight has told us, you are definitely in need of my help."

"I'm Fluttershy," Fluttershy said quietly, "I help with animals."

"Oh, she does so much more than that, I'm Pinkie, I thought that somepony new was in Ponyville, I want to be your new friend, ooo we can have cake, cupcakes and..." Pinkie said quickly, then she jumped in the air and ran off in a pink cloud. I blinked slowly.

"Don't worry that's Pinkie just being Pinkie," Rainbow said.

"O... Kay... baring that," I said as I shook my head, "it's nice to meet you all."

"So, Rarity, can I have you take him to your shop, I'll pay for it," Twilight said to her.

"Oh, darling, it'll be fi..." Rarity started.

"No, let me pay for it, I know you need some more soon anyways," Twilight cut her off, "also he needs shoes or so he has said. Speaking of I'll just teleport you both there." Her horn glowed brightly as suddenly, Rarity, Twilight and I were in what I guessed was the Carousel Boutique. Twilight teleported out and I was left alone with Rarity.

"Well then, I guess we should get started then," she said.

"I know, Twilight asked you and said she would pay for it, but you were going to do it without any payment weren't you. You don't know who I am, hell, I don't know who I am. Why? " I asked her.

"Well, darling that would be because you need it that's all the reason I need," she answered as she hummed a quiet tune.
The next several hours were spent measuring me, remeasuring me, sewing, discussing what I would like, making sure things fit and getting a basic idea of what would look good on me. Luckily for me she actually put some fairly decent shoes together, made specifically for me, first. Then, suddenly a note appeared in front of her. She read it and chuckled. "Darling, why don't you put on one of the outfits I made for you. We have someplace to be," she said to me.

"Okay," I answered, confused as I was. I put on a long sleeved, white button up shirt on with a pair of black slacks on, slid on a pair of white socks and put on the nice black shoes Rarity made me. I grabbed her by her shoulder and said ecstatically, "thank you Rarity."

"Oh, how sweet, your welcome darling," she answered happily. We made our way through town towards a building that made me feel like I was going to get diabetes by looking at it. "This is Sugar Cube Corner and our destination," she said as she walked in ahead of me. It seemed dark so I walked in even more confused than I had been before.

"SURPRISE!!" Several ponies shouted loudly as the lights came on. I screamed and fell down, then I laughed and laughed. "Were you surprised, you look surprised, ooo, let's go have fun," Pinkie bounced up to me and shouted at me. Let's just say that we partied for several hours as Pinkie and the girls got me known to the town. Lots of cake, cupcakes, punch, gags, laughs and smiles. By the end Twilight, her friends and myself were on our way to her castle with smiles all around. However, some smiles aren't meant to last.

"YOU!!" We heard a scream from the sky. I looked up and saw someone that looked somewhat like me with white wings with blue glimmering scales on it. Her eyes were a bright blue, unlike my dark brown, but our hair was the same brown hue. She wore a plain white tee shirt, a pair of blue jeans and a pair of white sneakers. "You will die tonight, my rival!!" she screamed loudly.

My mind burned with pain as I realized how to use my power, the Boosted Gear, and one name came to mind. "Aerona?" She dived at me and I summoned forth the Boosted Gear and swung it at her. Her fist connected with mine and we both got slammed on the ground by the energy released. We both stood up and I backed off from her. Something made me not want to fight her, however, I also new my life was on the line. Twilight shot a beam of energy from her horn and made a bubble like shield around her. Aerona charged the shield trying to get out of her containment, to no success. Suddenly, both my boosted gear and her wings shattered as she was coated in a blinding light.

I heard but one thing, "Hmm, until next time my lifelong rival. You will pay for what you have taken from me." When the light disappeared she was gone and I was confused.

"Draeg, who was that?" Twilight asked as everyone looked to me.

"I don't know. I only know her name and that although she wants to fight me, I don't want to fight her," I answered. I thought about what happened until I finally passed out on my bed in the bedroom I was given. My confusion only grew.