Location: Dream Realm

Ash was causally trying to get some sleep but he had that feeling that he was being watched, leading Ash to open his eyes and look at his surroundings. He soon found that he wasn't in Twilight's Tree House but was instead in some kind of training field/dark void. Ash then heard a voice coming from behind causing him to turn around and see someone else that looked like him specie wise but they also looked completely different as well. The creature then spoke to him in a feminine voice "Hello Ash, my name is Kira, now you might be wondering why you're here, correct?" Ash could only nod dumbly, with being transported to Equestria and coming into this world, his mind lately has been just whacked with an enormous stick that yelled “This is reality!!”"Well, you came to Equestria because you're here to fulfill a prophecy, someone in your realm was trying to kill you to stop you from coming, but you were brought here just in time."

Another voice soon appeared, and it sounded more masculine "And both of us are here so we can train you to withstand threats and learn to control your powers that you recieved." A figure flew down next to Kira and continued "My name's Kori, and I'm going to be the one to train you and help you control your new powers."

This information made Ash step back "Wait, powers? I don't have any powers I'm just a human and we don't use magic. The only magic humans can do are those cheap homemade tricks."

Kori only laughed "Well, you used to be powerless, but since Faust brought you here, you obtained them. And Kira and I are going to help you control them."

Kori then obtained a serious expression "Now, Ash, are you ready for your training to begin?"

Ash stood silent but spoke a few moments later "Wait, wait, wait. What do you need to even train me for and what even are you guys?"

Kori sighed at the interfering questions, but Kira answered for him "Kori and I are parts of your inner mind and can speak to you when you're both awake and asleep, but you can only see us when you aren't conscious," Ash nodded for her to continue "But, you are fighting to help stop a great evil that will reign terror and panic on this peaceful land and yours."

Before Ash could respond, Kori stepped up and repeated "So, Ash, are you ready to begin your training?" Albeit he said with a little frustration.

Ash nodded "Yes, I'm ready." Kira and Kori nodded in return.

"Now... Let the training Commence!"

Hours passed by as Ash went through training from how to summon his magic to being able to fight with it, and to say Ash was tired out and exhausted was putting it lightly. Pain could be felt everywhere, but luckily for him Kira stepped in "Alright Kori, that's enough. We don't want to kill him on his first day of training now do we?"

Kori nodded "You're right-“

"I'm always right.”

Kori looked to her in deadpan annoyance."That's enough for today, and you did pretty well for your first day." Ash was lying on the dirt and put a thumbs up to let Kori know he was listening. Though his arm and hand were shaking tremendously with exhaustion."Well, it's about time you wake up, don't want to be late for meeting the princesses now do we?"

Ash's eyes shot open in realization "Oh my Gosh! I'm supposed to be meeting the princesses today! I completely forgot, and I need to go wash up!"

Ash felt the world fading and he could hear Kori and Kira say "We'll see you in your next day of training!"

But there was also another tiny message that sounded like it was from Kira "But don't be alarmed when you hear voices in your head that aren't yours!"

That was the last thing Ash heard before he woke up. And right at that moment, Twilight walked into the room and stared at Ash in surprise and slight disgust. "Good morning Ash, um, are you okay? You're sweating. A lot." Ash looked down and saw that he was indeed sweating. Twilight told him they would be heading to meet the princesses, but Ash went and took a quick shower first to clean himself up. Both Twilight and Ash left with Twilight telling spike to watch the library while she was gone. Once everyone was together they got onto the next train. While on the train ride Twilight continued to ask Ash questions about his life back on Earth and his family and friends. In the middle of one of their conversations there was a continuous ring that startled everyone in the cart.

Ash felt that it was coming from his pocket "No way..." he quickly pulled the object out to see that is was his phone, "It survived? How!? This is amazing!" Twilight and her friends continued to stare at the phone in wonderment and curiosity. The phone showed 'Missed Call' on the screen, Ash looked at the contact to see it was from a number he didn't recognize, this caused Ash to look at it in annoyance "Even when I'm in a different world, a telemarketer somehow founds a way to contact me."

Applejack looks at him curiously "What's a telemarketer?"

Ash only sighed "One of the most annoying things to get a call from."

Pinkie Pie rushes into his face "What's that rectangle thingy?"

Ash looked down at said object "This is a phone, it holds all the worlds knowledge and can do a lot of things. Like contact people far away, order and people bring food to you, allows you to listen to music and many more things."

Twilight looked at the object in amazement "What else can it do and how does it function?"

Ash sighed "If I told you that we'd be sitting on this train for hours on end.”

There was creek next to him, Twilight was sitting down with stars in her eyes and a smile that stretched across her whole face, the sight disturbed Ash. Quite a lot. "I've got time."

Ash rolled his eyes and caught sight of Canterlot castle, his jaw dropped at the mere sight of it alone. Twilight caught his expression "Welcome to Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria!" Ash could only mutter a 'Wow', he was truly speechless and doubted anything could beat it.

Ash realized he stood corrected when he actually stepped foot inside the place, they were currently being guided by what Ash assumed was one of the royal guards, he took note that they all looked the same side from the fact that the Pegasus and Unicorn looked different from one another. "It's to keep their identities a secret, for safety reasons when out of the guard." said a voice in his head, Ash soon realized it was Kori!

"Kori!"

There was a light chuckling "We told you, you can hear us when you're conscious, you just can't see us. We're in your head", the guard looked back at Ash, though he could tell he was silently judging him over that stone facade. Scratch that. Ash noticed that everyone he walked pass were stopping just to get a glimpse. All of them soon came upon two large golden doors, the guard opened them leading into the throne room.

"Wow... that’s so cool."

Twilight nodded "The throne room is one of the-"
Ash cut her off "They have mini water fall fountains?" Twilight looked up at him with a deadpan expression. Ash directed his focus away from the fountains and to the two princesses waiting there with a regal presence.

The princesses made their way towards the group and were greeted with bows from the whole party, even if Ash couldn't dress properly he thought he could at least address them with the respect they deserve. The tall white pony spoke with a warm welcoming smile "Greetings to all of you, and thank you for coming all this way."

She was soon encased in a hug by purple arms "Princess!"

The princess met her all they way and returned the hug "Twilight, it's so good to see you again." Ash stood to the side, feeling like a burden on their reunion. When the hug was done, the princesses turned their attention to him and were shocked at his height, he stood eye level with the white princess and only a little bit taller than the blue princess.

The white pony bowed her head "Hello, my name is Princess Celestia.”

Ash bowed his head “My name is Ash Westwind, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Celestia smiled “Likewise, and Twilight mentioned you aren’t from this world. Pray tell, where are you from?”

“I’m from a world called Earth and I live in a country called the United States of America. In that country are 50 states, and one of the states are called North Dakota.”

The blue princess walked up to Ash and introduced herself as Princess Luna. ”That’s the most normal name we’ve encountered here” Ash hummed in agreement. He brought his attention back to the princesses to see a surprised look on both.

Ash looked to them with concern “Was it something I said?”

Celestia shook her head “No, it was more of what you thought.”

”Wait, she can hear us?”

Luna and Celestia giggled “Yes, we can very well hear you.” Twilight and her friends looked at the princesses with confusion.

There was an awkward silence for about a few moments before someone spoke. “So, is anypony gonna say something or are we just gonna stand here?”

This got the princesses attention “Right, back to the matter at hand. We researched about your situation Ash and found this never happened before and there is no spell to help you return home. We are deeply sorry Ash.”

A trickle of a tear fell down Ash’s cheek “So, I won’t ever be able to see my family?” Luna shook her head with dismay.

Ash could only look at the ground, he whispered under his breath “C-Can I please have a moment?” Celestia and Luna nodded in understanding. Celestia gestured everyone out of the throne room, the only sound left were gasps of pain from Ash and the clunk of the throne room doors as the other ponies were leaving the room.

Ash looked to his pocket and pulled out his phone, the top of the screen showed no bars, this caused Ash to let out a big sigh. This information was a lot to take in. Being stuck in completely different world with no way home, you wouldn’t be able to see your friends and family again. But a chance to adjust and start fresh. Ash sighed one more time before he walked out the throne room, everyone was standing there waiting for him.

Ash put on a small smile for their sake, Celestia and Luna knew it was just to cheer them up, “So, what now?”

Celestia walked forward “You may stay in the castle until then, though you’ve shown some theory that you’re not a threat. I will not let the matter slide” Ash understood and smiled.

Twilight and her friends later left and the princesses were showing Ash to where he would be staying. Ash payed close attention to detail to know his way around the place, but to be honest it all looked the same. Ash asked dumbfounded “How do you find your way around this place?”

Luna looked over to him and giggled “Time and memory, it took me some time when I returned.”

Ash eyed her curiously "You 'returned'?" Luna realized her slip and found the walls of the palace far more interesting.

"What was your life on Earth like?" Celestia intervened.

Ash turned his attention to her "Well, I was an engineer and had a pretty big family, heh, my mother always picked on me and my older brother."

"For what?" Luna asked with intrigue.

Ash blushed in embarrassment "Well...let me put it this way. My mother wanted me and my brother to settle down at some point. Whenever me and my brother would visit her she would always ask 'Did you bring anyone else with you?' And she's asked us that more times than if I had four hands." Both the girls giggled, but Ash continued "I've always wanted it to be with someone I love, truly love. Not for looks, fame or fortune. I mean, it look my sister years before she even started dating one of her friends. I guess it runs in the family because the same goes for everyone else in my family." Celestia and Luna were speechless and it stayed that way until they stopped at his room.

"Ew, that was too touchy feely for my tastes"

A slap could be heard inside Ash's head "He was having a moment, have some respect."

"Ash, would you be so kind to join us for dinner?" Ash nodded at Celestia's request.

"I'd be happy to, and mind if I wander around a bit. I'd like to get acquainted with the area."

"Of course you can, we have to return to work anyway." At Luna's permission, he waved bye to the both of them "See you tonight!" Both of them waved back in kind.

Ash was causally walking down a hallway avoiding the stares from the other ponies, he saw across the hall a walking shadow that no pony turned their head to. His curiosity got the better of him. He sped up his movements to follow the mysterious figure. As Ash was following the shadow, he failed to notice the area around him decreasing in light. He came to a dead end and now noticed how dark it got from a few minutes ago. He heard a noise behind him, he turned around and saw a dark human like figure with red eyes and a black body with a dark aura surrounding him.
The figure spoke in a dark raspy voice "Hello Ash Westwind.”

Ash could only stand in slight fear and worry but he stopped it from affecting his voice "How do you know my name?"

The shadow chuckled darkly "I know everything about you. You were born on April 10, 1996, you have one older brother and two younger sisters, their names? Conner Westwind, Emily Westwind, Alexis Westwind but she died by a drunk driver at the age of 17. You used to have a girlfriend name Chloe but she cheated on you while you were on a business trip in London. You were going to tell your family about your relationship you had for a year, two days after she cheated on you, but the event made you never tell them because you thought there was no point." Ash stared at the shadow in horror at the last fact. He's never told anyone that, not even his brother. Ash tried backing away but quickly remembered he was trapped.

The shadow chuckled darkly “You can never run from the shadows Ash, there always there and so am I. Watching. Waiting. Planning.” Then the shadow was gone and the only thing left of him was his evil laugh echoing through the empty halls.

A light touch on his shoulder caused him to jump, expecting to see the shadow, though all he saw was a Pegasus maid with a frightened look from his reaction. Ash looked behind her to see a clear hallway, not like the dark dead end he was in not two minutes ago.

“Um, Sir Ash? Are you alright? The princesses requested to come and find you and bring you to the dining hall in case you lost your way”, Ash nodded absentmindedly, he could only think of what transpired a few moments ago. The maid lead him to the hall in three minutes but to him it felt like hours and his mind was else where.

”Ash? A-Are you alright?” He wasn’t paying attention, his mind wasn’t anywhere for the rest of the following night.

Ash found his way through the gardens, with a book in his hands. He skimmed through pages and pages to see if it had a single detail about Shadow Veil, that’s what he decided to call it.

To anyone else, the sound of wing flaps filled the air, but only silence and emptiness filled Ash’s mind. He heard a sound behind him startling him and transferring him into a defensive stance, but he turned around to find Celestia with startled and surprised expression. She only sighed to herself and spoke under her breath “So my hunch was correct, something’s bothering you Ash”, she tilted her head to be eye level with him, which wasn’t a lot of effort. “Ash, is something troubling you? You’ve been distant all throughout dinner” Ash only looked away. Celestia moved in closer, out of context to anyone near by, they would have gotten the wrong idea. “You can talk to me, I’m your friend.” Her gazed turned to the book in his hand, her horn glowed a golden yellow, snatching the book from his hands. She read over the cover with Ash looking at it in worry. “Does this have anything to do with how you’ve been acting tonight?”

”I have a feeling he had something to do with Alexis, we aren’t going to let the same thing happen with her.”

Kira gave a silent head shake ”If he’s what I think he is then Ash isn’t ready, besides he has the advantage over him.”

Celestia grew more serious “Who is this ‘he’?”

Both Kira and Kori yelled in his head ”Don’t!!” Ash only shook his head and quickly stole the book back, he turned and ran leaving a worried Celestia in his wake.

In the shadows of the bushes stood Shadow Veil, “He made a wise decision but also a stupid one as well.” Shadow Veil faded into the shadows and disappeared like he was never there at all.

Location: Dream Realm

Kori and Kira only looked at Ash in worry but Kori quickly lost it and walked up to Ash and slapped him on the right cheek, Kira looked at Kori in shock, though the slap got Ash back to his senses. "I think we all know who the villain is here, now, we need to get training." Ash followed Kori as a sign of agreement but Kira only watched with serious worry in her eyes. She knows this is unhealthy. Kori knows it is. As well as Ash, but this was the only thing they could do.

Time and training went on but everyone was out of it cause of the thoughts and events that transpired earlier today.
"Why is this much happening so early? Isn't it only the second chapter?"

Be quiet! Let me write my own story, and I'm very aware but this isn't the only thing. Other key points of the story will be coming later.

Celestia was quietly making her way to her chambers thinking about Ash. On her way there she bumped into her sister. Literally. "Sister! You're still awake, I would have thought you'd be asleep by now.”

Luna noticed Celestia's demeanor "Sister? Is something matter?" Celestia knew she shouldn't keep this from Luna.

"Well, I went to go talk with Ash because he looked paranoid during dinner" Luna gestured for her to continue "And when I was going to approach him, the slightest noise set him off, and he looked ready to fight something that wasn't there. He was carrying a book with him that was about the creatures of Equestria. He seemed so eager to take it back when I examined it. Both Kira and Kori refused to let him speak of the matter, referring to him as a 'he'. The next thing I know he grabs the book from my magic and runs off."

Luna stared in anguish at the situation. "Well, there has to be something we can do! One of our only true friends is in current despair and we can't just stand around and pretend like there's nothing there!"

"I agree, but without him opening up about it, then all we can do is hope."

Location: Unknown

A figure in the shadows laughed maniacally "Oh~ This is all just too easy! Soon, Equestria and countless worlds will fall and bow down at my knees", they turned to an army of creatures "Oh and I haven't forgot about your reward if all goes well, and happily for you, you're heading in that direction nicely." A roar of triumph could be heard all throughout the cavern holding hundreds to thousands.

Author's Note

Second chapter, done! I know, a part of the story is at the beginning but there's gonna be more than just one villain. More will come to light in due time. Anyways, hope you dtay tuned for the next to come!