Beyond Infinity

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter One- Welcome to Equestria
Chapter Two- A King and A Party Pony
Chapter Three- Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover (Re-edited)
Chapter Four- The Cloak Comes OFF!
Chapter Five- Surprise Party
Chapter Six- The Call of The First Stone
Chapter Seven- Half-Truths & An Unexpected Guest
Chapter Eight- ASS-WHOOPING BY A MARE OF TIME
Chapter Nine- Rising Tensions (Part 1)
Chapter Eleven- Rising Tensions (Part 3)
Chapter Twelve- Rising Tensions (Part 4)
Chapter Thirteen- Tensions Broken (Final Part)
Interlude- Mayor Mare
Chapter Fourteen: Who Are You Inside?
Chapter Fifteen- Training & A New Face (Edited)
Chapter Sixteen- Stitches (Unedited)
Chapter Seventeen- Two Timelines (Unedited)
Chapter Ten- Rising Tensions (Part 2)

Prologue

Author's Note

So after a looooooong wait. I was finally able to have the courage to publish this story. I have six chapters completed and I know I could have published this last year, but I got scared. This was meant to be my final story on Fimfic, but I instead played it safe and made a new story. Now I have Gems Alternative and Beyond Infinity to finish as my final stories. There will be One-Shots connected to these stories, but otherwise the future is a bit uncertain at the moment.

For now, I present my long awaited project. Beyond Infinity.

Just so everyone knows this is a bit of a mix between Marvel and Harmony Charmer's The Cake Batter Incident. So I hope you'll all enjoy this story.

Edit: Opening Song for Act 1 of Beyond Infinity Enjoy!!! :D

Prologue

Prologue- A Fateful Meeting

A low groan filled the air as sun rays filtered in through unfortunately drawn curtains. Hazel eyes briefly fluttered open before slamming back shut and a large comforter was drawn over top of them. After a brief moment, a soul-wrenching blaring filled his ears and all he could do was groan in frustration. A hand peeked out from under the covers and reached out to a small dresser beside his bed. Like a frantic child that only recently gained motor control, he tapped in several different places on the phone before the blaring finally receded back into the recesses of hell where it belonged. Grabbing his phone and seeing that it was 9:30 A.M. he groaned again before letting it die into a small sigh and setting his phone back down.

“Ugh, come on. Already?” He muttered to himself, grabbing the covers and moving them to the side as he sat up straight on his bed. His eyes were barely able to stay open as he let out a loud yawn and began to stretch his arms.

He ran a hand through his greasy black hair as he glanced around his room and the cogs in his brain slowly started to turn for the day. His room was relatively small, having only dark blue curtains over his window, a large gray wide dresser with a small TV on top of it with a DVD player, and a few posters hanging on his wall of an anime he got into watching lately and a large mirror hanging on his wall next to his door.

He then hopped off his bed and began to make his way out of his room and proceeded to a small closet down the hall that was cracked open. Throwing it open, he caught the door and pulled out an orange towel. He made his way to the bathroom door further down the hall and scooted inside to start his daily rituals.

An incessant rapping shook him from his thoughts and he had to tune out the roaring of the water cascading down from the showerhead to make out a high-pitched whining voice from outside the door. “Marcus! Hurry Up! I have to get ready for my basketball game this afternoon!”

“Just give me five more minutes and I’ll be out soon, Emy!” he said. Quickly, he washed away any remaining soap and shampoo on his body and turned the shower off. Marcus then reached out and wrapped the orange towel around his waist and proceeded to brush his teeth. By the time he was done he had exited the bathroom and made his way back into his room and opened his closet and grabbed a pair of underwear and jeans and put them on, before grabbing some socks and a red t-shirt with the words ‘Just Do It’ on it.

With both hands on his hips, he scanned his gaze down his body in the mirror that stood before him. His messy black hair still wasn’t dry and his head didn’t even come up to the top of the mirror, nor did his frame seem to even make an attempt to fill out the sides of the mirror, but he smiled anyway. As he exited his room, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen.

There, he saw his mother standing at the stove with a pan full of sizzling bacon in one hand and a hip in the other. She glanced back briefly before sliding over to the other pan full of scrambled eggs.

“Morning Marcus, did you sleep alright?” She asked while reaching over to grab a spatula.

“I slept fine. Anyways, what are we doing today?” he asked as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

“After your sister’s basketball game, we’re going to Applebee’s for lunch. Since it’ll be her last game of the season, we figured we should do something special for her,” she answered as Marcus nodded his head before being handed his plate filled with still sizzling bacon and steaming eggs with a glass of orange juice on the side. “Now be sure to finish your breakfast quickly, dear. We don’t want to be late.”

“Thanks, Mom,” He said before nodding and grabbing a fork to dig in.

Celestia’s sun cast its warm, motherly rays down onto the planet as a yellow pegasus trotted cheerfully out of her quaint wooden cottage with her pink saddlebags strapped on. She smiled as the little birds chirped from their little birdhouses. She couldn’t help but gently wave her hoof at the small birds before she continued to make her way to Ponyville’s Food Market.

When she finally made the turn around the last house, she nearly shied away at the sight of all the hustle and bustle of the market. Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns alike of all colors expertly dodged around each other as each of them made their way to various stalls around the circle. Shouts of sales, limited stock, and scrambling hooves filled the air as she tried to steel herself.

Keyword: tried.

She took a deep breath before pulling out a list from her saddlebags that she was wearing and going over it once again.

Alright, let’s see, I need carrots, cabbages, bird feed, peanuts, and fish food. Maybe I can pick up a few apples as well from Applejack? I know Angel always loves those mixed in with the carrots. She thought to herself as she looked at her grocery list.

Looking back up, she mentally prepared herself before carefully lowering herself into the chaos.

She began to look around the market for any carrot stands or even one of her friend's apple stands, but before she could continue her search there was a tiny scream that began to get louder.

“fffffflllllllluuuUUUUUUUTTTTTTEEEEERRRRRRSSSSSSSHHHHHHYYYYYYY!!!”

Before Fluttershy could even react, she was tackled to the ground by a pink blur that sent her crashing to the ground with a mighty THUD.

“Hiya Fluttershy! I didn’t think I’d run into you here, but then again this is a really, really, really, really small town, but what are the odds! Anyways I was on my way to Twilight’s to see Sombry, but when I saw ya, I was like ‘GASP!!!’ And I got this really great idea! Would you like to come over to SugarCube Corner with me and Sombry!?”

Fluttershy shook her head in pain before looking up as her friend stood over her with a wide grin. “O-Oh, Hi Pinkie… I wasn’t expecting to run into you either… Um, could you please get off me please? If that’s okay with you?”

“Oop! Sorry, Flutters.” Pinkie sheepishly got off of Fluttershy before offering a helping hoof to Fluttershy, which she kindly took. “Anyways, will ya, will ya, will ya?!”

“I would, Pinkie, but I have to get a lot of things for my animal friends back at the cottage. Maybe some other time?”

“Please?! It’ll be good for Sombry, since he’s a big meany mcmeanster meanpants! Although he doesn’t really wear pants, just a lot of metal and a red cape- Wait!!!” Pinkie shouted all of a sudden with an almost-manic look, before saying, “I just had the best idea! What if Sombry and I help you?! That way you can get all the food for your animals and you get to be with us for the day!”

When Fluttershy heard that, a couple of thoughts ran through her mind. It would be nice to have some extra help… but the appearance of Sombra may scare some of my animal friends away and I don’t want that.

Fluttershy cringed as recalled what happened the last time she saw him. Sombra had tried to bite her hoof off with his sharp teeth and called her friend Rarity fat.

“W-Well some more help would be nice…” she said hesitantly before receiving a very, very tight hug from the hyperactive pony.

“I knew you’d like that idea! And don’t worry about Sombry, I’ll make sure he’s well behaved and helps out!” Pinkie assured cheerfully before releasing Fluttershy from her grasp and began to bounce over to the Golden Oaks Library, leaving Fluttershy alone.

I don’t need to worry, I’m sure Pinkie will keep him under control… I hope…

Marcus nearly winced again as another shoe squeaked across the gymnasium floor like a dying mouse. Out of habit, he glanced at the scoreboard again.

Twenty-one to nineteen with twenty seconds left. Come on, Emma!

Roaring cheers pounded against Marcus’ ears when Emma managed to steal the ball away. He watched with rapt attention as she dribbled the ball down the court and began to make her way over to the three-pointer mark and began to line up her shot as one of the girls from DC, trying to block her shot, but had only barely touched the ball before it hit the rail of the net and bounced off as a blaring alarm filled the air and the opposing team’s parents erupted into cheers.

Both teams filed onto either side of half-court and walked in a line towards each other, shaking hands as they went. Afterward, Marcus and his parents found themselves waiting outside of the locker room.

“Emma did great, don’t you think, Marcus?” his dad asked.

“Yeah, she did good and she was so close to making the last shot!” Marcus replied, laughing as his mother rolled her eyes at them. A few minutes had passed before Emma came out of the locker room and smiled at them.

“Oh, Emy! You were amazing out there!” Their mother exclaimed cheerfully before hugging her.

“Mom! You’re embarrassing me!” She rebutted, but her protests fell on deaf ears as Marcus snickered in the background.

“It’s a mother’s prerogative, sweetie!” Mom replied with a smirk.

“Still, you did great, sweetheart, and we’re all proud of you,” added Dad.

Marcus could only smile before giving her a thumbs-up before pulling out his phone and taking a picture of Emma and their mother hugging.

“Yep, and everyone is going to know about it too,” he announced as he pulled up his Instagram before his sister was finally released. She tried to reach up and take his phone, but she was too short. A few jumps and desperate pleas didn’t change that.

“Marcus! Please just delete that photo! My social life will fall apart if everyone sees that!” she exaggerated as both Marcus and their mom laughed together while their father sighed.

“Come on Emma, it’s just a picture of you and Mom hugging. It isn’t going to ruin your social life. If it makes you feel better, I won’t post it on Instagram.” Marcus promised, rolling his eyes as Emma’s expression finally softened.

“Alright, if you're all done playing, we better get going before the wait at Applebee's gets too long, because I have a feeling that we’re not going to be the only ones on our way there,” suggested Dad.

Everyone nodded and exited the school, making their way towards the car. But as they started to cross the street, the only warning Marcus got was the sound of screeching wheels and police sirens.

“Marcus, move-!!”

He threw his body around to look at whoever shouted his name, but something stopped him.

Something big.

Something huge and hulking and metal that held no regard for human life.

Marcus heard a scream and felt a violent tidal wave of pain and agony crash across his body and his vision faded to black.

After what felt like an eternity, he was finally able to open his eyes once again. It was when he did that he soon laid eyes upon a woman with black hair, and skin so pale it sent shivers down his spine. She was wearing a long black dress and had her hair done up in a braided bun. She had herself laying across a table lazily as she looked down upon Marcus in his leather chair.

“Tough day, huh?”

“W-What?! What is this?!” Marcus sprang to his feet before tripping over and landing on his back. He desperately crawled backward away from the pale women like a caged animal. “Where am I?!”

“Calm yourself, Marcus…” the woman told him, snapping her fingers. A large leather armchair emerged from underneath Marcus and caught him. “It’s only five seconds in the afterlife and you're already making a commotion here.”

“C-Calm down!? You're telling me to calm down when I’m who-knows-where and you're telling me to calm down?! Who are you!? And how do you know my name!?” Marcus shouted, standing from his seat before the woman motioned her finger, forcefully making him sit back down.

“Normally I try to make myself look decent,” She said, waving a hand across her face. Suddenly Marcus found himself looking at what looked like the face of a skeleton. The cold, vacant eyesockets sent a shiver down his spine. “But since you asked… I am Death. And as for how I know who you are? Well, I know every soul both living and dead across the cosmos.”

“D-De-Death?!” Marcus then placed his hands over his head, tugging on his hair as he looked away from the undead women. He tried to process everything before he stood up from his seat and began pacing back and forth. “No… No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! This… This is bullshit! If this is some sort of prank, well you got me! You can cut the act! I’d like to go home now!”

“Really? You think none of this is real?” She asked, Her face restoring itself to its previous state with muscle tissue, then veins, and finally skin growing over the skull’s face and eyes appearing from opening eyelids. Marcus had to force himself to look away before losing his lunch. “This is real, Marcus. In fact, see this for yourself.”

As She said that, a small box the size of a regular TV appeared before him and displayed a brief clip from a news program.

“…Tragedy had struck when family murderer, James Matthews, had escaped prison and struck a young man by the name of Marcus Phillips with a 2006 Honda Accord. A twenty-one college student who had a bright future ahead of him. Matthews had died in the crash, but not before claiming the life of another family member.”

“It is truly a travesty and a cruel way to die.” She said, having the box disappear with a snap of her fingers. “But other than that man’s soul destined for eternal damnation you should have lived all the way to your sixties.”

It was unlike anything he had ever seen and after watching the news of his own death he couldn’t help but laugh. Not a happy laugh or an amused laugh or even a sad laugh. Rather, the kind of laugh that someone gives when they’re staring down the gates of hell..

“Hahaha! This… This can’t be real… None of this is real! I-I-I I’m obviously dreaming. Yeah, I’m asleep right now, in the car with my parents and sister who is probably drawing on my face right this second. You’re not real… this can’t possibly be real! All of this is a dream and I’ll be waking up at any moment!”

He was so sure of himself that he began to pinch himself on his cheek as hard as he could, but even as he groaned from the pain, nothing had happened. He was still in the same place. His eyes widened slighly and stared off into the inky black void that surrounded him.

“You can try all you want Marcus but I assure you that you are indeed dead.” Death said bluntly.

“Why? Why is this happening… this can’t be real… I… I can’t be dead!” he argued as he tried to fight the tears forming in his eyes before he sank to his knees and began to cry.

As tears fell from his cheeks, he felt cold hands over his shoulders but he didn’t move as he felt death herself kneel beside him and embraced him.

“What happened to you is cruel, but what if I told you that you could live again? Start over with a clean slate in a new world and… a new body?” She whispered as She grabbed his chin and turned him toward her. “Well, what do you think?”

Marcus simply wiped away his tears before looking at her once more, before asking with tearful hope, “Y-You mean… I can go back?”

“No… I said you’ll live again. I never said anything about returning you to your old life.” She replied before standing up and walking over to her chair and plopping herself down once again. “But it is entirely up to you.”

After hearing that, a little bit of hope had died, but living again meant a second chance. He would have hope. Something to light his way through the darkness.

But a part of him had a feeling that this was still too good to be true. In so many movies, tv shows, and anime, there was always some kind of catch when dealing with Death. He had to take several deep breaths before he had the strength to speak again.“So everything you say is true? I’ll live again?”

“Yes, that is what I said, no?” She said with a grin on her face.

“W-What’s the catch?” he asked, standing up as he made his way back to his seat.

“What do you mean?” She asked with an innocent look in her eyes, to which Marcus narrowed his in response.

“I think you know exactly what I mean.” He started in a low voice. “If I’m really dead then you would have sent me to heaven or hell and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, now would we? Y-You obviously have me here for a reason and I want to know why!” Marcus said firmly, as Death got up from her chair and walked over to Marcus who stood back up.

“Well… it seems you're a lot smarter than I give you credit for,” She replied, smirking at him before She went on. “I grow tired of this world. It gets dull and I’d like a change of pace. But when you died, you began to interest me.”

“So, what? I’m special?”

“No, you aren’t, you’re quite dull like the other millions of souls that pass through here. But like I said previously, you weren’t supposed to die today. That’s what makes you so interesting, and your ideals… interest me,” She answered slowly, almost as if she was drawing her words out for dramatic effect.

“I am so flattered! You must say that to all the guys that go through here!” he responded sarcastically. “And what do you mean?! You don’t know anything about me!”

“I know everything about you, Marcus. You have two loving parents and a little sister who looks up to you. You are kind to everyone you meet and wish to make the world a better place and desire nothing more than to be like a hero. But right now, you feel anger, hatred for having your life taken away and all you want is to return to your loved ones… so you can say goodbye. You never did get to say goodbye to them, did you?”

“You’re right, I never got a chance to say goodbye to any of them. This… this sucks!” he said angrily, but Death had approached him and placed Her cold hand against his cheek, wiping away any tears remaining that had been streaming down his face.

“You may be right, but I’m giving you a second chance: to live once again. However, you'll be running a few… errands for me,” She explained, causing Marcus to raise a brow at her.

“What do you mean by ‘errands’?”

“Like I said already, I grow tired of this universe and desire something more… ‘Thrilling’, I suppose, is the correct word? You see, this new world you’ll be living in is called Equestria, a world that holds stones of great power called Infinity Stones.” She explained, turning her head towards her guest before taking a seat once again. “Unlike Earth, this world has real magic and because of it, I can’t enter the world physically to guide lost souls to the afterlife. And that’s where you will come in. In your state, you will not be able to wield an Infinity Stone and your mortal body will disappear forever. So I shall transform you into something that’ll be able to wield all six of the Infinity Stones.”

“A-Alright… What exactly am I supposed to do when I find them?” Marcus asked.

“You will use their power to liberate their universe and ours. After that you can go free from there,” Death replied before placing both her hands on his shoulders. “Of course, there are rules that you must follow.”

“Rules? Liberate? What are you talking about?” Marcus asked, shoving Death’s cold hands away as he backed up from her, only for her to chuckle.

“I shall explain more about what you must do later, but first you must know that with every deal, there is indeed a catch and what you must do for me is nothing more than payment for what I shall be granting you.”

“Alright, then tell me what it is that I need to do.” asked Marcus with a slight hesitancy in his tone.

“Very well, I shall explain them to you as best I can,” She replied as she summoned a blank piece of paper and parchment covered in black ink. Marcus' jaw dropped as the parchment began writing on its own.

Rule 1: You must never reveal your identity to anyone until you find an Infinity Stone.

Rule 2: You can only respond with the new name given to you.

Rule 3: Only one being you trust may know what you are doing.

Rule 4: You must inform Death whenever you discover an Infinity Stone.

“Okay hold on for a second! How am I supposed to report to you? I seriously doubt I’ll find a phone wherever it is I’m headed.” Marcus argued before his own cell phone appeared in his hands once more.

“Your smartphone will allow you to message me through text while you're searching for the stones, but only me.” She replied. “And don’t worry about it running out of battery. It’s unlimited now.”

“Okay then… moving on,” he said slowly, rolling his eyes as he continued to listen.

Rule 5: A list of your new abilities will be on your phone and you must memorize them.

Rule 6: You must learn how to harness your new abilities in order to find and use the Infinity Stones.

Rule 7: The Time you have is limited to ten years, by then your new body will dissipate to dust.

“Uh… come again?” was all Marcus asked before Death began to laugh.

“It’s exactly as it says my friend, my powers aren’t infinite and the new body I’ll be creating for you will only have a limited amount of time, but for good reason.” She explained as She took a seat on a large boulder.

“H-How so?”

“In this world, you’ll become superior to most of the planet's species which will allow you to possess all six of the Infinity Stones. But your time will be limited due to the amount of magic and energy I’ll be putting in to create your new body. However, the stones can extend your life fully,” She explained, and yet, Marcus couldn’t help but to cock an eyebrow.

He may have accepted that he was indeed dead, and accepted the fact that he was talking with Death, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions that he’d like to address.

“So tell me, Marcus? What do you think of… Ponies?

“Uh, excuse me?” he asked, wondering why She suddenly changed the topic. “What do you mean by that?”

“What do you think of ponies?” She repeated before shrugging, “It’s a simple question, Marcus.”

“Well… I honestly don’t care about ponies. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, I just don’t find them interesting, but they're fine I guess.” he answered and that was all Death needed to hear as she gave the young man a sly grin.

“Thank you for letting me know. Oh, and by the way, you’ll be going by the name of Obsidian Coal from now on,” She added as Marcus gave her a deadpan stare.

“Why am I getting a name like that?” he asked with a flat look.

“The rules that were written down should explain why, Obsidian. Oh, and before you go, is there anything you want?” She asked nicely.

“Well,” He started, bringing a hand to his chin. “I guess having my music wouldn’t hurt with my headphones?” Suddenly his phone screen shone brightly and displayed more than two hundred songs had just downloaded and his old headphones appeared around his neck.

“It was a pleasure having you here, Obsidian Coal, but I believe this is where we must part ways. Enjoy your time in Equestria… my little pony!” She smirked as the young man, now known as Obsidian Coal, had begun to go through immense pain. He groaned in pain as he watched his own hands vanish before his eyes and started to morph into black stubby hooves. Before he could say anything, his vision began to go blurry until he finally passed out.

“If we’re done with carrying all of this pointless slop for your pets, then I’d like to retire for the remainder of the day!” Sombra shouted as both Pinkie and Fluttershy rolled their eyes.

“Oh, come on Sombry, it wasn’t that bad! Besides, we still have to head over to Applejack’s to see if she’ll be showing up for Twilight’s picnic next week!!!” Pinkie replied with a smirk as she grabbed hold of Sombra’s hoof. “See ya later Flutters!”

“Unhoof my hoof, you impudent mare!” he demanded, trying to pull away from the party pony only to be dragged away by her.

Fluttershy couldn’t help but giggle silently as she watched the odd pair disappear from her view.

“Maybe if he wasn’t such a bad pony, he’d be nice to have around,” she said to herself as she entered her home and closed the front door.She was greeted by a small bunny who rushed up to her and eagerly hugged her hoof. “Hi, Angel. Did you behave yourself while I was gone?”

With a quick nod, Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile at her little friend. “Thank you for being good, Angel. I’ll get started on dinner right away.”

Fluttershy had soon started cutting the carrots she had purchased and made a salad for both Angel and herself. But as she was munching away at the salad, a thought suddenly came to her.

Pinkie looked like she was having a lot of fun being with Sombra all the time, even if he isn’t the most pleasant pony to be around.

Fluttershy looked up from her salad to scan her living room. Bird cages littered the room, small cabinets and tables lined the perimeter and a few small windows with their curtains drawn let in the now fleeting daylight.

I never realized how… quiet it is around here without somepony else to talk to.

But her own thoughts were soon interrupted by the sounds of groaning coming from outside her backyard. She wasn’t sure if it was one of her animal friends hurt or something scary, but she took a deep breath and slowly crept to her window and took a quick peek outside. She felt her eyes go wide as her eyes landed on a black stallion with a white mane and horn, wearing an old tattered cloak, who slowly limped towards her cottage. The last straw was when he collapsed.

Without a second thought, she raced out the door of her cottage and ran over to where the stallion had collapsed, trying to see if she could lift him up with her hooves, but to no avail.

“Oh, goodness! Are you okay?” she asked, seeing the stallion’s eyes barely open.

“W-who… are you?” he uttered, groaning in pain before passing out. She noticed the many scrapes and burnt marks over his face and hooves as she helped him inside and did her best to carry him towards her cottage.

“Let’s get that cloak off you and see if there’s something I can do to help,” she said, gently taking his cloak off, but what she saw next only shocked her when her very eyes laid upon a pair of wings!

What? An-an Alicorn?!

She then noticed that this stranger was covered in many scrapes and cuts. Even parts of his fur were burnt off and blood was beginning to trickle from his wounds.

“Angel, get the first aid kit! Hurry!” she said urgently before whispering to the stallion, “Don’t worry sir, we’re going to make you all better soon.”

The stallion grunted before opening his eyes slightly, barely able to see what was right in front of him.

“I-I… I’m sorry… that you have to… do this...” he groaned quietly before Fluttershy placed her hoof over his head.

“It’s alright… We’re gonna make you feel better,” she assured as Angel struggled to carry a white box with a red plus. Fluttershy grabbed the small box from Angel and opened it up, pulling out a small bottle and cotton balls. “This’ll hurt a bit, but I promise it’ll help.”

Fluttershy then opened the bottle and poured a little bit of the substance onto the cotton ball and gently rubbed it against his cuts, causing the stallion to hiss in pain before she began to wrap his leg that she treated with bandages.

“I know it hurts, but we need to treat these wounds. I’m sorry if I’m hurting you too much.”

“N-No… it’s alright… It’s just hard to see right now… I barely arrived here today,” he replied as he bit back a scream from the stinging medicine. Fluttershy then moved on to his torso, applying the medicine again and wrapping it in bandages.

“Oh, well I’m sorry, but I’m sure you’ll feel better in the morning… B-by the way, what's your name?” She asked as she looked over to his wings and started to treat them next.

“I’m… I’m Obsidian…Obsidian Coal.” he croaked, squinting at the yellow blur in front of him. “W-who are you?”

“I’m… Fluttershy… it’s nice to meet you.”

“L- ...likewise,” he whispered before his eyes slowly closed and he passed out into blessed slumber.

Chapter One- Welcome to Equestria

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Chapter Two- A King and A Party Pony

Author's Note

Today it's my birthday 🎂 So I figured I'd post chapter two on this special day :D I hope you all like it and have a wonderful day.

Chapter Two- A King and A Party Pony

Marcus had to spend the entirety of the walk into town fumbling and barely being able to put one hoof in front of the other. In fact, it would’ve been more apt to say that Marcus was falling with every step, and only the frantic placement of the next hoof on the ground saved him from collapsing.

By the time he had gotten used to it, both he and Fluttershy found themselves in the middle of town. Marcus had to stop himself from gawking at the infrastructure around him.

It's still so hard to believe that I'm in another world with talking ponies, which I have become. Yeah, thanks, Death… not to mention she literally dropped me from the sky and I've lost both my phone and headphones… This is truly peachy. He thought to himself as Fluttershy guided him down a dirt road that entered the town. Before leaving Fluttershy’s cottage, Marcus had made sure to cover his wings with the tattered cloak he was wearing before so that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself.

“So this is pony town? A lot different from what I was expecting.”

“Ponyville actually, and what were you expecting?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked up at the large stallion.

“Something a little bit bigger I suppose, not that it's a bad thing, but- maybe I'm just being weird,” he replied, rubbing the back of his head as he looked back at the little pegasus. “Anyways, how long have you lived here?”

“Oh, I've been here since I was a little filly, and um… I've loved being here, spending time with all my friends and taking care of the animals,” Fluttershy explained as she caressed her mane with her hoof and tried to divert her gaze from him.

“It must be pretty difficult, trying to take care of all those animals by yourself, huh?” He asked.

“It is a lot of work, but it’s something that I was meant to do and I enjoy every moment of it,” she replied, smiling at the stallion as he looked back at her with a raised brow.

I don’t think I could take care of so many animals by myself, I’d go insane! Still, it’s nice that she knows what she’s meant to do with her life and finds it fulfilling. At least she found her calling. But me though, I became death’s errand boy and have to find six colorful stones to merge my universe and this one so death can get what she wants or probably turn to ashes in ten years. Marcus thought to himself, his brows furrowing as he continued trotting beside Fluttershy as she continued speaking, but his mind was so focused on the task at hand that he failed to notice in time that he had accidentally bumped into a pink mare, knocking her to the ground.

“Owie!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I got distracted and didn’t pay attention, I’m sorry miss-” he paused, helping her to her hooves as he waited for the mare to respond.

“Sorry, I got a bit distracted and was telling-GASP!!!!” She replied before her eyes widened in surprise as she looked up at Marcus who was suddenly startled by the pink mare jumping into the air. “NEW!!!PONY!!!OHMYGOSHIHAVETOGETEVERYTHINGREADY!!!”

“Woah, woah, slow down there, I didn’t quite get your name?” Marcus replied, extending his hoof out.

“Instead of asking for her name, newcomer, you should be on your hooves groveling for forgiveness,” another voice spoke as Marcus turned his gaze over to find a grey stallion with a black mane and red piercing eyes, his horn curved to a sharp point with a tint of red at the tip of it. The two were close in height with Marcus being a couple of inches taller than him, but he could clearly tell that this stallion wasn’t like the other ponies in the town.

“I already apologized and helped her up. I don’t see the reason why I’d have to-”

“Listen carefully, welp! In case you haven’t noticed, you are standing before a King and your apology was pathetic!”

“Well aren’t you just sunshine and rainbows,” Marcus stated with a deadpan expression.

“Sombry, don’t be a meanie! He said he was sorry!” The pink pony admonished, giving Sombra raised brow, only scoffed in response, while she turned and gave Marcus a pleasant smile. “Don’t worry about him, he’s just a bit grumpy today, but anyways! My name is Pinkie Pie, and what’s youuuurrrr name?!”

“It’s M- Obsidian Coal, but you can just call me Coal if you’d like.”

“Ooooh, sounds like a tough guy name to me! I like it!!!” she replied, giving him a wide grin, he couldn’t help but think she was a very energetic pony and took a few steps back. “So what brings you here- Oh, hi Fluttershy!!!”

She suddenly vanished and appeared next to Fluttershy, leaving Marcus baffled as Pinkie embraced her into a tight hug to which she returned.

“What?” Marcus muttered as Sombra continued to give him the death glare..

“It’s good to see you too, Pinkie, out on your walk again with Sombra?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeppers, but by the way, have you met Coala!?” Pinkie exclaimed, stretching her hoof until it was completely around Marcus’ shoulder and yanked him over to where Fluttershy was as he questioned how she was able to do that.

“Oh, um… I actually met him last night, and I thought I’d give him a tour of Ponyville,” she replied, giving a sheepish smile.

“WHAT?!?!? AND I’M ONLY FINDING OUT HE’S HERE NOW!!! (GASP!!!!) Unacceptable!!!” Pinkie shouted, glaring at Marcus who had started to shrink back into himself.

“Uh… Look, it’s a long story, but I’m wondering why this even matters-”

“Becauuussseee it means that I get to throw you a ‘Welcome To Ponyville Party!’. Doesn’t that sound exciting!?!?” Pinkie asked, earning a groan from Sombra behind her.

“As if being subjected to your annoyance wasn’t bad enough for every commoner here, but throwing a celebration just because they are new is far from exciting,” Sombra stated, earning a huffy glare from Pinkie that Marcus couldn’t help but smile at.

“Hey now, I may not be the biggest fan of parties, but there’s nothing wrong with throwing a party. A lot of ponies throw them just for the heck of it you know.”

“You better watch your tone, peasant! Don’t you know who I am?! I am King Sombra, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, Bringer of Shadows and Darkness, and Future Ruler of Equestria!” Sombra monologued, receiving a blank stare from Marcus who simply shrugged his shoulders.

“And I'm the King of Potatoes. King or not, that doesn’t give you the right to yell at anyone, or treat your friends poorly.” Marcus replied sternly.

“I have no need for friends, you fool!”

“Ah, that explains why you don’t have any, jackass!”

“Clearly you don’t know your place! If I had my magic I’d show you just how helpless you truly are!”

“Wow, threatening me when I haven’t done anything wrong? Clearly that ego of yours-”

But before Marcus could even finish, Sombra stomped his hoof to the ground, silencing Marcus as he began to snarl at him. However before Marcus had the chance to even defend himself, Pinkie Pie jumped in between them to glare at Sombra, earning a couple of rasied eyebrows and widened eyes from Sombra.

“That’s enough, Sombry! You promised you’d be nicer to everypony, which includes new ponies! Do I have to talk to Twily about having your sweets taken away?”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Just try me, Sombry!”

“Tch, have it your way, pink menace,” Sombra scoffed, turning away from her to sit down in silence.

“I’m sorry about Sombry, he can be a bit of a grumpy mcgrumpsterpants. But then again, he doesn’t wear pants so that could be the reason, but probably not. Anyways I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a lot of things to do today! Like gathering baking supplies, party planning, taking mister grumpy here back home, and getting to know my new bestie!!!” Pinkie explained, giving Marcus a very large grin and invading his personal space.

“Suuuuure? Whatever you say Pinkie.” Marcus replied wearily.

“You’ll be there too for the party, right Flutters?” Pinkie asked.

“Oh, of course, I wouldn’t miss one of your parties, Pinkie,” she replied, smiling despite hearing Sombra make gagging sounds behind them.

“Anyways gotta go!!! Let’s go Sombry!!!”

As both Pinkie and Sombra walked off together, Marcus and Fluttershy looked at each other, before he began to laugh. Fluttershy stood there for a heartbeat, stunned, before joining in.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

“Well, that is Pinkie Pie for you, she’s always full of surprises. Although I’m… sorry I couldn’t stand up for you, Sombra just scares me a lot and all I could do was watch. Honestly, I hoped to avoid him on his walk if at all possible, but I really wanted to show you around town,” she explained as her ears folded down. But before she felt any worse, she felt a hoof on top of her head, gently stroking her mane. Looking up she found Marcus’ hoof on her head.

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize, that guy was a bit of an asshole and it’s not like I’m completely helpless. Besides, Pinkie Pie helped out and for a guy who makes a lot of threats, he’s all bark and no bite. So don’t worry for another second, we’re not going to let a jerk like Sombra ruin our day.” Marcus smiled at the little pegasus as she suddenly felt her cheeks heat up as she turned away, unable to hide her smile.

His hoof feels gentle and warm…

“Anyways, is there any place where we can get something to eat? I'm actually very hungry now.”

“Oh sure, I know a place in town that makes some pretty good salads and hay fries… if that’s okay with you?” She asked.

“That sounds pretty good,” he replied, following her when she started to walk off.

Marcus threw his eyes to sky for a brief moment when a slight breeze washed across his mane, but shook his head and continued walking.

Chapter Three- Don’t Judge a Book by It’s Cover (Re-edited)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Four- The Cloak Comes OFF!

“I really don’t like this floating in the air!” Marcus shouted, flailing his hooves around. He cry fell on deaf ears however, as they were whispering among themselves about something they clearly didn’t want him to hear.

“My, my, isn't he quite the handsome fellow? Where did you find him?” Rarity asked Fluttershy quietly.

“Oh, um… I found him injured near my cottage when he stumbled out of the Everfree,” she replied, as her cheeks turned slightly red after she mentioned how he looked, but she hadn’t really thought about it too much as she had just met this stallion last night.

“Still you can’t deny that he’s quite the catch, don’t you agree, darling?” the unicorn pointed out when she noticed how Fluttershy’s cheeks continued to redden. Fluttershy tried her best to hide her face from her friend behind her mane. Seeing it anyway, Rarity’s brow rose as an idea came to her but she had to confirm.

“Well, I’m certainly going to have to ask Mr. Coal to take me out to dinner, what do you think, darling?”

“Huh! NO! He's not fully healed yet! He needs time to heal first," Fluttershy half-shouted. Luckily, she startled Rarity enough to force her to drop Marcus to the cold hard ground.

“...ow,” Marcus uttered, more in irritation than actual pain.

“Oh, Fluttershy, dear, I am only jesting,” Rarity assured her demure friend before giving her an assuring wink.

“Um… is everything alright girls?” Marcus finally spoke up as he got back to his hooves, glad to be on them again. He saw the yellow pegasus hide her face from him.

“Oh, it’s nothing, darling, just a little girls’ talk,” the unicorn replied, as the three finally arrived at a white building that had an elegant look to it compared to the other places Marcus had seen thus far. Not that there was anything wrong with those places, just that it felt a little out of place.

Once they actually entered the ornate building, Rarity made a ta-dah pose as she proudly declared, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique! Now that we are here, I’ll prepare a bath for you Mr. Coal-”

“Oh, you can just call me Coal, or Obsidian, no need for you to add the Mister,” Marcus insisted to the unicorn as he motioned his hooves.

“My, my, how rude of you,” tut-tutted the unicorn.

“I-I didn’t mean to come off as rude, Ms.-” Marcus protested but then paused as he saw the white unicorn start giggling and he got the idea. “Oh, I get it… you’re joking again.”

“Apologies, darling, I’m just feeling on a roll today! And you can just call me Rarity,” she stated, smiling as Marcus rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks turning slightly red from embarrassment.

“Anyways, Rarity and I will prepare a bath for you, Coal, so you just wait here for now,” Fluttershy added, following the unicorn into the other room while Marcus sat down on a chair that was by the doorway and waited patiently.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Marcus decided to take a moment to close his eyes and try to relax while the girls prepared a bath for him. It was strange that he was being treated so nicely by these ponies, even though they barely knew him. Even Pinkie Pie treated him kindly despite bumping into her by accident. Sometimes when that happened he’d get yelled at by whoever he bumped into at home or he’d be on the receiving end and get shoved to the ground back when he was in high school.

It was a difficult time for him when he was in high school. But, when he graduated and began working at a pizza restaurant, things started looking up. He was studying really hard so that he could go to the fire department and become a firefighter someday. So that he could help people in need, like his father, but that could never happen… not anymore since he was dead.

He could still recall his last talk he had with his dad before he had been run over.

Two Days Before…

“Hey, Dad?” Marcus called to his father who was doing an oil change on their jeep wrangler in the garage, while he brought a plate of freshly cut apple slices.
“Mom thought you wanted to have something quick to eat while she gets started on dinner.”

“Ah, thanks, son, and thank your mom too for me, will ya?” he asked.

“Oh, sure, not a problem, Dad,” he replied, about to make his way out of the garage before his father turned back to him.

“Oh, just a second Marcus, think the two of us could talk for a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?” he asked, as his old man placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You know I am proud of you, right?”

“Yeah, I know you and mom are proud… I’m just trying to do my best to help you guys-”

“It’s not just that Marcus, both me and your mom know you are working hard to help us. You are always lending a hand to everyone who needs it, you help those around you and that’s all good, but I want to know, what do you want? Who do you want to be?” he asked.

Marcus looked confused for a moment.

“Well, I guess… I’m not sure, Dad.”

“You still have a bit of time to think about this, but it’s important to find something that has meaning to you. Who do you want to be, Marcus?” he asked once again as the young man curled his hand into a fist and rested it against his chin.

“Honestly if I’m really thinking about it… I’d like to go to the same university as you and become a firefighter. I know it’s not exactly the greatest job in the world, and I know it’s a dangerous job that needs to be taken seriously, but I want to help people like you did, Dad. I want to give a hand to someone in need with a smile on my face. Let them know that everything is going to be alright,” Marcus answered, his father’s eyes widened as he stared with disbelief, before giving his son a reassuring smile.

“Well, you better work hard if that’s what you really want to do okay?” he said, grinning as he patted his son on his shoulder. “We should head inside, I’m about done here anyways… Let’s see if we can give your mom a hand,”

“Coal… Coal… Coal… Um… it’s time to wake up now,” he heard as he slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by a concerned Fluttershy who was gently nudging him awake.

“O-oh…ahhh… Sorry, I must have dozed off…” Marcus replied, hopping off the chair before feeling his chest hurt. Recalling that he had been rammed into a carrot cart and was covered in carrot juice and carrot bits.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but we wanted to tell you that your bath was ready… um… are you okay?” she asked, as the charcoal stallion raised a brow.

“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

“It’s just… you look like you’ve been crying,” she answered, seeing tear stains on his cheeks as she watched the stallion wipe his cheeks.

“Huh? Guess I must have had a… bad dream,” he answered, but when he looked back at Fluttershy and saw how she looked concerned, he couldn’t help but smile at her as he placed a hoof on her head. “It’s nothing to worry about, Fluttershy, I don’t exactly recall what happened in my dream, but I’m perfectly fine. After all, I have a pretty awesome best friend here with me.”

“Um, you mean I’m, y-your best friend?” she asked.

“Well unless we are counting the dozens of carrot bits and juice clinging to me, I’d like to think you are,” Marcus answered, grinning at the yellow pegasus as he slowly began to make his way toward the doorway that Rarity was standing at, smiling at the two of them.

“Thank you for waiting patiently, darling, I have extra scented soaps in there if you need them!” Rarity said, waving to the stallion as he entered the bathroom and closed the door behind him, only for the white unicorn to rush over to Fluttershy’s side and suddenly pull her into a tight hug.

“Squeee!!! Oh, Fluttershy darling did you see that?!”

“Um, no… what do you mean, Rarity?"

“Did you not see the sparks between you two? I sense a romance is about to blossom between you two-” Rarity was suddenly silenced by Fluttershy’s hoof as her face suddenly turned beet red.

“Rarity! There’s nothing going on between us! We only met last night, we barely know each other, and besides, I’m sure he’s not interested in a mare like me,” Fluttershy responded.

Removing the yellow pegasus’ hoof from her mouth, Rarity couldn’t help but giggle in excitement as she began to feel giddy. As much as she desired to find the stallion of her dreams, she also couldn’t help but imagine her own friends finding their one true love. It is true that she may take romance a little too far, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Oh, Fluttershy, you have nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s perfectly normal to have a crush on somepony you’ve only met. Might I add, he’s extremely attractive and I can already tell that he is very kind to you. Especially from the way he patted your head moments ago,” she explained, smirking as she watched Fluttershy’s face turn into different shades of red.

“Rarity, please! I-I really don’t have a crush on him,” Fluttershy insisted, beginning to get frustrated from the embarrassment she was feeling from her friend saying she had a crush on a stallion she had barely met a day ago. She didn’t deny that he was handsome, because he obviously was, but she hardly knew him and even if he wasn’t a bad pony, she wasn’t quite ready to be in a relationship.

“Oh fine! I won’t press on the matter anymore! Although I do wonder if he’s okay in there, those injuries looked pretty bad?” Rarity asked.

Meanwhile, Marcus had struggled to grab hold of the bottle of shampoo with his hooves and scrub himself everywhere. It was extremely difficult as he could barely grip the bottle in his hooves. When he tried to squeeze the bottle of shampoo on his mane, he’d sometimes miss and it’d land on his cuts, causing the stallion to groan in pain as he tried to hold in his scream. He desperately wanted to curse, but he was in someone’s home and didn’t want to make a bad impression.

“Shit, that stings…” he whispered to himself.

The only thing that kept him from dropping the bottle into the tub was the willpower he put into his hooves to hold onto the bottle for dear life, and recalling how Fluttershy was able to lift a glass of water with her hoof and not drop it.

Now, Fluttershy and well… pretty much every pony in this town can lift things with their hooves and don’t need fingers to do so. If they can do it, then surely I can too, right? Marcus thought to himself as he tried to calm his thoughts and mentally visualize his hooves as hands and grab the soap bottle once more.

“Yes, finally.” he cheered quietly, his wings flaring up in excitement. It was progress and that was all that mattered to him. Now that things were going somewhere, he quickly started to finish cleaning up all of his cuts and bruises with the shampoo. It hurt… a lot, but it was necessary as it would help prevent infections.

Once he was done, he made sure to empty the tube and dry himself off thoroughly, but there was one thing that he completely forgot. He couldn't go outside without his cloak as it was the only thing that covered his wings and the last thing he needed was for somepony else to see them. So with little to no choice, he put on his dirty cloak again and made his way out.

“Thanks for allowing me to use your bathtub, Rarity, but I think we should get going as I do have to meet up with Princess Twilight-”

“My goodness! You are not seriously considering going out wearing that filthy thing!? You just finished taking a bath and now you’re wearing the same dirty rag you call a cloak! UNACCEPTABLE!!!”

“Listen, I know it’s a bit dirty, but I kinda need it for the moment. I’ll be sure to wash it once I-” But before he could finish, Rarity’s horn began to glow as he suddenly felt the cloak on him begin to pull away from him and he immediately began to panic.

“Rarity, I need to keep this on!”

“Absolutely not!”

“C-Coal- You- Rarity- please stop you two-”

“The dirty cloak is coming off, whether you like it or not!!” Rarity strained, finally ripping the cloak away from the stallion.

“Now let's get you something more appropriate-”

Marcus looked on in horror at his now exposed wings poking up out of his back. Rarity was simply staring at him, completely speechless. When he turned his gaze towards Fluttershy, she shared the same expression as him.

“Rarity… now do not freak out-”

“Y-You’re an alicorn!?!? A-A Prince!?!?” She asked, her mouth wide open as Marcus rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out what to say to her.

“I’m an alicorn, yes, but I am not a prince.”

“It’s true, Rarity,” Fluttershy spoke, placing a wing on her friend. “He’s not from around here… and he really doesn’t want anypony to know about what he really is…”

“This-This is a lot to process. Just give me a second to collect my thoughts?” She asked, as Marcus and Fluttershy nodded in response and just as Marcus was about to reach for his cloak that Rarity had dropped on the floor, his hoof was suddenly hit by a white hoof.

“OW!”

“You are not wearing that horrid thing out in public… honestly, that brown rag you had on you completely clashes with your mane and fur. I only ask for you to wait patiently in my kitchen for thirty minutes while I find something a bit more appropriate for you to wear in public,” she insisted, motioning for the stallion to enter the kitchen across the room while Fluttershy followed, only to be stopped by Rarity briefly as she whispered into her ear.

“You and I need to have a serious talk, darling… I want to know everything.”

“I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to say anything, he’s really not a bad stallion, he’s a kind colt that needs help is all,” Fluttershy responded quietly.

“I know he’s not a bad stallion, but this could be something very serious and if Twilight or the other Princesses find out about him being an alicorn, things could go either really good or really bad,” she explained quietly as she looked over Fluttershy to see the charcoal alicorn sitting at the very end of the table with his head resting on it.

“Thirty minutes okay, I’ll find something for him to cover his wings and look stunning.”

“Thank you Rarity, and I promise I’ll be careful…”

“Very good darling, now you go on and keep an eye on Coal, while I work my magic,” she said, pushing the pegasus towards the kitchen while she went to look for an outfit for her new alicorn friend.

“So, Rarity… She's a bit punctual?” Marcus asked, refraining from saying anything negative as his hoof still stung a bit from the slap he received.

“W-Well while we wait for Rarity, would you like for me to put on new bandages for you? If that’s okay with you Coal?” she asked, receiving a nod as a response from the stallion as she went to look underneath the kitchen sink where Rarity kept an extra medkit in case of emergencies. Pulling out an ointment from the kit, she began to gently apply it to the huge cut across his chest, causing the stallion to hiss from the pain.

“Sorry… I’ll try to be a bit more gentle.”

“It’s fine Shy, I’m not a little kid who scraped his k-hoof… If you have to apply pressure it’s okay, I can take a little pain if it means getting taken care of,” Marcus insisted as Fluttershy continued to apply the ointment across his chest, before wrapping the bandages around him. Once his chest was wrapped up, she began to apply more ointment on his other cuts that were on his front hooves.

“Um… Coal? I was wondering, how’d you end up like this? I didn’t exactly ask you this morning when you woke up, so I just-” she paused, trying to find the right words to ask, but a part of her worried that those large cuts came from something dangerous.

“If you really want to know, I was kinda teleported here by a lady I met… in a way she’s kinda to blame for me getting hurt, but she gave me this second chance to start over here in Equestria. That’s all I can really say, but as for these injuries, well… let’s just say that the lady kinda dropped me on top of some dead trees… And then I ran into some wolves that looked like they were made out of wood and had to make a run for it. Yeah not exactly the best start to a new day, but luckily I ran into this huge manticore and used the big guy to slip away from them,” Marcus explained, trying his best to explain everything to Fluttershy as she continued to wrap up the last of his injuries while listening to his story.

“Not the worst day ever, but I’d say it’s at least in my top five worst days of my life,” he added, giving a little chuckle as he heard a sigh from the little pegasus.

“I’m glad you are okay, but you should be a bit more careful okay,”

“I’ll try, but trouble tends to find me sometimes… it just loves to find me when I least expect it hehehehehe!” he joked, only to get lightly slapped on the shoulder.

“Ow! A nurse shouldn’t hit her patient, you know!”

“Well I’m not a nurse, but you really shouldn’t joke about getting into trouble you know,”

“Yeah you’re right, sorry Shy,”

Once the bandages were applied, the two began to make their way out of the kitchen to go find Rarity in the other room, but they soon came across a huge mess of scattered clothing and different types of fabrics everywhere. It wasn’t long until Rarity returned with a rack of different coats and cloaks.

“It took me a little longer than I anticipated, BUT I believe somewhere on this rack, I’ll find something befitting a young alicorn such as yourself,” she explained, as the colt looked a little confused, but remained silent.

“Do you need any help, Rarity?” Fluttershy offered, the white unicorn nodding in response, ushering the pegasus to assist her. It took the two mares a bit of time, but they eventually found a blue coat that was long enough to cover his wings, but his appearance sorta reminded him of a pilot from WWII, but he wasn’t going to deny that he looked pretty good in it.

“My, my, I must say that you look quite smashing Coal, it’s all about finding just the right colors that fit you just right. No need for that filthy rag anymore, I’ll be sure to dispose of it properly,” Rarity stated while she carried his old cloak off to who knows where, but he knew he wasn’t going to see it again anytime soon. Once she came back, Marcus couldn’t help but smile at the white unicorn, wanting to find some way to repay her for her generosity.

“Well thank you Rarity, if there’s any way I can repay you, I’ll be happy to lend you a hoof-” However before he could go on, a hoof suddenly covered his mouth.

“Nope, none of that darling, consider it to be a gift from a friend.” she replied, winking at him as Fluttershy grabbed hold of his hoof.

“Well I’m glad we found something that fits you Coal, but I think it’s time for the two of us to head out. I still need to feed my animal friends and you need to get ready,” Fluttershy explained, pulling him towards the entrance.

“Get ready for what?”

“Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party of course,”

“Wait, you mean Pinkie was serious!?”

“That’s right, Coal. Pinkie Pie always throws a party for newcomers,” Rarity answered. “Well, I hope you two have a lovely day.”

“Thank you, Rarity, for helping us out,” Fluttershy thanked the white unicorn as the two began to leave.

“Anytime darlings, do be safe out there!”

Once the two were making their way back toward Fluttershy’s home, Marcus couldn’t help but think about one thing.

How much does this coat cost… I’m going to have to find some way to thank her… Seriously, this town is a bit weird.

Author's Note

And here's the next chapter guys. Hope you all enjoy it, but from this point onward, I'll be posting every other week. I'll be spending more time to write out these chapters and making sure everything is perfect. Thank you all :)

Chapter Five- Surprise Party

Author's Note

And here is chapter five guys :) I hope you all enjoy this chapter as I have big plans for this series going forward.

Chapter Five- Surprise Party

If there was one thing Marcus had learned when he arrived in this town, it was that it wascompletely strange, literally alien to him in almost every way. He’d been treated very kindly by some of the town folks, been given a tour of Ponyville, had a delicious meal, got a brand new coat, and in just a little bit, he’d be given a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party. It was all new to him as he continued to compare his old world to this one and how different it was from his.

Am I really in the right place? This world doesn’t seem like it would have those six stones, it’s too… cutesy-wootsy, fairytale land-ish…right? Could she have made a mistake sending me here? Marcus thought to himself as he stared silently into a mirror inside Fluttershy’s bathroom, only to be met by his own reflection. It was all too strange. True, he was beginning to get a handle of things in this world, but it felt wrong to be there. The funny feeling that permeated his body only served to reinforce that.

“Maybe I’m overthinking things?” he asked himself, only to hear a knock at the door.

“Um… Coal? Are you alright in there?” he heard Fluttershy ask.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just checking something, is all,” he replied, turning on the facet and began to wash his face quickly before making his way out. Once he was done and had opened the door, he was greeted by the yellow pegasus waiting patiently by the door. He couldn’t help but smile at his new friend.

“Something you need, `Shy?”

“Oh, it’s nothing… just wondering if you’re ready for tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m about ready. Honestly I’m just thinking about how weird it is here in Ponyville. Not in a bad way, mind you, just… it’s different from where I’m from. At least you, Pinkie, and Rarity have treated me, a stranger, with such kindness and consideration that I really do not deserve and it’s only been a day. I’d say the one that has the right idea is your other friend Rainbow Dash. I mean the ‘not trusting me right away’ thing, not the whole ‘ramming me into a carrot cart’. Where I’m from people aren’t so quick to trust each other, always expecting there to always be some kind of catch,” he explained, giving a light chuckle, but received no laughter from the yellow pegasus.

Rather he received a look of subdued bafflement, as though what he’d just described was almost crazy talk.

“What, is that- Is that really so strange?” Marcus asked, slightly nervous.

“Well, no…” Fluttershy responded before saying, “It’s understandable not to trust someone you just met, but… almost everypony I know in Ponyville, we welcome others and open ourselves to them to let them know that we want for them to feel welcome and that we are giving them the chance to be our friends and that we would like to be their friends too. Not that we blindly do so, there have been times when one or the other… didn’t… click?”

“Well I guess that makes sense, but where I came from, we aren’t so quick to trust one another,” Marcus replied, sounding just a tad down as he said, “Not saying that there aren’t people who don’t, but for me it was always difficult trusting others so quickly. I had some bad experiences putting trust in those I used to call my friends… One thing led to another and I am pretty much only trusting my folks and one other person I could count on.”

“Do you… trust me Coal?” she asked, looking up to the charcoal stallion with hope in her eyes as he hesitated to respond.

“Well, Shy, I trust you a lot more than I trust my former friends. I mean, you practically saved my life. It’s just difficult for me to put trust in strangers, but I am willing to trust you, Fluttershy. Because I can just feel that you’re a good person,” he replied, smiling as he patted the pegasus on the head. “Anyways, we should get going right? Got a party to attend, right?”

Seeing the pegasus smile in return as she nodded in agreement made Marcus feel a bit more willing to get to know her and the townsfolk just a bit more. However, Marcus knew for a fact that he can’t exactly get used to the peaceful and quiet life here in Ponyville for very long. He still had a bargain to fulfill for Death after all.

I’ll need to be careful when sneaking away tonight, the last thing I need is for Fluttershy to find out about my deal with Death and the stones I need to find. Sorry Shy, but I can’t fully trust you just yet… but I hope someday soon, I will.

It hadn’t taken the two very long to make it to Sugarcube Corner, but Marcus did take notice that the lights to the bakery were all out. He couldn’t help but try to hide his snicker as it was very obvious that Pinkie wanted the party to be a surprise party, but it kinda defeats the purpose with her telling him earlier that he was getting a welcome party.

“She does know it’s a Welcome party right? Not a surprise party?” Marcus asked Fluttershy, only receiving a giggle as a response.

“Well, Pinkie tends to take throwing parties very seriously,” Fluttershy answered sheepishly. He could tell that she was being serious about Pinkie and her love for parties.

“Huh, it must be difficult having to plan parties by herself, right?” he asked.

"It’s nothing you really have to worry about Coal, Pinkie loves to throw parties for everypony, and she always loves to go big," Fluttershy explained, leading the stallion to the front entrance of the bakery.

Once the two made it inside, the lights suddenly turned on and a bunch of ponies came out of hiding, with Pinkie appearing in the center of the room, with a large cannon in the center of the room, aimed directly at the large alicorn.

Shit! Is she going to kill me!?!? Marcus thought to himself as he quickly dove to the ground with his hooves over his head as the pink earth pony, fired the cannon of… confetti?

“SURPRISE!!!!” Everypony shouted, as they all looked at the newcomer, who was stunned and confused.

“Huh?!” was all Marcus could utter as he looked at the ponies staring at him. As if he was the odd one in the room, and as he turned to Fluttershy, he was surprised to see her trying to suppress her laughter.

“You okay there, Coala?” Pinkie asked, suddenly appearing next to him as she helped him to his hooves.

“Yeah. Just for a moment I thought you were going to blast me to kingdom come,” Marcus answered as he stood up, only for the ponies around him to start laughing, including the party pony herself.

“That’s just my party cannon! It’s my own personal invention that I use to help set up for parties!” she explained, grinning at the charcoal pony and pulling him to the center of the room suddenly. “Now, LET’S PARTY!!!”

“WOOOHOOOO!!!” Everypony cheered as disco lights came on and what Marcus assumed to be the local DJ began to play music and ponies began to dance. He tried to find Fluttershy so that he could talk with her, but he was quickly pulled further into the crowd by Pinkie.

“Coal! Come on, it’s time for you to let loose and shake your tail!!!” she shouted, shaking her hips back and forth before she started to break dance, surprising the alicorn.

Seeing that everyone was having fun, Marcus couldn't help but join in on the fun. Even if his dancing skills were crap compared to everyone else. However, that didn't stop Pinkie from grabbing his hooves and trying to show him how to dance.

“Come on Coala!!! Follow the leader!~” Pinkie sang as she began to do a simple back and forth with her hooves to help get him started.

“I-I’m trying Pinkie!” Marcus answered as he tried to keep up with the pink earth pony. But, due to how crowded it was, and how big he was, it was very difficult. Afterdancing for what seemed like forever to the stallion, Marcus couldn't help but feel parched and decided to make his way over to where the punch bowl was.

“Coaly, where are you going?!” Pinkie asked.

“Just getting a drink Pinkie, I’ll be right back!”

Marcus reached out for a cup of fruit punch, only for it to be taken quickly by none other than Sombra himself, who gave a smug look to the large stallion as he chugged down the fruity drink that he wanted to quench his thirst. Marcus could already tell that the former King of the Crystal Empire wanted to pick a fight with him.

“Enjoying yourself, fool?”

“I was until you swiped that cup of punch that I was reaching for, but you don’t exactly look like you’re having a good time yourself,” Marcus replied, glaring at the gray unicorn as he grabbed another cup of punch on the table.

“Tch! As if I’d have a good time mingling among these filthy commoners!”

“You do realize that one of those commoners is your friend, right?” he asked, rhetorically of course, but the gray unicorn didn’t stop there and continued to rant on.

“If you are referring to that pink nuisance, then you are mistaken! Like I’d call that annoying menace my friend. She’s merely an obstacle that I’ll get rid of once I regain my full power!” Sombra declared, causing Marcus to stiffen suddenly. His eyes widened as his brows furrowed.

“Is that really what you think of Pinkie?! I may not have known her for very long, but I could tell that she genuinely cares about you,” Marcus explained, but received a grunt in response.

“Please, she’s better off sticking with her own friends, not that any of them are worth a damn. They all deserve to rot in the pits of Tartarus for placing me under the guard of an ignorant Princess, and having an annoying, childish, stupid mare, who believes smiling and laughter can redeem me! She’s by far the worst this town has to offer!”

Once Sombra’s rant was finished, Marcus could feel something bubbling up inside of him. His gut ran hot with fury and he could feel his heart pumping at an accelerated rate.

“Seriously, what’s your fucking problem!? I may not know who you are and I may have only been here for a day, but these ponies, I can already tell that they have done nothing wrong! And Pinkie Pie is by far one of the sweetest girls I’ve met and I feel sorry that she's friends with a jerk like you!” Marcus yelled. Thankfully no one heard him raise his voice at the former tyrant due to the loud music.

“If you really are a King, you were probably a terrible one to begin with!”

“How dare you! You think you have the right to speak to me that way!?” Sombra shouted, gaining everypony’s attention now. Even though this was something that Marcus had hoped to avoid, he felt that putting his hoof down on this arrogant unicorn was more important.

“I do, cause I’m not being a total jackass!!!” he shouted.

Everypony gasped at his language, but that didn’t seem to shock the gray unicorn. No, far from it. Sombra visibly clenched his jaw harder as a vein made itself known on his forehead.

“You certainly have a filthy mouth, peasant! You’d do well to remember your place-”

“Remember my place!? Last I checked, you aren’t the King of anything anymore! Maybe the King of Morons!” Marcus shouted, gritting his teeth as he began to stare down the former tyrant. Before things could escalate any further, however, Pinkie Pie immediately jumped between the two of them, her front hooves bopping the two on their noses.

“That’s enough of that you sillies! We’re here to party, not be all grumpy now! So why don’t we all just-”

“Enough! I’ve tolerated your insufferable existence long enough! It’s bad enough that I have to spend an hour going on walks everyday, but being forced to attend these ridiculous parties that are for foals is too much! I truly hate you!!!” Sombra shouted.

Pinkie’s reaction was something Marcus hadn’t seen since he met her. It was there for only a moment, but clearly visible to him. Pinkie’s smile truly disppeared.

“I-I just-” Pinkie started, but the words wouldn’t come out as tears began to form in her eyes. She tried and failed several times to restore her signature smile to her face, but each time her lips would drop, again and again.

She turned to run out the door.

Marcus turned his gaze towards Fluttershy, who looked as stunned as everypony else. He barely knew the pink pony, but seeing tears in her eyes made him want to go help her. He wasn’t sure why, but he made a promise to his father that he’d help those in need.

And he was going to do just that.

Chapter Six- The Call of The First Stone

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Chapter Seven- Half-Truths & An Unexpected Guest

Author's Note

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Okay, so first off, I want you all to know that I am sorry this chapter took a little longer than it should have, but that's because I've been busy with work lately. So after you've read this chapter, I'll be going on a bit of a hiatus for a month to get some things in my life in order and to also get ahead again with this story. I hope you all understand, but that won't stop me from writing the story. By the time I come back from my hiatus, my goal is to have at least five chapters done and ready to go for you all by that time. It's tedious trying to write chapter to chapter and I want to stay ahead of this story so I can keep writing it out and surprising everyone.

Anyways, without further ado, here is Chapter Seven, I want to thank UnamusedWaffle & Wolven for helping me edit and write this chapter. Give them a follow and check out their stories! They're awesome! :)
I also want to thank MCShelster for making the artwork for this story, it's incredible and I can't thank her enough!:D

Chapter Seven- Half-Truths & An Unexpected Guest

The journey back to Ponyville went off without a hitch, which was saying a lot for Marcus as he expected a lot of things to go wrong. Thankfully, though, it seemed like the universe was throwing him a bone for once. By the time they reached the fountain at the center of Ponyville, he thought that things were going his way.

“OBSIDIAN!”

Or so he thought.

Pinkie told him about the dangers of the Everfree Forest, starting with Timberwolves, Manticores, Hydras, Cockatrices, dangerous plants, and other eldritch horrors. Right now, he was wishing that one of those things would attack him instead. Fluttershy’s intense stare beat down on him like when your Mom catches you playing Super Smash Bros. at 2 A.M. It was a feeling that he knew all too well, forcing him to cower in fear.

“Do you have any idea how worried we’ve all been?!” she bellowed, as Marcus immediately fell on his rump. His ears folded back as he scratched the back of his head.

“W-Well Fluttershy, I know you said ‘Not to go into the forest until my injuries healed,’ which they did by the way! Totally fine now, as you can see! But I needed to go in to get my things, and I didn’t go alone! Pinkie actually was a big help- OW!! OW-OW-OW-OW!” Marcus was cut off by the sudden bite to his left ear. Fluttershy was yanking on it as hard as she could, with Pinkie sitting back… and eating popcorn!?

WHY? AND HOW, PINKIE?!

“I thought you had gotten hurt, or worse! I am so cross with you right now that I could just scream! *GASP* Ahhh!” she shouted.

At least, that’s what Marcus was expecting, but it sounded more like a dying duck than anything resembling a shout.

“I’m sorry, geez! You didn’t have to bite my ear though, you could have ripped it off.”

“I’m… not sorry, you had me worried sick when you and Pinkie didn’t come back to the party.”

“Yeeeaah, about that, it’s a long story.”

“Well, perhaps you’d like to share it with all of us, Obsidian Coal,” Marcus heard, immediately turning to find Princess Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and an orange pony, with apples as a tattoo on her rump and a brown stetson hat sitting atop her golden mane, walking up to them.

“I have half a mind to report you to Princess Celestia, given that you were hiding the fact that you were an alicorn,” she stated.

Oh fuck me!! Marcus grimaced as he flared his wings before he could stop himself. The cat was out of the bag now.

“BUT… seeing that you stood up for Pinkie Pie,” Twilight sighed but spoke with a gentle edge, “I am willing to hear you explain yourself before I decide one way or another.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll be straight with you, Princess,” Marcus started, taking a deep breath as he collected his thoughts. “First off, I’m an alicorn, but I am nooo prince. That much I can promise.

“However, I was sent here to Equestria to look for artifacts concerning my mission. They are the key to finding my place in this world,” he explained. Though, he couldn’t help but shrink when he noticed glares from both the new pony and Rainbow Dash.

"Hey guys, come on! Don't look at him like that! He's a really good guy, Applejack!"

“Alright, calm down Pinkie! We're just concerned is all," The new pony named Applejack, explained. "So, y’all are sayin’ that you came here looking for some fancy trinkets, right? But ya haven’t explained why.”

“All I can say is that finding them is literally key to my survival,” he said, recalling his deadline of ten years.

But I still know nothing of this world…

“That’s not much to give us…” Twilight narrowed her eyes.

“Well, I barely know what these artifacts do myself. All I know is that my survival depends on finding them.”

“For what purpose? And who?” Twilight pressed.

“Can’t say for certain, but one moment I was living a normal life, the next I’m dropped from the sky into the… Everfree Forest, right, Pinkie?”

“That’s right! You remembered!”

“That’s all I can recall at the moment,” he replied, giving his best poker face.

Applejack narrowed her eyebrows, “Yer lyin’,” she stated, “or at least by omission.”

“Obsidian Coal, I am giving you a chance to be candid and you’re already sticking your hoof in your mouth,” Twilight warned.

“Well, even if I could tell you, I can’t! I’ve already lost everything! This is a second chance at starting over!” he argued, tears starting to form in his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether Death actually meant what she said about turning to dust, but he already lost one life to a maniac.

Not again, not ever again…

“J-Just… I can’t… I can’t explain it, but this mission… it’s the only chance I have left! To live a full life, to- …to be happy…”

The mares were all surprised, especially when they saw Marcus shed tears from his eyes. Seeing the fear he had, really made them feel sympathy. Twilight’s ears folded back, and she opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off.

“Leave him alone! Coaly hasn’t done anything wrong, guys! He’s one of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met. He even stood up to Sombry when he was being really mean to me. It’s not fair for you to judge him when you don’t even know him!” Pinkie protested.

Now it was Marcus’ turn to be surprised.

“Pinkie’s right, Coal isn’t a bad pony, I’ve been with him the whole time, and he’s not a bad pony. If he’s not ready to tell us, then we need to respect his decision,” Fluttershy added.

Sighing, Twilight spoke, “I’m… not exactly okay with you keeping secrets from us, but I can tell that you spoke from the heart. If you quite literally can’t tell us, then I suppose, as long as you do no harm, I can accept that.

“However… it still puts me in a difficult position, Coal. You are an alicorn, and whether you claim to be royalty or not, that still casts a spotlight upon you, and I feel Princess Celestia would at the very least offer you some help with that. I won’t force you to see her and I won’t tell her about you. I only ask that you consider going to her for help.”

“...I’ll consider it,” Marcus wiped the tears away, feeling a bit wimpy but relieved at the same time.

“Well, I say we’ve had one doozy of a night! Coaly’s gonna need a place to stay for the time being! OH! That’s right! I offered to let him stay at Sugarcube Corner! We have an extra room he can stay in!” Pinkie offered, jumping up and down.

I completely forgot she did offer that before- Wait? Did I accept that though?

“Coal will be staying with me, actually, Pinkie,” Fluttershy stated, smiling at Marcus.

Why does that smile send a shiver down my spine?

“Well, Coaly already said yes before! Right, Coaly?!”

“Uh…”

“Coal needs more time to recover at my cottage, it’s the best place for him to rest,” Fluttershy started.

“But Coaly’s injuries have already healed! And he said he would LOVE to stay at Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie countered.

“Well, truth be told I wasn’t-”

“Coal might look okay right now, but I remember he had broken ribs, those don’t heal immediately Pinkie,”

“Well, Twily can heal him with magic right now! Make sure he’s A-okay!”

Why are they fighting about this?

“Well, I did kinda agree to Pinkie’s offer before Fluttershy, though I wasn’t really paying attention at the time,” he explained.

“Lost in your thoughts again?” Fluttershy asked, trotting up to him.

“Yeahhh…”

Letting out a quiet giggle, she could help but smile at him. “You tend to do that quite often, don’t you?”

“It’s a habit that I’m trying to break,”

“Well, if you really want to stay at Pinkie’s place, I won’t stop you, but I want you to come by tomorrow. If that's okay for you, that is?” Fluttershy asked. Marcus knew she meant for him to come by no question. All she wanted was to make sure he was okay.

“YAY!” Pinkie cheered, wrapping her hooves around him and embracing him tightly. “It’ll be like a sleepover! But every night!”

Marcus couldn’t help but let out an awkward chuckle as his cheeks turned slightly red. He wasn’t the biggest fan of human contact. Especially how Pinkie was mushing her cheek to his own, and he started to wonder, What did I just get myself into…?

“Well, I say we should all head home and turn in, especially since somepony’s party ended twenty minutes ago,” Twilight said before she looked to Marcus, “So then, Obsidian, if you’re interested, I would like to discuss some things with you.”

“Like what?” Marcus asked, wary but keeping his tone casual.

“Like what kind of magic you know,” Twilight replied, a sparkle in her eyes, “where you came from, anything at all! We’d just like to get to know you.”

Hoo boy… Marcus was afraid of this. Per Death’s instructions, he couldn’t tell them the specifics of their deal, and he was reluctant to reveal his being from another world and originally another species altogether.

What will they think when I tell them I used to be a human?

“Well, I can definitely say that I can’t use magic, I spent most of my life… magicless,” he replied, scratching the back of his head. “But I’d like to learn at some point. Be the next ‘Gandalf’ you know?”

Twilight stared at Marcus for a split second, confused, before asking with a familiar twinkle in her eyes, “You weren’t always an alicorn, were you?”

“Well, you got me there. This is all still so new to me,” he answered.

“Well, if you’re in need of a magic teacher, Twilight would be perfect for you!” said a young male voice Marcus didn’t recognize.

He turned around and saw a cute, little, purple reptilian guy with green spines, giving Marcus an encouraging smile, “Nopony knows magic like she does, it’s her special talent!”

“Well, uh…hello there,” Marcus gave the little guy a smile, “You’re a talking lizard, aren’t you?”

“Spike the Dragon, at your service,” Spike gave a playful bow along with a friendly stink-eye. He must have heard that one before. “I’m Twilight’s Number One Assistant!”

“He’s practically my little brother,” Twilight confirmed as she went over and gave Spike a warm hug.

“Surprised I’m just noticing you now,” Marcus shrugged, “and… you don’t have wings.”

“From what we know about dragons, they don’t get their wings until they reach a certain age,” Twilight answered.

“I didn’t say anything before because… well, I didn’t want to interrupt things,” Spike wrung his tail a bit before lighting up, “But now we’re all friends here, right?”

“Sure… At least, we’re all cool now, but yeah if she doesn’t mind, I’d like to learn… eventually,” Marcus politely requested, somewhat hesitant.

Spike tilted his head as he noticed the metal brace the alicorn stallion wore around his neck, along with the blue stone on it, giving off a light dim glow. “That’s… a nice gem!”

“Uh, thanks…” Marcus didn’t like the way Spike licked his lips while looking at his stone. “It’s important to me, more than you can know.”

“Well, let’s discuss a good time for us to have a lesson together, but you should probably get settled with Pinkie Pie and the Cakes over at Sugarcube Corner,” Twilight suggested.

“Oh that’s right! I gotta tell Mr. & Mrs. Cake we have a new roomie!” Pinkie realized and she hopped off, singing “La, la-la, la-la…!”

“Well, I suppose this is where we must part ways, Obsidian Coal, it was truly a pleasure to meet you. And I’ll have a new custom-made jacket for you soon darling.” Rarity said, heading off in a different direction.

“Hey! Wait, there’s no need to do that!”

“Can’t hear you!~”

She totally can hear me Marcus thought with a flat look before cracking a smile.

“Hey, Coal, sorry about… what happened earlier today. It wasn’t right of me, so are we cool?” Rainbow Dash asked apologetically.

“Sure, just as long as you don’t kick me into a carrot cart again. I’ll be fine being friends with you,” Marcus replied, waving goodbye to the pegasus.

“Sweet! If you ever need help flying, I’ll be happy to help dude! Have a good night!” she offered, before taking off into the sky as a rainbow trail followed her.

“Y’all have a good night, I’m gonna hit the sack! Nice meetin’ ya, partner!” Applejack said, tipping her hat to him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Coal?” Fluttershy asked with the barest edge in her voice, like a parent reminding one of their chores.

“Yes, Mom,” Marcus responded with playful sarcasm, only to get a cuff on the ear, “Ow!”

“I mean it…” Fluttershy said with a gentle firmness before giving him a smile and then taking her leave.

“You’d better get to Sugarcube Corner and meet with Pinkie Pie and the Cakes,” Twilight suggested and pointed down the street, “Just head that way and make the second right. You’ll know Sugarcube Corner when you see it.”

“Alright, we can talk magic lessons tomorrow or something,” Marcus shrugged.

Twilight nodded and let Spike hop onto her back before saying, “Good night Obsidian Coal! We’ve got a lot to go over, so I hope you’re ready for some learning.”

“Bye, Coal!” Spike waved as Twilight trotted off.

Finally, Marcus was alone.

Feeling exhaustion finally starting to catch up with him, Marcus phew’d and made his way to Sugarcube Corner. Once he made that second right, he chuckled at the sight of the bakery and thought, Yep, It’s quite unmistakable…

Needless to say, when he entered the bakery, Carrot Cake and his wife, Cup Cake, were rather surprised and not exactly pleased Pinkie Pie had invited a stranger - an alicorn no less! - into their home. Marcus honestly didn't think things through when he agreed to live at Sugarcube Corner.

"Um, Hello, I'm Obsidian Coal, it’s nice to meet you all." He waved awkwardly at the couple as they gawked at him.

I guess being an alicorn isn’t exactly normal if they’re just going to keep staring at me.

“Oh, remember how you guys were asking for more help here at the bakery!? Well, Coaly here said, he’s willing to help out here!” Pinkie said, smiling gleefully at the couple.

"Oh, yes! Terribly sorry, Mr. Obsidian, we don't want to come off as rude, but we just weren't expecting this all of a sudden," Mr. Cake said, sweating nervously as he looked up at the charcoal alicorn towering over him.

"It’s fine, I would be cautious too if our positions were reversed. Anyways, I know my words might not mean much, but I'll do what I can to help you guys out. Pay for rent so I'm not a freeloader here." Marcus explained calmly so as not to intimidate them.

"Well, we'll certainly talk more about this in the morning, but for now, I'll need to put-" Mrs. Cake was suddenly cut off by her twin foals, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake, who took a shine to Marcus as they suddenly leaped onto him.

“Ooh! This one’s going in the scrapbook!” Pinkie Pie pulled up a camera and took a photo of Pumpkin Cake on Marcus’s back, chewing on his ear while Pound Cake clutched the stallion’s face. Marcus couldn’t help himself from smiling ear to ear.

“Um! Uh! Help!?” Marcus chuckled, wincing just a bit because Pumpkin was teething.

“Alrighty, dearies, it’s past your bedtimes anyway,” Cup Cake and Carrot Cake collected their foals, who made just a little fuss until Marcus gave them each a tickle on their tummy, and they too felt the long day as they yawned, the sight of it melting Marcus’s heart.

“G’night, little guys,” he whispered to them.

“I got them,” Carrot took Pumpkin from Cup Cake and carried both foals to their room.

“Now, let’s get you settled in, dear,” Cup Cake offered, “There’s a guest room upstairs, but… I’m not sure if the bed is big enough for you.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, thank you for the hospitality. I’ll be sure to do my part and help out where I can.” Marcus stated, bowing his head to Mrs. Cake.

“Oh my, Pinkie didn’t mention you were such a gentlecolt,” She smiled, bowing her head to him. “Just try not to make too much noise, so you don’t wake up the foals.”

“Um, I’ll try not to?” he answered, raising a brow in confusion as she began giggling for some strange reason. “Have a good night.”

“Good night, Coal, we’ll discuss details about you starting work here in the morning,” she replied.

As he made his way upstairs, Pinkie came out of a room, smiling as she hopped over towards him. “Heya, Coaly! Everything’s ready for you!”

“Thanks, Pinks, for everything.”

“No problem Coaly, and I know you don’t want to tell them about that rock thingy, but promise me that you will eventually?” she asked, looking up at him and seeing her pleading eyes, made him just want to make her happy.

“I’ll-I mean, I’ll tell everyone about my mission when I’m ready, but I am glad that at least someone knows a bit about what’s going on,” Marcus replied, before he was suddenly hugged. It wasn’t a tight-squeezy, excitable hug. It was… nice. Soft, caring, and gentle.

“Have a good night Coaly! I’ll see you in the morning!”

“Goodnight Pinks.” he said, entering his room and closing the door. Now that he was finally alone, Marcus decided to take the time to look around his temporary room. The floor creaked with every step he made as he made his way towards what looked like a full-size bed, beside it a small nightstand and a lamp.

It's not a lot, but I'm not complaining.

Tossing his bag next to the bed, he plopped down face first onto the bed, turned on his back and just laid there. Staring at the ceiling as he began to recollect the events that happened.

I found the first stone, but I had to lie about everything to everyone. Especially to Fluttershy and Pinkie, those two deserve the truth.

*Ping*

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out his phone and noticed another text from Death.

LD
Hope you enjoyed your first day in the new world. Remember that I'll be checking on you periodically, so make sure you keep your phone close. Remember why you are there, and what your goal is.

Me
I know, but you need to explain to me how I found it. Cause I have no idea what happened?

LD
I'll explain everything to you sometime next week, I am busy after all. So be patient and get into a routine. After all, you are going to be here for a while now.

Me
Got it.

That was the final thing he texted before going to bed. Surprising even himself, sleep wasn’t far off once he closed his eyes.

“Coal, make sure you have those Cupcakes delivered to Carrot Tops’ Birthday Party ASAP! Pinkie already has the other party favors set up,” Carrot Cake called out to him, handing him two boxes.

“I got it, boss!” Marcus replied, grabbing the cupcakes in his hoof.

“I told you to just call me Carrot, Coal.”

“Whatever you say, boss, gotta go.” Coal said, rushing out the door.

It had been a week since he had started working at Sugarcube Corner as their new courier (he preferred to be called that over ‘delivery boy’). Not wanting to freeload off them, he figured he’d help out with the bakery. He wouldn’t admit it to Pinkie, but he greatly enjoyed it.

As he traveled the little town, most ponies, in the beginning, thought it was strange that an alicorn was living there. However, they eventually for the time being at least accepted that he was just a foreigner who had a pair of wings and a horn. Even if they had accepted him as an alicorn, that didn’t mean they weren't uncomfortable.

So he decided to take things slow and focus on helping out at Sugarcube Corner now that the Cakes were getting used to him being around. He'll help out everyone eventually, after all, he's always been helpful to others.

He noticed the florists tending to their flowers and as he waved to them, they started to back away with strained smiles on their faces. He rolled his eyes and continued to make his way toward the address he was given. It took him ten minutes to reach the address by hoof, while also trying to be careful with the baked goods. Once he spotted the party pony setting up the table, he smiled and made his way over. “Hey, Pinks! Special delivery!”

“Thanks, Coaly! Just in time too! After we finish setting up here, we can head back to the bakery! I gotta make one more batch of cookies before I go over to Twilight’s to pick up Sombry!” Pinkie explained.

Marcus frowned and his brows furrowed as he set the cupcakes down on the table.

“Great… Honestly, I don’t know why you're bothering with that guy.”

“Cause, the Princess wants me to reform him!” Pinkie replied cheerfully.

“I just think he wants to keep to himself, he’s not exactly a peo- I mean, a pony person.”

“Oh yeah! I just remembered that Rarity wanted me to give you this new jacket! Since, you know, you lost the other one,” she teased. She really wasn’t going to let him live that down.

Real subtle changing the subject, Pinkie.

“Mmhmm… Thanks for reminding me, Pinks,” he groaned in annoyance. He couldn’t really hold it against her since it was his dumbass thinking that got them into that situation. They had to come up with a convincing story and the excuse was that it got torn badly by some branches, after falling down.

“No problemo! Here, try it on!” She said, pulling a white box out and opening it, revealing a light blue jacket with a white cotton collar.

Rarity has really nice tastes, I'm not exactly stylish, but I like it! He thought, putting the jacket on excitedly.

“So? How do I look?”

“Dashing,” she replied bluntly.

“Huh?”

“I said dashing! You look dashing in the jacket, Coaly!” She said confidently.

“Oh, uh, thanks, Pinks,” He replied, his cheeks turning slightly red.

“No problemo! Anyways, I got everything handled here!” Pinkie offered, setting out the cupcakes on a display tray.

“Are you sure? I mean, I can still help out if you need me.”

“It’s okay, Coaly! You’ve been a big help lately at the bakery! I’ll let Mr. and Mrs. Cakes know that I gave you the rest of the day off. Plus, I know you don’t want to come with me afterward to see Sombry.” Pinkie explained, patting his shoulder, which he understood.

“Well, I am living there, so it's only fair that I pull my own weight at the bakery, but anyways, come get me if you need my help.”

“Okie dokie!”

Well, I guess getting a new coat won’t kill anyone, plus it looks like it’s going to rain today, Marcus thought as he saw Rainbow Dash and some of the local weather pegasi lining the sky with clouds.

It still baffled him how the weather was controlled by pegasus ponies in towns and cities. There was still wild weather, of course, but only out in the wilderness, such as the Everfree Forest.

But, it’s a magical world, so why not? he thought with a shrug. But his attention was forced towards the sky as he felt something wet plot onto the bridge of his snout.

Slowly but surely, drops of water began to fall in a gentle drizzle. The kind where a raincoat or umbrella wasn’t immediately required and actually quite enjoyable. Recalling what he used to do as a kid, Marcus held his head back, opened his mouth, and let the rain fall onto his tongue while he listened to the soft pitter-patter of it falling around him.

But then… the subtle music of rainfall stopped, and he no longer tasted any rainwater.

“Huh?” Marcus opened one eye… and what he saw shocked him!

It was as though someone had paused a movie, because everything and everyone around him was completely immobile. Ponies frozen in mid-walk, a couple of birds halted in mid-flap, it was as if… time had stopped!

Okay, I might not be an expert on magic but even I know it’d take something powerful to do something like this… Marcus thought as he moved cautiously around, stopping in front of the town square fountain.

Then… he heard it. A sound like a chord or singing, he couldn’t be sure, but almost immediately he knew. “An Infinity Stone?!” he whispered.

Following that mysterious sound, noting how similar yet different the tone was from how the blue stone had been, he noticed it was coming from around the fountain. Though his mind didn’t go blank or such, like before, Marcus felt it in his gut. Something… or someone was here, not just this new stone.

Keeping his guard up, he slowly made his way around the fountain until a unicorn mare comes into view, sitting next to the fountain, gazing into the water, her back to him. She had a coat of pale cold white while her mane was colored in two shades of icy blue, one darker than the other, held back by a mane-band, with the rest tied into a braid that rested against her neck. He noticed her cutie mark too, what appeared to be an open storybook with a blue star on the cover and a golden ribbon for a bookmark.

Part of him considered saying something, and yet another was cautious and hesitant to disturb this mare’s apparent reflecting… when she turned to face him, her turquoise eyes narrowed coldly. There, on her neck, he saw it!

It was embedded in a golden pendant that hung from her neck. It seemed to thrum with a power that was somehow completely foreign, yet entirely familiar to Marcus. At the sight of it, he couldn’t back away, nor could he run away in terror. Instead, he stood there, defiant against the wielder of this green infinity stone.

“Obsidian Coal?” she asked slowly, as if she was unsure of his name. Her voice was subtle, yet edged.

“Who’s asking?” Marcus furrowed his brows and tensed his muscles.

“No one special, just a pony wanting to ensure that the flow of time is corrected, is all,” she answered.

Marcus glared harder at her.

“So I take it you aren’t here to make friends with me, are you?” he asked, stepping up closer to her.

“No, we need to talk.”

Chapter Eight- ASS-WHOOPING BY A MARE OF TIME

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Nine- Rising Tensions (Part 1)

I should've figured there’d be others that had Infinity Stones. I don't know why that didn't cross my mind. Probably because I was so focused on adjusting to living here and learning how to use my own stone, that I didn't even think there'd be anyone else with one.

Marcus thought to himself as he tapped a pencil on his notebook with his hoof. It had been a week since his encounter with the Time-Stone-wielding sorceress, and for the past three days, he'd been doing his best to learn magic from Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Coal… "

Doesn't help that I pretty much got my ass kicked by someone that skilled. I can only teleport with the stone. Well, just barely, but that's not nearly enough.

"Coal!"

This is so frustrating, I'll need to figure out how to improve quickly with the infinity stone in order to be on Faerie's level. Maybe I can- “OW!” His thoughts were interrupted by a light prick to his rear end. He whirled around to find a small thumb tack stuck there. He couldn’t stop the sudden bout of anger that swept over him. “Was that really necessary?!”

“Sorry, but I’ve been calling your name for the past ten minutes. Is something bothering you, Coal?” Princess Twilight asked as she pulled out the tack from the charcoal alicorn, stifling another yelp.

Blinking away the pained tear and rubbing his smarting rear, Marcus, for his part, had utterly forgotten that he was sitting at a small wooden desk with her Majesty in her personal library at the Castle of Friendship for magic lessons. After his encounter with Faerie, he had asked for extra lessons with magic, only to find… it wasn’t quite what he’d been expecting.

“Sorry, Princess, but I’ve been… preoccupied with something that happened after work. Can you explain again what we’re learning today?” Marcus asked sheepishly, but when he actually looked at the board, he groaned.

Magic History and Origins 101.

“We’re going over the history of magic, Coal, it’s the best way for you to have a better understanding of magic. It’ll make things easier for you when we get into the simpler spells that have a fascinating history to them,” Twilight explained, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

Marcus couldn’t exactly judge anyone for liking certain things, but he wasn’t so thrilled to learn about how the first plate was levitated. If that actually was in the history books that is.

"Princess, is this really necessary?"

"Of course Coal! Learning history is an essential part of magic. It'll take a few weeks to cover the basic history of it, before getting actual experience," she explained. Upon hearing that, he couldn’t remain silent anymore.

“...are you for real?” Marcus asked incredulously, feeling his frustration grow as he continued.

Twilight’s starry-eyed thrill drained from her being and her expression fell.

“What do you mean?” Twilight was flummoxed by Marcus’s response. “It’s only right we cover the historical milestones of magic along with your own.”

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I came here to learn Magic, not history!” Marcus insisted, “I don’t care about the first plate levitated or-or… how the first unlocking charm helped some noble open her jewelry box to get the necklace she wanted in time for some pointless soiree! I need to learn Magic itself, the basics of casting, what spells would be good to start off with, what could help me in a tight spot or be useful in a given situation! All this ‘history?’ It’s just a waste of my time!”

“Waste of time?!” Twilight furrowed her brows, sounding insulted. “Learning history is never a waste of time, and magical history should be respected as it teaches us not only the accomplishments and failures of magic, but also the dangers and risks it can pose if not properly used and respected! I do not appreciate your tone, Obsidian Coal…”

“I’m sorry, Princess, but I don’t have a lot of time, I have to meet Princess Celestia in a week! I also have my job at Sugarcube Corner, and my mission to worry about. I need to learn magic as fast as possible,” Marcus pleaded. “I already know how to levitate small objects now.”

“That’s not enough, Coal, the more you know about magic, the easier it'll be to use it. History is important as it’ll keep you from making the same mistakes others have made in the past,” she explained, glaring at the alicorn.

“Well, I don’t need to know a whole bunch of advanced magic like you!” Marcus argued, “So, please, I really just need enough for me to have a handle on my own magic!”

“...Fine,” Twilight sighed with weary irritation, “maybe it’s best we call it a night. I can’t force you to learn something you clearly have no interest in, but I expect you to respect how I teach, Coal. We’ll resume our lessons Friday afternoon, maybe then you’ll have a clearer mind and cooler head.”

Letting out a sigh, Marcus understood where she was coming from. A brief moment of reflection reminded him of how much of a sour mood he had been in since his fight with Faerie Tail.

Heh, ‘sour’ is putting it lightly.

“Alright, I’m sorry… I guess I do need some time to clear my head.”

“It’s fine, Marcus, for now, I think you should head home,” Twilight suggested as she turned to put her teaching tools away, but Marcus caught it just before she’d turned her back to him.

A tear welled up in Twilight’s eye, and suddenly he felt like an ungrateful jerk. The waves of guilt crashing into him were almost enough to get him to act, but there was just too much tension to cut through. All he could do was mutter a quick, “Good night…” before leaving with his ears folded back and head hung low.

Making his way back to Sugarcube Corner, Marcus was conflicted. On one hand, he stood by his assertions that he needed to learn useful magic as soon as possible, especially since he had a deadline.

Emphasis on ‘dead’.

On the other hand, he knew he should be grateful to Princess Twilight for being his tutor and he could understand that she must have felt happy to teach him what is essentially her passion. Yet, here he was, rebuking the historical element of her lesson and calling it a waste. He still thought so, yet he couldn’t shake off the guilt he felt of denouncing Twilight’s lessons even after voicing his reasons.

Sighing, he muttered to himself, “I’ll apologize properly the next time I see her.”

Once he entered the Bakery, he suddenly was tackled to the ground. “Hiya Coaly! What took you so long?!”

“Ugh… You’d think after living here for two weeks, I’d learn how you keep surprising me every time,” Marcus stated in a pained tone, standing up as the pink mare clung to his back. “Anyways, I actually… may have made a mistake at The Princess’ place.”

“What did you do? Was Twily trying to teach history again? I mean I’d probably fall asleep if I tried to learn. Then again, when Twily starts to nerd out I kinda doze off from time to time,” Pinkie giggled. Marcus rolled his eyes at her but smiled regardless.

“Glad I’m not the only one… I was actually learning the history of magic, but I really don’t have the time to learn stuff like that. Maybe when I’m done with what I need to do, but right now I can’t afford to waste a single minute to find the other stones. I need to learn magic so I can find them faster,” he explained to her. Pinkie finally hopped off his back as they made their way upstairs to their rooms.

“Well, why not ask Middy for help?”

“Middy?”

“Midnight! You know the big blue dragon that gave you the glowing rock before?”

Oh, she means that Midnight… At least I think that’s his name.

“Why do you think that guy would help me?” he asked, raising a brow at Pinkie before she suddenly got really close to his face.

“Well duh! He was using magic too! At least it looked that way, and no offense to Twily or Rarity, but I think he’d do a better job explaining everything for you to understand faster! I mean, I understood everything he said last time… Even if it was really boring,” Pinkie said sheepishly. In a rare moment of realization, Marcus took hold of her hoof in both of his.

“That’s it! If the big guy is willing to teach me, maybe it’ll make it easier to learn from Twilight and start getting into the advanced stuff! Thanks, Pinkie! Oh, uh… mind if you come with me tomorrow? I don’t think I can go to a dragon’s cave by myself,” he asked, letting go of her hoof. Her cheeks reddened slightly for a brief moment.

“O-Oh! Sure not a problem at all, Coaly!” she replied in a bit of a daze. What was this feeling washing over her? Why did her face feel so hot all of a sudden? “A-Anyway! Have a good night! We’ll head back to Middy’s cave after work tomorrow!”

Rushing into her room, Pinkie began to frantically fan herself with her hoof, making her way toward her bed and burying her face into her pillow.
Geez… when did it get so hot in here!?

Meanwhile, Marcus had entered his room and plopped down on the bed. Shifting around to get comfortable, he found himself staring at the ceiling curiously. “Wonder what that was about? Never seen Pinkie get like that before…”

*Ping*

Great… another message.

LD
Don’t forget to check the notes I left on your phone… They’ll help you with mastering the six Infinity Stones.

Rolling his eyes, he began to type with his hooves.

Me
I know.

Right now I am focusing on learning how to use my horn to wield magic.

LD
Don’t get… Horny :D

Me
Did you just make a joke?

LD
I’ve been alone guiding souls to the afterlife for millions of years. It’s not every day I get to talk to another being.

Me
I get it, and it's a good joke. Have a good night or day or whatever time it is for you?

LD
You as well Marcus, remember that it is imperative that you get the stones.

Me
You still haven’t told me the real reason why I’m gathering them.

LD
When you get a second stone… I’ll tell you more.

Groaning in annoyance, Marcus exited the app, switched to his music, and connected his headphones to his phone. He began to play Go The Distance, by Roger Bart on repeat. It was a song that had always been one of his favorites, one that he couldn’t help but hum the tone out loud to himself. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he recalled a conversation he had with his sister when he was still in high school with her.

“Don’t you get tired of listening to that song, Marcus? There are better songs out there you know?” He remembered her asking him, slightly annoyed by him listening to the same song again on repeat while they were driving to school together.

“Hey! This song is all about finding a place to belong in Emmy! It’s actually a hopeful song about going out of your way to find a place in the world.” Marcus recalled saying to her, before mumbling under his breath. “It also has a good melody too.”

“You’re lame, you know that?”

“Look, it’s from one of my favorite movies I watched a lot when I was a kid. Dad bought that movie for me on my birthday. It means a lot to me. Just one more time okay?”

“Fine, just one more time.”

“Thanks, Emmy, besides… you like this song too,”

“Only because it’s a good song. No other reason.”

Lost in his memory, he was unaware that he had started singing instead.

~I have often dreamed of a far-off place.

Where a great, warm, welcome will be waiting for me.

Where the crowds will cheer

When they see my face

And a voice keeps saying “This is where I’m meant to be!”~

While he was singing, he was unaware that outside his door, a certain party pony was listening in on his melodious voice. It was something that she wasn’t expecting to hear this late at night. In fact, given all that she’d learned about him in the past two weeks, she wasn’t expecting to hear any singing.

~I will find my way.

I can go the distance.

I’ll be there someday, If I can be strong

I know every mile, will be worth my while

I would go most anywhere to feel like I… beloooong.~

“Wooooow… I didn’t know Coaly could sing~” Pinkie whispered, feeling warmth in her cheeks once again. “If I knew he could do that… Then maybe we can do duets for Birthday Parties!”

Pinkie immediately clamped her mouth shut as she heard Marcus talking under his breath through the door. “Huh? Thought I heard something… Hmm… Probably just one of the Cakes getting something to drink or something.”

Figuring it was time to turn in, Marcus turned off his music and went straight to bed. Deciding that she should also turn in for the night, Pinkie quietly closed the door and made her way towards her room for a good night’s rest. However, after hearing his voice, she couldn’t help but wonder what song he was singing. She never heard anything like that from any singers before. What was that device he was using and… why did he look sad? She wasn’t sure why, but she really wanted to give him a hug.

What’s more confusing for her though, is why her heart was beating so fast? That has been happening a lot lately whenever she was around Coaly. Maybe after a good night sleep she'll be fine in the morning.

The next day after work, Marcus and Pinkie had both packed their satchels with snacks and water for their visit back into the Everfree Forest to meet with the dragon once more. They followed the same path they had taken when Marcus had gone on autopilot and just recalling that day was a little embarrassing.

“Hey, Coaly! Remember last week when you totally blanked out and ran like a mad pony trying to get that stone?! You were like-”

“On full autopilot, I know, I know, you’ve brought it up three times already,” Marcus replied, feeling his cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

Just thinking about that day was not only humiliating, but also a little frightening. He had completely lost control of himself and could have gotten someone killed or worse, gotten Pinkie killed. He had almost lost it again when Faerie appeared with the Time Stone. At least when he was fighting a terrifying dragon, he got the Space Stone out of it, but the problem now lay in how little understanding of the one stone he had in his possession

Speaking of a certain dragon, the two had arrived at Midnight’s cave.

“Looks like we’ve made it, Pinks. You think he’ll try to roast us again?” Marcus asked with a cautious look.

“Nah! I think he’ll be happy to see us!” replied Pinkie with perky optimism.

“If you say so, but just in case, stay behind me, my body can take the heat-” Marcus tried to explain, but his mouth was suddenly shut by Pinkie’s hoof.

"Nope! We're friends, Coaly, and friends watch each other's backs," she said, skipping ahead of him.

"At least stay close to me!" Marcus shouted, following after the mare.

"Duh! That's what watching each other's backs mean!" she retorted.

Letting out a deep sigh, Marcus and Pinkie continued forward, eventually arriving at the cave. The two looked at each before they both cautiously crept into the cave. As they made their way inside, their gaze was drawn to the walls, which were lit by a glow of turquoise blue radiating from further in. The two of them shared a curious look before Pinkie gestured to Marcus, nodding her head forward while keeping her eyes on him.

Marcus hesitated, looking towards the glow, then back at Pinkie Pie, and balked at the slight stink eye she was giving him. Sighing, he took a deep breath and was about to call out-

“I know you’re here. I can smell you,” interjected a familiar, growly voice that was edged with the barest hint of grumpiness.

Marcus blew a raspberry at having been interrupted, but then cleared his throat and responded, “Uh- Midnight… Raze, was it?”

“Midnight Blaze, thank you very much,” corrected Midnight as the glow dimmed, darkness flooding back before it was parted ever so slightly by a familiar pair of large turquoise blue dragon eyes, narrowed at the two ponies, as he wearily asked, “What do you want?”

“Hiya Middy!” Pinkie spoke up, “So, Coaly here needs a little help and we thought you could be just the dragon to give it to him!”

“I’ve already ‘given it to him’,” Midnight growled, seeing Marcus wearing the Space Stone around his neck. “What else could you want from a dragon outcast…?”

Pinkie gave Marcus another stink eye, more forceful than the one prior, and he got the idea. So he stepped forward, and stated. “Midnight Blaze, I… I’ve encountered another Infinity Stone.”

For a long moment, Midnight said nothing though they could still see his eyes, how they narrowed ever so slightly, before finally, he responded, “Explain.”

Marcus regaled Midnight of his meeting of Faerie Tail, the possessor of the Time Stone. He seemed exacerbated as he told of how she’d confronted him, tried to force him to give her the Space Stone, how he’d refused and tried to fight her, only to get his tail hooved to him, and how he seemed to sway her to give him a chance (he still wasn't quite sure how that’d happened) but refused to give him the Time Stone. In addition, he shared how Faerie Tail had warned Marcus that unless he could prove himself, she’d be back.

"And that's what happened."

"Coaly… why didn't you say anything about this before?!" Pinkie shouted, her gaze hardened.

"Because… I didn’t want to worry you, and I didn’t want to drag you into this mess," he answered, earning himself a quick slap to the face. "... I deserve that."

"You Pinkie Promised Coal!"

"Yes… And I'm sorry, but like I said, I'd do whatever you want. Can we talk about this later?"

"Fine! But you better be ready, Coaly! Cause when you least expect it, I'm gonna make sure you regret being a dummy!"

Marcus felt a slight tingle in the back of his neck as he began to suddenly feel like he was going to regret making that Pinkie Promise. It wasn’t until he heard a loud cough, that he turned his gaze back towards the dragon who was trying to get their attention.

"You two done?"

“…so the thing is, I need help. No- I need training!” Marcus emphasized, “I was barely able to do anything against Faerie Tail, and unless I can get better at magic, or better yet, at wielding the Space Stone, andifIdon’timpresshershe’sgonnabebacktotakethestonefrommeandIdon’tthinkI’llbeabletostopherorconvinceherotherwise!”

“Woah, woah, woah! Calm down! Take a deep breath and calmly tell me what it is you want?” Midnight asked, finally stepping out of the darkness, revealing his large size. He was still rather rotund yet boasted considerable muscle. His sapphire blue scales looked shiny and resplendent, and even his black mane seemed strangely lustrous, but it contrasted with the antisocial vibe they were getting from the dragon. “I gave you the stone after you proved you could be trusted with it. What more do you want, pony?”

“Okay, okay… What I want is for you to train me. I know, I’m asking for a lot, especially since you’ve trusted me with the Space Stone, but I barely know how to use it. I’ve had it for only a week and it’s been a disaster. I got my ass handed to me by some total stranger who came out of literal nowhere! Honestly, I’m surprised she even let me live! So please?” Marcus begged, bowing his head to the dragon before him. “Please, teach me how to use magic, I’ll do my best to learn everything from you. I just need to show Princess Twilight-”

“Stop, hold on… Princess Twilight?” Midnight sounded perplexed. “As in… the Princess of Friendship? The Element of Magic? If you know her, why not ask her to instruct you?”

“Well, I tried learning from her, but… I could barely understand what she was teaching. I’ve been stuck on the same lesson for the past few days and I feel like I can do more… I just need help understanding it,” Marcus explained, feeling guilt starting to take over after hearing himself. He really was acting like an ass.

Midnight rolled his eyes, but it seemed he was willing to listen. “What exactly is this… lesson you’re having trouble with?”

“Magic History and Origins 101,” He replied, Pinkie Pie pulling out the book from her mane and handing it to him, before his head whiplashed back towards Pinkie. “How did- ?!? N-Nevermind.”

“Ugh, say no more,” Midnight rested his head onto his claw, propping himself up. “I never took those sorts of ‘lessons’ in particular interest myself. It’s so frustrating when the” - he held up his claws and did air-quotes - “‘teachers’” - he put his claws back down, “insist on explaining this pointless babble over who charmed this or what hexed that- Just get to the actual knowledge of spell work and magic craft, for the love of Celestia!!”

“I know, right?!” Both Marcus and Pinkie shouted at the same time.

“Honestly, I just want to get to the actual lessons, not learn how the first spoon was levitated,” huffed Marcus, but then he added with a guilty tone, “I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, but Princess Twilight didn’t appreciate my, my…”

He struggled to find the right words, so Midnight did it for him, smirking, “Lack of enthusiasm?”

“Yeah,” Marcus nodded. “That.”

“Sooooo! Think you can help him out, Middy?” Pinkie asked, giving her best puppy dog eyes she could muster. “Pleassseeee!”

Midnight wasn’t moved in the slightest by the pink one, but the look he gave Marcus seemed more receptive, so he took a deep breath, and spoke, “This Faerie Tail… she’s an unknown, and whatever her intentions, that makes her a threat. She already has one Infinity Stone, and she’s proven she’s willing to take another by force.”

“So…. is that a yes?” Marcus dared to smile hopefully.

Midnight gave Marcus another look, before shrugging, “Oh, what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.”

Marcus smiled even bigger, and Pinkie Pie threw her forelegs around him, saying, “YAY!”

“But…” Midnight raised a foreclaw, bringing the exuberance to a halt. “I don’t work for free.”

“Oh! Uh… well, I don’t have a lot of money-” Marcus was already afraid of the direction this was going.

“I have no interest in money,” Midnight waved it off. “But… I wouldn’t say no to some delicious foodstuffs.”

“Oh, no problem!” Pinkie Pie smiled, “I can make you lots of yummies over at Sugarcube Corner! Cupcakes, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, candies, pies-”

“Uh, are you sure you want food like that?” Marcus spoke up, eyeing Midnight’s belly.

“I haven’t enjoyed home cooking or baked goods in a long while,” Midnight sighed with sarcastic drama, before he raised up his belly and let it bounce, “Just look at me! Wasting away to nothing…”

Marcus was honestly not sure whether Midnight was kidding or not, but then he saw a dangerous gleam in the dragon’s eyes and decided it was probably better to hold his tongue.

“Uh- Okay! Pinkie and I will bring you some food and drink whenever I come for my… lessons? Would that work?” Marcus asked.

“You don’t have to bring something every time you come,” Midnight assured, “I’ll let you know when I want something and you can bring it the next time you come. So! Let’s discuss what you want to learn and I’ll think up what sort of lessons to teach you.”

“Thank you! I won’t let you down! But…”

“But what?”

Marcus sighed. “But, I don’t want to just ditch the princess, she’s been kind enough to help, I’d just feel like I'd be a total dick if I just quit and jumped to learning from someone else.”

Midnight smiled at that. “Even before she became an alicorn princess, Twilight Sparkle was renowned, not simply for being the personal pupil of Princess Celestia, but also for her diligence in study and practice of the magical arts,” Midnight explained, his tone laced with evident admiration. “She is perhaps the youngest to become a sorceress and her works and accomplishments in her studies, magical or otherwise, have been noteworthy and regarded with such significance that many unicorns in certain circles hold her in high esteem… or regard her as a threat.

“After becoming a princess, she has largely remained the same pony, and that frustrates certain individuals while assuring the common pony of her good intentions. Princess Twilight, despite her accomplishments and success, does have her… shortcomings, and that in and of itself is a problem for her.”

“What do you mean?” Marcus asked, finding this strangely fascinating.

“Ooh, ooh! Like this one time, when Twilight thought she was gonna be tardy on a friendship report, she tried to make a problem to solve and wound up causing a huge ruckus with an enchanted doll!” Pinkie Pie remembered. When Marcus gave her a baffled look, she shuddered and said, “Don’t ask.”

“The pink one is correct,” Midnight nodded. “Twilight Sparkle puts too much stock in her own way of doing things because it's how she was taught by her old mentor, so she’s trying to do the same thing with you. What she fails to understand is not everyone has the same ability to learn in the ways she did. Which isn’t a slight against you.”

“Well, she has taught me a few things but she keeps piling on all this history and other stuff that just seems redundant and pointless. I am grateful that she's teaching me, but I want to learn spells, not read how they were made.” Marcus sighed, feeling conflicted.

“As I said, not everyone learns the same way,” Midnight affirmed, “and unfortunately, Princess Twilight feels the way she was taught is the way she must teach you, and she won’t hear a word otherwise.”

“So then what do I do?” Marcus asked.

“Learn from me. I can teach you a kind of magic you would be hard-pressed to find even amongst the best unicorn wizards,” Midnight bade, “What I offer you will not only give you the edge you need against the likes of Faerie Tail, but also improve your abilities to learn the sort of magic Princess Twilight wants to teach you."

"However, I must point out one thing before you even consider learning anything from me." Midnight paused, lifting his paw up and pointing directly at the Space Stone. "You'll need to understand and master the power of the infinity stone you currently possess. I can help you in that matter as I've had experience with it. For now, I suggest you continue training with Princess Twilight for the time being. Once you've come to understand the stone, then I'll teach you what I know."

"Alright, where do I start?" Marcus asked.

"You can start by feeling it, listening to it, and connecting with it. That is the first step."

The very next day, Marcus felt nervous for the first time in a while since his arrival here in Equestria as he made his way back to Princess Twilight’s castle. After talking with Midnight, Pinkie Pie suggested that he should at least apologize for his behavior to the Princess as the guilt would only continue to weigh on his mind. Not that he needed convincing.

Once he had arrived at the Castle of Friendship, Marcus inhaled deeply as he brought his hoof to the door.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!

The door opened, and the alicorn was greeted by the young dragon, Spike, Twilight’s assistant. Immediately he frowned ever so slightly and snubbed, “Oh, you’re back…”

The little dragon’s reception to his arrival didn’t bode well for Marcus as he let out a sheepish grin towards him. “Hey, Spike, I’m here to see the Princess.”

“She’s actually writing a personal letter to Princess Celestia. She’ll be out shortly, but I wanted to ask, why did you yell at her?” Spike asked, folding his arms and tapping.

Marcus’ ears folded back as his expression soured. He took a moment to choose his words carefully before taking a deep breath.

“Spike, look, I’m sorry for losing my cool with the Princess, it’s just… Well, I thought her lessons would be more about magic than ‘history’ and other things that feel rather pointless. I’ll admit that I was being a real ass to her when she was being kind enough to teach me. Anyways, I came here to apologize to her and ask if she can still continue to teach me.”

Spike’s brow raised as he looked at him suspiciously, before letting out a deep sigh of his own and gesturing for the stallion to come inside. “I get it, Coal, I really do. I’ve lived nearly all of my life with Twilight. She doesn’t have bad intentions, but I’ll admit that she does get carried away when it comes to sharing her interests with others.”

“I’ll try to be a bit more patient with her and more understanding as well,” Marcus said, as he followed Spike inside the castle towards the library. Once the two entered, he saw Twilight set what looked like a letter down on her desk. “Hey, Princess, I just dropped by… to apologize for my behavior the other day.”

“Thank you, Coal, and…” Twilight gathered herself, trying not to glance at the letter she’d just read, before taking a moment and then saying, “I want to say that I’m sorry too. I realize that… not everypony learns the same way and not everypony teaches the same way. I guess I just thought I should teach you like Celestia taught me. But you’re not me, Coal, and I’m not Celestia. I shouldn’t have tried to project that relationship onto our own.”

“No, I totally understand. I guess I should have been a bit more patient,” Marcus explained, as he let out a cough. “Anyways, I am willing to try harder to be a better student. That is, if you’ll still have me?”

Twilight smiled warmly and nodded, “Of course, Coal! And I promise to be a better teacher, and more sensitive to your thoughts and feelings. I had a chance to think it over, and… you’re right! You came to me to learn about magic, how to control it. All the historical things I added before are… frivolous. Except for the parts about the ethics and responsibilities regarding magic and its power. I’ll teach you what you want as long as you listen to what I say about respecting magic, the power it can have, and the dangers it can pose if misused.”

“That’s fair, and I’ll be sure to pay attention,” Marcus added, extending his hoof out towards the princess, to which she gladly accepted and the two shook hooves.

“So Spike mentioned you got a letter from Celestia, what was it about?” Marcus asked before finally taking a load off by a nearby seat cushion.

“The Princess wrote that she won’t be able to meet you next week due to a dispute between the Griffon Kingdom and the Zebra clans about certain trade goods Equestria has. So she’ll be gone for the next three months,” Twilight explained.

Marcus made an inward sigh, finding that unexpected development to be quite a relief. “That’s good hear, at least for me. I don’t think I was ready to meet her.”

“It’s unfortunate, but don’t think that you won’t meet her,” Twilight said with a teacherly tone, “She still intends to meet the only alicorn stallion she knows to exist.”

“I still find it hard to believe I’m the only one. Aren’t there others out there?” Marcus asked, tilting his head.

“If there are, no one has met them,” Twilight shrugged. “Apart from the Sisters, alicorns are made, not born. Most of the time it seems to be earning a worthy accomplishment that makes a pony into an alicorn, such as truly embodying your cutiemark. Like I did.”

Marcus could only nod in response. “Well I better get back to Sugarcube Corner before Pinkie comes back here with Mr. ‘Needs a New Personality’ and he starts belittling me again,” Marcus commented, earning a laugh from the baby dragon and a disapproving glare from the lavender alicorn.

“HA! Good one, Coal!” Spike hollered.

“No, it isn’t. Coal, you really shouldn’t be talking bad about Sombra, you’re better than that.”

“You’re really gonna defend the guy who has literally insulted everyone, especially all of our friends?” Marcus said, folding his hooves as he started to pout. “Sides, he really does need a new personality.”

Twilight took a moment to choose her words, but fairly responded, “I know that Sombra has been… difficult. But unless we keep trying with him, he never will reform and he’ll never learn to appreciate friendship and all the things in life that are truly worthwhile. I’m not saying we just forgive his bad behavior, we certainly can’t let him get away with his misdeeds. But we also need to teach him why those actions are wrong and help him understand why.”

“What if he doesn’t want to change? He certainly doesn’t seem like he wants to,” Marcus pointed out.

“Discord didn’t want to change either… until he understood friendship himself and didn’t want to lose it,” Twilight reasoned. “True, Sombra is very different from Discord, but it’s still the same fundamental lesson and intention. We just have to convince Sombra that friendship is worthwhile! Maybe… maybe it just takes the right gesture or words, or perhaps the right individual to get through to him.”

“In that case, it might not be Pinkie Pie who can do that,” Marcus shrugged ruefully. “No offense to Pinks, she’s a saint, but I really think someone else should handle his reformation.

“Maybe you’re right,” Twilight considered Coal’s words with a small hum. Sweet as she was, Pinkie Pie was… manic, random, and silly whereas Sombra, despite his abrasive behavior, was more mature, cultured, and sophisticated. Wait…

Her brain hatched an idea, and Twilight said, “I think you’re right, Coal! I think somepony else has a better chance of getting through to Sombra.”

“Really? Who?”

“I need to discuss it with Celestia first,” Twilight said quickly, scribbling something down at the bottom of her letter, “but for now, is there anything else?”

“Actually, just what time will our next lesson be?”

“Friday, at four o'clock sharp! It’ll be on sensing magic, so be sure to read up on that sensory spell in the textbook I gave you! Have a good rest of your day, Coal!”

“You too, Twilight, and same to you, Spike.”

“See ya, Coal!” Spike waved as the charcoal stallion exited the library and made his way out of the castle.

Once Marcus had returned to Sugarcube Corner, he saw both Pinkie Pie and Sombra exit the restaurant together. Seeing Pinkie skip happily always made Marcus smile. Sombra, however, was muttering something, but he couldn’t quite make it out.

“Heya, Coaly! Whatcha doing?” she asked, smiling at the charcoal stallion.

“Just got back from Twilight’s actually, went better than I thought!” Marcus said, grinning at the party pony before hearing a scoff from the former tyrant. Marcus kept his patience but couldn’t hold in a steeled “...What?”

“Tch! No one cares about your pathetic meeting with that accursed princess! Now if you don’t mind, you're interrupting us!” Sombra spat, almost snarling at Marcus.

Marcus could practically feel the veins in his head begin to pop out as he gave the unicorn a strained smile. “Well, I wasn’t talking to you now, was I? I was talking to Pinks, my friend, who I care about and don’t insult every five seconds.”

“Be glad that I don’t have my powers, peasant! If I did, you would be wise to know your place!”

"But you don't! So, you can't do anything to me." Marcus rebutted, glaring down at the former tyrant.

"Come on you two, there's no need to fight," Pinkie said, stepping between the two stallions with her hooves pressed against their chests.

“Tch! Whatever, I’d rather not waste my time with this nobody anyways,” Sombra let out a huff before shoving his way past Marcus. “Let’s go Pinkie Pie, being in the presence of this peasant is giving me a headache.”

“Oh, sure! Gimme a second!” Pinkie responded, before turning towards her roommate. “I’m so sorry about Sombry, I really don’t know what’s gotten into him lately?”

“Hmm… Well, at least he called you by your name this time. That’s gotta count for something, right?” Marcus suggested, still glaring at the dark stallion before turning to face his friend. “Hey, Pinkie… There’s something I gotta do right now, but I was actually wondering if you’d like to take a walk with me in the evening today, there's something I need to tell you?”

“O-Oh? S-Sure Coaly! That’s a fantastic idea!”

“Alright, I’ll see you then, and… good luck with Sunshine over there, if he blows a fuse and tries anything. Let me know, I’ll set him straight,” Marcus said, trotting back to Sugarcube Corner, leaving the pink mare stupefied.

It was usually hard to catch the party pony herself off guard, but somehow this stallion she had only known for a few weeks had continued to surprise her time and time again. Pinkie felt her cheeks begin to heat up as she just stood there in complete and utter shock. Something that the former ruler of the Crystal Empire didn’t like one bit.

That peasant is starting to get on my last nerves! Who does he think he is to interfere in my affairs? If only I had some of my magic, I’d have that welp groveling at my hooves!

“Can we go already!? The last thing I need is for that wretched princess to scold me again for returning late again!” Sombra snapped, letting out a snarl before gaining the party pony’s attention.

“W-Wuh? Huh? Oh! Right, sorry Sombry, Hehehe… Let’s get you back to Twilight’s place, I’ll let her know that our walk took a little longer because of me, alrighty?” Pinkie replied, her cheeks still slightly red as she began to trot ahead. Seeing that only irritated Sombra more, but he decided not to say anything for the time being.

I'll bide my time for now, that alicorn pretender will make a mistake and when that happens… I'll be there to ensure he endures the same humiliation as I have.

Author's Note

This took awhile, but it is finally ready. I just wanted to say that I had an amazing time writing this chapter with my friend Waffle! He's an awesome friend.

Anyways, the song that I added to this chapter is "Go The Distance" by: Roger Bart. Song is owned by Disney and I take no credit for it whatsoever.

Chapter Eleven- Rising Tensions (Part 3)

Author's Note

Sorry this took a lot longer than I thought it would. Was originally gonna have this finished by Tuesday before the holidays, but got busy with work and didn't have time. So first of all I want to say that Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Second of all I want to let you all know that I've made some slight changes to the first arc. Just extending by one or two chapters more.

And last but not least... I want to thank Unamusedwaffle for helping with editing this chapter and we now have a brand new COVER ART!!! Made by the amazing MCShelster

Edit: I completely forgot to mention this but this is probably my favorite and most emotional chapter I've written so far for Beyond Infinity. I honestly cried writing this one... So you guys also get tears from me. Enjoy

Chapter Eleven- Rising Tensions (Part 3)

The whole way back, Marcus’ nerves were firing constantly. His head was swimming with thoughts of what Death had said to him about “seeing” ponies differently. It was enough to make him sweat, but even worse was the huge pit that weighed down in his stomach the moment he set hoof in Sugarcube Corner. Looking at the staircase going upstairs, he couldn’t help but feel dread as his cheeks heated up.

“Sometime in the near future, you’ll start seeing things differently,”

She’s wrong… She’s wrong, I’m a human. I ain’t gonna see Pinkie any differently. You’re just going on a walk as FRIENDS and nothing more. I mean, we’ve only known each other a few weeks!

Seeing the logic in his own argument, Marcus trotted up the stairs to the hallway leading to both his and Pinkie’s rooms. Filling his lungs with air and exhaling, he made his way over to Pinkie’s door.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK…

“Whooooooo is it?~” he heard Pinkie sing.

“Hey, Pinks, it’s me,”

“O-Oh, give me a second, Coaly!”

THUD!

“Is everything okay in there, Pinks?”

“Just dropped something, it’s not important. I’ll be out in a second,” Pinkie replied as the haphazard sounds of shuffling and movement continued for a few more seconds before her door swung open. He noticed that she had a nervous grin on her face, her mane was a little messy and her cheeks were red. “S-Sorry for the wait! Whatcha need, Coaly?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you still wanted to go for that walk like we talked about earlier? But I understand if you’re busy and all, I can just-”

“N-No, not at all! Just gimme me a minute and I’ll meetcha downstairs!” Pinkie shouted, slamming the door in his face. Marcus blinked.

Ooookay… I guess I’ll just wait downstairs for now, but why was she acting so weird- Wait, remember it’s Pinkie being Pinkie. You never know what’s going through that girl's mind, but… she did look a little weirded out by me.

Pinkie Pie leaned against her door with a goofy grin plastered on her face as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. Her face was completely flushed as she pressed her hooves against her cheeks.

He was serious when he asked to go on a walk together? Just the two of us?! Is this a date!? No come on, Pinkie Pie, you are just two friends going out on a walk together. It’s like my walks with Sombry, just me and Coaly going for a walk together… alone… JUST as friends.

She paused for a moment when the thought of "just friends" came to mind. She couldn’t explain what that awful feeling was, but she ignored it promptly as she quickly grabbed a pink and white striped scarf and wrapped it around herself, before taking a quick glance at her wall mirror.

A frown began to form on her face, before glancing down at her makeup kit that Rarity had given her for her birthday last year.

It wouldn’t hurt to make myself look a little prettier, would it?

Marcus could barely keep his hind hoof from rap-tap-tapping the edge of the booth he was sitting at. He forced himself to take a deep breath as he glanced at his phone for what felt like the fifth time in simultaneously three minutes and two hours. But it had only been fifteen minutes.

Get a hold of yourself! You have nothing to worry about, we're only going for a walk around town… It’s not a date or anything like that, I just need to tell her the truth about what I really am and it'll make things so much easier.

Unfortunately for him, Marcus never got the chance to finish that breath of his. For not a moment later, the creaking of the old wooden stairs caught his attention from across the room. Down stepped Pinkie, his unfinished breath caught in her grasp.

He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t breathe, or how on Earth she even held his attention like that, but she did. He couldn’t put a finger or hoof? on what it was specifically; was it her confident stride? Her almost reflectively pink mane she tied up that momentarily blinded him? Her-

No! This is NOT happening! Friends! WE'RE JUST FRIENDS!

“Are you ready to go?” she asked.

"OH! Y-Yeah, definitely," Marcus said, feeling blood rush to his cheeks as he turned his head away from her. “*Ahem* Uh… S-Shall we? Heh…”

“Yeah… lead the way,” Pinkie replied awkwardly. Marcus also happened to notice that her cheeks were slightly red for some reason.

Did she put on makeup? Is that why she's embarrassed? There's no way she'd be embarrassed around me, right? Oh god, did she put the makeup on for this walk with me? Nah, that can't be jt… She just wanted to look nice for herself! Not for me or anything like that.

He tried to justify to himself before calling out to the Cakes.

“We’ll be back in a little while, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” he shouted. Only after hearing an "Okay" from Mr. Cake did they both head out the door of Sugarcube Corner. “So, any place in particular you’d like to go to? A favorite spot? Or we could just go around for a little while?”

“Pfft… I don’t mind us just walking around town. Really, I just like everything here in Ponyville so it’s always difficult for me to really pick a favorite place!” Pinkie replied, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof as she let out a giggle.

Marcus immediately turned his gaze away from the party pony as he tried to get his flushed face under control. He wasn’t sure why this was suddenly happening. A few hours ago he could look Pinkie and pretty much everypony in the eye and not get so flustered. Now, he could barely look at Pinkie’s cute face without getting embarrassed-

Stop! You are only acting like this now, because of what Death said. Remember Marcus, you are a human, not a pony. You are taking her out because you trust her… It’s time.

With his mind set and strength in his resolve, the two of them made a turn around the corner of a building, only for him to collide with something metallic, and hard, producing a dull thump..

"Ooof! Ow!"

"You okay, Coaly!?" Pinkie asked, cringing Marcus could only stumble backwards, a grimace adorning his face as he gripped his stomach.

"Y-Yep!" he croaked.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry! Didn't mean to hit you," a voice of drizzled honey oozed into Marcus’ ears. Looking up, he saw a brown stallion with a long black mane and tail with a red streak going through it towering over him. He was wearing a white apron whose pink ice cream cone graphic heavily clashed with his coat. Marcus tried to distinguish his cutie mark, but it was hard to see it. Perhaps that was because of how late it had gotten? Either way, the stallion had a look of concern on his face for a moment that suddenly changed to astonishment. "Oh! You're that new prince that everypony is talking about, right?"

"N-Nononono! Not a prince," Marcus quickly rebutted sheepishly. That earned him a giggle from the party mare beside him.

"Well, I must say, I wasn’t expecting to meet you anytime soon. It's truly an honor to meet a new alicorn. My name is Mocha Cone, and I am the owner of this fine cart," he introduced himself, his hooves gesturing to his whole cart that now filled Marcus’ vision. He swore to himself it wasn’t there a second ago, before noticing the stallion extending his hoof out towards him.

"Well… uh… it's nice to meet you, too,” he sputtered out, reaching to shake his hoof. “but why are you-"

"Ooh Oh! Can I get a chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cone, please?! Oh! And get a triple chocolate scoop cone for Coaly here! It's his favorite!" Pinkie blurted out, jumping up and down excitedly. Fortunately, he seemed to handle…Pinkie, quite well. Her reaction thankfully only elicited a chuckle from him. Marcus, however, couldn't help but look at Pinkie astonished by how she remembered that. He only briefly mentioned liking chocolate ice cream when he was telling her about his time back home. And that was weeks ago!

As the ice cream stallion began to open his cart and pulled out an ice cream scooper. That was when Pinkie looked up towards him, she couldn't help but tilt her head as she gave him a smile. "What’s with the long face, Coaly?"

"It’s just- Y-you actually remembered?" Marcus answered, completely taken aback by what she had said.

“Well, of course I remembered, silly! What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t remember their favorite flavor of ice cream?” Pinkie answered, even though it didn’t feel right to have the word “friend” come out of her mouth when it came to the alicorn.

“Well-”

“And here you are my lady, and for you… your majesty,” Mocha said, floating the pair of cones to them wrapped in a deep orange glow.

Huh? How’d he- Was he a unicorn the whole time? But I didn’t see-

“Mmm… This is so good! You gotta try it, Coaly!” Pinkie said, licking her ice cream.

Marcus couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he let out a chuckle before taking a lick of his own ice cream cone. “Wow, this is really good! Hey, how much does-”

“Oh, there’s no need for payment, it’s on the house. Think of it as an apology for bumping into you.”

“But I bumped into-”

“Ah, ah, ah, no buts!”

“Thank you, Mocha Cone! Tell Mrs. Cone I said hi!” Pinkie thanked before skipping ahead. Marcus started to follow her as he wondered how she held the cone in her hoof while skipping.

“Yeah, thanks for the cones!” he called back before hurrying ahead.

“No problem! Come back anytime!” Mocha called back with a broad smile.

The clattering of Marucs’ hooves against the rough dirt road came to a slow as he caught up with Pinkie.

“That was nice of him.”

“Yep! What a great friend!”

For several seconds-or hours, Marcus couldn’t tell the difference at this point-the sound of dirt crunching beneath their hooves and the ambiance of Ponyville was all that was shared between them.

Marcus could feel a pit slowly opening in his stomach as each second ticked by. Sure, their mouths were currently preoccupied with the ice cream, but come on!

The creaking of a wooden door sounded nearby. A light gust blew from behind them, as if coaxing them farther along.

Finally, a resounding ‘CRUNCH!’ emanated from Pinkie.

“So, you said you wanted to talk about something?” she asked in a weird way where her words themselves sounded as if they were stumbling; like they were pulled along too quickly by the word in front of them.

“Yeah… Actually… the thing is I haven't exactly been honest with you Pinkie, or with anyone really-

“Anypony,” she corrected.

“Bless you, but let's not get off topic. I’m trying to tell you that I'm not who I say I am,” he said, having a sudden tightness in his throat constricting his breathing. He mentally braced himself, waiting for any sign of mistrust or caution from her.

Instead, he saw her look up at him with concern. Feeling her place a hoof on his cheek, she began to speak. “Coaly, it’s okay. I'm not going to judge you or say anything to anypony and… I had a feeling you were probably going to say something that involves where you're from right?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Well, it's been a few weeks and you've barely mentioned anything about yourself. Like where you were from, or if you had family, friends, and all that stuff,” she paused for a moment as she collected her thoughts. “I guess this is about you wanting to go back home.”

Marcus avoided her gaze as he slowly nodded to her. Feeling his eyes start to water up, he did his best to hold himself back. That struggle became a bit easier as he spotted the bridge over the river where he had once comforted Pinkie.

“Do you mind if we talk by the bridge? I… I want to get everything off my chest and-” He was cut off by Pinkie’s hoof grabbing hold of his.

“Then let's get moving, Coaly!” Pinkie said, giving him a gentle smile rather than her usual eccentric one as she pulled him along towards the bridge.

All the while, the small pockets of moisture at the edges of his eyes threatened to spill over, and the constrictions in his throat grew and grew, like a snake finishing off its meal. It almost felt like he was being strangled at one point, and maybe he was, in a way.

How long has it been since I properly expressed…anything? Anything like this at all?

Once they were on the bridge, Marcus couldn't contain it any longer as tears began to pour out from his eyes. He started to shake as he lopped him head onto the railing and his mind began to race.

She's going to hate me, she's not gonna be my friend after I tell her the truth.

“Coaly, whatever you need to tell me, I pinkie promise that I'm not gonna hate you or stop being your friend,” she said, smiling at him Luckily, she was able to ignore that fluttering feeling in her tummy when she saw his obscured silver eyes.

“How'd you know I said-”

“Because you muttered that out loud, silly, hehe…” Pinkie said, letting a giggling when he replied with an: “Oh” “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“Thanks, Pinkie, that means a lot to me actually. Okay…” Marcus said, trying to retrieve his thoughts from the torrent of emotion crashing through him right now.

“Pinkie, I wasn’t always a pony… I used to be something else. I… I wasn't born here in this world. I was born on a world called Earth, in a little town with… m-my f-family.” Marcus stammered, feeling ready for more tears to come out, but he forced himself to continue. “All I wanted to do was… be like my d-dad and help people… but… oh god… Oh god… I'mimim… I'm…”

Marcus began to cry, just letting it all out. He felt Pinkie’s hoof stroking his back as he just continued to let his tears flow freely. He tried not to think about it too much when he had arrived here in Equestria, and for several periods of time, he couldn’t; there was always something to worry about! From Death’s assignment and cryptic words, to meeting Fluttershy and her friends, royalty, Sombra, Infinity Stones?! It was all too much! But now that he was telling someone the whole truth, it finally dawned on him how painful these memories had become.

His parents, his sister, and his friends back on Earth are beyond him now.

“Pinkie… I… I was… I was…”

“Coaly… it's okay…I'm here for you…” Pinkie said, hugging him from behind while still stroking his back.

“Pinks… my… real name is or… was Marcus Phillips… and I was killed back where I came from… I died on Earth.” He finally said it and he was ready for her to leave him or call him “crazy” or “liar” and despite it hurting, he did feel a little relief finally coming clean.

*Sniffling*

Marcus' eyes widened when turned his head back to try and see the party pony, but he could only see her beautiful mane as her grip around his waist tightened. He soon began to feel something a little wet and warm on his back.

She was crying.

“M-Marcus… Is that really… your real name?”

“It’s not supposed to be anymore… Coal Obsidian is my name now, but… I still see myself as Marcus… It’s going to take time for me… to accept Coal as my real name,” Marcus replied, shutting his eyes tightly between sobs. “There is more… The real reason I'm looking for the stones is because I need to restore the lost souls of this world. Fixing what's missing is what's gonna get me a permanent body.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“If I don't… find all six of the Infinity Stones…Then my body will turn to dust.” he said, hearing a gasp from her.

“N-No… Nononononononono! You can't turn to dust! Why?!” Pinkie shouted.

“I made this deal with Death… I have ten years to find them all Pinks… it’s why I'm here right now. I'm alive and breathing because of Death. If I can get all those stones… If I can use them to fix what's going on in this world and save those missing souls, then afterward I can use them to get my old body back and I can go back home,” Marcus declared, wiping his tears as he sniffed.

Pinkie honestly didn’t know what to think at this point. This stallion who has treated her kindly, been helping her and the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner, who stood up for her had been going through all of this on his own. It was unbelievable, but the way he spoke of his home and what he'd gone through, it wasn’t something he could just make up. Those tears, that pain in his eyes, and sobs of anguish were proof enough for her that he was telling the truth.

It was heartbreaking to hear to the point that she'd been crying for this poor soul and he was still trying to help! Yet when he said going back home to his world…

… Didn’t that mean she wouldn’t see him again?

“Coal…um… Marcus? Oh, um… What do I call you now?” she asked, pulling away from him as she moved to sit next to him.

“It’s okay to keep calling me Coal Pinkie, it’s something I gotta get used to…” he replied, actually facing her and giving her a small grin.

“Then… Coaly, this is a lot and I know that it's important to you and I want to help you, but… can you promise me that you'll always come back to me- to us! All of us, your friends here in Ponyville and to come party here with us? It'll be a lot of fun and there will be cake, balloons, games and and-” she stopped suddenly when a hoof gently pressed against her lips.

“Pinks, I promise to come back… but it's not like I can leave anytime soon. I still have five more stones to look for. We're friends-No… Best friends,” he declared, despite how red and puffy his eyes were, he still looked at her with determination with a smile on his face that sent her heart afloat.

Pinkie felt her face start to heat up suddenly as one thought came to mind for the party pony.

He really has a handsome face. she thought, before trying to cover her reddened cheeks with her hooves as she turned away from him.

“You okay, Pinkie?”

“YEP! ALL FINE HERE!” Pinkie shouted as she looked away from him. Marcus couldn’t help but give a confused look before he shrugged.

“Ahem… A-Anyway, thank you for listening, Pinks, but you can't tell anypony about what you heard tonight. If they knew what I was really doing… I'd probably get locked up for the rest of my life… ten short years, but it's still my whole life currently,” Marcus explained, scratching the back of his neck.

“Consider it a genuine Pinkie Pie promise, Coaly! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! That's two Pinkie promises from me, and I expect you to keep yours Mister!” Pinkie stated very clearly, poking his chest.

“Yeah, and I promise that no matter what, I'll be sure to come back to all of you… Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Marcus said, only this time he didn't jab himself in the eye.

The two started laughing as they both stood up and started their trek back home to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie suddenly got ahead of him as she skipped with every step. Marcus was about to suggest something before he suddenly found himself noticing something quite appealing.

He found himself staring at her bouncing rump, the way it moved and how round and firm-

STOP! For the love of god!? What is up with me!? This is Death's fault, it's because of her that these thoughts are happening. I never even saw Pinkie like that before… Her pretty face and round-OH COME ON!

He couldn’t stop his face from turning a bright red as he tried shaking those inappropriate thoughts about his friend away.

Forget making it to 10 years… how am I even going to make it through one?

Chapter Twelve- Rising Tensions (Part 4)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Thirteen- Tensions Broken (Final Part)

“Twilight, I must say that I wasn’t expecting you to drop this sort of news on me today of all days,” Rarity said, taken aback. “What about the rest of the girls? Do they know about this?”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Rarity, for the last time, the Mayor asked for you specifically. I’m only going to be there for support.”

“I know, I know, but I just feel like they should all be here for this,” Rarity replied, a thousand ideas flying through her mind about what the Mayor could want from her. Was it a new holiday she needed decorations for? Or maybe somepony to test a new public spa? “GASP! Am I going to design a new clothesline for the Mayor?! Celestia knows that she could use some new attire. She's an important pony, she should look like it just as much.”

“Nope, nothing like that Rarity,” she answered as the two made their way up the stairs of Town Hall. She could read Rarity as easily as her copy of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue, the periodic flicking of her left ear was a tell-tale sign of her impatience.

“Come oooonnnn, Twilight! Can’t you give me a hint? A little hint? I swear I’m not-

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RARITY!”

Party poppers exploded in her face like fireworks as a huge banner reading ‘Happy Birthday Rarity” was rolled down from the indoor balcony. All around her were the friendly and smiling faces of all her friends, and it was more than 10 times infectious enough to spread to Rarity’s own face.

“Oh. My. Celestia! I can’t believe you all! I completely forgot my birthday was today, How could I have been so foolish?” Rarity cried with a smile, but Twilight saw the bottom of her lip quiver ever so slightly and immediately knew better.

“You already knew about it, didn't you?” Twilight asked.

“Of course I knew! You know how I feel about my birthday, but I promise you I didn’t pry it out of the girls if that’s what you're asking?” She turned her gaze over to Marcus with a sly smirk.

Marcus could only throw his hooves up as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

“She literally caught me off guard!”

“All I asked you was if you had seen Pinkie, darling, and you spilled the beans as it were two weeks ago,” Rarity added, smirking at the alicorn.

Marcus stood in complete silence as he tried to come up with an excuse, but nothing came to mind.

“COALY!” Pinkie shouted, glaring at the stallion.

“I’m sorry, she broke me!”

“Now, now, no need to commit a murder, after all! You did all of this, Pinkie! It looks smashing!” Rarity said, giddy, pulling the party pony into a tight embrace. “Would you like to do the honors?”

“You betcha! Let’s PARTY!”

The initial cheers from Pinkie’s declaration soon died out in favor of the phonograph. The vivacious pull of bows on strings combined with the rhythmic bouncing of the percussion served as an apt backdrop to the several attempted ballroom dancers that had now taken the center of the room. But as Marcus watched from the sidelines, Spike’s attempt at a moonwalk during one of the musical flourishes only resulted in him tripping over his tail. He smiled at the baby dragon’s embarrassment as Rarity helped him up and continued dancing as if nothing ever happened.

As his gaze passed over everypony who found themselves on the dance floor, he noticed their clothing and couldn’t help but cast his gaze to the back of the room. A wardrobe with optional formal attire was lined up in neat rows for anyone to take and put on. Bow ties and suits were hanging proudly from their clothing rods, clearly juxtaposed with the radiance and mystique displayed from the dresses opposite them, all for anypony to enjoy. There was even a row of tap dancing shoes lined up neatly towards the back.

Turning his attention back to his immediate surroundings, splayed across several of the tables to Marcus’ left sat enough sweets to feed a gigantic dragon. There were delectable hors d’oeuvres Pinkie knew Rarity liked from her soirees, mouth-watering chou a la creme or cream puffs as they are called, and chocolate eclairs galore that seemed to sparkle in the music and bright lights hanging from the ceiling. Pinkie had even managed to blend several foreign concepts in a way that just seemed to work, in the weird way that she alone seemed to operate in. From chocolate fondue to dipped graham crackers, peppermint sticks, licorice whips, fizzy drinks from popping open bottles as if they were wine, it was all almost too much! Marcus even spied the little cucumber sandwiches Rarity and Fluttershy both enjoyed at their tea parties sitting poise, and with a purpose at the end of the table.

All the while, Marcus couldn’t help but admire the smiles plastered on everypony’s faces and the sheer joy that somehow radiated out of every orifice of this place. It reminded him of his time as a human and when he had gone to his school’s homecoming dances. He even had to put on one of those gray suits with gold embroidered on the sleeves and a red tie that had been hoof made by somepony from Manehatten for this special occasion. It was a bitter but nostalgic feeling that crept up his spine and settled in his bones, making him shiver. He couldn’t help but envy Rarity and everypony else.

At least he would have continued to brood until somepony tapped his shoulder. “Heya, Coaly, you shouldn’t be standing here moping! You should be out there dancing!”

“Maybe some- Woah!” was all Marcus could say before he got a good look at Pinkie, and what she was wearing.

Puffs of blue cotton candy melded with candlelight-yellow hemlines, alongside a flourish of pink designed to resemble a burst of streamers and confetti sewn into the gown itself, and a large bow the white of cream cheese tied around her barrel, just above the dock of her tail.

Pinkie’s mane was tied up and out of her face by a maneband and a mane ribbon, making it into a fluffy ponytail style, though her characteristic lock continued to hang and bounce above her face. Even her tail had been prettied up, that thick curly floof somehow woven into a large yet beautiful braid interwoven with magenta, cyan, and soft yellow ribbons. She wore a brooch designed to resemble one of the balloons of her cutie-mark above the left side of her chest, and she had put on just a touch of makeup to highlight her adorable beauty.

“W-Wow… Pinkie… you look… Wow!” Marcus was in awe, feeling his face heat up.

“Geez… Thanks, Coaly!” Pinkie blushed at the compliment. “Soooooo, what do you say?”

“H-Huh?” Marcus dumbly asked.

“Do you want to dance silly!”

“O-Oh…Yeah, sure! Why not!” Marcus said, suddenly eager.

What the hell is up with me? Come on, Marcus. She’s just a friend who you really care about. You don’t think she’s attractive… or that she has a great ass-STOP!!!

“J-Just so you know… I ain’t the greatest at dancing.”

“Oh, no worries, Coaly,” Pinkie assured as she pulled Marcus out towards the dance floor and held his hoof, “Just dance… like nopony’s watching!”

Then, to Marcus’ chagrin, Pinkie cut loose but did not let go of his hoof. He got twirled and whipped and spun around, and all the while Pinkie Pie twinkled-hooved like there was no tomorrow.

If Marcus hadn’t been so busy trying to keep his hors d'oeuvres down, he might have screamed, ‘Stop the world, I wanna get off.’ But then, finally, Pinkie eased up a little and let go of him, and he saw her shimmy and shake and jig without a care in the world. Seeing her, how much fun she was having, and not at all concerned with how she looked doing it left Marcus in awe. It was so impressive, so inspiring, and he was soon tapping his hoof to the music and, before he even knew what was happening he’d started to boogie in his own way.

It didn’t take long for the nascent alicorn to cut loose as well, even though his own dancing wasn’t nearly as exuberant as the party pony’s. But feeling the rhythm, the spirit, letting it carry him off into a harmonic high that came from the doing of physical fun, that once it was all said and done, despite panting and feeling a little sweaty after sitting down, Marcus felt better than he had in a long time.

By now, the music had slowed down a little, and as others continued dancing, albeit more slowly and apparently more… Intimately, Marcus couldn’t help but see the beauty of it; how subtle the joy and tenderness shared between the dancers and their partners was.

“God, why is she so damn cute...NO-I can’t keep thinking like that! I know that this is completely wrong, I mean she’s a pony and I’m a human damnit! But-why does my brain keep going back to see her like That? Why is this so confusing?!

Looking over at Pinkie, he saw that her whole demeanor had changed. She seemed shy, almost, and with her cheeks plastered red, it was a look that sent a fluttering feeling inside Marcus’ heart. Something he hadn’t felt sense he had left high school.

But is it unwelcome?

“H-Hey, c-can I have this dance, Pinks?”

Offering his hoof to her, her smile widened as she gladly took it. Pulling her closer to him, Marcus wrapped his right hoof around her waist and took hers in his other. It had been a few years since Marcus had slow danced with anyone, but once he started moving with her, it all came back to him in a flash.

“I didn’t say this before, but you look really handsome in that suit, Coaly,” Pinkie said before she suddenly felt him give her a spin before pulling her back to him. “C-Coaly, I thought you said you didn’t know how to dance?!”

“I said I wasn’t the greatest at dancing, but I do know how to show a girl a good time during a slow dance,” he said confidently, a little at ease now that he was getting into the rhythm. Even so, he was still embarrassed, it was all new. But in that moment, he remembered some wise words his father had given to him back in his freshmen years.

“A real man always ensures that his girl has a good time. Be confident, and show what you're made of, son,”

“Heh…

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, just remembering the words my old man would use to say to me.”

“Old… Man?” she asked curiously, and Marcus realized that she didn’t know what that term meant.

“Oh, right, different terms here. My dad… He… was the greatest.”

“W-What did your dad do? For work, I mean?” She asked, feeling his hoof grip hers a little tighter when she asked.

“He… My dad was a… a firefighter. He was up for a promotion before he had an accident. He was forced to retire, and it was right before my graduation,” Marcus explained, already feeling his throat tightening as he tried to continue explaining. “B-But I said that I was… I was gonna join someday. I was gonna be a firefighter, not just for him, but because I wanted to help people. To me, my dad was a hero… just… I wish I could have seen his face when I made it someday. I wanted to focus on getting my degree first, but… Well, here I am.”

“Oh, I’m so so so sorry Coaly, I shouldn’t have-”

“Nope, none of that, Pinks. You’re my best friend… and the one who is keeping my secret about my past. The least I can do is share some stories about my old life with you,” Marcus explained, trying his best to hold his tears back.

Thinking quickly to change the subject, Pinkie then asked. “Well, what did you like to do for fun before?”

“W-Well, I actually liked listening to music-”

“Really?~ I had no idea! Totallydidn’thearyousingingthatonenight! Not at all!” Pinkie said as she gave a nervous grin, only for the stallion to start laughing suddenly.

“Hehehe! Seriously?”

“S-Sorry, I may or may not have passed by your room one night a-and heard you s-sing…” Pinkie said, sheepishly as her ears flopped down.

Marcus tried his best to hold back his laughter.

He failed.

“Pfft! HAHAHAHA!”

“Hey! It’s supposed to be me laughing at you! Not the other way around!” Pinkie complained, her cheeks puffing up as she glared at him. Of course, she wouldn’t be Pinkie if she didn’t also join in on the laughter.

“S-ha-Sorry Hah! It’s not like I was trying to hide it, but I guess I still haven’t broken that old habit of mine,” Marcus explained, smiling at the mare.

“Well, you have a really good voice, Coaly. You really surprised me, and that song you were singing was amazing!” She complimented the alicorn. Marcus could only turn his head away bashfully.

“It’s called ‘Go the Distance’ by Roger Bart, a classic song from a film I watched a lot as a kid. I’m okay at singing, but I’m nothing compared to my mother and sister. Still, whenever I’m listening to a good song, I tend to lose myself to the music and start singing, but again, I’m good, but the rest of my family are great.”

“No way! You really are good, though! Don’t put yourself down, Coaly! Trust me when I say that you are good!” Pinkie insisted. Marcus looked shocked when she said that, but before he could even say anything to dispute that, she continued. “Honestly, I think you should sing more often, I… I really like your voice.”

If Marcus' face hadn’t been red before, it definitely was now as he looked away from the party pony, trying to hide his face from the giggling mare.

“T-T-Thanks… I… I like your… voice too…”

The music abruptly stopped, and Marcus released his hold on her hooves. Looking around in confusion, neither of them got the chance to utter a single word before a hoof grabbed Marcus’ shoulder and whirled him around. His gaze landed on a stallion shielded from view by a cloak as black as the midnight sky.

“We need to talk…” Marcus was taken aback, he recognized that voice! And as if he had any further doubts, the silver draconic eye glowing from within the shadow of the hood confirmed the speaker’s identity.

“Midnight…?!” the alicorn whispered incredulously, “How did…?”

“Oh, please, Coal,” Midnight huffed, with a flicker of his horn a glass of punch appeared in his hoof and he immediately downed it all in one drink. He then ripped an obnoxious BELCH before saying, “I’m capable of more than a few magic tricks. But that’s beside the point! I need to speak with you; it’s about…!”

Midnight trailed off as he seemed to notice something over Marcus’ shoulder.

Marcus almost asked what Midnight wanted to talk about, but then followed his line of sight… to see Twilight Sparkle wearing her simple yet pretty birthday dress that Rarity had made for her a while back. The dress’ simplicity complemented Twilight’s beauty, especially in how she’d styled her mane more elegantly and added a touch of blush to her cheeks. The bright blue really made her eyes shine. The dress had been altered with holes for her wings to fit through, and in Midnight’s eyes, this enchanting vision was nothing short of an angel.

“...uuuhhh…!” Midnight drawled in a twitterpated stupor, spurring Marcus to clop his hooves in front of Midnight’s face.

“Hello? Earth to Midnight, you said you wanted to talk to me?” he said jokingly.

“I- Guh… Uh…” Midnight shook his head as he was only able to utter, “Yeah, uh… Ahem! We need to step up your training, as soon as possible!”

“You can’t mean tonight! I’m in the middle of a party here I can’t just-” Marcus protested, only for Midnight to give him a look that said ‘shut up’.

“Of course not tonight, you dunderhead!” Midnight snapped in a hushed tone, “Come to my cave tomorrow morning, refreshed and ready. It’s time for me to break you down and build you back up…”

“Okay, what’s the deal here?” Marcus asked, sounding a little miffed. “Before, you didn’t seem to care all that much about my training other than helping me out in exchange for feeding your fat gut! And now-”

“Uhhh- L-Look, I really can’t explai-Eep!” Midnight winced and turned away, immediately making himself scarce after making eye contact with the Princess of Friendship. “W-WE’LL CONTINUE THIS TOMORROW!”

“Hey! Wait just a-” Marcus started, but he was already sprinting out the door in a hurry.

“Coal?” Marcus instantly understood as he turned around and saw Twilight approaching him, a curious look on her face, “Who was that you were talking to?”

“Oh, that was a friend of mine… he’s just uh… visiting,” Marcus said, even though it was one of the poorest excuses he had ever made.

“Yeah! Middy is a good friend of Coaly’s from the same town, and he wanted to stop by and see how he was doing!” Pinkie added, giving the stallion a quick wink for covering for him.

“Oh, well… Middy sounds nice,” said Twilight as she peered past them and caught a glimpse of the hooded unicorn vanishing out the door, “Odd he’s leaving so suddenly…”

“It’s actually Midnight, but he got nervous for some reason. Might have something to do with meeting royalty or something. Honestly, the guy… he’s definitely unorthodox.” Marcus explained, unsure what to say about him since he barely knew the dragon.

“Hmm,” Twilight thought as she considered that hooded pony, finding herself strangely intrigued. On one hoof, she always enjoyed a good mystery, but on the other, something about this Midnight had her thinking. “Well… anyways, I actually was hoping to speak to Pinkie alone.”

“Oh, sure, Twi!”

“I’ll get us some drinks, Pinks. See you in a bit.” Marcus excused himself so the two ladies could talk in private. As he approached the punch table, his mood began to sour as he took notice of the former ruler of the Crystal Empire, who looked like he had several drinks due to the several empty cups beside him. “Sombra,”

“Peasant, what are you doing here?!” Sombra slurred, glaring at him.

“Hey now… I’m just getting me and Pinks a drink, I’m not going to-”

“Of courrrrshhe Pinksh thish, Pinksh that! I hate that accurshed nickname you’ve given her!” Sombra growled, chugging down his drink. “Because of you… I’m now gonna be shtuck with that Sheamstresshh as my ‘keeper’! The pink menace may have been annoying, but she was tolerable. Ever shince you’ve arrived in thish town, you’ve brought me nothing but trouble.”

“Hey, don’t blame me because you can’t control your temper, and you're seriously insulting Rarity on her birthday?” Marcus rebutted, wanting to start yelling at him, but then he recalled seeing Pinkie’s face, that she believed that Sombra could be reformed. He wasn’t convinced that would ever happen, but who was he to argue? Pinkie and her friends had done the unthinkable before; what was one more miracle? “Look, I know the two of us have gotten off on the wrong fo-hoof. Why don’t we start ov-”

“Sssave your… dribble for somepony that actually cares!”

“Look, I get why we don’t get along, but whether you admit it or not… You actually see Pinkie as a friend. She’s also my friend, the least we can do is try to get along…right??”

“Try what…?” Sombra seemed to become clearer in voice and mind, a shadow falling over his eyes, “Try being friends? Try fitting in? Try acting like behind all these bright eyes and smiles, there’s not a hint of fear? Disgust?! Judging me for who I am and what I've done?!”

“There’s a saying I know from where I came from,” Marcus couldn’t believe he was going to say this, but it seemed fitting. “Do or do not. There is no try.”

“What the buck is that supposed to mean?!” Sombra spat.

“It means that if all you do is try then you’re not committed to success,” answered Marcus. “You may fail, those you wish to reach may fail, but there is no try. And even if you do fail, it doesn’t mean you’ll fail every single time. It’s okay to try, but for things that are truly worthwhile you have to give it your all, or else what’s the point?”

Sombra growled, trying to think of a retort or an argument, but the wisdom in those words struck a chord, one he didn’t want to hear or feel.

One Year Ago

“From this point onward, Pinkie Pie, you are now responsible for the reformation of the former King Sombra,” Princess Celestia had said with the full of her authority, along with a subtle hint of hope as her gaze fell upon the tyrant who’d been brought before her royal court.
“Sombra, you have brought pain and suffering to the ponies of the Crystal Empire for too long, subjected many lives to outlandish cruelty and enslavement.

“This is your last chance to start anew, by proving to me that there's still hope that there is yet a pony capable of sincere good within your heart. I advise you to not let this opportunity go to waste.”

Sombra had glared upon the white alicorn with undisguised outrage before his furious gaze turned to the pink pony, who gave him a smile. But for all her giddiness and optimism, even he could sense that there was a hint of doubt within her eyes. He huffed, thinking, Even shedoubts me, however, she might deny it…

And for some reason, that left a bitter taste in Sombra’s mouth as the guards and the hyperactive mare led him away to his new gilded cage.

During the train ride, Pinkie kept trying to break the ice. To start up a conversation ask if he liked cake and if he had a family. More worthless topics like that and Sombra was perfectly fine to ignore her or glare at her with such intensity she silenced herself. Oh, how that inhibitor ring infuriated him. More than once, he'd tried to use his magic, only for the ring to shut him down and subject him to several splitting headaches that lasted only briefly. Even if he’d wanted to run and escape, the ring stopped him from getting too far from his…captor..

Finally, Pinkie sighed and spoke plainly, not with overenthusiasm or persistence, but simply and plainly.

“Somby- er… Sombra… I get this isn’t something you’re happy with,” Pinkie had said to him, “but what other choice do ya have? Would you really just go back to being the meanie you were before? Does hurting and putting down other ponies really make you happy?”

Sombra made no indication that he was listening other than a derisive snort.

“If you really wanna be happy, then you gotta make a change, for yourself and for your life,” Pinkie said gently, “because if you just keep going the way you have, then what’s even the point?”

“...the point?” Sombra finally responded, his tone icy and contemptuous as he glared at Pinkie out the corner of his eye, his dark magic manifesting just enough to emit the purplish miasma from the corner, as he seethed, “The point, you repugnant little nothing, was being in control. Being at the top! Being untouchable, where no one and nothing could ever reach me!”

“But if nopony can reach you, then nopony can help you or be your friend!” Pinkie debated.

“Pah! And who, in their right minds, would ever want to be friends with somepony like me…?” Sombra scoffed and beat Pinkie to the punch by adding, “And don’t say you. You’re only doing this because that princess with her tremendous behind ordered you to! Heh, she oughta lay off the cakes…”

“Yes, Princess Celestia asked me to look after you,” Pinkie admitted, “but I offered to.”

“What?” Sombra gave her a flat look.

“I offered to help you,” Pinkie explained, “because everypony deserves at least one true friend. And I’d like to be yours.”

Sombra eyed Pinkie as though she’d grown a second head, and yet for the life of him, he was baffled to realize he neither saw, heard, nor even felt any deception in her words or manner. She actually wanted to be friends… with him?!

Something inside Sombra gave way—if only a little. A tiny crack had formed within the walls he’d raised around his heart, and just the slightest wisp of warmth seeped in and touched the bitter cold within. He might not have realized it, but somewhere deep inside, he felt it.

Not that he’d show it, but in an attempt to save face, he snarled, and responded, “Alright, fine! I’ll humor you… maybe we can give this ‘friendship’ tripe a try.”

“No, Somby.” Sombra was a tad put off by Pinkie’s subtle seriousness: “For friendship to be real, you can’t just try. If you give it your all, then others will see that and know that it’s real. Okay?”

Those eyes, big, blue, and so tooth-achingly sweet and hopeful, it made Sombra a tad uncomfortable. And yet, something about them widened that crack inside just a little more, and he groaned in vexation as he dragged the words out of his throat, “...fine.”

Then, Pinkie Pie gave him a smile. Not a big and annoying smile, but a simple and sweet smile, as she nodded, “Okay.”

Present

Recalling that day only began to infuriate Sombra, but before he could so much as say something, the alicorn was pulled away suddenly by Pinkie Pie and watching the two of them together made his blood boil with rage. However, before he could so much as try to start yelling, he started hearing something very interesting.

“Hey, Coaly… What else can you tell me about your family?” Pinkie whispered.

“Well, my mom was actually a baker, like you. You would have liked her, but she was very strict… She ran a tight shift around the kitchen, even at home. My sister will be graduating this year… and well like I told you before… My dad used to be a firefighter… but… he was forced to retire…”

“H-How bad was-”

“I can only say that my dad… he wasn’t happy… being a firefighter was his life,”

Hearing that, the gears in the former tyrant's mind began to turn. Frustration gave way to a devious thought borne of spite, and he listened a little more.

“My dad still had so much more to give, to do… and it was all taken away from him,” Marcus said in soft dismay. He sighed wearily, adding, “I tell ya, Pinks… I didn’t truly understand it until I saw my dad at his deepest low, but life really is not fair.”

“Coaly… bad things happen, to everyone,” Pinkie said respectfully, “and sometimes for no good reason at all. It’s how you respond to it that counts, whether you like it or not. But it doesn’t have to define the good or the bad unless you let it.”

“Sounds to me like your sad father did indeed let it.” Marcus felt as though a snake was writhing in his belly as he turned to see Sombra, leaning against the wall, nibbling on a pastry as though he were minding his own business when it was anything but. “Too bad he decided to whine and pout like a child…”

“Watch it, you ugly husk…” Marcus glared at the dark unicorn, as he felt his guts beginning to boil.

“A real stallion wouldn’t just bend over and take it,” Sombra went on, pretending he hadn’t heard Marcus’ warning, “but then he must not have been a real stallion at all, if he let them screw him.”

“You can say all the crap you want about me, but don’t you dare say a word about my father!” Marcus warned him, feeling something within him start to come out. He wasn’t sure, but all he knew was that he had to try and hold back.

“Did I hit a nerve? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised… like father, like son. You are weak… just like your pathetic, spineless, father-

*THWOCK*

Sombra was sent crashing into a nearby snack table, glasses and plates spilling their contents onto the floor and soaking into Sombra’s coat. He propped himself up as he groaned from his throbbing jaw, and gave a derisive stink eye to Marcus

Immediately, the music and festive atmosphere was silenced as though a boom of thunder had interrupted, and all eyes had turned to see Marcus glaring furiously and shaking with rage while Sombra, noticing everypony looking, shouted, “YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!!!”

And he dove at Marcus, tackling him head-on, the two stallions rolling over and over, fighting to pin the other even as they made a mess. The attendees all leapt to get out of the way or otherwise backed up, giving the two broncos room to buck as they shouted and threw nasty insults at each other, including more punches, ignoring the pleas for them to stop from Pinkie, Rarity, and even Fluttershy.

Finally, Marcus pushed Sombra off of himself and glared furiously as his purple magic flared from his horn and he enveloped Sombra in his mana before telekinetically throwing him into the nearby wall and pinned him there. Red markings beginning to form around his face.

It was here that Sombra blubbered in a cowardly voice, “Wha- Help! He’s hurting me! I can’t move…!”

“SHUT UP!!” snapped Marcus as he glared hatefully, “I offered you a chance to start over and you SPAT it in my face, you ugly piece of-”

“COAL OBSIDIAN!!!” A pulse of magenta fluxed Marcus’ magic, dispeling his hold on Sombra, who slumped to the floor, continuing to pant and fret as though he were terrified.

Marcus then turned to see Twilight, her wings spread, her amethyst eyes seering into him reproachfully, slowly the red markings across his face began to fade.

It was then that he realized what he had done. “I-I didn’t mean-”

“Princess Twilight! I think I speak for everypony here that this-this OUTSIDER should be banned from Ponyville!” Mayor Mare suddenly shouted in a frenzy.

“Now, hold on, he may have caused some-

“That isn’t all! Everypony has been constantly sending complaints to me about how terrified they are of him. I didn’t say anything before because he hasn’t actually done any harm, but destruction of property, assault, need I go on!” Mayor Mare explained, glaring at the stallion. “Don’t get me started on this other one here… he’s caused nothing but trouble as well, but I can’t say anything because Princess Celestia specifically ordered for this one to remain in Ponyville.”

“That’s not fair! Coaly has done nothing but be nice to everypony, you all haven’t even given him a real chance to get to know him!” Pinkie tried to defend him, earning some shameful glances. “Coaly didn’t start the fight, Sombry said something that set him off.”

“Pinkie’s right, you are all making the same mistake like you did with Zecora!” Fluttershy added.

“But Zecora didn’t cause damage to town hall, did she? Look at everypony here, they are all scared of him!”

“He doesn’t need to leave Mayor Mare, I promise you that he will be punished accordingly and so will Sombra. I-”

“Mayor, if I agree to stay out of Ponyville, will you please just… Just please stop arguing, I’m sorry for causing so much trouble. It wasn’t supposed to go this way… I-I just… lost control…”

“Coaly! No, you can’t do that! I-”

“Pinks, I’ll be honest… no one here aside from the girls and I guess some of the guys I just met, like me. It’s not something new… but I’d rather everyone hate me than you girls getting flack because of me… I can always build a tent… or something.” Marcus said, sounding ashamed and feeling lower than dirt. It didn’t escape him that this was the very reaction Sombra had wanted, but there was no point.

As he turned to leave, Fluttershy stepped forward, “Then you can stay in my guest bedroom, Coal, at least until you can find a home of your own.”

Mayor Mare frowned in vexation, but she knew she couldn’t rightly argue. Though Fluttershy was a resident citizen of Ponyville, her home was technically outside of it, so she couldn’t argue.

Marcus however, did, albeit half-heartedly, “N-no, Flutters, I can’t-”

“I will not take ‘no’ for an answer, Coal Obsidian,” Fluttershy declared, sounding like a firm mother, “You’ll catch a death of cold living outside with no shelter or protection.”

Inside, Marcus felt so grateful and relieved, yet he couldn’t shake off the shame of his actions, however justified. Seeing the destroyed tables, chairs, and food spilled and smashed across the floor, he understood why everypony was staring at him.. He sighed and nodded before looking at Rarity, “I apologize for ruining your birthday, Rarity…

“I’m ready to go, Fluttershy,” he said, turning to her, and Fluttershy nodded, bidding her friends good night before she led Marcus out the door.

Once they left, silence befell the party, and nopony seemed willing to get it back into swinging. Especially Rarity.

Sighing, she announced, “The party is over, fillies and gentlecolts. Thank you all for attending, but I think it’s time we all go home…”

Pinkie felt like crying, seeing how things had turned out, but she kept strong for Rarity, not warning to make her any more upset, especially since the fashionista had to take Sombra home with her. Sombra looked over at Pinkie, and she saw a smug look on his face that only made her feel like a balloon that had sputtered out its air. When she turned away from him, Sombra in turn felt an odd displeasure rankling in his gut, and some bitter chill washed over his withers.

However, for a brief moment, he noticed that there was one in the crowd of many who had a large grin plastered across his face before they disappeared. Sombra didn’t think too much of it before he had to follow the Princess of Magic back home.

Meanwhile, as Marcus and Fluttershy made their way over to her house, the alicorn couldn’t help but think that something was wrong, the way he got angry wasn’t like him. It was almost like-

Death… she must have done something else to my body… I know I’ve had a temper… but lately… I need to speak with her ASAP, and not just through texts.

“Coal… Are you… Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, Fluttershy… no I’m not…”

Author's Note

This chapter was edited by UnamusedWaffle, Wolven5 and Darthball, give these guys a follow and check out their works!

Artwork done by MCShelster

Edit: Featured AGAIN!!!!

Interlude- Mayor Mare

Mayor Mare watched like a hawk from her office window as Fluttershy and the one named Coal Obsidian slowly disappeared into the distance. She didn’t take her eyes off of them, not even for a moment, until the last vestiges of Coal’s low-hung head vanished from sight behind a hill. Finally allowing herself to let out a deep sigh, she slowly turned around and in the darkness of her office two cloaked figures stood by patiently as she began to speak.

“I did what you asked of me… the alicorn is no longer allowed to enter this town. So I expect you to honor your deal and leave my family out of this!” She spat, glaring at the two figures. One of them started cackling like a mad pony while the other one let out a deep sigh of disapproval.

“I am a stallion of my word, we haven’t brought any harm to your family, still I thought I made it clear for you to frame him so that he couldn’t have an excuse to enter this town,” The cloaked stallion explained, walking up to the Mayor. He delicately lifted her chin up to meet his piercing orange eyes.

“He gladly agreed to banish himself! Especially after the damages he had caused!” She argued, trying to turn her gaze away from him.

“Hmm… I suppose that’s true and yet, he’s still with one of the Elements of Harmony. The point was to completely isolate him from everyone so that I could approach him… but I suppose you did keep your end of the deal. It’s only fair that I keep mine,” he explained, nodding to his ally who smirked underneath his hood.

“*GULG… BLAAAAGH!!!*”

Coming out of the other cloaked figure's mouth, three ponies came out and fell to the floor, all still breathing, while Mayor Mare immediately rushed over to their side.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt them!” She shouted.

The cloaked figure shook his head as another disappointed sigh escaped his lips. His orange eyes gazed upon her, forcing a cold shiver down her spine. Sweat began to drip down her chin as she started to tremble.

“I said we didn’t bring them any harm… they are still breathing and they won’t remember any of this anyway… So why does it matter?” He spoke calmly.

“Yeah… it’s a real bummer, I could have used them! A complete waste of flesh that isn’t used if you ask me, heh ha!” The other stallion cackled as tears started to come out of the Mayor’s eyes as she glared at the duo.

“You're sick… Sick and twisted!”

“Well, it’s not like you’re gonna remember this anyway!” The other cackled, his hood falling back to reveal a pale unicorn with several stitches across his face. His eyes were pure purple like a black abyss and if you looked deep into them, the abyss would stare back. He had a blue unicorn horn stitched to his head and he had very little of his black mane.

Mayor Mare suddenly started feeling sick to her stomach as she let out a gasp at the sight of this grotesque creature that grinned back at her. She wanted to scream and shout, but she couldn’t find her voice. The abomination’s arm immediately stretched out and grabbed her by the neck with what looked to be a paw of some kind and pulled her close to him. She felt disgusted as he began to give her a long lick from her neck to her cheek.

“Honestly, I wanted to devour you, too!” he said, smiling gleefully.

“However! As I said, Shadow Whistler, I’m a stallion of my word, and the last thing I want is to draw suspicion when I’ve only just begun this game of mine,” he explained, his horn being enveloped in a bright orange aura. It began to surround the mare as she was pulled from the one called Shadow Whistler and slammed against the wall. “Truly, I don’t care about you or your family. Personally, I wouldn’t mind him devouring you and using your flesh for his own use, but you just so happen to be lucky that you are an important figure in this town. So you’ll still serve a purpose, but allowing you to go and tell the princess is something I can’t allow.”

“W-What? H-How did- AHHHHHH!” Mayor Mare started, but she couldn’t get another word out. In an instant, her mind was wracked with splitting headaches. She gritted her teeth and tried to convulse, but the orange aura forced her to a grinding halt each time she tried. After a moment, the white-hot agony that coursed through her mind only worsened.

He watched her eyes morph to half-lidded before closing slowly and her head fell forward. Releasing his hold on her, she fell to the ground limp before she was placed on the sofa across the room. “Whistler, take her family back to their home, they’ve served their purpose for the time being.”

“Aww, come on father, can’t I just-”

“No, if word gets out that Mayor Mare or a member of her family had been killed, it will lead to an investigation, bringing the guard, or worse, the Royal Sisters down here when I’ve only just begun. It’ll make everything much harder for us to set up.”
Shadow Whistler groaned in response, “Then, what’s the next phase, father?”

“You’ll be scouting the Everfree Forest, searching for Faerie Tail’s hideout, I believe she’s been spotted entering and exiting the forest from time to time. Find where she’s been hiding and report back to me immediately,” Father explained to the pale stallion.

“What about the alicorn prince? He’ll be alone with only one of those Elements, I can eliminate them quickly and take the stone from him-”

“No, we must be patient. He’s no threat to us right now and I believe he could be of use to us. I tried to dig through his mind a few days ago, but I couldn’t find anything… it was odd, but for now… focus on finding her hideout. Faerie Tail is our biggest adversary currently and is in possession of the Time Stone, if we are to reunite both timelines, we’ll need to take that stone from her. Find where she’s hiding and alert me immediately. I’ll send word for the other seekers to return once you’ve found it.”

“Of course, I won’t let you down, Lord Kaisen,” said Shadow Whistler, bowing to the cloaked stallion before bone-like wings emerged from his cloak and he picked up the three ponies with the hooks of his wings.

Kaisen’s horn ignited in a black aura that opened a portal made out of a black dripping substance that Shadow Whistler traveled through before closing immediately, leaving the cloaked stallion alone.

“Reincarnation, ascension, infinity stones… and yet you’ll be wholly unprepared for what comes next…”

Author's Note

Two chapters in two day!?! GASP!!! I know right! Exciting stuff as it was once again edited by my friend UnamusedWaffle.

This will be the last chapter posted for awhile, but I hope you all enjoy this one and will wait patiently for what is to come.

Chapter Fourteen: Who Are You Inside?

Chapter Fourteen - Who are you inside?

When Marcus opened his eyes, he was greeted by nothing more than a dark empty void that stretched out endlessly in all directions. He wasn’t sure how he ended up here, one moment he was tossing and turning in the guest bedroom at Fluttershy’s and now he was here.

“Greeeat, Death. If you’re here, you can come out now, not in the mood for jokes! We really need to-”

“Talk?” A grave, foreboding voice that sent shivers down his spine spoke for him. Slowly turning, he was greeted by a black alicorn who had red markings slashed across his face and crimson-piercing eyes that only accentuated the shadowy miasma flowing out the corners. His mane was a blood-red writhing vaporous smog that made Marcus want to puke, while his hulking body enveloped the entirety of Marcus’ vision, as if commanding his entire being to pay attention. “Ugh! So annoying. Why talk to her when you should be focusing on finding those Infinity Stones!”

“Wha-!? Who… what… are you?!” In a near-frenzy, Marcus almost tripped over his own hooves, stepping back from this unknown figure. A yawning abyss opened in his stomach to swallow his soul as he fully took in the sight before him.

“Whatsamatter, buddy?” the fiend smiled. For a moment, the darkness that seemed to pour out of his mouth and threaten to envelop his entire body parted, only to reveal crookedly sharp and yellow teeth. , “Can’t recognize your handsome mug when you see it?”

“What-NO! That- You’re fucking lying! Who are you, really!?” Marcus demanded, adopting a wide stance.

“That’s no way to greet your… not-so-nicer half!” the horrific visage sneered as it began to walk around Marcus like a shark, “After all, you can see it with your own eyes: I’m your mirror image! Only… I’m the ugly darkness inside of you brought to the surface. You should be thankful, Marcus. Not many get the opportunity to confront their own inner darkness…”

“Yeah, it’s truly an honor meeting a complete prick! Like I’m gonna buy that kinda bullshit!” Marcus shouted, trying his best to glare a hole through this imposter.

“It’s only bullshit because you want it to be… or else you’d have to accept what a completely selfish prick you really are,” tall, dark, and gruesome retorted, shining his hoof before blowing on it, as if without a care in the world.

Marcus turned his back towards the dark entity and tried anything to wake himself up, slapping his face with his hoof several times, even pinching his face with his magic, but nothing worked. It only began to anger him more and more. The rising, searing anger was bubbling up within, and Marcus didn’t even notice.

“Come on, come on, come on!”

“That’s not gonna work, Marcus…!” the nightmarish freak taunted in a singsong voice before it asked, “Or is it Coal Obsidian? It’s so confusing, you flitting between one identity and that, is nothing working? Heheheh…!”

“Shut up! You are not real! I am Marcus Philips! A human, you son of a bitch!” Marcus snarled.

The dark reflection reappeared before Marcus, like smoke coalescing into flesh, as it sneered, “So, then you really don’t care about all those pretty little ponies after all…”

“I-I never said that, stop putting words into my mouth!”

“But if you’re Marcus Philips, then Coal Obsidian… is a lie!”

“What? That’s…I’m not-”

Growling in anger, Marcus wanted to rebut that, but the words died in his throat over and over as he tried to formulate some kind of response. This… thing had rung a bell and it knelled with a discordant ring of truth. A truth that Marcus realized he was no longer one hundred percent certain of.

“Hmm… or perhaps the truth is something a little more… gray?” the creature chuckled darkly, “Perhaps the human Marcus Philips is stubbornly holding onto the past and denying the pony Coal Obsidian a future…”

“I think that is enough out of you, mister~” The voice of Death echoed throughout the dark void as the dark entity was suddenly restrained in a black crystal substance, as though he were flash-frozen in ice. “Ah, it’s good to see you again Marcus. You seem to be getting more and more interesting by the second. In all my time dealing with wayward souls, this is the first I’ve seen a split.”

“Death…” was all Marcus could utter as the entity struggled to break free, making subtle yet noticeable herky-jerky movements within his faceted cell.

“I’m sure you have plenty of questions, especially concerning… this,” Death gestured to the twisted visage of Marcus she’d sealed into crystal before continuing, “I’ll explain everything to you, but not now… You have a lot of work to do. For the time being, you shouldn’t have to worry about these… outbursts for a while.”

“No! NO! I need to know what the hell is happening to me, NOW!” Marcus shouted.

Fuck respect, fuck formalities, I’m DONE WITH IT! I CANNOT KEEP BEING A PAWN IN HER DAMN GAME! “You need to tell me what is happening to me! What the hell is going on here in Equestria?! Why do you need me specifically to do your dirty work?!”

Death looked upon Marcus, this poor soul who’d been robbed of what should have been a long and fulfilling life. Though he was an adult, at that moment, his visage seemed to morph into…a boy—a scared, angry, desperate boy in need of compassion, understanding, and guidance.

It was the tears that began to flow from his incensed eyes that finally broke Her heart, causing a sigh to escape her lips, “Very well, Marcus Phillips. Equestria is not like other worlds. It’s unique and is one of the most peaceful planets in the infinite cosmos. However, that peace was threatened by a being that I’m… not familiar with. Once upon a time, I knew what this being was, but when the timeline of the universe split in two, my knowledge of those souls had vanished. Over a million souls were wretched out of my reach, but even now, I can still sense their presence,”

Ignoring the darker half, Death continued. “As for why I’ve chosen you, I’ve told you from the very moment we met. You weren’t supposed to die that day, you were meant to live a long life, but something changed that. I believe the answers lie within Equestria somewhere. Oh, it looks like it’s time for you to wake up now. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come out for a while, but at some point, you will have to face this part of yourself. You can only run away for so long…”

“WAIT!” Marcus shouted, gasping for air as his hoof extended outward. The sun’s rays that soaked through the curtains momentarily blinded him before the world around him came into focus. He could feel the sweat on his fur, as he tried to slow his breathing.

Right. In bed. Windows opposite to me. Desk adjacent to me. Closet in the corner. The room in Fluttershy’s house.

“Coal, are you okay? Can I come in?” Fluttershy called out to him from outside the door to the guest room, tearing him out of his stupor.

“Oh! Uh-Yeah! Yeah, you can come in!” He said, climbing out of bed immediately and starting to fix it as soon as the door opened.

“G-Good Morning Coal, I-um… I was going to ask if you’d like some breakfast before I heard you yell. A-Are you sure you're okay?” She asked, twirling her hoof on the ground as she looked away nervously.

“Oh! W-Well yeah, I’m fine, just a bad dream is all. I’m fine…” He replied, the words as hard to pull out as he was sure his expression was.

“W-Well, if you change your mind, you can always come to me. I’m always happy to lend an ear… if you don’t mind that is?” She suggested. The smile she shot at him offered a pang through his heart, one that Marucs couldn’t help but accept.

He wanted more than anything to tell Fluttershy the truth about who he was and why he was really here, to spill to her everything he could and more, but he couldn’t. He had already told the one pony he had trusted the most about himself and now he couldn’t tell anyone else.

… But I could still try, right?

“Fluttershy, I want to tell you something,” Marcus blurted out suddenly, catching the pegasus off guard as she suddenly jolted and looked up at him.

“Y-Yes!?”

“Look I need to tell you that I-” Marcus started, but suddenly the words just died in his mouth.

Quite literally.

His throat was suddenly collapsing in on itself the more he tried to force the truth out. It was like a hand was clasping his neck and strangling him, preventing him from saying anything.

No, this was different. It was coming from within, like something was inside of him that had stopped him from saying anything about who he was or where he had come from. This was… frustrating, not only did he not get the answers he wante- No that he needed from Death, but now he couldn’t even tell Fluttershy anything!

“Coal? Are you okay?! Why are you crying?!” She had asked, feeling her hoof gently wipe away his tears before caressing his cheek.

“I-I… I just-I I’m sorry… I wish I had been a better friend to you!” Marcus said right as the waterworks began. Despite possessing an ancient artifact of infinite power, he had never in all his life felt so powerless to do anything.

I want to tell her Fluttershy everything! She was the first person to have helped me, to trust me, to show me around and make new friends. Things would have been a lot worse if I didn’t meet her first. She was my first friend, and now I can’t even fucking tell her the truth!

As these thoughts ran through his head, his legs gave way, slowly collapsing to the floor in a sob as Fluttershy began to caress his head gently.

“It’s okay… it’s okay…” she whispered to him, feeling her own tears stream down her cheeks as she tried to comfort the alicorn.

“I’m-I’m sorry! I’m sorry sorry sorry sorry!” Marcus sobbed out.

The Infinity Stones I have to look for… my deal with Death, this thing inside of me, and Midnight speeding up my training so suddenly. All of this is too much…

“I-I don’t know… why but something bad is gonna happen… I can feel it and I’m honestly scared, Fluttershy! I don’t know what happened to me at the party, and I’m so scared.”

Fluttershy meanwhile continued to stroke his head gently as she listened to every word, every tear that came out of her friend. In the short amount of time since meeting him, she honestly didn’t expect him to break down like this. Truth be told, she didn’t think he was one to cry like this, she thought at most he’d shed a few tears and put up the whole “macho stallion” act and keep his feelings bottled up. “It’s okay, everything is going to be okay, Coal. Whatever happens, I’ll be there with you no matter what.”

After hearing that Marcus couldn’t help himself as he just let it all out, his tears stained the mare’s yellow coat as he rested his head on her chest. They weren’t sure how long they sat there on the floor. Minutes, hours, they really didn’t know, but they stayed together like that until Fluttershy’s ear twitched at the sound of knocking at her door.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

“O-Oh, I’ll be there shortly!” Fluttershy called out, before turning back to the alicorn. “Coal, will you be okay wait-”

“N-No… It’s fine… I-I don’t want to be alone right now,” he said, rubbing his cheeks as he got up.

“O-Okay…” she replied, leading her friend out of the guest room and down the stairs towards the front entrance.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

Fluttershy almost responded before noticing the dark silhouette of a hooded figure standing outside her door. There came another knocking, a tad harder and more persistent, spurring her on, “Oh goodness! I’m coming, I’m coming!”

She opened the door and released her characteristic ‘Eep!’ to see a large figure standing there, garbed in a black hooded cloak, with a unicorn horn poking out of the brim of the hood which concealed a face apart from a sapphire-colored snout…that had a pair of fangs poking out from the upper lips.

“Uh- Pardon me, but I really need to speak with Coal Obsidian,” the figure said in a gentle voice that gradually deepened into growls, “It’s urgent!”

“I’m here Mid-Woah!” Marcus had stepped forward, coming up beside Fluttershy, and was startled at the sight of his friend. “What happened to you? You were just a unicorn last night, and now you look like a fucking tank!”

“A… tank?” Midnight tilted his head in confusion, not understanding the word.

“It’s- Right… different place, not my home. A-Anyways, my point is you were a lot shorter!”

“My time appearing in my unicorn form is limited, and almost up,” explained Midnight, taking notice of Fluttershy’s presence, “so my body is just starting to transition back to my… other form.

“But that’s not important. Coal, we must begin your training, immediately,” Midnight declared with authoritative urgency. “I need you to return to my home with me so we can discuss what comes next.”

“H-Hold on a minute! Who are you? Why are you even here?! Coal hasn’t even had breakfast yet, and he’s had a rough night,” Fluttershy immediately spoke up with concern.

“I am Coal’s mentor, helping him master his own latent potential. Bring your meal with you if you must, you’ll need your strength,” instructed Midnight with a tone that made it clear he would hear no arguments as he turned. “I’ll wait for you at my home. And come alone, Coal, this one will only be a distraction.”

Then, before either Marcus or Fluttershy could say anything else, a blaze of fiery blue mana enveloped the hooded pony and he vanished in a flaming teleport, leaving singe marks on Fluttershy’s welcome mat.

“That totally wasn’t rude. Not one bit,” Marcus said sarcastically, before letting out a deep sigh. “Look, I know mentally I’m… I probably shouldn’t just be leaving, but he wouldn’t be asking for me to come if it wasn’t important, `Shy, so do you think you can pack my breakfast for me, please?”

“I-I can do that for you… J-Just please be safe? There are a lot of things I want to ask you about,” Fluttershy asked, her cheeks reddening a little for some reason the stallion couldn’t put his hoof on.

The trek through the Everfree took him longer than he’d have liked, but Marcus was glad he encountered no beasts or other dangerous creatures that made their home in the forbidden woods. Remembering the way, he soon arrived at the clearing that opened before the cave of his new mentor.

And there, standing before its mouth, stood Midnight, having shed his cloak. Marcus almost called out to him, but the moment surrounding the sapphire unicorn was pregnant with tension and fragility. Marcus almost felt as though he were intruding upon something sacred… when he saw the change.

Granted, Marcus had known previously that Midnight was both dragon and unicorn, yet only able to assume the latter physically for a limited period of time. Yet he had never witnessed nor even considered the transformation.

He saw the way Midnight, now standing taller than any pony he’d met, hunched over, looking like he was about to heave, as though he were sick and in pain. At the very least, Midnight was experiencing some form of discomfort. In an instant, his back arched like a cat as his wings flared to the heavens in a blaze of fiery aura. The tail adorning his back extended and thickened into that of a writing snake, sturdy enough to topple anything and yet lithe enough to flick around. With a sickening CRACK, his hooves split apart, revealing rapidly growing claws that tore themselves as much space in his flesh as possible.

Midnight’s ears and horn receded into his head, replacing themselves with reptilian frills and a pair of draconic horns that split open his head and pierced the sky. His body lengthened, his girth ballooned, and his coat burned away, revealing rows of scales piercing his flesh. The fur on his belly melted away, smoothening out like frosting in a chilly refrigerator. His face contorted in pain as the bones in his face forcefully broken themselves before knitting back together, revealing a reptile’s snout, and rows of sharp teeth, all complimented by his forked tongue.

Panting in near exhaustion, his eyes threatened to glaze over. And yet, after gathering himself, Marcus could see the conflict in them.

As though Midnight were despondent over something he clearly could not control.

“...Midnight?” The dragon flinched and turned his large head to see his new apprentice, staring at him with a look that was at a loss for words, other than, “Are… are you alright?”

“Hello, Coal…” Midnight responded with a glum tone, before straightening himself out and clearing his throat, “I apologize that you had to see that. My transformation isn’t pleasant, to say the least.”

“You looked like you were in a lot of pain,” Marcus noted.

“I was… the change is mostly discomforting, but it also has a… odd sensation that I actually like,” Midnight explained, a tad uncomfortable, “but… there are certain points during it that are truly agonizing to the point where I can’t maintain any composure.

“But never mind that. Let’s eat, and we’ll discuss your training.”

Marcus followed Midnight into his cave, where he flicked the tip of his tail, conjuring a pony-sized table for Marcus to settle at. At first, they ate in silence, Marcus enjoying the meal Fluttershy had made for him while Midnight ate an entire basketful of zap apples he’d collected from the Everfree Forest.

After minutes of silence had passed, Marcus had enough.

“Okay, I get you want to move up my training with the Space Stone suddenly, but I didn’t appreciate what you said to Fluttershy… You may have offered to teach me, but I’m not going to tolerate you belittling my friends. You haven’t even told me why my training is being moved up so suddenly.” Marcus spoke, setting his meal down as he glared at the dragon.

“I meant no offense, but it was the truth,” Midnight responded with the barest edge in his tone, “I must train you in the Art of Mana Wielding, and train you I will. Which means we cannot afford distractions of any kind-”

“Distractions! Are you fucking serious right now!?”

“Mind your tone, because I don’t care whether you’re an alicorn or not…! We don’t have much time-

“Oh, that’s rich! I just love being left completely in the dark! No one is telling me anything! YOU keep saying ‘We don’t have time!’, but what do you mean? What the fuck does mana wielding have to do with the Infinity Stones!? What am I training for?!” Marcus shouted.

“Faerie Tail!!” Midnight roared in frank response, stunning Marcus. Midnight sighed and explained, “She came to me last night concerned about you being the new holder of the Infinity Stone… and she’s given me only a month to train you…”

“Faerie Tail? You’ve gotta be kidding me! She seriously can’t leave me alone- Hold on… You know her and you didn’t tell me?! I’ve dropped by bringing you food and not once did you mention that you knew her the whole time?!”

“Coal, there are things in Equestria that even you do not understand. When you encountered her a few weeks back, I had to appear as though I’ve never known of her for the sake of keeping each other's secret,” Midnight responded softly, lowering his gaze for a moment. “Faerie Tail and I… have a history, to say the least. I wouldn’t call us friends, but we share common goals. One of which is keeping the Infinity Stones out of the wrong hooves, claws, whatever.

“I discovered the Space Stone, and Faerie Tail holds the Time Stone, as you already know,” Midnight went on, “But after you proved yourself to me, I knew I could bestow the Space Stone upon you, recognizing you would be able to wield it far more effectively than I ever could. Faerie Tail doesn’t agree…”

“Of course she doesn’t… Well, glad to know my unpopularity with girls hasn’t changed,” Marcus muttered quietly before facing the dragon. “But what does she have to do with you suddenly training me? Why?”

“She was not happy that I’d passed the Space Stone onto you,” answered Midnight, “which is why she confronted you, intending to take it away. But, you impressed her enough for me to convince her that you deserve a chance to truly prove yourself. We have only a month for me to train you as much as I can, in Mana Wielding, in how to wield the powers of the Space Stone itself, and anything else to give you every advantage you can attain.”

“But why? Why is this happening? Why? You’ve told me everything except why?!”

“Because once the month is past…” Lowering his head so they would be eye-level, Midnight spoke to Marcus with soft yet unmistakable emphasis, “you and her will duel again. If you can best her, you can keep the Space Stone. If not, she will take it back… and Coal, she is all but certain that you will fail and that she will indeed take the stone back. I intend to make you prove her wrong.”

“I can’t afford to lose this stone, my life depends on it. I don’t plan to give this stone up to her without a fight. However, if you are going to be training me, I determine what is a distraction to me and what isn’t.”

“I understand you are frustrated, Coal,” Midnight said, his words carrying the weight of thousands of years of experience, “but Faerie Tail is a pony who has lost hope. It’s why she is as she is. It’s why she is so desperate to control anything she can.

“To prevent his return.” Midnight closed his eyes, looking truly afraid, enough for Marcus to deflate a little of his tension.

“His return?”

“There is an enemy, Coal Obsidian…” Midnight answered, his voice heavy with trepidation and concern. “An enemy so vile and monstrous… that the only way Faerie Tail was able to defeat him was to use the Time Stone to imprison him–in a branched timeline from our own. Although, ‘defeat’ isn’t exactly the word for it.”

“What do you mean? Who is this enemy?”

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never faced him myself, but the ways Faerie Tail has described him…” For a moment, Marcus thought he saw Midnight shutter before he shook his head. “This is no average foe. The so-called villains faced by and vanquished by the heroes in this timeline? Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, even King Sombra? They are nothing compared to what this wretch is capable of.

“Faerie Tail faced him, with help, of course,” Midnight went on, “but her allies and friends are all gone. Some fell in the struggle against this fiend. Others willingly gave their lives to thwart his ill intentions. But it was a war of attrition, and the good guys were losing.”

“So then… What happened? What did Faerie Tail do?”

“The conflict soon reached its apex, and it was in that moment, when all seemed lost,” Midnight recounted, nearly with awe, “that Faerie Tail dug deep, and wielded the Time Stone as she never had before. Desperate to stop him. Desperate to save all she still had and held dear to her heart. Her gambit paid off, and the powers of the Time Stone split that moment into two. Faerie Tail remained in one, and her enemy was cast into the other.

“By the power of the Time Stone, Faerie Tail had rent the flow of time in twain, creating a branched timeline and imprisoning the enemy there with naught but his own forces while the main timeline, in which we stand, was saved.”

Marcus bowed his head in silence, a flurry of thoughts assaulting him all at once. “So… all of this… is because of her? The split in the timelines, the reason why I’m here to begin with, is all because of her? This-I-Just-WHAT!?”

“It’s more complicated than that, but I assure you she has good intentions, especially when it concerns her-

“Stop! I don’t want to hear what excuse she has. I’ll learn what I can from you, but they are going to be on my terms from now on. For starters, we’re going to tell Fluttershy what we’re doing and who you really are!”

The dragon could only look at him, flabbergasted. “You can’t be serious!? I can’t afford any others know who I really am-”

“Midnight, you said so yourself that we don’t have time to argue. I’m not allowed back in Ponyville, and I don’t have anyone else right now. She’s someone I can trust with what’s going on.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose with his paw, Midnight let out a low groan.

“You are infuriating beyond measure, Coal Obsidian… Very well, the pegasus may join us for your training, but if she in any way distracts you or interferes with your training, she is to leave immediately,” Midnight uttered with the firmness of a boulder.

“She won’t be, and I promise that.”

“Hmm… Fine. We shall begin at dawn first thing in the morning. I don’t know what transpired with you last night, but you don’t look well. Get some rest, you're gonna need it.”

“Noted,” Marcus replied, picking up his leftovers and bag and making his way out of Midnight’s cave. Once he had reached the outskirts of the clearing, he felt a shiver run down his spine. Flicking his head back…and forth, he found nothing, and so proceeded onwards.

After his meeting with Midnight, Marcus had trotted slowly back to Fluttershy’s cottage. He took the time to contemplate everything that had happened and what he was going to say, so much so that his head was down and he already felt like everything that was going on was just building more and more problems like a tower of flimsy legos. Eventually, it was all going to come crashing down on him and he wasn’t quite sure he was up for it anymore. The pressure was becoming overwhelming for the stallion and his nightmare with Death didn’t help one bit.

Only one thing came to his mind.

“I really want to hit something…”

“Coal?” Immediately looking up, he saw Fluttershy, waiting outside by the front door, looking at him the same way his mother would look at him whenever he did something wrong.

Concern.

“Hey, Shy, um… you didn’t have to wait up for me-” Before he could finish, he was suddenly pulled into an embrace. His heart started racing all of a sudden as the color of his face turned slightly red. “H-Hey! What are-”

“You shouldn’t have gone out today, you were having a hard time, and the fact that this stranger demanded you go with him and I didn’t do anything to stop him. I-I was so worried,” she said, her eyes shut tightly as her wings tightened around her.

I really haven’t been a good friend to her at all. I’ve barely visited her and yet… she’s still taking me in when I got kicked out. She really is the kindest pony I’ve ever met. I need to tell her what’s going on at the very least.

Pulling away from the pegasus, Marcus inhaled and exhaled as he looked at Fluttershy. “I have a lot to explain to you Fluttershy, but we should probably do it inside.”

“Oh, of course, come in!” Fluttershy ushered him in, closing the door behind her.

Once the two sat down on Fluttershy’s couch, Marcus began to explain everything that he could without violating the rules Death had set for him. From his first meeting with Midnight to his encounter with Faerie Tail and how he’s been trying to learn how to use the Space Stone and his overall mission to find the remaining Infinity Stones.

“So that’s why Midnight asked for you to come to his cave? So he could train you?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, he wants to start training me, and this “Mana Wielding” is supposed to help me with my duel with Faerie at the end of the month. Honestly, I think I’m in over my head right now. I never wanted any of this, but this is something that I have to do. There’s so much I want to tell you, but… I just can’t yet,” he explained, having a small grin on his face, but the look in his eyes showed sorrow. Before she could say anything, however, he continued.

“I did talk with Midnight about his attitude towards you, and I managed to convince him to allow you to attend my training whenever you feel like it. I’d appreciate the company, but it’s up to you! I’m not forcing you or anything like that!” Marcus sputtered.

“I’d definitely like to join you, Coal, but what about Midnight? From what you said, he doesn’t seem to want others getting in the way and I’d hate to just get in the way-”

“Fluttershy, I honestly would like to have you with me, and you don’t have to worry about Midnight, if he does anything to you, I’ll set him straight.”

“Okay… I-I’ll join you, but I’m going to make sure you don’t push yourself too hard, I want to make sure you are okay.”

“Thank you.”

“O-Of course… Coal… It’s what friends do.”

Author's Note

I want to thank UnamusedWaffle for helping edit this chapter and for being an amazing friend in general.

I decided to post this for you guys cause you all have been patient. But this does not mean I am officially back, since I’ve been busy. By December I should officially be back to posting chapters regularly. Anyways I hope you all have an amazing day.

Chapter Fifteen- Training & A New Face (Edited)

Author's Note

Long time no see everyone! It's been a while since I've uploaded for this story, but that's because I've been writing all the chapters out with my friend Wolven who has been a tremendous help with writing all these scenes with me. I am currently writing the final chapter of Arc 1 and an epilogue leading into Arc 2.

Unfortunately these chapters are unedited and will take time to edit them. I promise that later on in the new year, I'll have all of these edited, but until than I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and what is to come. It's also the second year anniversary of Beyond Infinity and my birthday today :)

UPDATE: Chapter has officially been updated by my good friend UnamusedWaffle

Chapter Fifteen- Training & A New Face (Edited)

Chapter Fifteen- Training & A New Face

Day 1

It was 5:00 AM from what Marcus saw on his phone, an early morning. The sun wasn’t even up yet, as you could still see the night sky was just beginning to fade with the promise of a new day. Meanwhile, he stood in the backyard of Fluttershy’s home, facing his new mentor, Midnight, in his pony form. Although the dragon had obliged Marcus’s request to come in his unicorn form, there was yet a draconic impression.

At first glance, Midnight didn’t seem impressive. But Marcus could tell, as if hallucinating or simply anticipating his mentor, that under that girthy barrel was a strong and formidable individual. Midnight was enjoying a glass of ice water with a lime wedge, relaxing in Fluttershy’s patio furniture.

The charcoal alicorn had woken up before the crack of dawn, at Midnight’s instruction, and had ever so carefully exited the house, so as not to wake Fluttershy or any of her animals. Although he didn’t mind Fluttershy being present, Marcus did agree it would probably move things along if it was just him and his new mentor at the get-go.

After he downed the last of his water, Midnight set it aside and stood up, looking at Marcus and saying, “Follow me.”

Marcus did, and Midnight led them to the far side of the meadow between Fluttershy’s backyard and the edge of the nearby woods.

Turning, the dragon in disguise was now facing Marcus, and he eyed the Space Stone set within the regalia-like piece around Marcus’ neck.

“Take that off,” Midnight ordered. Marcus hesitated, but Midnight gave him a look that warned him not to argue.

Sighing, Marcus did as he was told, and once the neckpiece was off, he was a tad alarmed when Midnight took it into his telekinetic hold and levitated towards himself, “Before you even think of trying to wield this, you are going to first endeavor to master the basics of what I intend to teach you.”

Midnight’s mana then coalesced into a bubble around the stone and neckpiece, and as he reached up to tap the bubble with his hoof. To Marcus’s alarm, the bubble popped out of existence, taking the neckpiece and stone with it.

“What the fuck, man!?”

“Calm down, the Space Stone is safe,” Midnight assured before Marcus could say anything. “I’ve simply stored it away into a pocket dimension, one of the few powers I was able to learn during my time studying and protecting it. I shall return it to you by the end of each lesson, so don’t worry.””

“Fine…” Marcus eased up, but he was still wary.

“Before we begin, I want to know what I’m working with,” Midnight raised a brow, “Tell me what you know about magic, and what you can do with it.”

“Uh…” Marcus paused as he racked his brain trying to remember what he’d managed to learn about magic, and mentally kicked himself in the plot for having neglected his studies from Twilight. “Magic is… supernatural energy that’s used to… conjure a specific effect. I’ve… learned basic Levitation and… Illumination, and I… I can set things on fire?”

Marcus smiled sheepishly, getting a stony look from Midnight, who was clearly underwhelmed.

“Argh! Look, I spent most of my time trying to learn how to use the Space Stone and let’s not forget I do have other things going on in my life!”

“Obviously. This isn’t good but it’s not necessarily bad,” Midnight interrupted, his response surprising his student. “Coal, you’d be surprised by how much the Magic Arts are vaunted yet how little what I’m about to teach you is given much thought.”

“… meaning?” Marcus drawled, a little confused.

“You’re pretty much a blank slate,” answered Midnight. “You’ve learned very little about magic, less than what school age unicorns commonly learn, and yet you’re a full-grown stallion.”

Marcus suddenly felt rather self-conscious, but Midnight continued.

“It goes without saying there’s much about you that I don’t know or understand, but right now, that matters little. You have no preconceived notions or real opinions regarding magic, therefore you will be more open to my teachings, and that will help your training more than it will hinder it.”

“So… My, ignorance will make me a better student?” Marcus asked.

“Heh, from a certain point of view,” Midnight smirked before he lit up his horn and conjured a markerboard. “I will give you some instruction in magic, but my primary objective here is to teach you an art that will better enable you to learn how to wield the powers of the Space Stone.

“But before we even attempt that…” Midnight’s horn lit up again, and Marcus watched as lines of energy drew visual aids onto the board.

“We must first establish an understanding of all you must learn so you can grasp it, which will better enable you to master what you must learn in the time we have.”

“Which is only a month,” Marcus remembered.

“Yes. We must make each and every day count,” Midnight said fervently, “So let’s get started.”

Great… I traded one Princess Twilight Sparkle for the male version of her… I can already tell this is going to be SO much fun… Marcus thought sarcastically.

“The Art of Mana Wielding isn’t about learning spells, incantations, or some other overly-elaborate idea of Magic. In fact, you could almost say, it’s not Magic at all.”

“If it’s not magic, then… what is it?” Marcus was confused.

“It is and yet it’s not,” Midnight elaborated, “Magic is utilizing supernatural energies to create a magical effect, often in the form of Spells. These energies can come from different sources, like the Sun, the Moon, the Sky, the Ocean, the Earth itself, and even the Stars. But each and every one of these sources share something in common, the underlying energy that is the true power from which all Magic is derived.”

“Oh! Mana! I think I get it now!” Marcus realized, getting a nod from Midnight, before he asked, “But then… what is Mana, exactly?”

“Mana… is life,” Midnight said emphatically and gestured with his hoof for Marcus to look around.

He did and saw the grass, flowers, trees, the insects that crawled, birds and even the local critters going about their own business.

“Wherever there is life, there is mana,” Midnight went on, “It is an energy found in all living things. It is from mana we derive arcane powers that grant us the capabilities for the things we can do by utilizing mana to do magic.”

“Okay, but… what about that thing about it being ‘magic but not magic’?” Marcus brought up.

“Magic differs from Mana Wielding in a manner akin to fire,” Midnight answered, “To create fire, you need a source of fuel. But the fuel runs out, so the fire dies out.”

“So then… using magic is like using up mana?” asked Marcus.

“Exactly. Think of a spell like a match,” Midnight spoke with a subtle sense of excitement, as though he were starting to enjoy the lecture. “A match can only be used once, and the fire eventually burns it up or you snuff it out yourself. And at any given time, you typically only have a limited number of matches.”

Marcus wracked his brains to puzzle out Midnight’s words, Magic uses mana like fuel… so then… using magic… uses up mana… which means…!

His eyes started to light up, and Midnight chuckled a little, sounding pleased, “Looks like you got it.”

“Using magic means you exhaust your mana, and once you do that you can’t use your magic anymore,” Marcus gathered, “But… Mana Wielding is different?”

“Correct! Magic uses mana like fuel, but Mana Wielding is exactly what it sounds like,” Midnight declared, “Instead of using up your mana to create magic, you wield your mana directly, enabling you to perform mystical powers akin to spells yet don’t exhaust your mana in the ways Magic does.”

“Huh! So… if Mana Wielding uses your mana without expending it, why don’t more unicorns use it?” asked Marcus.

“There’s another difference between Mana Wielding and Magic,” Midnight answered, “While Magic can only be actively used by Unicorns, and other certain kinds of creatures, Mana Wielding can be used by anypony or even any creature!

“We’ll get more into that later, but for now… let’s get started.”

Two Hours Later

Marcus sat as still as he could, trying to meditate, as Midnight had instructed.

“Reach inward, tune out all external distraction,” Midnight bade as he walked around the alicorn, “find the light that shines deep within, it is there. It is always there.”

Marcus recollected their previous lessons, how Midnight had talked him through these meditative sessions, how he’d learned to feel mana yet now he was striving to learn so much more. His senses dulled, faded away, and the world around him was pulled into the abyss.

In his mind’s eye, Marcus saw darkness… before a radiance made itself known as a purple-colored light. It shined calmly yet there was an underlying sense of unease. His own anxiety, he guessed. Soon, the light spread, until it stopped at various points, and he realized it was forming an outline. A shape.

It’s… me, Marcus realized, as he saw the shape was his own body, sitting in its meditative pose while the light radiated from his center.

“Good. Now, turn your awareness outwards,” bade Midnight’s voice.

Marcus did so, and more lights, some dim, some bright, some of different colors while others were of similar shades and hues, made themselves known like a strange painting weaving itself to life in the background of his mind.

There were no outlines, and the colors were more… hazy and blended into one another. It reminded him of watercolors.

Then, he noticed what could only be the light of his mentor, as Midnight’s turquoise-colored mana continued to move around him. The mana itself was calm yet focused, serene as the glass-smooth surface of a body of water, and all the while something stirred beneath its surface.

“You must learn not only to sense mana, but also to focus it,” Midnight went on, “and that starts with your own. Think of your mana flowing throughout your body, like the blood in your veins or signals through your nervous system.

“The better you can focus and channel your mana, the better you will be able to wield it. This will in turn make it easier on your overall ability to wield your mana. It’s almost like… strengthening your magic muscles.”

Marcus got the basic gist of the metaphor, and continued to listen as Midnight then said, “Now, focus again on yourself. Don’t simply perceive your mana, but picture it, flowing through you, to various points of your body, from your brain, to your limbs, to your heart, to your joints.

“You must learn to channel your mana to specific points of your body in order to wield it in specific ways. You can use your mana to boost your senses, increase your strength, fortify your body, and heal from injuries.”

“But I can already heal almost instantly, I mean you did technically roast me alive. Literally!”

“That was a spontaneous action that was spurred by your survival instinct,” Midnight retorted before lifting a nearby stick and striking Marcus on the head, “Focus!”

“Argh…” Marcus gritted his teeth, feeling the throb on his head, but then did as Midnight had instructed. He focused, and envisioned his mana flowing towards his head. Specifically to the back of it, where he felt the aching pain.

Then, to his pleasant surprise, he felt the pain abate. As his mana gently focused on the head injury, he felt the pain gently fade away, replaced by a sensation akin to a massage.

“You see?” Midnight’s voice was just a tad smug, “Even at this early stage, you can alleviate the pain from an injury, helping your body to facilitate its natural healing ability.”

“I can see what you mean… but you said my healing from before was a survival instinct. What do you mean?” he asked, his head tilting to the side.

“What you did before was something akin to a reflex, reacting to the damage done to your body,” Midnight explained, “something you did not knowingly or intentionally do.

“There are times when, after suffering considerable injury, our survival instincts can cross with our mana, provoking a response to that damage by healing it in order to alleviate the pain and stress we suffer from the injury. But that doesn’t always happen nor should it. You can’t rely on your body healing itself in that manner because it’s not guaranteed to work every time.”

I guess he’s right, I can’t rely on my own regeneration to save me every time.

“Alright, let’s just keep going!” Marcus said, more determined than ever, earning an eager grin from the dragon.

“Settle down, there’s plenty to learn, but haste will hold you back,” Midnight warned.

“Shouldn’t we be hurrying since I only have a month?” debated Marcus.

“It’s enough time to teach you what you need and to prepare,” Midnight answered, “But rushing headlong will just lead to slip-ups. Slow and steady wins the race. “

Marcus considered those words, and thought to himself, He’s right… I can’t afford to get ahead of myself. Too much is at stake.

Day 2

The next day of training, Midnight suggested, “Now, let’s try something else.”

Midnight’s horn lit up and a strip of thick fabric appeared in a wink of light, which immediately flew to Marcus, wrapping itself around his eyes.

“Hey!” Marcus reached up, only to feel his hooves get swatted down.

“The blindfold stays, for your next lesson,” Midnight said firmly, “which is to use your mana to see without seeing.”

“This is going to suck…” sighed Marcus, “So I need to see without actually seeing right?”

“At least you’re keeping up,” Midnight responded.

“Well, I gotta if I want to beat Faerie, right?”

“More than you realize,” Midnight nodded, “This technique of Mana Wielding allows one who masters it not only to see the mana around them, but to perceive things they couldn’t before. Mana is life, so it also resonates with aspects of life. Care to guess what those could be?”

“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest?”

Sighing wearily, Midnight decided, Looks like it’s gonna be trial by fire… literally.

Then, to Marcus’s surprise, he felt a familiar sensation of intensity and heat, and then a stamp of great impact nearby, from where Midnight had been standing. Marcus immediately focused his mana, envisioning it concentrating to his eyes.

He flinched to see Midnight’s turquoise energy had grown vast and now blazed with sapphire intensity. Then, starting from the center of that energy, a surging fury that burned from deep within… before it traveled up the silhouette of Midnight's draconic form, and Marcus immediately knew what was going on, as the outline of Midnight’s form, while still glowing his turquoise color, suddenly gave off a radiance of red, the kind he would associate with a red alert.

“BLARGH!!!!” Midnight roared as he unleashed a gout of dragon fire towards Marcus, who immediately took flight, not caring that he couldn’t see, and zoomed straight up, avoiding the fire that could have incinerated him.

“WHAT THE HELL, MAN!??!?!” Although his student still couldn’t get the blindfold off, Midnight had no doubts that behind that cloth Coal was glaring with seething fury.

“And there you have it,” Midnight chuckled as he reverted back to his pony form, his form and power collapsing back down to his equine self.

Marcus landed back on the ground and got up in Midnight’s face, which might have been more effective if he could take off the blindfold.

“Have what!? My limbs and my skin are still attached!?” Marcus screamed, trying to remove the blindfold, but couldn’t. Refusing to give up, he kept pulling, but his frustration caused him to stumble and fall back onto his butt, much to his ire, “Why won’t this stupid thing come off?!”

“Haha, it’s enchanted to stay on until I take it off,” chuckled Midnight, “but Coal, tell me something. Just before I breathed my fire at you, what did you see?”

“I saw your mana taking form… and your flames taking form from inside you.” Marcus did his best to explain.

“Anything else…?” Midnight raised a brow.

Marcus softly growled in annoyance, but he thought it over, His energy surged… but then… just before he breathed his fire… it-it turned…!

“Your energy turned red!” Marcus said aloud in realization, “Right before you breathed fire!”

“There it is,” Midnight nodded in satisfaction. “In that moment, my mana reflected my intention to do you deliberate harm, as though I were an enemy.

“By broadening your perspective while utilizing your mana to enhance your vision, whether you can physically see or not, you will be able to discern so much more than just sources of mana but also emotions, intentions, whether one is friend or foe. You can do similar things in enhancing your other senses with mana, such as hearing the discordance of someone speaking a lie, smelling the nature of another being and telling whether they are fragrant with good intentions or reek of ill will, or even tasting something and perceiving whether it contains any hidden surprises. Another important application is sensing the world around you in a tactile manner, such as feeling the vibrations of movement in the earth through your hooves.”

“Whoa…!” This would render any tricks Faerie tries to pull meaningless! Mastering this would prepare me for anything she throws at me!

“Of course, that all depends on you yourself,” Midnight pointed out. “The capabilities of Mana Senses vary from individual to individual, with some being more attuned to one thing or another.

“In your case, you’ve confirmed that you can use your mana to perceive not only a source of mana energy without your physical vision, but also whether an individual can be friend or foe based on their intent and actions. You are likely capable of more, but that will have to be determined by exploring your abilities.”

Day 3

The next day, Midnight had insisted they continue Marcus’ training in using his mana to see, or rather enhance his vision. Like before, Marcus had a blindfold on, but unlike last time, Midnight had something else in mind.

“Today, you’re gonna expand your visionary capabilities, with some assistance from Fluttershy,” Midnight stated as the butter-yellow pegasus brought over the plate of freshly baked cookies he’d requested.

“Uh- M-me?” Fluttershy said sheepishly, her ears folding back.

“How’s Fluttershy gonna help with this part of my training?” Marcus could ‘see’ Midnight and Fluttershy, focusing his mana to his eyes and allowing the energies around him to paint a vivid picture of his surroundings.

Midnight’s energy was the same turquoise, outlined with sapphire, as usual, and he saw that energy reach out and levitate the plate of cookies Fluttershy was carrying to the table he sat at, immediately helping himself. Fluttershy’s energy was a gentle pink outlined yellow.

“Mm! Delicious…” Midnight moaned after swallowing the first cookie he’d scarfed down, and then giving Fluttershy a thankful smile, “You’re gonna make a stallion a very happy pony one day, Fluttershy!”

“Oh! Um… do you think so?” Fluttershy hid behind her long mane as she failed to avoid glancing at Marcus as she felt a rush of warmth.

“Anyway,” Midnight looked to his pupil, “Today, you’re going to see whether you have a special ability called Foresight.”

“The… ability to foresee the future?” Marcus asked dumbly.

“Yes and no,” Midnight waved Fluttershy over, and once she was close enough he whispered something into her ear, making her nod in understanding and even stifle a soft giggle of mischief. Then, he returned his attention to the alicorn, “You could sort of consider it seeing what’s going to happen, but not exactly.

“For starters, focus upon me,” Midnight instructed, and he could sense Marcus doing just that, “You see my energy? You see me sitting here? Enjoying my cookies?”

“Yes…” Marcus huffed a bit, the smell of those delicious chocolate chips teasing his snoot.

“Very good,” Midnight said.

And then, in Marcus’ mind’s eye, he saw something that baffled him. Midnight’s energy didn’t move from his position, but for a fleeting second, he thought he could see a blurry and transparent image of Midnight getting up and throwing one of the cookies at him.

“What th- !!!” Marcus was alarmed when Midnight did immediately that and he just barely managed to catch the cookie in his magic before it hit him square in the face. “Wha…!? I just… you… what?!”

“Ah, it seems you’ve got it!” Midnight nodded in satisfaction as he bit into another cookie.

“What just happened?! I… I saw you or… an image of you?” Marcus tried to wrap his mind around it, “Then… you-”

“You saw what appeared to be a blurry image of me throwing the cookie at you in your mind’s eye, and hardly a moment later I did it for real,” Midnight answered, getting a nod from Marcus. “That is Foresight!”

“I don’t understand, what happened?” asked Fluttershy.

“That’s what I’d like to know!” added Marcus.

“The Mana Wielding skill of Foresight enables one to foresee an immediate action before it happens, usually a moment, but more often only a split-second prior,” answered Midnight as he conjured a thermos and poured himself a cup of chilled lemonade he’d been saving, “However, it’s not guaranteed to work and it won’t predict every single thing around you before it happens.

“The ability has factors as to how it works and how effective it is, but one of the primary factors is the action itself. Care to take a guess?”

“I’m going to assume that this will help me with these outcomes, but I’ll have to take whatever information it provides and use it to my advantage?”

“Yes and no,” Midnight responded, and again Marcus saw something in his mind’s eye.

This time, he saw a blurry image of Midnight getting up from the table, stepping around it to stretch his legs and then collapse onto his back. To his lack of surprise, he saw Midnight actually do it, groaning in a pleased way from his stretch and then lying down in the grass with a relaxed sigh.

“Still haven’t figured it out yet?” Midnight asked with a subtle tease in his voice.

“Is Foresight showing me what’ll happen, but only by a few seconds? I-I honestly don’t know how else to explain this, Midnight?”

“Jeez, bud, if you’re that dense, I wonder if I'm just wasting my time…” Midnight sighed with weary understanding.

“Well excuse me! I literally learned about Mana three days ago! Give me a break!” Marcus argued.

Again, Marcus’ vision showed an image of Midnight getting up and then approaching him, and only a moment later Midnight did that for real. He stood there, standing in front of Marcus for a long and awkward moment, the look on his face blank, his eyes gazing at Marcus but not truly looking at him.

What is his deal? Marcus wondered when-

*THWACK*

“OUCH!!” Marcus stumbled backward onto his butt, clutching his aching head, and he felt the blindfold fall off, so now he could see Midnight with his actual vision. “Jeez! What was that for?!”

“That’s in the past. But if you can foresee what could happen, why didn’t you foresee me giving you a well-deserved bonk on your noggin?” Midnight inquired with a firm look.

“Because I wasn’t concentrating- OW!!” Marcus got another smack on his head and glared up at Midnight, “Would you stop hitting me?!”

“Wrong. Your focus was passive but it hadn’t stopped,” Midnight corrected. “Since you’re not getting it, I’ll just tell you:

“You foresaw my prior actions, because I’d already decided that I was going to do them.”

“So, kinda like reading your movements before you even make them!?”

“Again, yes and no. The future is ever in motion,” answered Midnight, “It is as formless as smoke until it condenses in the present and solidifies into the past. The Mana Wielding skill of Foresight is somewhat of a misnomer.

“You’re not so much as seeing into the future as you are sensing a target’s actions based on their own sense of will. You foresaw me throwing the cookie at you because I decided to do that action and then followed through on it. You foresaw me getting up and relaxing in the grass for the same reason.”

“I’m honestly thinking saying ‘Yes and No’ is your favorite thing to say?” Marcus stated bluntly, irritated as he wished he could glare at him.

Midnight gave Marcus a blank look, and then a mischievous smile before responding, “Maybe.”

“But hold on… so, the ability is reading a guy and getting a sense of what they’re gonna do because they’ve decided to do it and then follow through with it,” Marcus brought up, “So… why didn’t I foresee you conking me on the head?”

“Did you notice my behavior before I did so?” asked Midnight.

Marcus thought it over… and recalled how Midnight looked blank in his demeanor and empty in his eyes.

“I didn’t, the only thing I could see was a blank expression on that mug of yours, but maybe you were a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get it the first time. Again though, I barely knew what Mana was a few days ago.” Marcus did his best to explain.

“It’s not enough to learn these skills and master them, Coal,” Midnight stated, sounding serious yet caring, “You must come to understand them beyond face-value, to look past the surface and into the depths where the greater intricacies of Mana Wielding lie.

“The reason I was able to hit you on the head without you sensing it prior is because I emptied myself. I let go of my own emotions and thoughts in the forefront of my mind while keeping my actual intentions in the back of my mind. Then, once I brought that intent to the forefront I acted upon it immediately, allowing me to circumvent your Foresight.”

“Geez… I’m honestly starting to get annoyed by Foresight… I doubt I’ll get to your level anytime soon.” Marcus said, rubbing his head. “I need a break…”

“Come have some cookies, Coal,” Fluttershy said kindly, “I made extra helpings, just in case, and I even have some lemonade in my fridge to wash it down.”

“Thanks, Shy…” Marcus joined Midnight at the table, and they settled for a snack.

Her cheeks reddening at the nickname he had given her. “O-Oh of course… Help yourself as well Midnight, I’ll be back in a moment with a pot of freshly brewed tea.”

The air was pregnant with anxiety and dismay, and Midnight knew his pupil was daunted, “Coal… all you need to do is master the basics. The rest will come.”

“I’ll keep at it… but let’s be honest, I ain’t gonna reach that level by the time I have to face Faerie Tail…” Marcus stated, taking a bite out of one of the cookies.

“Mana Wielding is more than just a discipline of power, Coal,” assured Midnight, “It’s an understanding of life. The basics alone can take you far, but it’s experience, knowledge, the way you look at something from a different perspective that can broaden your understanding and your ability, not only in Mana Wielding but in life!

“Faerie Tail will not be an easy opponent to overcome. But even at this stage of your training, you already have a major advantage over her.”

“Oh yeah? And what’s that,” Marcus asked in a whatever manner.

“She underestimates you. She is of the mind that victory is assured and that no matter what you do, you’re going to lose,” answered Midnight.

“How is that an advantage?!” Marcus glared at the unicorn.

“Your advantage is her underestimating you,” clarified Midnight, “It’s one thing to face a challenge with the confidence that you can succeed. It’s another to assume you will be triumphant because you believe your challenge won’t be a challenge at all.

“Her arrogance will blind her, make her careless, give you the edge you need to knock her off her perch and show her how wrong she really is about you.”

Marcus simply looked down at the plate in front of him as he contemplated Midnight’s words. If Faerie underestimating him was his advantage, then the best course of action would be to find a way to learn Mana Wielding as fast as possible while also mastering the Space Stone at the same time.

“You, on the other hoof,” Midnight picked up a cookie with his bare hoof, examining it as though it were a relic of a bygone era, “will face her with the understanding that however prepared you may be once you do, you know that ultimately she is your superior in power, skill, and experience.

“You are taking Faerie Tail seriously, and she is foolishly denying you the same courtesy. I cannot say with absolute certainty that you can defeat her in your duel. But I will do everything I can to prepare you. Do you understand?”

“Thank you, Midnight… I think I know what I need to do now. This is going to make things so much harder for me… but I think I need to learn how to use Space Stone while also learning the basics of mana wielding.”

“The Space Stone is another matter,” Midnight shook his head, “I studied it for years, and only managed to learn what amount to parlor tricks compared to what one could truly do with it.

“As an alicorn, you should have a greater ability to wield the Space Stone, but trust me, Coal. In mastering the basics of Mana Wielding first, you will find learning to command the powers of Space a greater yet fulfilling challenge. If you tried it now, all you’d do is teleport yourself to the ends of the earth, if you were lucky…”

“Hey, I’ve managed to be able to open portals from one place to another with just visualizing it!”

“Hold on… do you mean you portaled to a place you could visualize in your mind, or only to someplace you could actually see?”

“I pictured it in my mind, granted the portals were the size of my hoof, but I got it down. As long as I remember the place exactly,”

“...you were able to traverse a portal the size of your hoof?!” Midnight looked skeptical. “Either you’re putting me on, or else that really hurt or was very uncomfortable.”

“I started small… Like you told me to!”

“Okay, okay, um…” Midnight gave it a thought. “Well, making small portals can be useful too, like making windows. What else were you able to do?”

“Aside from that… Not too much aside from channeling the energy of the stone throughout my body. Well my point is, I can do more!” Marcus said confidently.

Midnight considered Marcus’s words, evidently intrigued by them. Marcus watched as the dragon-in-pony form paced back and forth a few times before taking a deep breath. He faced his student and responded, “There are yet a few more things I must teach you, and after you’ve got the hang of them, then I will bring out the Space Stone… and we’ll see what you can really do with it.”

Marcus sighed inwardly, but had a feeling this was the best he was going to get, and so asked, “Alright, what next?”

“Thus far, I’ve been teaching you how to focus your mana internally,” Midnight answered before smirking, “Now? It’s time you learn to focus your mana externally.”

“Externally…? I’m not going to like it, am I?” Marcus didn’t understand.

“Your next assignment… is to learn the Mana Shield, so that you can master Arcane Armor,” declared Midnight as he was suddenly surrounded in a bubble of his turquoise mana.

“That’s two things,” Marcus pointed out in a deadpan.

“The Mana Shield is a basic yet necessary skill, especially for what you must learn next,” Midnight explained, and Marcus watched in confused awe as the bubble of mana surrounding Midnight enclosed, shrinking inwards around him.

For a moment, Marcus thought Midnight was about to squeeze himself inside his own bubble, but then… the bubble, instead of squeezing and contracting Midnight, it contorted and reshaped itself to fit onto Midnight instead. Marcus was puzzled yet found this strangely appealing, as the mana that was previously a bubble now appeared to be cloaking Midnight as though it were a second skin. Then his whole form shimmered, and the mana seemed to vanish, before Midnight gave him a sneaky smile and pointed to his cheek, saying, “Punch me in the face.”

“Eh?” uttered Marcus, completely baffled by what his mentor had just said.

*CRASH*

“What!?” Fluttershy shouted in disbelief of what she had just heard, her tea set that she had in hoof spilling and shattering all over the ground. “Coal will not be doing that! He’s already done enough for today and you’ve already hit him in the head enough! You can continue tomorrow!”

Midnight gave the yellow pegasus a dismissive look, before returning his gaze to Marcus, “I told you she’d be a distraction… deal with her. I will allow nothing to interfere with your training.”

Midnight returned to the table where he’d been eating those cookies, and waited, while Marcus looked over to Fluttershy and sighed from the very Mom-like look she had. He had a choice to make and he knew what the obvious choice was.

“No need for that Midnight… You can just return the Space Stone to me and leave. I made a promise to Fluttershy and I made it clear to you that I wasn’t going to tolerate you being rude to her. If I had to choose between losing the Infinity Stone to Faerie Tail and pushing Fluttershy away for the sake of my training, I’d choose losing the Space Stone a thousand times over.” Marcus stated clearly, before bracing himself.

He did not expect for Midnight to groan and tilt his head back tiresomely, and say, “I meant, talk to her! Help her understand why this is important, and if she truly cares about you she will support your training and help rather than hinder. So dramatic…”

“She does know, and a few days ago, we made a promise to each other. I wouldn’t worry her and she’d make sure I wouldn’t push myself too hard. If she says that’s enough… Then I’m with her… Instead of begging me to talk to her, you could trytalking to her. I think you’ll be surprised by how understanding she is.”

Midnight gave Marcus an unreadable look before looking back towards Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus couldn’t hold back a tiny ‘eep’ from his eyes, and yet she held firm. The sight of her actually gave Midnight pause, a nostalgic one. His eyes drifted downwards, and in that moment Fluttershy couldn’t help but see something in the sapphire stallion.

An old wound, the kind of which hurt deeply and profoundly.

Taking a deep breath, Midnight spoke gently and respectfully, “Miss Fluttershy… I understand and even respect your concern and care for Coal. It… gladdens me to know he has a friend like you in this world. I don’t know what you think of me… but do not be so obstinate in thinking you’re the only one here who cares about him.

“My training for Coal is not easy, and there will be times it’s hard and unpleasant. But it comes from a place that cares about him, believes in him, and I have given him my word that I would prepare him to the best of my ability for what he must face. I know you want him to be safe, that you don’t want for him to get hurt… but he needs this. He needs the knowledge and the skills I am imparting to him, so he will have the chance he needs to overcome whatever his future may hold. So please, Miss Fluttershy, for Coal’s sake… don’t worry about him. Believe in him. And trust that I have his best interests at heart.”

Fluttershy’s eyebrows furrowed as she took a moment to think about Midnight’s words. He sounded genuine, almost desperate, and despite how difficult it was to see Coal hurt himself or seeing him hurt others, she knew he needed this after everything he told her. The dragon in disguise didn’t seem like a bad pony, if only a little rude at times.

“Okay… I-I’ll trust you… a-and try to be understanding of your methods… O-O-only on o-one condition though!” Fluttershy stuttered, realizing that there was somepony that could help out.

“*Sigh* And that is…?”

“There’s somepony I want to bring to make sure this doesn’t get out of hoof. She’s one of my best friends and is Coal’s magic teacher, Twilight Sparkle,” Fluttershy said cheerfully, completely flooring both stallions as both Midnight’s and Marcus' eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

“H-Huh?” was all Midnight could utter.

“Would you excuse us for a moment? Thanks.” Marcus said, pulling the yellow pegasus away from his mentor who stood in what he could describe as a total stupor.

“Fluttershy… I don’t think that will be a good idea.” Marcus whispered to her.

“How come? She’s a great teacher and she can make sure that things don’t get out of hoof with these lessons. You also told me that you were learning from her right?” Fluttershy asked, her head tilting to the side in confusion.

“I know, but-I This- I Grr!” Marcus tried to form words as best he could to explain the situation to her without coming off as rude and saying that he didn’t want two “control freaks” involved with his lessons. Two control freaks with very different and annoying teaching methods. “I just… don’t think Midnight would get along with the Princess and, honestly?He’s barely tolerating you being involved.

“Well to be honest, I think he’d get along with her… and after talking with him, I think he’s a little lonely and I think it would be great to have her here. I don’t want you pushing yourself and I know from the looks of it, that both you, one or the other will push it too far and I don’t want that.” Fluttershy explained.

“But-”

“Coal, I may be scared and shy at times and I may let ponies at times walk all over me, but I care about my friends and that includes you. I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer this time!”

“Geez…” Marcus muttered under his breath as he looked directly at Fluttershy’s eyes and he knew at that moment he couldn’t argue with her. “Alright… let’s get Princess Twilight.”

“You should just call her Twilight, she doesn’t really like being called Princess.”

“Maybe… Just doesn’t feel right to call her anything else though.” He said, before turning his head towards his mentor. “Hey, Midnight, I think we should continue this tomorrow… When Twilight gets involved.”

Midnight looked anxious even as he stood still as a statue. But his heart thumped in his chest, with that same anxiety, along with… a hopeful giddiness? The thumping softened, becoming a flutter, yet it felt no less intense, and he gulped, before saying, “We’re done for today. We’ll resume where we left off tomorrow.”

“Wait, why so suddenly? You were literally arguing-” Marcus tried to say.

Only for Midnight’s being to burst in blazing mana as he rose up, returning to his dragon form, and Fluttershy eep’d yet again, hiding behind Marcus, as the dragon gazed at them, saying, “Invite the princess if you must. But we will pick up where we left off tomorrow. This lesson is non-negotiable.”

Then, with a beat of his wings that felt like the gale of a storm, the dragon took flight and vanished over the treeline.

“Well, how do ya like that, not so much as a see-ya-later,” Marcus huffed while Fluttershy had a different impression.

Up until Midnight turned back into a dragon, Fluttershy had picked up on his behavior, which was a tad puzzling at first. But then she wondered, Does he… like Twilight?

Day 4

“This is truly fascinating,” Twilight said aloud, as she levitated a bag of books, papers, writing utensils, her typical go-to bag when it came to studying of any kind.

As she arrived in the meadow beside Fluttershy’s home, Twilight regarded Marcus with a scholarly giddiness, “To think you’re being mentored by a dragon in an obscure art of magic that I’ve only heard a few references to! Y’know, Coal, I would gladly have continued instructing you.”

“And I know I said I’d try harder to learn from you… Just so much has happened that I may have forgotten about it. You did have your ways of teaching… I wasn’t as enthusiastic about it, and Midnight has his way which I do feel like I’m starting to get a grasp on”

“Now, Coal, we agreed on this,” Fluttershy reminded him gently, “and Twilight only wishes to help and make sure things don’t go too far.”

“That being said, what exactly are you training under this Midnight for, Coal?” asked Twilight, curious.

“O-Oh, well it’s a long story… but I am… preparing for a duel,” Coal replied nervously.

“A duel? With who?” Twilight was suddenly concerned. “And why?”

“Again, a long story, and since Midnight isn’t here yet… I guess I should explain what happened a few weeks ago.” Marcus began to explain his situation involving his encounter with Faerie Tail and how she was trying to take the Space Stone from him. He made sure to keep his past and the purpose of why he’s looking for them hidden for the time being. He couldn’t tell them even if he wanted to.

“...I… don’t know what to think or say or…!” Twilight was flabbergasted by all Marcus had explained to her, “These… stones? And-and… this Faerie Tail? Coal Obsidian, what are you involved in?!”

“I wish I could explain everything, but… I physically can’t explain… Every time I try something prevents me from telling anyone. I know my word may not mean much, but you’ll have to trust me when I say that I’m not doing this to cause trouble or anything like that,” he answered as sincerely as he could.

Twilight groaned, able to tell Coal spoke sincerely, yet her logic-based mind, both a blessing and a curse, was firing synapses of thoughts, before she said aloud, “I believe you mean well, Coal, but that’s not good enough! I need to know-”

“Leave him alone.” Everyone startled and looked to the trees, seeing the paunchy unicorn emerge, looking shy, his gaze downwards, as he firmly stated, “This is Coal Obsidian’s destiny to face. You’re only here as a courtesy to Fluttershy.”

“Excuse me?!” Twilight looked like she’d been slapped in the face, but then Midnight approached her.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle, I am Midnight Blaze,” Midnight gave a respectful bow and dared to meet Twilight’s eyes with his own.

Almost instantly, there was a… something. He looked into her eyes, like amethysts, sparkling with brilliance and beauty. She looked into his, like turquoise-colored flames, blazing with gentle ferocity.

Whatever rancor Twilight had floated away without her even noticing while the apprehension Midnight felt found itself at ease, as the two unicorns gazed at each other with a strange euphoria, as though both had found something they’d been looking for without even knowing it.

Then, seizing the moment before he lost whatever nerve he had left, Midnight reached out and took Twilight’s hoof into his own, and spoke with profound sincerity, “I have long admired your dedication to learning… and you, even before you earned your wings.”

He then gave her hoof a kiss and stepped away while giving her yet another bow.

“... ” Marcus and Fluttershy both shared a look that said the same thing.

Didn’t see that coming.

Deciding to move things along, Marcus cleared his throat, “Uh, Midnight?”

The unicorn and alicorn snapped out of it and looked over to him, as he said, “The lesson?”

“Oh, yes, ahem,” Midnight cleared his throat and waved Marcus to follow.

Once they stood in the middle of the meadow, Midnight did as he did yesterday, and projected a bubble of turquoise mana around himself.

“As I said yesterday, now that you’re getting a handle on focusing your mana inwardly, you must now learn to focus it externally,” Midnight began, “and the Mana Shield will be your next-”

A hoof raised, not from Marcus, but from Twilight, and Midnight said, with just a touch of irritation, “Yes?”

“This Mana Shield you want to teach Coal, what sort of spell is it?” Twilight asked, levitating a notebook and pencil, “I recall Fluttershy and Coal mentioning this… Mana Wielding? But I don’t think I ever studied it.”

“Coal is my student, not you,” Midnight said a tad edgy but still respectfully, “and I have a limited amount of time to mentor him, Princess. So please, try to keep the interruptions at a minimum, if at all…?”

Twilight pinched her face just a bit, but sighed while waving him to continue.

“The Mana Shield is a basic skill in Mana Wielding yet an essential one,” Midnight went on, “It is taking your mana and projecting it outwards in the form of a bubble that serves as a defensive shield.

“Truth be told, mastering it is relatively easy. It’s the next defensive skill that requires more time and effort to get down to pat.”

“Ooh, ooh! What exactly can the Mana Shield work against?” Twilight interrupted yet again, “Is it purely a physical shield to repel physical assault? Can it defend against other magicks used against you? What’s the energy output needed to maintain it and what other factors-”

I knew inviting her here was a bad idea! If she keeps this up, I wouldn’t be surprised if Midnight blows a fuse. Marcus inwardly thought as he tried not to say anything. Maybe Midnight would say something or answer her questions as it does pertain to what he was teaching him.

“Twilight Sparkle…!” Midnight raised his voice at her, “You are only here as a courtesy! I do not appreciate these constant interruptions, however curious you are!

“It was endearing in school, but here - !!!”

Midnight suddenly covered his mouth, but Twilight had picked up on it.

“At school…? Are you talking about Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” asked Twilight.

“Er- I… never mind, I need to focus on my student!” Midnight responded, sounding a little defensive and looking away from Twilight before regarding the dark gray alicorn. Even so, his little slip did not fully escape Twilight’s notice, as she subtly scrutinized the sapphire stallion… and couldn’t help suddenly finding him a little familiar.

“So, for today, Coal,” Midnight regarded his student, “focus on channeling your mana throughout your body. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. Like I said before, it’s like building up your magic muscles.”

“Alright… shouldn’t be too hard…” Marcus shrugged, remembering how he was able to channel the energy of the infinity stone, it wasn’t difficult for him to tap into the well of energy within him. All he had to do was remember what Midnight had told him before and replicate that same feeling but from within himself this time.

Closing his eyes, he began to see within himself the same purple sphere of mana he had seen within himself before and he started tapping within that energy.

“Very good. Maintain that Mana Shield for as long as you can, and when you can’t any longer, you’re done for the day,” Midnight instructed, “we’ll finish this lesson tomorrow.”

He looked at Fluttershy and Twilight, giving a polite nod, “Ladies,” before walking away into the woods.

“Now, hold on! I still want to talk to you about this Mana wiel-” Twilight rushed to catch up with Midnight, but found he’d disappeared after stepping behind a tree. “How did he do that?!”

“Yeah… He can… be a bit of an ass… but he’s a good guy.” Marcus groaned, trying to maintain the shield like he was told to. “I didn’t think… you two knew each other?”

Twilight sighed, finding the whole thing a strange experience aggravating yet intriguing. Thinking back, she could actually recall a colt a little older than herself in her early school days at Celestia’s. A colt who matched Midnight’s appearance, albeit not as pudgy.

And yet… Twilight felt a flush of warmth on her face, he is kinda cute! And he’s learned about an obscure form of magic I know little about!

Twilight looked to the woods again, and found herself looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 5

The next day, Marcus decided that waiting for the dragon and princess to arrive at the usual time wasn’t going to be enough. After thinking long and hard about what Midnight had told him about Faerie Tail and what he had gone through, he knew then that training wasn’t going to be enough to defeat her. Pulling out his phone, he saw that the time was 4:00 am.

Turning on the lamp beside his bed with a flicker of magic emanating from his horn, he quietly reached under his bed and pulled out a small brown notebook and a black pen attached to the side of it.

Opening the book, it had the title “Personal Training” written on the top of the first page. Flipping through the pages until he reached a blank page. “Alright… Seeing as I have two hours before they arrive, that gives me enough time to work on strengthening my wings for an hour and another to practice with the space stone.”

Quietly, closing the book and slipping it back under the bed, he slowly began to tiptoe out of his room and down the hall. The sound of creaking floorboards with every step he took always made Marcus worry he’d wake Fluttershy up. The last thing he needed was for the pegasus to be worried about him.

It took him a few minutes for him to make it downstairs and out the door.

“Let’s do this…” He said to himself, making his way to the open field as he started flapping his wings.

“Ergh…!” Marcus moaned, facedown in the grass after his latest attempt to fly got him only a foot off the ground. Or was it a hoof now?

Lifting his head, Marcus spat out a bit of dirt that’d gotten into his mouth and blegh’d at the taste with a frustrated sigh before turning over to flop onto his back. He stared up at the early morning sky, not dark but not yet bright since the sun had yet to actually rise, though its aurora was not far off, given the color above.

Why is this so dang hard…?! Marcus thought in weary frustration. I got wings, so why can’t I get into their air…?

Slamming his hoof to the ground in anger, he stood up immediately, stretching his wings out wide, and started flapping again. Moving them as fast as he could, he felt himself start to lift off the ground again, but he wasn’t able to get much higher than a foot off the ground. His face started turning red as he flapped as hard as he could, but he ended up falling once again to the ground, face straight to the ground.

“Oww… Hello ground… my old friend… it’s been a while,” Marcus mumbled to himself in utter annoyance.

“Pfft… Oh! S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh…” Marcus heard and he immediately jumped to his hooves and whipped his head around to catch sight of Fluttershy smiling shyly. She had a blanket draped around her small frame.

“F-Fluttershy! S-Shouldn’t you be asleep right now?!”

“W-Well, I-I should be asking you the s-same thing,” she responded with a flustered look of disapproval.

“I-Well- I just figured I’d… try to get some exercise you know? Strengthen my wings so that I can fly. I… I haven’t been able to fly yet,” Marcus explained hesitantly, as he scratched the back of his head with his hoof. He wasn’t sure why, but every time she gave him that look, it always made him feel guilty.

“Coal… I know that I agreed to let Midnight and Twilight help you with your training, but I also promised that I wouldn’t let you push yourself too far… It’s been five days and I know you're eager… but you… I don’t know… I’m worried you're going to hurt yourself,” Fluttershy choked, feeling herself get emotional whenever she saw him getting hurt. “I don’t know how to explain this, and I know it’s crazy since we only spent a little time together, but aside from my friends. You were the only stallion in my life to… have accepted me for who I am and not judge me because of my… shyness.”

“You were the one who saved my life Fluttershy, I was just a stranger who just so happened to stumble into your backyard by chance. Who knows where I would be right now or if I’d even still be here,” Smiling as he spoke. Memories flashed through his mind of waking up in an unfamiliar alien planet full of ponies, magic, monsters, and gods.

Everything he learned about this world was all because of her, and Marcus couldn’t help but be grateful for all that she has done. He tried not to think about the ‘what ifs’ or different paths as much before since he was going day by day. Not really caring about what the days could bring aside from him finding the Infinity Stones, but for the past month now, he came to really love this town, despite the townsfolk hating him and being banned. He managed to make so many friends in less than a month than he did back in his world.

He wouldn’t admit this to anyone and would prefer to take it to his grave, but he could tell that his mind and body were adapting to this world and he’d started liking everything. Plants and vegetables were almost as good as meat from back home, mares started to look sexy in his eyes (especially Pinkie) and a part of him wanted to give in, but his pride as a former human stubbornly held him back.

Despite things changing for him, he still longed for his home, to see his family, to enjoy the foods from his favorite restaurants, and to be in his family’s arms one more time at the very least and talk to them for a final time.

“Fluttershy, I want to thank you… For helping me on that day,”

“Coal, you don’t need to thank me, i-it was the least I could do,” Fluttershy turned her gaze away as she tried to hide her beet red face from the stallion. “Um, I-If you want… I can help you learn how to fly? I-If that’s okay with you, C-Coal?”

“Really? Yes please!”

“O-Okay, b-b-but y-you need to get some rest! When Midnight gets here, I’ll tell him that you needed to rest for a little longer.”

“Fluttershy you don’t-”

“I’ll… I’ll show you how to fly after Midnight’s lesson… but please… please get some rest? At least for another two hours.” Fluttershy begged the alicorn and before he could argue, her lip started to quiver as her eyes began to grow and get teary. Something that Pinkie Pie often used to get him to listen to her.

His one weakness…

“Damn puppy eyes…” He mumbled, before letting out a loud exasperated groan. “Fine! I’ll… Go to sleep, but only for two hours. Not a minute longer!”

Smiling widely, Fluttershy immediately ran up to him and pulled him into a tight hug, the blanket she had on falling off her.

I never noticed, but she smells really nice- NO! NOO! Bad brain, BAD! NO! YOU ARE A GODDAMN HUMAN! Marcus thought as he tried to forget, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment.

He’s really big and warm, even if he smells sweaty right now. Fluttershy thought.

Three Hours Later

“Concentrate, maintain focus, but don’t forget to keep your peace of mind,” Midnight instructed, watching his pupil sit while surrounded by his own Mana Shield of translucent purple.

Fluttershy and Twilight watched (silently, much to the stallions’ appreciation), as Midnight finally oversaw the next crucial aspect of his student’s training. Raising a Mana Shield, it turned out, was rather simple. All Marcus had had to do, was to imagine the shield and project his mana outwards, forming the bubble of mana around himself.

Midnight had explained the Mana Shield was a simple yet essential basic application of Mana Wielding. The Shield was akin to actually holding a physical shield, but in this case, Marcus had to focus on maintaining it while continuing to interact with his surroundings. More than once, the shield had popped like a bubble from his losing concentration, and every time Midnight had struck the shield Marcus felt it. Not so much physically but more of an awareness of the Shield being touched or exerted by outside force.

He’d then been subject to extreme force when Midnight, as a dragon, slammed his tail against Marcus’s Shield, which had sent the alicorn hurtling through the air and rolling around in his shield like a ball until he was so rattled he lost focus yet again.

Then, Midnight had instructed Marcus to maintain the Shield for as long as he could. To their amazement, Marcus had kept his Shield erect for nearly three hours straight until he gave out, feeling drained and mentally tired from the whole thing. Midnight had commended Marcus for such a feat, saying he himself could only maintain his own Shield for little over an hour.

Having finally satisfied Midnight’s prerequisites, they had moved on. Now, they were training for Marcus to master the Arcane Armor skill.

For this, Marcus had to project his Shield… and then focus on enclosing it onto his body, forming it to his shape, until it was like a second skin.

“Arcane Armor is a difficult skill, but once you master it it can save your life in the thick of battle,” Midnight had explained. “It works something like a suit of armor, a layer of protection that can turn what might have been a fatal blow into a survivable injury. You still feel the pain and experience the injury, but not as much as you would have without the Arcane Armor protecting you.

“Be warned however, that the Arcane Armor can only protect you to a point. It doesn’t make you invulnerable and some attacks or forces can inflict upon you a fatal injury no matter how strong your Arcane Armor is. This technique does indeed use up your mana, and once you’ve been exhausted of your mana it will fail, the Armor breaking and leaving you completely vulnerable.”

“...urgh, why’s it so hard to do?” Marcus furrowed his brows as he continued trying to focus his Shield to conform onto his body.

“It’s a skill, and any skill takes time and effort to master it,” explained Midnight, “it will take time, but soon enough it will become second nature, and you’ll be able to use Arcane Armor as easily as you breathe.”

“If I may…” Marcus kept his focus, but took notice of Twilight’s approach, “I know, I’m not supposed to interrupt. But, if you don’t mind, I’d like to offer my perspective?”

Marcus looked to Midnight, who shrugged, and both stallions waited for Twilight to start, and she took a breath, “This… Mana Wielding art. I must say, from what I’ve seen, it’s similar to magic and yet different in its execution.

“It seems more… instinctive, less about what you know and more about what you feel. Which, in all honesty, baffles me. The Mana Shield is very similar to the basic Shield Spell, and the Mana Sensing you talked about before, reminds me of Dowsing, magically detecting something. So, perhaps… in order to better understand it, you need some kind of… metaphor?”

Midnight widened his eyes, “Yes…! Yes, that’s exactly it! Like… I always imagined a spell to make something grow or shrink was like inflating or deflating a balloon, but instead of air you add or release energy.”

“So then… I gotta… think of all this with some weird metaphor?” Marcus considered it, and it actually made sense in a vague way that somehow struck a chord.

“Yes! One metaphor I use is thinking of certain spells as tying a knot,” added Twilight, “a knot can be used to secure something, so imagining a knot while casting the right kind of spell helps to facilitate the spell’s integrity and make it more lasting.”

“So I just need to think of a metaphor? Um… Let me think for a moment,” Marcus said, his face scrunching up as he tapped his chin, causing the pegasus to giggle quietly.

What’s a good metaphor… I shouldn’t overcomplicate this… Maybe I can picture it kinda like… A fireman’s uniform! Just like my dad’s! It helped protect him from fire and debris! Plus it wasn’t super heavy! So if I just…

Taking a deep breath, Marcus began to envision himself in his own firefighter’s uniform like he had always dreamed. Feeling this aura wrap around him in a warm embrace of sorts. It was different from anything he’s tried so far, but Marcus felt something change, a sensation of… warmth, comfort, a feeling that he was safe.

Midnight, Twilight, and even Fluttershy looked on in awe, as the Mana Shield’s energy, after it had enclosed to fit over Marcus’ whole shape, gave a prismatic shimmer before it dulled out, from the front to the end in a ripple of purple, and then seemingly disappeared.

Midnight smirked, and thought, Excellent!

Day 8

It was a cold breezy morning as Marcus sat down on his haunches, his eyes closed as his hoof gently pressed against the Infinity Stone within his metal brace. He could hear the quiet hum emitting from it as the energy within began to slowly wrap around his hoof. With a swift motion of his other hoof, he clapped his hooves together, as the energy began to spread to the other.

Opening his eyes, his gaze fell upon a broken log he had scavenged the day before and immediately he clapped his hooves together, and in a blink of an eye, Marcus and the log vanished and reappeared in the middle of the field, his face getting bashed by the log.

“FFFFFFUCK!” Marcus yelled, clasping his nose with his hoof as he fell on his back. “Damn… I thought I had it.”

“Sigh… hold on, lemme help you,” Midnight said wearily as he held his hoof just an inch above Marcus’ aching snoot, which had a trickle of blood flowing out. Midnight’s hoof gave off a gentle glow of turquoise, the glow spreading over to Marcus’ nose, and almost immediately the alicorn felt his agony abate.

After a few minutes, the pain was mostly gone and the blood had stopped flowing by the time Midnight stopped. There was still a noticeable ache but Marcus breathed a relieved inhale through his nose as he sat up, and then gave midnight a grateful smile, “Thanks…”

“I agreed to let you start training with the Space Stone because you promised you’d heed my instruction,” Midnight stated with a stony reminder. “The reason I let you wing it was to see what you’d do and how you might conjecture what you did wrong. Care to share?”

“I was trying to swap places with the log, without exerting too much energy. I was applying everything you told me before hand-”

“Hoof,” Fluttershy chimed in.

“Gesundheit, but I feel like I’m missing something,” Marcus mumbled, tapping his chin as he began to get lost in thought.

“You are. You tried to apply what I taught you to wielding the Space Stone,” Midnight clarified as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Marcus gave Midnight an indignant and confused look, but Midnight held up his hoof, prompting the alicorn to hold his tongue so his mentor could say, “Wielding Mana and wielding the Space Stone are two very different things. Granted there are a few things they have in common but I emphasize ‘few’.

“To wield your mana is to master your own power, but this is an Infinity Stone! A physical representation of a fundamental element of the universe itself!”

Narrowing his eyes, Marcus immediately stood up and began to channel the stone’s power to his hooves again. Taking a deep breath, he started channeling a little bit of energy to the log and a mischievous idea came to mind. Immediately clapping his hooves together, Midnight suddenly vanished from his side and the log had appeared in his place, while the dragon in pony form had fallen to the ground where the log was before.

“Pfft… HAHAHA! It worked!”

“Rgh, haha, very funny,” Midnight grumbled as he stood up and brushed himself off, before asking, “Now, what did you do differently this time?”

“Well what I did this time was channel some energy into the log this time, sharing a sorta link with it of sorts,” Marcus explained, wiping away a tear.

“Was it a deliberate act, or was it something that just came to you?” inquired Midnight with a raised brow.

“Kinda just came to me at the moment, but this was something I’ve been wanting to try for the longest time. Swapping places with objects and ponies would make it tricky for Faerie, I figured.”

Midnight nodded with approval, “You were thinking about it too hard, and allowing your anxiety to muddy your intentions and will. In order to wield the powers of an Infinity Stone, you must have some level of affinity for it, but you also need to be able to let the power flow through you without forcing it.

“Space is both nothing and everything… it spans the universe and yet it can fit even between the molecules that form the structure of physical matter. To truly tap into and wield the Space Stone, you need to possess a profound understanding of Space itself. When you can do that, you will wield the Space Stone in ways I never could. Here, let me show you a power I managed to master with it.”

Midnight held out his hoof for the stone, and Marcus hesitated only a moment before hooving it over. Midnight held the stone with care and respect, almost as though he were handling a priceless artifact more fragile than glass.

He looked over to the patio furniture Fluttershy had for enjoying tea and snacks outside her house, and his horn lit up to levitate them over. When they were only a pony-length away from himself, Midnight then levitated the Space Stone in his magic, and Marcus sensed a connection bridge the stone with the unicorn/dragon, and its power released a gentle vaporous energy that flowed over and enshrouded Midnight.

He then gave Marcus a playful wink… and then walked right through the patio table and chair! The points of contact created glows wherever the table and chair stuck out from how Midnight stood in them, as he moved through them as though they weren’t there at all. Like he had become a ghost.

Midnight then stepped out from the patio furniture and released the connection he had with the stone, the energy dissipating, before he levitated the Space Stone back to a peculiar alicorn who had his jaw meet the floor.

“How did you do that?!” Marcus was definitely intrigued.

“The Space Stone can potentially enable one to master the powers of Space in many ways, some are obvious, others more subtle,” Midnight explained, “What I just did, was move through, what you could call, alternate space, enabling me to move through the physical matter of this dimension while maintaining my presence in it even though I no longer physically exist in it because I displaced myself onto an alternate space. Does that make sense?”

“It does…” Marcus replied, already thinking how useful this power could be and how it might be implemented into his strategy for facing Faerie Tail.

“Um… Excuse me, Midnight, maybe now would be a good time to take a break, I have some errands and Twilight wanted some help. Do you think you could join me?” Fluttershy asked, putting on her saddle bags.

“Oh… uh… Twilight… I mean… Me, you, and… and her?” Midnight stuttered, his face starting to turn red.

“Coal, would you like to join us?” Fluttershy asked.

“Fluttershy… you know I can’t go back into town…”

“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean-”

“I know, and it’s okay… I’m kinda over it now,” Marcus chuckled. “You two go help Twilight, I’ll stay here and try to practice some more aaaaand… try to make sure the big guy doesn’t completely shut down around the princess… Or do and make sure to take plenty of pictures, will be great for blackmail down the road.”

“That isn’t very nice, Coal,” Fluttershy stated firmly, her eyes narrowing at the stallion starting to laugh.

“I’m just kidding… Mmm… mostly,” Marcus then tapped his mentor on the shoulder. “Hey, you still alive Midnight?”

“Uh…” Midnight responded dumbly for a moment before shaking his head to gather his wits. Clearing his throat, he gave his pupil a piercing look, “Continue to channel the Space Stone so you can become acclimated to its energies. That should help facilitate your ability to wield it, but do nothing else! I’m serious, Coal Obsidian…”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just try not to embarrass yourself! I seriously don’t understand why you keep shutting down when it comes to the princess!” Marcus shouted as the two headed off, leaving the alicorn alone.

“Pfft… Yeah like he’s gonna know what I’m going to be doing,”

Rolling his eyes, Marcus continued to practice swapping places with objects around the patio, while also being respectful of Fluttershy’s things.

*SNAP*

Marcus’s ears perked at the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping, but he made no sudden movements. He stopped using the Space Stone, and instead just casually moved around the yard in a calm manner. As he turned, he made a passive glance in the direction he’d heard the snap come from, and saw nothing but tall grass and shrubbery lining the foot of the nearby woods.

Remembering what he’d learned, Marcus focused his mana, and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, and his vision changed. The rest of the world was opaque and slightly blurry, but everything else, everything alive, gave off auras of color.

The plants were obvious yet subtle in their lack of independent action while the birds and critters nearby were more distinctive in how they moved, breathed, and interacted with their surroundings. But there was one aura of color that was trying to hold still, green with a tinge of indigo and blue, shaking a little as it hid in the tall grass.

“Hey, who’s there?” Marcus asked. “I can tell you are there!”

The presence kept their silence, but they started to shake, indicating they were nervous.

Hmm… From the mana I was able to see, it’s probably just a kid, or a small bear again… Don’t want to make that mistake again.

“You don’t have to be afraid, I’m not going to do anything to you, but this isn’t a place to play, kid,” Marcus spoke up, a lot clearer than before.

Through his mana-enhanced vision, Marcus noticed a change in the presence’s energy. A seething ripple of red that preceded a build-up of energy… before a bolt of green mana shot out from the underbrush and nearly struck Marcus in the face. He yipe’d as he dove for cover and then heard the sound of little hoofsteps running away, and he sprang to his own, growling, “Oh, hell no!”

He immediately gave chase and charged into the woods, his vision allowing him to keep a visual on the presence even as they had a head start.

Hmm… Maybe now’s a good time to use the Space Stone. Marcus thought, as he activated the infinity stone and channeled its infinite power into his hooves, and with a quick flicker of energy tossed towards a large tree trunk, he immediately clapped his hooves together and the tree trunk vanished, leaving what appeared to be a unicorn colt with indigo coat, a brandeis blue mane, and green eyes.

“What th- A kid?! Okay, what is your problem?” Marcus flabbergasted, “What’s the big idea of shooting me with magic?!”

The little unicorn looked scared but also aggravated, giving the alicorn a defiant look while keeping his mouth shut.

This is probably a dirty move to play on a kid, but he should really learn not to lash out at strangers when they haven’t done anything. Maybe it’ll teach him a lesson as well.

“You do know what you did can get you into prison right? Assault isn’t a laughing matter, kid,”

The colt responded by conjuring what was clearly a Mana Shield, a bubble of green mana surrounding him, as he started to back away while keeping his glare on the alicorn.

Giving a deadpan stare, Marcus brought his hooves up and clapped them together, bringing the colt beside him once more. The colt looked around in alarm, realizing what had just happened, but he managed to keep his shield up.

“Yeeeah… you can keep trying to run, but I got you… the only way you’re getting out of here is by answering my questions,” Marcus explained, glaring at the colt who continued to give him the stink eye. Rolling his eyes, Marcus sat down on a tree stump nearby. “Well? This is the part where you tell me who you are, kid?”

“...I’m… not supposed to talk to strangers…” the colt finally responded, sounding reluctant to say even that much. He continued to maintain his shield, unwilling to let go of that last line of defense.

“Yeah, I get that kid, but you did literally fire a laser at my face not that long ago, which is a lot worse, you know?” Marcus replied. “Well anyways, didn't your parents ever tell you it’s creepy to spy on strangers?”

The colt’s gaze lowered, looking a smidge guilty yet retaining a defensive vibe, before admitting, “You… you have a weird energy. I wanted to see what it was…”

“Well, weird is kinda my thing at this point… Anyways, do your parents know you're out here?”

“Huh! I don’t have parents and I don’t need them! Not like she cares how I feel or what I think…” the colt harrumph’d, sounding petulant, yet Marcus could tell there was something going on there.

Scratching the back of his head, Marcus couldn’t help but let out a sigh as he recalled many times he ‘attempted’ to run away from home because of some arguments he’s had with his own mother and immediately regretted it afterward.

“Alright kid, you have two choices… Your first choice is to go back to wherever it is you came from and I pretend that you’re a figment of my imagination and my sanity slowly slipping away. Or… you tell me what’s bothering you, and maybe I can give you some advice.”

“You don’t understand…” the colt said softly yet intensely, “you… you don’t get what it’s like!”

“I think I do… Cause I’ve been in you’re sh-hooves when I was your age, but probably for different reasons,” Marcus explained, genuinely smiling at the colt.

The colt noticed the smile and saw it was real. It was warm, sincere, and something he hadn’t expected. The defense he’d had up now had a chink, and the colt sulked a little as he sat down, and Marcus was honestly surprised when the Mana Shield faded away.

“Well… what’s eating ya, kid?”

“STOP CALLING ME ‘KID’!” The colt suddenly shouted, making Marcus flinch. He almost snapped back in response, but then he saw the colt’s eyes were tearing up, before they cracked with guilt, and the colt shrank back, almost as though he were expecting to get yelled at. Or hit.

“Well, what do you want me to call you then? Purple boy? Cause I can call you that if you want?” Marcus joked, trying to lighten the mood, as he could tell this lost colt was having a hard time.

Instead of getting riled up or answering, the colt started to heave, struggling in vain not to cry before the floodgates started to open.

“Woah! Hey hey! What’s with the waterworks?!” Marcus demanded, not sure what to do except pat the colt on the back. But the colt only started to openly sob, crying into his hooves as though he were afraid of something. Marcus didn’t really understand, but he knew this colt needed something more.

Some obscure instinct spurred him, as he gently sat down beside the colt and pulled him into a hug. The colt was startled and resisted at first. But then, in the alicorn’s embrace, the colt felt warm and safe, a feeling contrasting so confusingly with his emotional turmoil that he sobbed harder but returned the hug, as though he were clutching a lifeline, and Marcus gently held the colt, patting his back, softly saying “s’okay, s’okay…” for a long while before the colt’s crying finally began to calm down.

“Feel better?” Marcus said kindly as he loosened his hold of the colt, and the colt nodded while wiping his tears away, and after Marcus gently set the colt down, he just sat there with him, and waited.

“Twinken.” Marcus looked over to the colt, having waited maybe several minutes in silence, and the colt hesitantly peered up at the alicorn, “My name is Twinken.”

“Alright, Twinken, name’s Coal Obsidian… Think you’re good to tell me what’s bothering you now?”

The colt, Twinken, lowered his gaze, hesitating… before he finally said, “...I’m lonely. I don’t have any friends, and… my mom… she’s always away, busy, and makes me stay home by myself…”

“What about your dad? He’s around right?”

“...I don’t have one.”

Oh, shit.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring up… a sensitive topic, but have you talked to your mom? Told her how you felt, without the yelling and groaning, I mean?” He asked the young colt.

“She won’t listen!” Twinken teared up again, but he didn’t revert back into a sobbing mess. This time, he was frustrated, weary, sad. “I just wanna have a friend, someone to play with, someone to talk to, someone who… who isn’t my mom!”

“Well, I can’t exactly say I know what your mom is thinking, but for whatever reason, I’m sure she’s just doing this to keep you safe, but I do think you should genuinely talk to her. No yelling, no complaining, and I think she’ll listen.” Marcus suggested, before standing up. “For now, I’ll be your friend, or at least hear you out from time to time when I’m available. Can’t promise I’ll always be around though, so you gotta try to reach out to her and explain to her your true feelings.”

Twinken looked up to Marcus, looking hesitantly hopeful, “...you promise?”

“I’ll promise to listen whenever I can,” Marcus said. “For now, you should head back home. Last thing you want is for your mom to worry and start looking for you like a mad woman. Never underestimate a mother’s love, kid.”

Twinken angled his head in confusion. “What’s a woman?”

“Uh… Madmare… it’s a similar term to that back where I’m from, but don’t worry about that. I gotta head back, not sure if my mentor’s going to stay catatonic forever and will probably get pissed at me for slacking off. Have a safe journey back, Twinken, try not to worry your mom too much, she does care about you in her own way.”

Twinken regarded Marcus and considered his words. On some level, he knew they were true, and yet that truth conflicted with how things had been of late.

Sighing, he replied, “I’ll try…”

“Good, safe travels, kid, and don’t go shooting at strangers' faces! Faces don’t grow on trees, you know?” Marcus turned to leave and yelped when he felt a sudden sting to his rump. It didn’t really hurt, it was more the surprise that startled him, and he threw a stink eye at the colt, seeing the smarmy look on his face.

“I told you, don’t call me ‘kid’!” Twinken smirked before running off into the woods.

For a moment as he watched the colt go, reaching back to rub away the slight stinging sensation on his poor bottom, Marcus frowned in discontent… but then that frown pulled back into an amused smirk as he softly said, “Well played…”

As he made his way back, he was unaware of a pair of purple eyes watching him from the distance. The cloaked figure eagerly began to lick his lips.

“My, my, how unexpected… just as I’m about to hone in on one, I stumble across another. I’ll add you to my collection soon…

Chapter Sixteen- Stitches (Unedited)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Seventeen- Two Timelines (Unedited)

Chapter Seventeen- Two Timelines

It took a bit of trek through the forest, but Marcus & Faerie were getting closer to Fluttershy's cottage after their intensive fight with Shadow Whistler. Even though the two of them were in possession of both the Space & Time Stones, they still failed to capture him. Even though they had managed to trap him in a spacetime prison they had made together, he still managed to escape in the end, but they can at least say that they had managed to get some information from him.

“Kaisen… I think that’s the name I heard from that masked guy. Does that name mean anything to you?” Marcus asked, looking up at the mare of time that rested on his back as they continued down the road towards Fluttershy’s place. He honestly didn’t think she’d agree to him giving her a piggyback ride, but surprisingly, she seemed more friendly towards him… in an angry sorta way.

“I’m unfamiliar with that name… but those creatures made of tar and those tendrils that came out of Shadow Whistler, they reminded me of somepony, but… they should be dead. I saw to it myself,” Faerie answered, her eyes narrowing at the mere thought of whoever it was that she thought of. Marcus didn’t know and a part of him didn’t want to find out.

With a deep sigh, Marcus decided not to press the matter further, after all, he still needed to take her to see her son.

Once they made it out to the clearing, they saw Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy & Twinken sitting on the back porch, both Pinkie and Twinken getting bandages applied to them.

“MOM!!” Twinken jumped off the porch, not caring about the bandages, and hurried to embrace his mother, Faerie Tail sliding off Marcus’s back and meeting her son halfway, mother and son hugging with such tender relief, as Twinken began to tear up and say, “I- I’m sorry…! I didn’t mean to…”

“No, no, baby… I’m sorry,” Faerie Tail replied before gently pushing Twinken back so they could look into each other’s eyes. For a moment, there was nothing said, but as the mare and colt looked each other in the eye, Twinken saw guilt in his mother’s eyes like he’d never seen before.

Sure, he’d seen her look and sound guilty, but it was always drowned out by her insistence that she was right, that she had to do whatever she must to protect him. Now? There was none of that.

Faerie Tail teared up as well, “All I ever wanted was to keep you safe, Twinken… to keep you alive. But what’s the point of being alive if you’re not happy…? I’m so sorry, Twinken…”

“Mom, I…” Twinken steeled himself and gently said, “I can’t live like we have anymore. I know that there’s a buncha dangers out there, like that monster… and I kinda get why you’ve done what you did, to keep me safe. But yeah!

“Living without being happy isn’t living, it’s just existing. I want to go out and see new things, meet new ponies, make friends! How is that wrong?”

Faerie Tail felt her heart hurt, hearing her colt speak from his own, and she took a deep breath, before giving him a smile and ruffling his mane, “It’s not. I was wrong, Twinken… I should never have let my fear overcome my better judgment. I can’t stop you from living your life, nor should I ever have tried to keep you from the world. You need to see it for yourself! How else will you become the pony you are meant to be without experience to give you understanding…?”

“Oh, Mom!” Twinken hugged his mom again ,and Faerie Tail held her boy like she’d never let go.

“Looks like that wraps up this family matter,” Marcus said to himself, about to go walk up to both Pinkie & Fluttershy before he was suddenly tackled by a blur of pink and yellow as he fell to the ground. Looking up, he saw tears streaming down both Pinkie’s and Fluttershy’s faces as they gripped him tightly on his torso.

“COALY!/COAL!” Both mares shouted.

“I’m-I’m fine, girls… c-can you please get off me for a second… you’re crushing my ribs!” Marcus strained as he felt his face begin to turn bright red, but he wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or the pain of having his bones crushed under his two best friends.

“W-Why’d you do that!? You aren’t supposed to put yourself in danger! You promised me you wouldn’t get hurt! And I-I…” Pinkie sobbed, burying her face into his chest as she held on tighter.

“Y-You should have said something to me before Coal, I-I was so worried when Pinkie and the little colt came and told me about that- I just didn’t expect you to risk your life like that,” Fluttershy added, looking up at him as her eyes narrowed as tears kept forming in her eyes.

“I-I’m sorry… but I’m fine… just a few scrapes is all,” Marcus replied, wrapping his hooves around them as he slowly stroked both of their manes as he looked away from them, trying to get his blushing face under control.

“Not to ruin your romantic moment, but is it okay if I have a word with Coal Obsidian? I believe I promised him a conversation for finding my son,” Faerie asked, reminding Marcus of the significance of this information.

Both of the mares laying on top of the stallion immediately climbed off of him, their faces beet red as they wiped away the last of their tears. Getting to his hooves, Marcus dusted himself off while managing to get his embarrassment under control. It was still all new to him and despite living in this world for two months now, his walls were slowly crumbling down as he started seeing that his friends were looking more and more attractive each day.

He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last, but regardless he followed Faerie’s lead. “I-I shouldn’t be long… Keep this little punk out of trouble for me though, I really don’t feel like going back into the Everfree.

“Hey!” Twinken complained, folding his hooves as he pouted.

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on him,” Fluttershy replied, smiling as she ushered Twinken back to her cottage as Pinkie started hopping.

“Okie-Dokie-Lokie!” Pinkie saluted, before leaning in close and whispered into the alicorn’s ear. “Be sure to fill me in when your done,”

Pinkie then hopped along towards the cottage while he followed the unicorn.

After leading Marcus out to the edge of Fluttershy’s yard, Faerie Tail took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts, as she turned to face Marcus, seeing the expectant look on his face. Sighing, she said aloud, “Where to begin… when there’s so much to cover?”

“I suppose the beginning is always best,” quipped Marcus, and he was glad to see the stab at a little corny humor helped ease the tension Faerie Tail was clearly feeling.

“Yes, the beginning…” the mare agreed with a heavy look, “I suppose it begins with how I came to possess the Time Stone. I wasn’t always the keeper of the Time Stone. For that duty fell upon my uncle, who was known as the Sorcerer Supreme, his name was Sol Caster. When my parents died, he took me in, raised me to be the mare I am today.

“He was considered to be the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme of our time, and he trained me and my friends to become his apprentices. We were not only training to one day be chosen to take his place, but to also learn more about the Time Stone.” Faerie paused for a moment, looking up at the alicorn, expecting him to bombard her with questions, but he didn’t say anything and gestured with his hoof for her to continue.

“My uncle, he was always there for me, to help me, guide me to be the best I could possibly be. It’s because of him that I was able to meet my husband… before he was was taken from me,”

“Who was he?” Marcus uttered, not meaning to say that outloud.

“Ignitus Enflame… He was… Well he was like you in a sense… a complete blockhead,” Faerie Tail chuckled as Marcus rolled his eyes at that comment. “Actually… nah, you’re a bigger blockhead than he ever was…”

“Please continue,” he said, annoyed as he crossed his forelegs.

“Ignitus… out of all of us, was the closest to surpassing my uncle and he would have become the next Sorcerer Supreme…. But… one day, we were attacked. Those monsters that you saw when we ran into Shadow Whistler, they were simply called Wendigos, monsters made from the bones of the lost deer clans of old, mutated by this black substance that was… evil.”

“They overwhelmed us and before we knew it… All of Equestria was at war, trying to suppress this evil, but… one by one, leaders fell at their paws… and they were all lead by the vilest, cruelest, and most evil bastard the world had ever seen,” Faerie spat, her horn sparking in anger as she recalled the past. “He called himself, Lord Ashen, the ruler of Life & Death,”

“He was from the nation of Abyssinia, the land where the cats rule and beside him were several followers that helped him conquer Equestria… I don’t remember all of their names, but I remember one… Lukewarm… A begin made of tar and flesh… He was the one I killed when he took my husband from me,” Faerie choked when she brought up her husband. “I-I couldn’t… I couldn’t do anything to help him… And I was just so angry… I just burnt that monster to ashes,”

Marcus couldn’t help but feel sorry for the mare as he scooted closer to her and began to pat her gently on her back. A gasp could be heard from her as she suddenly looked up towards him, tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Take your time… please, you don’t need to force yourself,” Marcus assured.

“Sniff… Okay… I’m okay… Things… just kept getting worse and worse by the day and before we knew it, Princess Celestia was killed by Ashen… and when she fell, we were the only ones who stood between him, and world domination,”

“But wait… what about the other Infinity Stones? What does this guy have to do with anything?” Marcus asked.

“Coal… Ashen was in possession of the Soul Stone… And he used it to steal the souls of millions… including my uncle,” Faerie answered with a heavy heart. “My uncle was the reason why Ashen started the war… Before I was born, he had imprisoned him, but over time, he broke free and went after the other stones, invading other nations in search of them. He almost succeeded… but not before my uncle gave me the Time Stone.”

“I used it to take the other stones… all but one… and that’s when I created the split in time… I knew that, he couldn’t follow me through without the help of the other Infinity stones, so when I stole them, I scattered them through time as I created this new timeline… One where everypony was still alive… but I couldn’t make it exactly as it was originally… There are differences here that I was unable to fix,” Faerie explained.

“Like what?”

“Well for one, you are here… There was never a black alicorn in my timeline, and yet here you are… Discord, the Spirit of Chaos never broke free and is apparently stashed away in an underground vault under Canterlot… My husband… in this timeline he’s married to somepony else and has three fillies… And… because I’m here, there’s apparently no other me, or any of my family… Maybe it’s because of my failure or because I’ve used the Time Stone incorrectly… But I erased my bloodline… meaning I’m the last Sorcerer Supreme. All I have left… is Twinken… It’s why I’ve been doing everything I can to get the other stones to make sure that Ashen doesn’t get through and remerges our timelines,”

“Because if he does… he’ll pick up where he left off and do the same thing here,” Marcus added.

“Yes… but there’s more to it than that,” Faerie Tail said hesitantly. She closed her eyes, trying to find the right words… until finally, she said, “What will happen when one timeline clashes with another? Will they merge? Will they conflict? Will Ignitus’s daughters fade from existence? Will Twinken get his father back? Will another me come into existence? I just don’t know, Coal! I don’t know and it terrifies me!”

“I can see why you’re so worried about the timelines merging together,” Marcus sighed, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, huh?”

“Oh Coal… I did what I did out of desperation, I don’t even truly know what I did. The Time Stone is capable of things I’ve never imagined, and somehow it reacted to my feelings, creating the split in the timeline, which I wasn’t even trying to do,” Faerie Tail’s eyes flowed with tears, “but in the moment, all I could think about was protecting all I held dear from a monster… What if I only prolonged the inevitable? What if my actions will ultimately make things worse?”

“Faerie, if you ask me, I think you did the best you could do… If I was in your sh-hooves… I wouldn’t know what to do, and you aren’t alone in this… I can’t exactly say why I’m searching for the stones… but I can promise you that I’m only trying to help, and if getting them is what keeps those freaks from bringing that Ashen guy here, than I’ll be happy to help,” Marcus smiled, bumping his hoof to his chest.

Faerie Tail regarded the alicorn with fear and doubt in her eyes. But no longer was that fear and doubt about him, but it had always been about herself. Her desperate need for control, her overwhelming desire to protect her son, her all-consuming fear of facing the evil that nearly destroyed everything and everyone she knew and loved. It was… drifting away. All because of this stubborn, annoying, kind, wise, and surprisingly amazing (and attractive) alicorn stallion who had seemingly dropped out of nowhere and brought with him something Faerie Tail had been missing for a very long time.

Hope.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I think we should probably head inside now, I’m sure Twinken is getting antsy by now, right?” Marcus asked.

Snapping out of her dawning daze, Faerie Tail chuckled softly, and responded, “You truly are a piece of work, Coal Obsidian.”

“Maybe, but not like you are any better, Miss Overprotective Mom,~” Marcus teased, sticking his tongue out at the mare of time.

“Well, you just wait for when you have foals of your own, mister mane,” Faerie Tail retorted with a playful harrumph.

“Someday… Someday, for sure,” Marcus muttered under his breath as he rubbed the back of his head, as he thought, And they’ll be kids, not foals, if I have anything to say about it…

“Still I have to say… you don’t exactly look like you’d be a mom, you know?” Marcus confessed, as Faerie’s head whipped towards him suddenly with a piercing glare.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, mister!”

“N-Nothing! I’m just saying, you look so young, like you’d be fresh out of university or something!” He panicked.

Faerie Tail’s look softened only slightly, before she raised a brow and responded, “Huh. You flatterer, you.”

“Well, you look good…”

Then, without thinking, without letting even another thought distract her or hold her back, Faerie Tail did something so unexpected Marcus would never have seen it coming.

Apparently, neither had two other ponies, who’d just come out to invite Marcus and Faerie Tail to join them for tea and cookies… only for their eyes to pop as they saw what they saw.

But nopony’s eyes were so big and wide as Marcus’s as he felt Faerie Tail’s lips pressed against his own. His face lit up, his body seized, his breath stopped, and his heart skipped a beat.

The kiss was gentle yet tender, and though it dragged on for a moment or two, Marcus couldn’t help but utter a whimper when it ended. Faerie Tail smiled at the big oaf’s speechless stupidity before gently patting his cheek and saying, “You’re cute when you’re like this.

“I’ll be in touch, Coal. But for now, I just want to take my son home and have a long nap…”

As Faerie Tail left the stunned stallion to collect her colt, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stood there, stunned in their own way, but they found their voices a lot quicker than Marcus did.

“HEY! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!? KISSING MY COALY!!!” Pinkie shouted, her eyes burning with anger as she glared at the smirking mare, who paid them no mind as she led her confused boy out the door.

“Oh…my…” Fluttershy uttered as she wasn’t quite sure what to feel in that moment, but she didn’t feel anything negative surprisingly.

“Uhbuh…I-I-I huh?!” Was all Marcus could babble out as his face went completely supernova as his pupils dilated, expanding and contracting within his eyeballs as they bulged, and steam was starting to leak out of his ears, and his horn glimmered like a neon sign.

Why can’t I talk normally!? Why can’t I stop babbling like an idiot!? Why did her lips feel soooo good!?!? Did she take my intelligence away!? Why does my body feel so hot?! As all these thoughts raced through the alicorn’s mind, he suddenly felt somepony grab his hoof.

“See you around~” Faerie said slyly.

Seeing the flabbergasted stallion and the weird way his mom was acting, the gears grinded just a little in the colt’s head, before a lightbulb of realization lit up as he thought:

Mister Obsidian + Mom = …a new dad!

Lighting up with the biggest smile, Twinken looked back to Marcus and waved, “Bye, Mister Obsidian! Come visit Mom and I soon, okay?”

The two then teleported away, leaving the trio alone out in the middle of Fluttershy’s backyard.

“What just happened?” Marcus asked, only for him to get a slap to the face by Pinkie as she stomped off fuming as her face turned a bright red. “W-What did I do?”

Fluttershy only looked at him with a disappointed sigh, shaking her head as she trotted past him.

“I-I’m serious though! I completely shut down right there!? Can someone please answer me!?”

Laying down in a pile of pillows, Sombra stared out the window of Carousel Boutique as he waited for the seamstress, Rarity, to finish toiling away at a new line of dresses she had been hired to make for a client. In his long reign as the King of the Crystal Empire, Sombra never had to wait this long on any pony, or anyone really.

What is taking that seamstress so long?! Sombra thought with an impatient snarl.

Only the feeling of his cape over his withers eased his anxiety. It’d taken some… wheedling, but he’d managed to “convince” the purple princess to give him his cape back. Unfortunately, she’d drawn the line at his crown and armor.

“Are you still wearing that thing?” Sombra opened his eyes and saw Rarity coming in, levitating a box that no doubt contained her latest creation. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt for you to update your wardrobe. Does it not get boring wearing the same thing all the time?”

“Boring?! I am a king!” Sombra stood up and struck a regal pose, “As such, I must display my status with the appropriate attire.”

“Well, even monarchs wear different garments and still manage to keep up their royal appearances,” Rarity retorted, before adding, “Not to mention, they smell better for it.”

Sombra snarled at her, but Rarity ignored him as she carried on to prepare to deliver her customer’s order… and missed Sombra take a reluctant whiff of his armpit, and say ‘Eech…’ before muttering to himself, “I suppose she’s not exactly… wrong.”

Thinking about it further, Sombra realized he'd been possessive of his cape in a manner akin to a foal hugging their security blanket. He should be above such petulant insecurity!

“Sombra!~” came the irritating voice of his latest keeper as Rarity returned, makeup telekinetically touching her up with a refresher of beauty. “Why don’t I have your cape washed and provide you with an alternative once you freshen up? Afterwards, we’ll go out and enjoy a nice walk on such a fine day.”

“And why would I step out to mingle with commoners?” harrumphed the dark unicorn with a snooty tone.

“Well, if you’re not up for it, I suppose we could… enjoy a nice meal,” Rarity supposed, Sombra’s tension easing… until Rarity added, “My dear sister, Sweetie Belle, has been dying for another chance to cook for us.”

Sombra’s eyes widened in alarm as he recalled the tiny filly’s putrid concoctions she’d offered him, and then bore the most heartbreaking gaze when he’d tried to refuse. His poor sphincter hadn’t been the same ever since.

Before Rarity could say another word, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a shower running, and then she heard Sombra shout, “Prepare my attire! I shan’t be long!”

The fashionista smirked triumphantly as she began to brainstorm something so regally stylish her charge would have no choice but to complement it.

Despite Sombra’s words, he spent nearly an hour showering, washing his mane, getting every nook and cranny, and then afterwards drying off, brushing his mane and coat… and feeling surprisingly refreshed when he was done. Gazing upon his reflection, Sombra hmm’d at his appearance, and acknowledging, Perhaps I’ve let my judgment lapse in maintaining my… hygiene.

It was actually embarrassing, and even shameful. Sombra was a king, and should always look his best. But then he remembered, I was a king…

Could he really continue to say that after all that had happened? Where was he now? Who he was living with, and who truly had all the power. It stuck in his craw, and yet something else weighed upon Sombra’s spirit. But what was it…?

“Oh, Sombra…~! I’m waiting!” called that annoying seamstress yet again.

Growling with a sigh, Sombra vacated the bathroom and returned to the main room of the boutique, where Rarity awaited him, wearing a sunhat… and levitating a box tied with a simple ribbon.

Eyeing it, Sombra guessed, “I suppose that is meant for me?”

“From me, to you,” Rarity nodded as she held the gift out to him.

Sombra rolled his eyes, but accepted it into his own telekinetic aura, mistakenly mixing his with Rarity’s. There was an odd sensation, something akin to static or a vibration, when the two unicorns’ magic mixed, but they immediately parted, and looked upon each other with confusion. Clearing his throat, Sombra acted like it didn’t happen… and undid the ribbon to raise the lid of the box.

Folded with a mare’s touch, it was a scarf of the most beautiful shade of red, the edges dyed with a gleaming gold, and it even had Sombra’s name on it.

The dark unicorn found it oddly appealing to him. Setting the box down, he levitated the scarf, extending it to the full of its length, unable to hide his approval, much to Rarity’s satisfaction.

“May I?” Rarity offered her hoof, to Sombra’s confusion, but he allowed her to take the scarf, and then expertly secure it around his neck, tying it to where it was nice and snug, comfortable yet would not easily come loose. “There, you look regal already! And you didn’t even need that cape for it.”

“Um…” Sombra was baffled. No, dumbstruck. He didn’t know what to think or do or say.

“I believe the response you’re looking for is… ‘thank you’,” Rarity commented smugly.

“THANK YOU?!” Sombra reacted indignantly.

“You’re welcome!” Rarity replied with such a sunshiny expression that Sombra slumped, realizing he’d walked right into that one. “Tally-ho, darling! The day awaits.”

Sombra grumbled under his breath as he followed in reluctant tow.

He couldn’t believe that he was being dragged around like some kind of errand colt by this insistent seamstress of all ponies. True, Pinkie may have been annoying to the point of giving him a headache, but at the very least she treated him like he should have been when they went out on walks. A king, but now… here he was, walking with this mare who orders him around like a commoner. It was an outrage.

As the two walked the streets of Ponyville, Sombra noticed the strange looks they were getting from the town folks. Before he didn’t really care, because he believed that it was due to fear of him being in their presence, but this time it was different. Like he was being judged.

“So, Sombra, I don’t mean to pry, but are you alright? You look a little bit nervous,” Rarity spoke, looking at the dark unicorn with concern.

“Hmph, nervous? What could I possibly have to be nervous about?” Sombra scoffed as Rarity walked with him at his side.

She’d also considered holding his foreleg, in the way a mare would with a stallion, but that was most likely too soon and too intimate.

“Well… while you seem somewhat more relaxed, I can’t help but feel that something is bothering you,” Rarity noted.

Sombra narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

“The silent treatment? Honestly, I understand why you are upset with me being put in charge of reforming you, but you have only yourself to blame for your current situation. Were I you, I’d make the most of it,” Rarity commented, her own eyes narrowing, but that was the moment the dam finally broke.

“The only one to blame for my predicament is that blasted alicorn, Coal Obsidian! Everything was fine before, until he showed up and ruined everything!” Sombra spat, baring his teeth at the unicorn. “He’s the one who attacked me and yet, I got stuck with you of all ponies.”

“Don’t try that with me, Sombra,” Rarity answered back, her tone patient yet edged, “You instigated the whole debacle. On. My. Birthday! If anypony reserves the right to be upset, it is me… You arrived, drunk, and made a fool out of yourself out of petty jealousy!”

Sombra tempered his rage, but could not stop himself from snarling like a beast in Rarity’s face. To his (secret) surprise, she didn’t flinch or even draw back from his display of ferocity.

“Pinkie Pie was devastated that she could not reach you…” Rarity held her ground, displaying the steel of her spirit, “but where she failed, I will succeed. Princess Celestia thought Laughter would turn your heart, but clearly, you need to learn the virtues of Generosity.”

“Generosity… Laughter you say… Do you honestly believe I care about any of that ridiculous prattle? I used to be a king! Feared by all, who ruled with an ironhoof! If I had my powers, I wouldn’t be dealing with any of you annoying, pathetic, weak sentimental fools!” Sombra reminded her, his red eyes staring down the white unicorn.

“And look where you are now,” Rarity retorted, making Sombra grimace but continue to growl. “All your power, all your slaves, all of it didn’t make a difference when the Sisters defeated you, nor when you returned the first time and Princess Cadance foiled you with the Crystal Heart.

“You’ve been given a second chance, Sombra. Not all are so lucky,” Rarity walked past him, making Sombra tremble with angst… and yet he could not help but wonder on the mare’s words.

“Tch… I’ve had enough for one day… Take me back to the castle, I’d rather deal with that accursed princess’s nagging instead of hearing this prattle go on for a second longer,” Sombra scoffed in annoyance as he looked away from the mare, no longer wanting to stay outside for another second.

Pausing, Rarity looked back at Sombra, seeing the way he looked away from her, the look on his face bitter… the look of a stallion who was looking back, unable to let go of what once was. Perhaps afraid of what could yet be if he relinquished those regrets anchoring him, preventing him from following the current.

Sighing, Rarity said with a voice subtly morose, “As you wish.”

She took the path that would lead them back to the castle, and Sombra followed, keeping at least two pony lengths of distance between them. He glared into the back of the mare’s head, gritting his teeth, How dare she?

How dare she lecture him? A posh accent and air of sophistication could never disguise the truth that she was nothing more than a simple seamstress, born to a one-horse town, not a drop of nobility flowing in her veins. Oh, how he’d had to hear her go on and on about high society, the class, the elegance, as though talking about it with anyone who heard her, whether they listened or not, fed her insipid delusion that she could be anything more than her background of low-birth.

Although, he didn’t have to dwell on those thoughts for very long as they soon found themselves standing outside of Twilight’s castle. With a quick knock, Rarity and Sombra waited patiently for the door to open and when it finally did, they were greeted by none other than Spike.

“Hey Rarity! Did you need something?” Spike asked, excitedly.

“Oh, hello Spike, is Twilight around? I’m just here to drop off Sombra and be on my way, I still have a few orders I need to finish,” Rarity explained as the baby dragon’s excited expression suddenly soured at the sight of the dark unicorn.

“Ohhh… Right, I forgot you were in charge of reforming him now,” Spike said bitterly as he locked eyes with Sombra.

“As usual you still don’t know your place, little drake,” Sombra retorted bluntly as he rolled his eyes at the baby dragon’s obvious crush on the seamstress.

“I still don’t think Rarity should have to waste her time trying to reform you, you jerk!” Spike spat back.

Sombra gave Spike a fierce snarl, making the little dragon cower behind the doorway, as Sombra growled, “I would kill you now, if it didn’t mean I’d ever hear the end of it from-”

“Sombra,” Rarity interjected, a look on her face that, for reasons that completely baffled him, made Sombra shut his mouth.

“Tch! I’m going to bed,” Sombra said bluntly, shoving his way past the little dragon as he made his way towards his room, leaving the baby dragon and unicorn alone.

“Ugh! He’s such a jerk! Rarity, you shouldn’t have to be dealing with this guy! Celestia asked Pinkie Pie to try and reform him, and look what happened. I think you should talk to her, make him someone else’s problem,” Spike suggested, almost pleadingly as he looked at her with concern.

“Spike, I know you are worried about me, darling, but you needn’t fret,” Rarity reassured. “I can’t exactly put my hoof on it, but I can tell that he’s been making a lot of progress and he’s being a bit more honest with me now. That fight he had with Coal on my birthday definitely changed something in him.”

“Well, I’d feel a lot better if someone else was doing this,” Spike mumbled under his breath as he crossed his arms, glaring in the direction the former tyrant was headed, all the while, Rarity giggled silently.

“Ahem… Well for what it’s worth, I am happy that I was given this opportunity to not only serve the princess, but to also make a new friend,” Rarity said proudly, unaware of the little drake fuming with jealousy. “Speaking of friends, where’s Twilight? I wanted to speak to her about Sombra’s progress.”

“I don’t know actually… she was supposed to go to Fluttershy’s today to help with Coal’s training, but I could have sworn she said it was canceled today…” Spike answered, placing his claw to his chin as he wondered where Twilight was as well.

Twilight was in horror, unable to look away. The mouth of Midnight’s cave was ablaze, looking like a hellish maw of an infernal monster. What was going on? How could this be?

Looking at the letter she’d received, Twilight looked over it one more time:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I find myself in a troubling situation, but it is nothing I cannot handle. Rest assured, I shan’t be away for very long, just enough to settle the issue. I look forward to continuing our conversations together, and wish you well.

Your faithful servant,
Midnight Blaze

Even when she’d read it the first time, something about the letter had left Twilight in disquiet. It was too formal, too distant. Although she hadn’t known him for very long, Twilight was certain Midnight would convey himself in a much friendlier manner, one of open caring and respect. Beneath the letter itself had been a simple yet accurate map, with a dotted line leading directly to the cave where Midnight lived.

This letter feels like it came from some stuffy noble or something, and why add a map to his home? Twilight had wondered, and while it might seem too soon to worry, something inside Twilight, instinct perhaps, had spurred her to look into it.

Which had led her here, to Midnight’s proverbial doorstep. And it was on fire.

Mustering her power, Twilight cast the strongest Extinguishing Spell she knew, and in a matter of seconds, the lames were choked and snuffed out as easily as candlelight. Lighting her horn, Twilight took a cautious step forward, the smell of burnt wood, stone, dirt, and other things pervading her nose, and a quick Dowsing Spell left her dismayed. The whole of Midnight’s cave scorched out.

His possessions, his bed, even his books and food stores, burnt to a crisp.

Though it was not her home, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a stab of loss. This was a violation, the destruction of someone’s home. She was now well and truly worried, Midnight… where did you go?

When Sombra had entered his room, he leaned his back against the door and slid down as he let out an exasperated sigh of annoyance. Surprisingly there was no Princess Twilight to nag at him about his day or ask more questions about his time as ruler of the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago for her ridiculous research purposes.

“Sounds like you’ve had an exhausting day, your majesty,” Sombra’s head jerked up suddenly to find a figure standing in the darkness of his room.

Letting out a growl, Sombra stood up immediately as he flipped the lights on in his room, revealing a dark blue unicorn. He had a long black mane with a red streak through it, tied into a ponytail. He also noticed the stranger had several scars across his face, but strangely he was wearing attire that he wasn’t familiar with at all. He was wearing gray robes that had the sleeves embroidered with gold and a red sash wrapped around his waist and he had gray horse shoes with gold on them.

“Who are you? How did you get in my chambers?” Sombra demanded, letting out a snarl.

“Oh, you could say I just let myself in, but that doesn’t really matter does it? What truly matters is why?” The stranger replied, smirking as he trotted slowly to the former ruler. “I have to be honest, when I heard the Tyrannical King Sombra was in Ponyville, I was expecting someone more… intimidating,”

“Watch your tongue! You don’t know what I’m truly capable of, you fool!”

“I know you’ve lost most of your magic… to the point that it’s practically non-existent, but where are my manners? I’ve gone by many names, but you may refer to me as…Kaisen, and I’ve come to see you specifically, King Sombra,” He introduced himself, bowing to Sombra though the manner was more theatrical than respectful.

“And what do you want?” Sombra narrowed his eyes with distrust and contempt.

“I’ve come to offer you freedom from this prison you call a town,” He answered, his smile never fading as his horn flickered to life with a gray hue and a small black hole opened next to him. Slowly he reached out with his hoof into the black hole and pulled out a purple gem, glowing brightly as he extended it out towards him. “I offer you the opportunity to not only gain power far greater than you can possibly imagine, but to also reduce this hick town to rubble and even take back the Crystal Empire as it is your birthright,”

“All I ask in return is that you help me with reclaiming what has been stolen from me and my master,” Kaisen explained, his horn creating a sphere of energy that revealed images of a unicorn with an icy blue coat in possession of a green gem and images of Coal Obsidian!?

That blue gem, I knew it! It was faint due to my lack of magic, but I knew that I felt the gem had contained incredible magic!

“You help me retrieve what was stolen, and in return you can not only have your magic back, but everything you’ve always wanted and more,” Kaisen explained. “What I hold in my hoof is one of six stones of infinite power! Creatively enough, the Power Stone, as its name implies, will grant you power that will be unmatched by anypony. All you have to do… is take it.”

When Sombra’s eyes saw the Power Stone for the very first time, he couldn’t help but feel like he was enchanted by it. The purple hue radiated with a strength beyond the primal, beyond the magical. It was a force sheer and undeniable! He could feel its endless amount of energy flow from within and without, like a nexus ever in motion, a current pressing against all around it. It was unlike anything he’s ever encountered before in his entire life. And this commoner was just giving it to him, willingly? With this stone, he’d be able to take back the Crystal Empire, enslave the crystal ponies again, reign with an iron hoof and be feared once again. He’d be able to take a queen worthy to stand beside him and-

An image of Pinkie’s & Rarity’s smiling face appeared in the former tyrant’s mind.

“Is something the matter?” Kaisen asked, raising a brow as he looked at Sombra curiously.

“No… Nothing is wrong… Just making up my mind,” Sombra responded.

“Excellent, then-”

THWACK!

Suddenly the Power Stone was knocked out of Kaisen’s hooves, surprising the unicorn as he looked back at the former tyrant with narrowed eyes. Sombra’s eyes ever focused on him as let out a barely-contained snarl. “Get… OUT.”

“Hmm… I thought you were different, that you might actually prove to be useful in the long run, but clearly I’ve been mistaken,” Kaisen ho’hum’d with genuine disappointment.

“You thought wrong, I am not a pawn to be used in whatever scheme you’ve conjured, sorcerer! I became the ruler of the Crystal Empire with my own strength, and not once did I ever need the help of some trinket! If that stone is as powerful as you claim, why don’t you take the others for yourself?!” Sombra demanded, but suddenly he felt something grab hold of his hooves and was immediately pulled back.

Slamming against the wall, Sombra saw the black tendrils made of a strange black substance tighten around his hooves.

“Sigh… You’ve surprised me, Sombra, you really did… I thought the offer I made would have been too enticing for you to resist. You are clearly a lost cause now. A has-been tyrant, tainted by friendship and harmony of all things,” Kaisen spat at Sombra’s hooves before letting out a soft chuckle. “Well, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem, after all… My associates and I went through so much trouble to plan this. One of them even wrote a letter to lure Princess Twilight Sparkle away from the castle. Just so I could have an audience with the vaunted King Sombra.”

“What are you babbling onabout!?” Sombra growled as he struggled in vain to free himself.

“Truth be told, I suspected that your time with these peaceful creatures made you soft, preventing you from seeing the bigger picture as it were. So I took… precautions,” Kaisen grinned mischievously as he levitated the Power Stone over to him. Slowly he approached the former tyrant as he struggled to break free from the tendrils that held him in place.

“Get that wretched thing away from me!” Sombra growled as he tried to rip his hoof free, but the closer Kaisen got to him, the brighter the Power Stone seemed to get. “STAY AWAY!”

“Don’t look so frightened… I am only giving you what you deserve… And bringing back the Ruler of Fear to his former glory,” Kaisen said maliciously as he placed the power stone against Sombra’s chest, watching it burn the fur off his chest as it melded into his flesh.

“NOOOOO!!!!!!” Sombra screamed as he was engulfed in a flood of energy like nothing he’d ever experienced before. The Power Stone poured its might into every vein, every fiber, every cell.

It was agonizing. It was overwhelming! It was… exhilarating!

Ten Minutes Earlier

“Pinkie, can you pleasssse talk to me?!” Marcus begged, his wings clasped together as he tried to get the mare’s attention, but the only response he got was a ‘Hmph!’ from the party pony.

It had been a few hours since they had seen Faerie Tail and it’s been a few hours since she had kissed the alicorn on the lips and it’s been a few hours since Pinkie Pie had slapped him across the face. Marcus didn’t expect Faerie Tail of all ponies to kiss him, but she did and he wouldn’t deny that he enjoyed it.

However, now it felt like he had done something wrong, but he didn’t know what though?

“Fluttershy, can you help me out here… please?” Marcus asked, pleading with the pegasus.

“W-Well… I-I would like to help… but… I don’t want to make Pinkie more mad than she already is…” Fluttershy replied. “But, you honestly don’t know?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking?!” Marcus flailed.

“Stallions…” Fluttershy said quietly as she let out a sigh.

Letting out a groan, Marcus activated the Space Stone and opened a portal.

“I’m… going to give her some space… Me begging ain’t going to make things better,” Marcus said, feeling a little irritated that he was suddenly getting the cold shoulder for something he didn’t even do. “I’ll be back, `Shy, let me know when Pinkamena wants to talk like adults!”

“PPPPPBBBBBTTTHH!!!”

“Grrrrr…!!!” Marcus considered himself a tolerant person, but among the things he utterly detested was raspberries.

Without another word, he bitterly left, closing the portal behind him, leaving the two mares alone.

“Pinkie, don’t you think you're being a little too hard on him?” Fluttershy asked, trotting up next to the party pony who was shaking suddenly. “Pinkie?”

“I… I know that he wasn’t the one who kissed her… b-but… It hurt just seeing that happen. And that look on his face… I’ve never seen him make that face before! He never made that face when he was with me!” Pinkie cried, tears dripping down her cheeks as the shy pegasus began to gently rub her back as she pulled her in for a hug.

“Pinkie, I- I won’t deny that was… unexpected,” Fluttershy said delicately, “It’s just, sometimes… stallions can be… well, not as sensitive to others’ feelings. I suppose it depends on how they see you and… how you might be around them.”

“Huh?! I-I thought Coaly understood me pretty well though, he’s so nice,” Pinkie explained, letting out a soft chuckle. “W-What am I supposed to do?”

“Well, Pinkie… when you’re with Coal, how are you around him? How is he around you? Sometimes, the ways we act can send signals to each other,” Fluttershy said, giving it a careful thought, “and… sometimes, the signals… either they get them wrong, don’t notice them, or even ignore them, but it can work the other way as well.

“Now, don’t take this the wrong way, Pinkie Pie,” Fluttershy braced herself, hoping she chose her words carefully enough, “but sometimes… you seem more like a kid than an adult, which isn’t a bad thing! It’s just… there are times where you’re just… immature?”

“I… I didn’t… I just… Maybe… I overreacted… but… I never felt like this before. Even when I was spending time with Sombra… It’s just the butterflies I get in my tummy aren’t the same as when I spend time with M-Coaly,” Pinkie caught herself before she accidently said his true name. “I just… I really, really like him,”

When Fluttershy heard that come from one of her best friends, she wasn’t what this new feeling was, but the best she could describe it was bitterness. She didn’t like the fact that Pinkie liked Coal Obsidian, but she also didn’t want her friend being sad anymore. It was a strange conundrum she was dealing with, but Fluttershy knew that she couldn’t be quiet when her friend needed her.

“Um… I know Coal can be a bit… thick at times,” Fluttershy said with a delicate tone before it turned fond. “Remember when he first came to Ponyville? I still recall how he struggled to walk on his hooves for the first time. It was weird, like… he never had hooves before.”

Pinkie immediately stiffened when she mentioned that, but kept her mouth shut as she listened.

“But even so, he has turned out to be… one of the kindest, sweetest, most caring ponies I’ve ever met,”

“Y-Yeah… I remember that day… Sniff… We bumped into each other while Sombry and I were out on a walk together,” Pinkie replied. “He even defended me when Sombry was being so mean,”

“That sounds just like him,” Fluttershy commented, her cheeks reddening as a smile formed. “Even if he can be reckless at times… Like when he went into the Everfree Forest when he was still injured,”

“Yyyyyyeah… He can be a bit of a knucklehead, huh?” Pinkie said, wiping away her tears as she started to smile again.

“Yeah, he can be sometimes, but I’ve noticed it’s always for the right reasons though,” Fluttershy sighed, her eyes gleaming with a starry-eyed look that went beyond fondness. “He’s been very helpful here with feeding the animals,”

When Pinkie saw that look in her eyes and how her cheeks blushed when she spoke of the alicorn. She knew right then and there that Fluttershy, whether she realized it or not, was in fact infatuated with Marcus and spending so much time alone with him only made it more difficult as Pinkie had just come to terms with her own feelings about him and wanted to keep him to herself.

But could she really do that though? When Fluttershy was just as important to her as Marcus was to her? She wouldn’t want to make her sad if she had pursued her crush on the alicorn, but she also didn’t want to lose him either.

Pinkie was the Element of Laughter, it was her calling in life to make everyone happy and smile. There had to be a way for everyone to be happy, right?

“Hey, Flutters? I wanted to ask you, do you lik-” Before Pinkie could say anything, she suddenly started shaking all over. “Uh-oh! I just got all twitchy again!”

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, but all of a sudden, everything around them suddenly started to shake and clatter as the ground shook violently.

*CRASH!*

“SCREEEEEEEEEEE!” A strange creature with the skull of a deer, oozing black tar with it’s chest glowing a bright purple, had bashed its head through the nearest window. Its paw stretched outward as it tried to reach for the two mares.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Both mares screamed in terror, instantly hugging each other at the sight of this creature and its sudden invasion of Fluttershy’s home.

The wretched creature snarled as it started towards them… when a pillow was thrown into its face. It growled in annoyance and looked to see a certain white rabbit on Fluttershy’s couch, having thrown the pillow. But now the rabbit’s initial bravado quickly evaporated with a terrified shriek as the monster roared at him.

Seeing her Angel afraid spurred Fluttershy out of her own fear, and she grabbed the nearest heavy object (her fireplace poker) and screamed a mixture of defiance and fear as she gave the beast a good whack in the schnozz.

Seeing Fluttershy, of all ponies, doing something so brave in spite of her fear drove Pinkie to do the same. She reached somewhere and pulled out a frying pan and joined her friend in giving the monster a good walloping.

They whacked and walloped and pummeled and beat down until the monster was reduced to a mess of tar and a broken skull, the two mares panting once it was over before sharing a look. An odd medley of emotions rose up in both of them as they both gave a delirious giggle and relieved sob before they took a breather to clear their minds and calm their beating hearts.

“Wha… where did you get… that frying pan, Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy asked after finding her voice.

“I hid it here in your house!” Pinkie replied without losing a beat. “I hid frying pans all over Ponyville, in case of frying pan-related emergencies.”

That one provoked a real laugh out of Fluttershy, and the two of them enjoyed a good moment of soul-enriching laughter, before they heard more ferocious snarls in the distance. Sharing another look, they both nodded, knowing that the cottage was no longer safe for them, they decided to make a run for it out the door.

Pinkie & Fluttershy knew they needed to get back to Ponyville and warn the other girls that these strange monsters were coming and they’d need to access the powers of harmony again in order to stop this new threat from hurting anyone else.

Still, the two couldn’t help but wonder, why did they attack the cottage? How did they know they were there? Was it a random attack or were they the target? They didn’t know, and they weren’t sure they wanted to know either. The two just kept running as fast as their hooves could carry them until they got closer to the main road to Ponyville.

However, when they got closer to the town… They both gasped in shock by what they were greeted with.

Large purple crystals had surrounded the town, towering over every building, giving off a pulsating glimmer and they found the townsfolk marching towards Twilight’s castle in chains and were being led by more of the same monsters that had attacked Fluttershy’s cottage.

“O-Oh dear… W-What happened here?!” Fluttershy asked.

“W-We gotta find the girls and- No, we should look for Coaly! He has that stone thingy that can open portals! If we find him, he can help us look for our friends safely!” Pinkie suggested. It wasn’t much of a plan really, but right now it was all they had.

“B-But we don’t know where he went though! He could be anywhere at this point!” Fluttershy fretted, unsure of what to do or if there was even anything they could do.

“Let’s get a better look, see what’s going on,” Pinkie suggested and hurried towards a nearby hill that would give them a better vantage point.

“Pinkie, wait!” Fluttershy went after her, and said as they approached the top of the hill, “We have no idea what’s-”

But upon arriving at the top of the hill, a circle of red and purple lit up on the ground directly beneath them… and a vibrant haze of magical aura rose up, looking prismatic and fractal as it engulfed them… before the haze shot inward and solidified into solid crystal.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy found themselves completely immobilized, every part of their bodies encased in solid crystal that was purple like quartz yet gleamed red within the facets. Only their heads and faces remained uncovered, allowing them to breathe and speak, as Fluttershy glumly finished, “...out there.”

“Uh… whoops! Heheh!” Pinkie giggled sheepishly before trying to get loose, but it did no good whatsoever. Other than her head and face, Pinkie couldn’t move so much as a single muscle.

Sighing, even Fluttershy could not help snarking, “And trouble-prone Pinkie Pie does it again…”

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie threw Fluttershy a stink eye, “I resemble that remark!”

“Well, given we’ve tripped a trap and now we can’t get away…” Fluttershy would have gestured to said trap if her hoof was free, but her tone said it all.

“Well, at least it can’t ge-” Pinkie was saying, only to button her lip… as globs of tar bubbled from the edges of the magic circle and rose up, forming into more of those monsters, all glaring at their captives.

“Care to finish that sentence, Pinkamena…?” invited Fluttershy with an unamused rise of her brow.

“No…” Pinkie Pie moped as the monsters ensnared their crystal restraint and began dragging them down to Ponyville. Sighing, Pinkie asked, “Where are they taking us?”

Fluttershy waited for a bit to get an idea of their heading, and soon their answer was made evident, as the tar monsters were dragging them to Twilight’s castle. Only, it no longer looked like it was Twilight’s castle anymore.

Ten Minutes Earlier

When Marcus left Fluttershy’s cottage, he couldn’t help but let out a frustrated groan as he found himself back at the Everfree Forest where he had first arrived in Equestria for the first time. It had a weird, yet safe nostalgic feeling to it that it was probably the only place where he could feel any sorta connection to his old home. Sorta like a bridge of some kind despite it just being a ditch in the ground now.

He wasn’t sure why he needed to come here of all places considering he had a room at Fluttershy’s to go to when he needed to be alone, but something about his fight with Pinkie had made him want to come here. Why? He was not sure, but right now, all he needed was some time alone to reflect on everything that’s happened.

It was all so surreal for the alicorn as he recalled everything that had happened today. Shadow Whistler, he knew about Faerie Tail and the Time Stone and he also knew about him and the Space Stone. He didn’t know who he was or who he was working for, but one thing was for certain, he wasn’t alone and whoever this Kaisen person was really the one pulling the strings, then Marcus doesn’t have any other choice but to stay and stop them.

However, that was the least of his concerns at the moment, he still needed to figure out what exactly he did that was so wrong that Pinkie would not only slap him, but give him the silent treatment. He thought long and hard, trying to rack his brain for some kind of an explanation. He remembered Faerie telling him about the alternate timeline and how he managed to finally make peace with the mare of time and then…

…

… She kissed him…

… On the lips… and it felt good.

Was Pinks… jealous? Marcus asked himself in dawning horror before he vehemently shoved that notion down. NO! Nononononono! That can’t be it, that would mean she would like me… like… like a crush!? No, that can’t be right! There has to be something else to it?

Marcus thought long and hard about there being any other reason behind her sudden change in behavior, but nothing came to mind.

I can’t have this happening right now… No way! Nu-uh! I can’t have this happening to me right now! I don’t care how she feels, I don’t care how cute she looks when she’s baking… or how she always smiles… or how good her ass looks or… FUCK!

Now all Marcus could think of was that particular jiggle in Pinkie’s rump whenever she made a sharp movement, and he felt his face fluster with heat.

Pull it together, ol’ boy, Marcus thought to himself, trying to clear his mind, You are Marcus? A human! Your mission is to obtain the Six Infinity Stones, restore the balance of life and death, and get your life back. All this…?

The memories all ran through his mind. How he arrived in the Everfree. How Fluttershy helped him. How he came to be in Ponyville. How Pinkie Pie offered him a place to stay, along with a job. All the good times he’d had here, all the things he’d learned. Even the bad experiences had played a part in this journey he was undertaking.

But three faces, not just one, continued to run through his mind.

Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy. Faerie Tail.

Furrowing his brows, choking down his emotions, refusing for the turmoil to seep out into tears…

Marcus gazed downwards at his hooves. Seeing them, he sat on his haunches and gave his hooves another look. Turning them up to look at his frogs, the fleshy parts on his hooves undersides. The edges, the total and complete difference of what he used to have before death had brought him here to this world.

Closing his eyes, Marcus thought, It’s all temporary… It's all a distraction. You don’t belong here… you never did.

But despite his attempts to think, say, or feel otherwise, that thought alone hurt. It hurt in a way he couldn’t explain. It hurt so much that finally, his resolve broke and he couldn’t stop the tears from trailing down his cheeks.

A part of him had come to accept that this world now holds a special place in his heart and the friends he’s made along the way were now an important part of his life. Fluttershy, Pinkie, the other girls, Midnight, Big Mac, Caramel, Twinken & Faerie Tail. Each one of them has come to mean something to him in one form or another.

Wiping away his tears, Marcus knew that when the time came, he’d have to make a choice on whether he’d leave to return to his family back on earth, or he’d stay here in Equestria. However, just because he was going to look for the Infinity Stones, that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy his time here, right?

He was a pony right now and he couldn’t exactly change that.

This is going to be so weird… but maybe… Maybe I could ask Pinkie out for ONE date. Marcus thought, feeling his face turn slightly red as he decided to put returning to his old world on the back burner for the time being. He’ll need to find all six of the Infinity Stones before he could even consider the prospect of going home.

*RUMBLE!!!*

“W-What was that?!” Marcus asked out loud, his wings flared out, taking off into the air to see what was going on and when he looked around, he saw the massive purple crystals forming around Ponyville. While he was up in the air, he felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine as a familiar feeling began to resonate with him.

Another Infinity Stone!? Marcus immediately realized it wasn’t the same as when he encountered the Space Stone, but that same feeling when he sensed the Time Stone was coming from those crystals. However, before he thought of heading over to Ponyville, he remembered something and felt dread in that moment.

Pinkie & Fluttershy! I gotta get back! Activating the Space Stone, he immediately flew through a portal back to Fluttershy’s cottage and when he got back, his eyes widened when he saw the place was ransacked. In that very moment, Marcus could only feel one emotion.

Rage…

“ARRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Author's Note

With this... we are now entering the final phase of Arc 1, with the long inevitable clash of both Space and Power.

I've been teasing this fight ever since Marcus and Sombra had met each other and now... I just need to finish chapter eighteen. It'll be the longest chapter in the series so far. It's been a wild ride writing these chapters and I've loved every moment.

I hope this also answers some of the questions everyone has been curious about?
Artwork made by the amazing McShelster

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! :pinkiehappy:

Edit: Featured 12/24/24

Chapter Ten- Rising Tensions (Part 2)

The Everfree Forest wasn’t the friendliest place in Equestria. A single wrong look at a rabbit could yield a gouged-out eye, or glancing at a chicken could leave you trapped in stone, and god-forbid you have a run-in with a Manticore or Hydra. Marcus, however, saw something else in it: home, or as close as he could get. Clouds floated by on their own, and rain poured onto the ground at the command of nobody but the Heavens themselves. The rabid nature of the animals and the chill that would worm its way down his back reminded him of the unpredictability of home.

Honestly, this place had nothing on the creepiness of what Earth had to offer. It had significantly more terrifying places that the ponies couldn’t even begin to imagine.

It was in this duet of order and chaos that Marcus sat in a clearing, feeling a gentle breeze caressing his face. It wasn’t enough to break his concentration, but it did serve to remind him of his whereabouts. A symphony of leaves, dirt, wood, and distant animals all combined into a soft melody, as if the Everfree Forest was trying its best to tell him…something.

Was it a warning, perhaps? A show of encouragement?

Those were both questions that Marcus didn’t ponder, nor could he spare the brain power for them if he even wanted to. No, instead, Marcus’ eyes were shut tight, not allowing a single ray of light to pierce his eyelids. Slowly, he drew in a deep breath, only to feel the light swaying of the grass beside his legs as he exhaled.

Focus. Focus.

Another breath, another zephyr passes him by.

That twig snapped behind me, distant yet audible. The grass feels rather comfortable to be sitting on, and the air feels nice. Yet, I don’t feel what I’m supposed to. At least, I think so.

For a moment, he let his mind be taken entirely by the world around him. For a moment, everything else fell away. And for another moment, his thoughts slowly drifted back to his confrontation with Sombra.

That no-good, arrogant, self-absorbed…! No.

Another deep breath.

Maybe I need to go deeper… I can’t let that guy get in my head.

He tried to focus on positive thoughts as he extended his hoof, picturing a portal opening in front of him leading back to Sugarcube Corner. Slowly, the vibrant colors and child-like aesthetics came into view, and slowly, he began to feel the stone’s power flow into him, but it was different this time. It was calmer? No… more controlled this time. Where before it was like a rush of ice encroaching on every part of his body, now it was like a cool river you might dip into on a hot day. However, Faerie Tail’s words began to infect his mind like a poison.

“You’ve had your stone for only a short time, it is worthless in your neophyte hooves. Whereas I… I have had all the time in the world.”

Gritting his teeth, he couldn’t help but feel anger begin to well up inside of him.

Calm down… Remain calm.

“You’re making this harder than it has to be…”

Unbeknownst to him, the stone began to glow brighter as a blue aura slowly surrounded his body. The ground began to shake, and the air grew restless as the rumbling increased in amplitude by the second. Both huge, looming trees right next to him and imposing boulders that appeared as specs on the distant mountains threatened to come reigning down, wielding their wrath like titans. Everything, from flora to fauna, shook violently in a desperate attempt to somehow yield to and also fight the ever-increasing force.

Marcus struggled to get control of his emotions.

“You don’t know me, you don’t know what I’ve sacrificed, the choices I’ve made! I didn’t ask for this wretched stone!”

No! No! Don't even think of sympathizing with her, she's your enemy, and she’s stopping you from collecting the rest of the Infinity Stones. From living a normal life again! She's getting in the way!

Marcus suddenly opened his eyes and immediately stopped what he was doing. The energy around him began to dissipate and the wind around him calmed. There had been times when Marcus had lost his temper in the past, but it was usually on behalf of others. This was different.

For a moment, he imagined himself hurting Faerie Tail and taking the Time Stone from her. But it wasn't just the thought of it that surprised or even frightened him. It was the fact that it didn't bother him that was truly terrifying.

W-What the hell was that? I’d never- No, it’s just the stress getting to me. I’d never think of hurting others.

He immediately shook his head before closing his eyes again, figuring that perhaps he should try something simpler. “Midnight said that I needed to feel it… So that’s what I need to do before I even think of doing anything else.”

Drawing in a fresh cloud of oxygen and exhaling, Marcus began to actually feel something blanket his body this time. It was a cool, but intense feeling that raced down his spine and wrapped itself around each vein in his body. He had a lot more control of the stone than he did before and it actually felt really good to get a grasp on its power for once.

Alright, I think I got a good hold on it. All I need to do for now is focus on trying to maintain this hold on it until it becomes second nature. The last thing I want is to bring the moon crashing down.

Marcus then released his hold on the stone’s power, letting the energy around him return to the stone. He took a moment to visualize the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner in his mind as he then began to concentrate the energy wrapping around his left hoof, and then his right hoof, before clapping them together and pulling them apart as he began to open a small portal.

He took a moment to admire the swirling blue portal in front of him. It almost reminded him of the storm clouds that constantly circled overhead, threatening to pour down at any moment. It almost reminded him of…home. Stretching his hoof out, he reached inside of it. Sweat began to form on his forehead as he started biting his tongue, hoping his hoof was “where” he wanted it to be. Once his hoof felt what he wanted, he pulled it out immediately.

The small portal closed a heartbeat later and once it did, he looked down at his hoof, and what he was holding was… a broken cookie. He stared at it for a few seconds before he let out a groan.

“AURGH! This wasn’t what I was going for!” He shouted, before falling backward on the soft grass. “Well, at least Iknow it sort of worked. These are the same cookies Pinkie baked this morning.”

One more time.

Sitting back up, Marcus closed his eyes once more as he began to concentrate on building energy around his hooves once more. Seeing the kitchen once more and where he wanted the portal to open up, he clasped his hooves together and began to pull the energy and create another small vortex.

“Alright, remember where it is… I just need to grab the ladle and pull it through-”

*Ping*

Marcus opened his eyes immediately when he heard the sound of a text coming through his phone. Releasing his hold on the stone’s power, the energy that surrounded his body began to dissipate. Letting out a groan, his horn was wrapped in a sudden purple hue as he pulled out his phone from his saddlebag he had set aside.

LD
Blink

Is she serious?

Marcus could only stare at the text, dumbfounded by the ambiguous text in front of his eyes. He blinked a few times as his mind tried to process the message, only to look up to find himself standing in complete and utter darkness. Panic started to take hold of him as he looked around frantically, a torrent of thoughts beginning to swirl in his mind.

Did I pass out suddenly? Am I dead again!? What the hell happened?!

“You certainly know how to entertain me, Marcus Phillip,” Marcus heard, turning around to find Death herself sitting on a black throne. A round glass table in front of her with an empty chair across from her. “I suppose I should call you by your new name now, Obsidian Coal.”

“Where are we?” he asked.

“We are in your mind right now, Coal. This is the safest way of communication for us to discuss important matters without worries of unwanted ears prying into our conversations,” she explained, gesturing at the chair.

“A heads up would have been nice,” Marcus said, a little irked, but decided not to press it any further. “So, I’m guessing you want to talk to me about the Infinity Stone I found, right?”

“You assume correctly,” she said with a smirk. In an instant, she flexed her hand, and images of the six Infinity Stones flared to life, floating just above the table. “You are in possession of the Space Stone, and as the name implies, it has control over all of Space itself, giving you the power to manipulate and travel instantly to any point in space.

“And you’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of what you can do with it,” she continued, her hand waving in the air as the image of the stones changed to many images of him using the Space Stone. “I’ve been watching you, and I have to admit that I am rather impressed by how you managed to bumble your way with it. It was honestly funny when you thought you could take the Time Stone from one of, if not the most, powerful sorceresses in Equestria. She threw you around like a rag doll.”

“I get it, I don’t know how to properly use it, but I’ve only had it for a few weeks and I can’t exactly use it when it could make a black hole that could suck the entire town into oblivion,” he argued, seeing the flashing images of him and how he’s been using it made his cheeks flush red.

“Aww… How cute, making excuses when you are in possession of one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe,” she said, placing her chin on her hand. “However, I am glad you are finally making progress on mastering the stone. Even sought out advice from someone who at least understands its power.”

“Ooookay, but I’m sure that criticizing me about how I’ve barely made progress using the Space Stone isn’t the only reason I’m here, is it?”

Shaking her head, her arm extended outward as her hand began to wave once more, the floating images warping like squished rubber and revealing the entire planet of Equestria. “There is a reason why I sent you to Equestria, not for the sole reason of just…’Entertaining’ me. The world of Equus has been separated from the cycle of life.”

Marcus only looked confused when she said that. “What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you know how life works, correct?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You are born, you live, and you one day, die. After that your soul comes to me and I guide you to where you go in the afterlife. However, the souls of Equus, those who have been killed, haven’t made their way here,” she explained. Marcus might’ve found that information more surprising if he wasn’t momentarily inundated with flashbacks that made a drop of sweat roll down his back.

“Do you know what happened to them?”

“I have a theory, but I don’t have enough evidence to support it at the moment. From what I’ve managed to gather, the culprit behind this is an entity who is not a part of this timeline. One who is in possession of the Soul Stone, the most unique and powerful of the six Infinity Stones,” she explained. In an instant, a long line of light spanning infinitely in both directions appeared with a flash.

“W-Wait, you said two timelines? As in, a different world with different events taking place?” Marcus asked incredulously.

“Yes,” she responded. “As you can see, the timeline used to be one, until right here.”

She pointed at the middle where the line suddenly split in two, like a fork in the road. Marcus noticed that the lines splitting are different colors. The green line was veering off to the right while the orange line was going to the left.

“Is the green one our timeline?” Marcus asked.

Death nodded. “This is the timeline we are currently in… A timeline where I don’t have influence. I can feel millions of souls who should have crossed over in agony in this other timeline. Those souls are trapped and I can’t physically enter this world until the split is mended.”

“So this is the real reason why I’m here? To fix this split in the timeline?” Marcus asked. Almost immediately, he began pondering theories of his own, trying to extract any and all information from his past three weeks here. Then suddenly, something clicked.

“Faerie… She must know something about this…? She had the Time Stone and she kept talking like she had gone through… a lot. Maybe she knows what happened?” Marcus suggested, rubbing his chin before he looked up towards Death, who was smiling at him.

“Then, for the time being, I suggest you focus on mastering the Space Stone and obtain the Time Stone,” she said, before pulling out a pocket watch and looking at the time. “I’m afraid I’m out of time here… I do have my duties and you have a date you need to get ready for with a certain… party pony, right?”

“W-Woah, woah, I’m not going on a date. I don’t even like ponies, and in case you forgot, I’m human-”

“You were human, but now you’re one of them. Your mind hasn’t fully adjusted to being a pony yet, but I think sometime in the near future you’ll start seeing things differently,” Death said, giving him a smirk that sent a cold chill riding up his spine.

“N-Not gonna happen,”

“Sure it won’t~ Ta, ta~” Death said. Marcus then blinked, and Death snapped her fingers. He blinked again, and suddenly he was waking up in the opening he had found. He paused for a moment when he glanced at the sky, its bright orange hues filling the heavens. He had spent much longer than intended here.

It's not a date. It's just two friends going for a walk together…. Alone… at night… Just the two of us… who is also a girl…

…

Holy shit! Did I ask Pinkie out on a date!?!

Marcus suddenly started feeling a little flushed as he got back up. However, as he began the journey back to Ponyville, he was unaware of two orange eyes hiding in the trees, watching him as the figure stepped out of the shadows.

The long scars littered across their face didn’t prevent them from grinning as the alicorn was now out of sight.

“Hmm… how interesting? I suppose my sources weren't exaggerating about an alicorn prince arriving here in this hillbilly hick town. I'll need to get a closer look at this fool when the opportunity arises. After all, it’s not every day I get to meet a Stone Keeper.”

Author's Note

And this part two of Rising Tensions. It's a lot shorter than the previous chapters, but it's probably been my favorite chapter to write so far.

We are getting closer to the end of Arc 1 of Beyond Infinity. I also want to give a shout out to my friend Unamusedwaffle for helping me write and edit these chapters. He's been a real lifesaver and I seriously owe this guy big time.

Anyways just FIVE MORE CHAPTERS!!! Just five more and I can get some much needed rest xD It’s been a stressful year.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful day.