A Boy and his Watch
By TheAlienBrony22

It's a Wild World out There,
Part 2

"So, where do we start looking for your brother? I've seen your brother, he's not exactly average, but he doesn't stand out in a crowd." Dash asked. The five fillies walked through Ponyville, looking around for any sign of the colt they were looking for.

"Ah dunno, I was thinking maybe we called out for him, but that would cause a bit of a panic. Better to do it ourselves then get others worked up over nothin'!" Applejack explained. Dash groaned.

"U-Um... I- I think we sh-should get some help from t-that guy, o-over there..." Fluttershy said sheepishly, pointing over towards a figure in the crowd. The fillies looked over where Fluttershy pointed, and they saw Ben, walking with Nightlight to some kind of knickknack emporium.

"Well, what's one more feller to add to the search party. C'mon, girls, let's go get some extra help." Applejack said as the fillies ran to the emporium.

As Ben sits in one of the chairs, completely bored, Nightlight seems fixated on some kind of old painting. It showed a white alicorn facing off against a black alicorn draped in dark violet armor. Below the fight, it showed seven individuals, six of them looking like ponies, and the other individual didn't seem all that clear, but it showed them blasting some kind of off-color rainbow at the black alicorn. Ben's interest was piqued, as well as his curiosity.

"Hey dad, what is this painting talking about?" Ben asked, walking over to stand by his side as they both looked at the painting.

"You sure you wanna know, Ben? It's a bit of a lengthy tale, but I can shorten it down to what you would've learned about when you got to high school, if that's alright." Nightlight said, looking at the human boy.

"Yeah, I'm actually pretty curious, and the bottom part of it piqued my interest too." Ben responded.

"Well then, I'm glad you asked, Ben, this is ancient Equestrian history, but it seems like from the looks of the bottom portion of it, someone up and scribbled on it and tried to make it look official. Let me explain. Nearly a thousand years ago, say like, nine hundred and ninety-two years to be accurate, there used to be two princesses that ruled Equestria together. One raised the sun, and the other raised the moon. It was foretold that this other princess, whoever she was, had grown jealous of the princess of the day because ponies reveled in the sun's light, but showered no praise for when she made the night look beautiful. This princess let anger and jealousy dictate her every move from there on out, until she finally tried to seize control over the sun and moon for herself, and the princess transformed into a wicked mare of darkness, simply known now, as Nightmare Moon. The princess of the day couldn't face Nightmare Moon alone, but there were six magical individuals that could, and when they united, they defeated Nightmare Moon, and banished her inside the moon, hence why her likeness is visible for all of pony kind to see every night. These six individuals, were known as the Elements of Harmony. I'm not sure what punk decided to deface history and add a seventh element, but there were six elements. Legends have prophesized that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aide in her escape, and she'll return to reclaim the throne once again." Nightlight explained.

Ben was surprised, practically astonished that a being like that could exist... it also made him remember why he was here, to forget about the incident that wracked his mind with negative and intrusive thoughts, feelings of doubt. Ben actually worried if he'd end up as the next Nightmare Moon, and couldn't bare to imagine himself overwhelmed by darkness, standing triumphantly on the bodies of those he defeated while Equestria burned to the ground, with him holding the match.

Ben tried to calm himself down, his breathing shaky as he took a seat and sat down, trying to steady his breathing. Nightlight looked at his son with concern, and he could very well see the fear in Ben's eyes, his fear-ridden, teary green eyes. All them good feelings just got stuffed to the side as Ben's worries crept back into his head.

"O-Oh boy, uh, ok Ben, I'm gonna run back to Chiffon's and get you some more brownies, and maybe a milkshake, stay right there, I'll be right back! Just keep yourself occupied!" Nightlight stated worriedly, rushing out of the emporium as five fillies watched the unicorn trot like Tartarus itself was on his tail.

"What in tarnation was that about?" Applejack asked in confusion.

"I... don't know how to answer that question, but I think he might be a little bothered." Dash said with uncertainty, pointing to Ben, who hasn't noticed the fillies yet. "Are we sure asking him for help is a good idea?"

"C-Can't hurt to t-try, Dashie..." Fluttershy responded quietly.

"Fluttershy is right, darlings, I bet he just needs some good words to cheer him up!" Rarity suggested, pointing at the pink filly in front of her. "Pinkie, you seem to be the most cheery out of all of us, why don't you try to make him smile?"

"Oooooohh! Good idea, Rarity! You girls wait here, I'm gonna do what I do best!" The pink filly stated, speed walking towards the worried and panic-ridden human.

"Think she'll actually cheer him up?" Dash asked.

"Nnope, but it's the only idea we got." Applejack stated, watching the pink filly get ready to do her thing.

"Hey, pal! Hey! Hey! Pal! Hey! Hey!" Pinkie said repeatedly. Ben sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes as he looked at the pink filly standing in front of him. "You seem kinda sad, but don't worry, I'm gonna cheer you up, that's what Pinkie Pie's here to do!"

Ben felt his worries become confusion, how did this pink filly plan to cheer him up? Ben didn't have to think about that for long when all of a sudden, some strangely upbeat happy music began to play out of nowhere as the pink filly bounced from side to side with a cute and very silly grin on her face as she began to sing.

Ben couldn't believe what was happening, nor could he find the source of the music, but the pink filly continued to sing and actually make him feel a little better with a dash of a new perspective to his feelings. Sometimes stuff happens, and you'll feel bad about it, but that doesn't mean you harp on it and let it drive you nuts, you just gotta find some good to balance out the bad, and smile, smile, smile every step of the way.

Ben had dried his tears and felt his worries melt away as a smile formed on his face as the pink filly began to laugh and finish her singing. Pinkie looked up at the human, who seemed to look and feel a whole lot better. "Do you feel better, mister?" The pink filly asked.

"I do... I don't know how you did that with the music, or how you managed to calm me down, but I appreciate it. the only friends I have are my siblings, and it's kinda hard for me to make friends... no one in Canterlot seems that keen on being friends with someone like me, anyway. Thanks for that. I'm Ben, what did you say your name was, again?" Ben introduced.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you, Benny!" Pinkie introduced, smiling.

"It's Ben, but whatever. Why'd you cheer me up in the first place?" Ben asked, still feeling pretty happy after that strange and sudden musical number.

Pinkie giggled and pulled Ben by the hand, leading him to the door, only to see four other fillies. "Howdy, mister! Any chance you'd be willing to help us out? We kinda need some help findin' mah brother." Applejack asked with a nervous smile.

"I suppose I could for a couple minutes, what does your brother look like?" Ben asked.

"He's red, he has freckles, he has a short mane, and he's more built than average colts. Do you know where he could be, did you see him at all?" Pinkie described.

Ben tried to think back to if he ever saw a pony like that, but nothing came to mind. Then, an idea came to him. It was a really bad idea, but for all Ben knew, this colt could be in some serious trouble if his parents haven't found him yet, and this did fall under the emergency category. Ben looked to his watch and began to fiddle with it, twisting the dial as he landed on the icon he wanted. "Ok, I'll help, and I have just the transformation that can track him down. If you have something that belongs to your brother, you may wanna let me have it, it'll make this easier. You little fillies need to not panic when you see this, though. Can I trust you all to not panic and make a scene?" Ben asked.

The fillies looked at the human, nervous that this might backfire, but he was willing to help, so they nodded in understanding, with Rarity being kinda hesitant when she agreed.

"Ok, just be wary that this one can be a little... wild." Ben cautioned. Ben pressed the core up on his watch and pushed it down, enveloping himself in a flash of green light. Before the fillies was a creature in Ben's place, one that looked ferocious.

The creature looked like an overgrown diamond dog with overgrown orange fur, but it certainly didn't share traits of the Diamond Dogs, one example being the lack of clothing, eyes, or a tail, for that matter. the creature had black lips and sharp canines, but it also had some weird gills on the side of its neck. The only accessory this orange beast had was a black and white helmet with green square knobs poking out from the top of it, and a white hourglass emblem.

The fillies had various reactions. Pinkie stared in awe as she playfully petted the big alien dog, Dash was looking at how cool and extreme the beast was, Applejack was tryna be a little cautious as she tried to climb onto the back of the creature, Rarity fainted, and Fluttershy was terrified, up until she listened to the alien dog's growls and snarls.

"Oh, so this isn't what you look like normally, that's good to know... I-I think. You're not g-gonna hurt a-anypony, a-are you?" Fluttershy asked. The beast growled and barked, and Fluttershy seemed to get the message as she slowly fluttered onto the beast's back. As the fillies got on, the alien dog carefully lifted the unconscious Rarity onto his back as he gestured to Applejack for the item that belonged to her brother. The alien canine held what looked like a harness in his paws, and gave it a thorough sniff before picking up on a scent, and then slowly ran out of Ponyville as the fillies held on tight.

The canine slowly followed the scent for a few hours as it snarled and growled, or according to Fluttershy, who could somehow understand the beast, was getting closer to Mac's location. What bothered the fillies was that they were on the edge of the elusive and extremely dangerous Everfree Forest, while Ben didn't seem to know what the fuss was all about and kept following the scent.

"Hey, fella! We're gettin' way too close to tha Everfree, you sure my brother's somewhere round 'ere?" Applejack asked unsurely. The beast snarled and growled, barking too as it stopped and pointed towards a huge hole up ahead that was just a few feet away from the Everfree, and by the looks of it, some strange wolf-shaped creatures made out of leaves, wood and such were snarling and looking down into the hole.

"Timberwolves!? Oh no, I've done a lot of crazy things, but fighting a Timberwolf is not gonna be one of those things! If your brother's down in that hole, well, I hope timberwolves don't like apples!" Dash said, jumping off the beast as she took cover behind a big bush. Fluttershy was quick enough to do the same, as did Rarity and Pinkie.

"Sorry AJ, but if I'm gonna throw parties, I need to be well and at my best! Timberwolves are dangerous business!" Pinkie warned.

Applejack jumped off the beast and trotted over to the other fillies, obviously displeased. She was about to go off on them for abandoning her and her brother, until the beast roared and charged forward. The Timberwolves charged at the new canine creature, but were immediately met with a creature that was anything but some eyeless hound dog.

The beast swatted and thrashed the Timberwolves to pieces, and even threw a couple of them back into the Everfree. After the supposed victory, the beast climbed down the hole and saw the colt he was looking for. A red colt with a short mane, slightly more built than the average colt, but it did have a cut open green apple that showed off the seeds inside as a cutie mark.

The beast was pretty sure this colt was the one he was looking for, and managed to carry it out of the hole, before setting him down next to the fillies. Before the beast had a chance to carry the fillies back to Ponyville, the scattered remains of the Timberwolves began to rebuild themselves, combining into a bigger Timberwolf. The beast roared and was back on the attack as the ponies watched, seeing this beast fight back against such a monstrous creature like the Timberwolf, it was the most eventful thing to happen in Ponyville since the inevitable end of the Pear and Apple Feud.

The beast was able to prove itself to be a serious threat, and though the Timberwolf wasn't defeated, it was sent running back into the Everfree. The fillies cheered, as did Mac, but their cheers fell short as the beast slowly tried to stay up so it could carry the little ponies back to Ponyville. The beast had several loose twigs sticking out of its body, a bunch of scratches and a few bruises, it looked like it just got out of a warzone. By the time the beast actually got close to the fillies, it was enveloped in a red light, and Ben was returned to normal, only to collapse and be rendered unconscious from how hard he pushed himself, but could feel that the pain he suffered from the fight carried to his normal form.

The fillies were worried, practically scared, but Mac had enough strength to carry Ben's unconscious body back to Ponyville, with the other fillies following right behind him.

When they got back to Ponyville, the sun was already beginning to set, and Nightlight was in a panicking frenzy, stuffing his face with sweets as he tried to calm himself down, in which his panicking was only increased when the young ponies came back with Ben, unconscious and injured.

"What happened to my boy!?" Nightlight exclaimed, terrified. Chiffon just winced at the side of Ben's current condition. His white shirt was now slowly becoming red.

"Sir, I gotta be honest with ya, I asked him to help me find my brother, who was stuck in a hole surrounded by Timberwolves. He turned into some big orange dog thing and was able to take them on and get my brother back, but those timberwolves rebuilt themselves and were a lot more fierce than they were before, but he took them on and sent it running back into the Everfree over yonder. He took quite a beating, but he was just tryin' to make sure we were alright. This is my fault, I asked for his help. He could've said no, but he didn't. I am willin' to give my condolences, and my deepest apologies, sir." Applejack explained, hanging her head low.

"I know I can't be angry at a bunch of little kids, even if I want to... but that won't make my son feel any better. I shouldn't have left him alone, I should've stayed and calmed him down myself, that's what a responsible parent would've done! H-How am I gonna explain this to Velvet?!" Nightlight panicked.

"Yeesh, you make it sound like he's dead, talk about dramatic." Dash stated, muttering that last part.

"W-What? He's not--"

"Nope, but if we keep standing around doin' nothin' about his condition, he very well could be." Mac spoke up. Fluttershy reached up and put a hoof to Ben's wrist, and felt something, like a pulse.

"H-He's still breathing, he has a pulse... oh my... w-we need t-to get to N-Nurse Redheart's clinic, o-or Ponyville General maybe?" Fluttershy suggested.

Nightlight used his magic to put Ben on his back and thanked the little ponies for bringing his son back, then ran as fast as he could to Redheart's clinic.

Then, in that moment, almost like every last shred of her instincts had kicked in at that very moment, Applejack felt like she needed to see that human feller make it, and when she turned back to the other fillies, and her brother, they all knew it too.

"C'mon y'all, we know what we gotta do!" Applejack stated, trotting after Nightlight and Ben.

"I still need to throw him a welcome party, AND a thank you party!" Pinkie declared, trotting after Applejack.

"I-I wanna th-thank him f-for scaring off those big m-mean t-t-timberwolves." Fluttershy mumbled as she, well, fluttered after Pinkie.

"Well, can't hurt to see if he makes it, plus, I wanna see if he's up for a race sometime when he gets better!" Dash explained, dashing after the other ponies.

Rarity wanted to go see Ben too, but she didn't want to get any dirt on her hooves. She hopped on Mac's back, and he ran after the others too. He still wanted to thank Ben for saving his flank from becoming Timberwolf chow.

[???]

Silence was all Ben could hear. His eyes snapped open, he could move, he wasn't injured, but his shirt was still stained in red, that was his favorite shirt, too. Ben stood up and looked around, seeing nothing but a blank and empty void... well, empty was not entirely true, there was a man standing in that void, one dressed in a lab coat with goggles, they also had a cane and a golden gauntlet.

"Hello Benjamin, I know it's rather quick for us to meet, but I would like to--"

The void began to shake, and Ben could feel his head pounding in pain. He saw the man reaching out to him, and for some reason he didn't seem to trust it. He tried to back away, only for the void to start shattering around him as the sound of a loud cackle began to echo. Ben couldn't describe what was going on, nor could he describe the sudden lack of air in his lungs. Ben gasped and gasped, and then turned to run away, only to fall into a brighter void, till he couldn't see anything, or hear anything... he couldn't feel anything.

Ben snapped his eyes open again, gasping for air as he sat up. He then felt a major pain in his sides, and held them, trying to steady and slow his movements. He felt bandages and gauze around his waist, then he saw his dad talking to a white earth pony with faded blonde hair and a red plus sign as a cutie mark.

"Hey there, Benny boy!" A voice rang out. Ben jumped and winced, holding his side as he saw Pinkie sitting right next to him... and the other little ponies he met. "Are you feeling any better? You were out for a few hours, but you seem to be okay. Are you ok?"

"Pinkie, don' make him hurt himself again, he's obviously not okay. Wounds like that don' heal in just a few hours." Applejack reminded sternly. Pinkie smiled and chuckled as she backed up.

"What are you all doing here? I thought you would've just ignored me, it's what everypony else does, unless their family, or a family friend," Ben asked. "Besides, I also thought you would've seen me as a monster."

"What gave you such a lame idea?" Dash asked.

"Did you not see that I became a big eyeless orange dog beast thing, or were you trying to chock that up to your imagination? Because that's one dangerous imagination ya got there." Ben remarked with a chuckle. Dash smiled, she liked this guy already, he had a sense of humor. He was beat and battered, and hurt pretty bad, yet he's sitting up and making jokes.

"Darling, you may have some... eccentricities, but that doesn't mean we're going to judge you by those eccentricities, it's the you that you choose to be that matters." Rarity chimed in.

"Big and fancy words aside, she's right. You may be different from ponies, but that's not a bad thing. Everypony is different, but we stand together as friends, or for some others, they are like family, no matter how different they are. It's like our Granny once told us, 'You can cut a Pear and an Apple open and plant their seeds, but you can't glue a stick to an Earth Pony, and call it a Unicorn'." Mac explained.

"You know what you should do? You should come down here and live in Ponyville, that way we get to hang out more, and I can see what other cool things you can turn into!" Dash suggested.

"Dash being Dash aside, livin' in Ponyville would do ya some real good, you already got a few good friends right 'ere who ain' gonna judge ya by whatever you turn into, and you'll make plenty more. Whaddya say, partner?" Applejack asked.

"I say... I'm not here to move to Ponyville, I came here to get over something, and Pinkie's strange little song from earlier helped me forget about it, at least for now. I'm gonna be here for six more days, but maybe when I'm older, at least enough to look after myself, I'll gladly find a home right here in Ponyville, that's a promise." Ben declared.

"Pinkie Promise?" Pinkie said with a smile. Ben looked at his pinky finger and looked at Pinkie with confusion. "No no, it's like this. 'Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!' that way, it's more genuine, and you have to keep your Pinkie Promise. So, is that promise of yours a Pinkie Promise, Benny?" Pinkie asked.

Ben took a minute and thought about how long he's been in Canterlot, especially with how people slowly got used to him and his powers, even if he didn't reveal his powers to all of Canterlot. Ben looked at how these fillies and one foal were willing to be friends, and decided to make a promise he intended to keep.

"I, Ben Sparkle, cross my heart, hope to fly, and stick a cupcake in my eye!" Ben declared, ignoring the sharp pain in his arm as Pinkie squeed and bounced in place with a smile on her face. "It'll be great to see you guys more permanently in a few years, but it's nice to know that I'll have six more days here to hang out and really have some fun."

Fluttershy slowly approached Ben and handed him a gift. "I-It's from all of us... um... I- I hope you like it..." Fluttershy quietly mumbled as she retreated behind Dash.

Ben carefully opened the box, and saw a camera. Ben pulled it out and looked to see if it had any film. It had one more picture ready to be taken, and Ben smiled, motioning for the fillies and the foal to come in for a group picture. As soon as everyone was in place, Ben held the camera high and clicked the shutter button, capturing the human and the ponies in a single image as it slowly printed out a picture of all them.

"Thanks, Fluttershy, this is the best gift ever!" Ben commented.

"Good thing that wasn't a joke camera, otherwise jelly would've splattered all over us! It would've been funny, but it also would've been sticky." Dash states.

Ben chuckled as the other ponies began to laugh, and Nightlight watched as he saw Ben look and feel the happiest he's ever been. Maybe this trip wasn't a bad idea after all.

Author's Note

So, I've decided to make the executive decision to show AJ and Mac's Parents before they up and croak.

I will post an epilogue right after, but there will be another multi-parter before we really delve into the actual first season. I want to develop Ben as much as I can.