Second Childhoodsby Proud LutheranChaptersThe HunterEmo FillyThe MachineWhen the New Student is AsianBeggars Would FlyScarredMonster DanceThe HunterAn average day in Ponyville saw a great deal of hustle and bustle amongst its fair citizens as the sun shone down upon them. Everypony went about there lives; going to work, talking with friends, and hoping that no monsters or anything dangerous would show up. On an below average day, something evil, bizarre, or Crusader-related would happen. On an above average day, nothing out of the ordinary would occur and the townsfolk could sigh in relief. The relief, however, could not come until the day had safely passed. As far as the citizens of Ponyville were concerned, today was slightly above average at the moment. The only thing that might be considered out of the ordinary was the strange unicorn colt wandering through town. His hide was pale, not quite white. His mane and tail were unkempt, light in color that was somewhere between light brown and blonde. His eyes were light gray, almost blue. Nopony recognized him, which led to the assumption that he was from out of town. Normally, foals his age would be in school, yet he was freely wandering the streets. Perhaps his family had very recently moved in, yet nopony had heard such news. Ponyville was a small town and its community was typically aware of new faces as a result. This was, of course, helped by the fact that somepony new meant a welcoming party. The local gossipers assumed that they would be receiving their invitations to such an event soon, for that colt was most certainly a new face. His presence still begged the question of who and where his parents were. A few ponies considered talking with the colt to satisfy their curiosities, but hesitated. There was something extremely off about him. Perhaps it was the coat and tricorn hat he wore, which were a century or two out of style. Perhaps it was the syringes filled with a peculiar red liquid dangling from his coat. It might have been the rusty-looking saw that rested on his back. Out of all those very noticeable things on him, what struck everypony the most was the way he carried himself. The child’s head barely moved, but his eyes darted about toward any and all movement. Rather than run about playfully and gaze at every market stall, the colt walked with caution and tension in his steps. This would’ve been mistaken for shyness, readiness to jump at any sudden movement, were it not for the grim, almost blank expression on his face. Were he an adult, the other ponies would’ve compared him to a coiled snake waiting to strike at the first fool to cross its path. Seeing such behavior in a child was most unsettling. Inevitably, the colt was seen by Pinkie, who gasped in her typical fashion and speedily went off to make party preparations. The fact that the colt reached for his saw at Pinkie’s reaction, as if expecting a fight, did not quell anypony’s nerves. Gossip traveled fast in Ponyville and it wasn’t long before some were suggesting that they inform Princess Twilight Sparkle about the uncanny colt, thinking him to be some sort of monster in disguise. Others believed him to be an orphan who had a hard life and therefore struggled to trust anypony. Another group claimed that everypony was overreacting and that the colt was simply playing hooky and pretending to be an adult. This camp was, of course, challenged to speak to the newcomer. Rainbow Dash readily accepted the challenge. The colt was making his way to the Castle of Friendship when the rainbow pegasus landed in front of him. “Hey, there,” she greeted. “The name’s Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?” The colt looked at her, then past her toward the castle. “I am but a hunter,” he replied, his tone almost monotonous and not childlike save for its pitch. His voice carried a slight Trottingham accent. “That castle, does it hold many texts?” Rainbow needed a moment to process that. “A hunter?” There was no need for such an occupation among ponies. Fishing didn’t count. “Yes,” said the colt, ignoring her confusion, “A hunter of beasts.” Rainbow wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of a child hunting monsters or cringe at how serious the colt sounded. “Ya look a little young for that. Shouldn’t you be in school or something?” “I am older than I appear and therefore have little use for school. Now, what of the castle?” Rainbow saw no harm in answering that question. “Yeah, it’s got a library. What about your parents? Where are they?” “In their graves.” Rainbow was taken aback by the sheer bluntness of that answer. Where was this colt from and how long had he been without parents? “What? But-! You’re all by yourself?” “Not quite.” He gestured behind him. “My dwelling is in the forest and the doll is good company.” Forest? Doll? “Wait, you mean the Everfree Forest?” “If that is the name of the wood near this village, then yes.” “Woah, woah, woah! You live in the Everfree Forest by yourself? Yeah, right! My friends and I go in there all the time! We’d have met you by now.” Rainbow was still thrown off by this colt, but his talk of living in a dangerous forest reinforced the idea that he was pretending. She believed that his parents were dead, but scoffed at the idea of him living in the Everfree. She didn’t know what he meant by the doll, however. Did he have a literal doll, or an imaginary friend? “We have not lived there long,” he replied, starting toward the castle again. “Now, excuse me. I have more pressing matters to attend.” Rainbow easily kept pace with him. “Like what?” “Research.” If that was all the strange colt wanted, Rainbow saw no harm in leaving him to it. Besides, she reasoned, Twilight would know how to help him with his research. She’d probably throw herself into whatever project he was working on as well. On the other hoof, there was no harm in asking Cheerilee if one of her students was missing. Within the Castle of Friendship, Twilight was taking the opportunity to relax in the library, enjoying a very good book. She was so absorbed in her text that she paid no heed to the sound of hoofsteps approaching. However, he ears did twitch at the sound of somepony clearing their throat. Twilight turned to the source of the noise and beheld the strangest little colt she had ever seen. “Hello,” she greeted, “Can I help you?” The unicorn colt stared at her for a moment. “You are the only creature I’ve met to have both wings and horn. Why?” Twilight smiled genially, always happy to impart knowledge. “Well, it’s because I’m an alicorn. There are three different types of ponies: unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. Unicorns have a horn, pegasi have wings,-” “Earth ponies have neither while alicorns have both, yes?” “Essentially.” “Why are alicorns so rare?” “Well, as far my research shows, alicorns aren’t born, they ascend.” The colt’s expression became far more focused. “Explain.” Twilight proceeded to recount the story of how she finished Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell and became an alicorn princess. “You became a Great One,” he breathed, “Yet there is no madness in you.” Twilight found herself blushing at being called great. She couldn’t have done anything without her friends. “Madness? What do you mean?” Was he talking about Nightmare Moon? If so, he should’ve already known about alicorns. “Nevermind. Are there many more of you?” “Only four: myself, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance.” The little unicorn didn’t answer at first, taking a moment to regard Twilight and ponder her words. He then slowly took the wicked-looking saw off his back and set it on the floor, keeping one hoof on it. “Five,” he said, removing his coat. A pair of newly uncovered wings flared outwards. Twilight fainted. Author's Note I can already see somebody insulting me in the comments for making an Alicorn edgleord, but let me explain. See, there’s this video game called Bloodborne, made by the creators of Dark Souls. One of the endings for the game has the PC turn into an infant eldritch abomination and a living doll cradles it. I figured “Hey, they turn into a Great One, so why not an Alicorn foal instead?” Thus, this one-shot was born because I have neither the time nor inspiration to make a full story out of this. Emo FillyThe peace and quiet of Ponyville was disturbed by the dramatic scream of a little filly. This was no ordinary filly scream, but one so raw and whiny that is surpassed Rarity on the drama scale. The scream was also rather uncanny, as though it had been tuned or filtered through a mask to sound deep. Needless to say, many ponies decided that their day was not about to be ruined by a whiny filly and ran in the opposite direction of where the sound came from. A few more brave souls approached with caution as the screams continued. “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BODY? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VOICE? WHERE’S MY LIGHTSABER? AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHH!” The filly in question was sitting in an alley, pounding her little hooves against a wall. She was a violet earth pony, wearing a black mask that vaguely resembled a duck’s bill. Her hair was hidden by the mask, but her tail was black. Applejack, who had been running her nearby apple stand in the market, stood in the alley. “What the hay’s goin’ on here?” she demanded. “How come you’re makin’ all this racket?” The filly turned to face the mare, shaking with childish rage. “Who are you? What are you? Did you do this to me?” She gestured to herself. “Do what? You’re the one carryin’ on and hollerin’ like a newborn foal!” “Newborn? I am Kylo Ren! I’m the descendent of Darth Vader, the most powerful Sith Lord the galaxy has ever seen!” Applejack blinked. Everything she had just heard made no sense at all. Foals could be boastful, but this was ridiculous. And who would name their child Kylo Ren? Or Darth, for that matter? “Right, and Ah’m the princess of apples.” The filly, Kylo, growled and pointed her hoof at Applejack. The mare was confused by this, as nothing seemed to happed. The filly lowered her hoof and looked down at it. “I can’t feel it,” she said, a hint of fear creeping into her mask-filtered voice. “Ya ain’t makin’ any sense,” said Applejack. “Be quiet!” snapped Kylo. “I didn’t ask your opinion!” The farm mare moved closer. “Don’t you talk like that ta me, little missy! Ah oughta teach ya some manners!” “You can’t give me orders, you-! Missy?” The filly quickly turned around and looked down. Her breathing increased. “Now what are ya doin’?” asked Applejack. Kylo threw her head back. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!” Applejack cut her off, whacking her upside the head with the hat. “Quit it! Ah swear, Ah’ve had it with yer little hissy fit! Ah’m taking you to yer parents and tellin’ ‘em exactly what you did!” She didn’t know where Kylo’s parents were, but she suspected that her cries would bring them to her. If not, then she would simply bring Kylo to city hall, where they would undoubtedly have records of a new family moving in. They could contact the filly’s parents from there. Kylo lashed out and struck Applejack, but the blow was barely even a tickle to the stout mare. She grabbed the filly’s bill-shaped helmet and pulled it off, revealing light red eyes and a face that would’ve been cute were it not for the rotten attitude. “You can’t do this to me!” Kylo protested. “I’m not some child!” “Coulda fooled me,” Applejack retorted, grabbing Kylo by the ear and pulling her out of the alley. “Ow! Stop it! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I’LL MAKE YOU BEG FOR MERCY! I’LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY! I’LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!” Applejack rolled her eyes, though she was inwardly unsettled by a child making death threats. Adult ponies rarely, if ever, talked about death in polite company. Threats of that nature were a good way to tell somepony that they were well and truly loathed. Kylo was likely ignorant of the meaning of those phrases. Applejack would have to make sure the filly’s parents knew about her filthy mouth. Author's Note I’m sorry it’s short, but I hope it’s entertaining. You can only take a temper tantrum so far. The MachineAuthor's Note WARNING! This chapter contains body horror! The Machine Sugarcube Corner was widely regarded as the most pleasant place in Ponyville. It was a place where anypony could go and have a good time. Delectable sweets were guaranteed, courtesy of the Cake couple and Pinkie Pie, and nopony could ever feel unwanted there. While Mr. and Mrs. Cake ran the front counter and took orders, Pinkie Pie happily pranced about the kitchen, baking all manner of baked goods for the customers. As Pinkie waited for a batch of cupcakes to finish, she decided to bake a carrot cake. She went to the storage unit and grabbed some carrots. She came back to the kitchen, washed the carrots, then reached for the carrot cleaver. To her surprise, the carrot cleaver wasn’t on the wall where she kept it. She began to check the drawers, assuming that she must’ve put it in there by mistake the last time she used it. It wasn’t there, either. Before she could check the basement to see if she left it with the pickaxe she used to make rock candy, everypony in Sugarcube Corner heard a blood-curdling scream. The scream was one not of anger or a childish tantrum, but pure, unadulterated agony. While everypony else froze in fear, Pinkie dashed out of the building. Clearly, somepony was having a very bad day and needed to feel better. Following the sound of the scream, she came out the back way and found its source. It was a gray unicorn colt. His hair was red and his eyes were shut from pain. The colt was on the verge of tears as he clutched the bleeding stump where his left foreleg used to be. The carrot cleaver lay next to him, covered in blood. Next to the cleaver was a gray leg. Pinkie screamed. Ponyville General Hospital was not very busy most days, and that meant comfort. While the staff might be bored on an average day, that meant that few, if any, ponies were suffering. It was most relieving. That was on an average day, however. Today, the peacefulness of the waiting room was disrupted by Pinkie Pie bursting through the front doors and screaming bloody murder. On her back was a bleeding, unconscious colt who was missing a leg. The nurse at the front immediately called for help, screaming for somepony to get in ASAP and other nurses quickly burst in with a gurney. They put the colt on the gurney and wheeled him away while simultaneously doing their utmost to stop the bleeding. Pinkie stood there in the waiting room, covered in blood that was not her own. Her mane was completely straight and tears were in her eyes. Was the colt going to be alright? “Miss?” asked the nurse. “Do you want to use the shower?” Pinkie didn’t answer. She simply stared at the doorway which the nurses went through. “Would you like to get cleaned up?” No answer. “Miss?” Silence. For hours, Pinkie stood there. She didn’t respond to anypony. She didn’t even move. The nurse had to resort to cleaning the blood off with a rag while Pinkie stared forward. The party pony didn’t respond to anything until a doctor came in with the news. “He’s going be okay.” Two days. The colt that Pinkie Pie had rescued had been asleep for two days. Nurse Redheart recognized that this was on account of the tremendous loss of blood, but she still feared for the child, whom they had dubbed Gray until they could learn his real name. Pinkie had gone back to her old self, thankfully. She was planning a Get Well Soon party for Gray and kept coming back to ask if he was awake yet so she could throw the party and cheer him up. Redheart could only hope that the party could fit in the colt’s room from how much Pinkie talked about it. The nurse walked to Gray’s room to check on him, but stopped at the door. Strange, mechanical noises were coming from inside, ones that didn’t belong to the equipment they kept in there to monitor the colt. She turned the knob, but the door didn’t budge. Fear slowly crept into her as she pushed against the door. Fear became determination, however, and Nurse Redheart bucked the door with all the strength she could muster. Whatever had been barricading the door was pushed aside and the door flew open. Redheart ran in to see what was going on and gasped. The room was a mess. The various machines and equipment had been butchered beyond repair, stripped of their parts. In the middle of it all, standing on the bed with a smile on his face, was Gray. Where there should’ve been a bandaged stump, there was now metal. The metal formed the shape of a leg, but there were claws instead of a hoof. “Wh-wh-what happened?” Redheart stammered. Gray lifted his crude artificial limb. “Beautiful, isn’t it? Far from my best work, but needs must.” Redheart didn’t believe what she was hearing. “Y-you did this?” “Yes. I would’ve preferred something more precise for the amputation, but one must work with the tools given to them.” The nurse had heard many a disturbing thing in her time, but this made her want to throw up. Gray, a mere child, had cut off his own leg? “But… why?” Gray’s smile became a scowl. “Because flesh is weak! There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. There is no strength in flesh, only weakness. There is no constancy in flesh, only decay. There is no certainty in flesh but death. But the machine?” He held up his prosthetic. “The machine is immortal.” When the New Student is AsianAuthor's Note Based on the comedy of Steven He. When the New Student is Asian “Good morning, class!” greeted Cheerilee. “Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!” said the foals, some more enthusiastically than others. “As you can see, we have a new student with us!” She pointed to the orange earth pony colt wearing a gray blazer. His hair was black and he had a slipper for a cutie mark. “Would you like to come up and introduce yourself to everypony?” The social worker who dropped him off had looked haggard and said that she didn’t know his name. He had tentatively been referred to as Orange. The colt confidently walked up to the front of the class. “Hello. I am professional Asian dad. I specialize in failure management.” He looked over his classmates as they tried to figure out what he meant. Cheerilee assumed that he was trying to be funny in order to make friends. “Today we are going to learn how to start a business.” Cheerilee chuckled at his eagerness. “Actually, we’re going to be going to be learning some other things today.” The colt looked at her. “Yes, you right. They should already have their own business when nine years old.” “We’re ten,” said Diamond Tiara. “Ten years old? What the hail you doing in school? Go start a business!” “Okay, that’s enough,” said Cheerilee. “Go back to your seat. We’re all here to learn.” Orange didn’t budge, however. “You are all ten years old and just go to school and go home? You don’t work? What the hail?” “Ah work,” said Apple Bloom. The “Asian dad” fixed his gaze on her. “Oh, good. You start business?” “Ah help my family business.” “You work family business, what the hail you go to school for?” “Orange!” Cheerilee scolded, “You are being disruptive. Go back to your seat so class can start.” “Oh, we start class?” he asked. “Okay, today I teach you quadratic formula.” “I’m the teacher here. If you don’t stop interrupting, I’m going to give you detention.” To Cheerilee’s surprise, he hoofed her a slipper. “Use slipper instead. Much more effective.” “What?” “Perfect for punishing your failure. I use all the time on my son, Steven. Very effective.” Everypony was silent as they tried to figure out just what this colt was saying. Cheerilee couldn’t remember exactly when her hoof met her face. “I can’t be the only pony who knows that colt’s a complete weirdo,” said Diamond Tiara. “Nothing he said made any sense!” Everypony except Orange was outside for recess. Orange had to stay inside with Cheerilee as punishment. “Yeah, like, he actually thinks he has a son?” asked Silver Spoon. “What’s up with that?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to say something in the new colt’s defense, but found themselves unable to come up with an appropriate retort. Even they had to acknowledge that a broken clock could be right twice a day. Once the fillies and colts were all back inside, they immediately noticed that Orange was nowhere to be seen. They also noticed that Cheerilee was not smiling. The lessons continued as normal up until Diamond Tiara said something very unkind about Scootaloo’s inability to fly. A slipper came flying through the air and hit Diamond dead in the face. Orange came at her seemingly from out of nowhere. “You act like you better than other failures? You can’t even cook rice!” “Miss Cheerilee!” whined Diamond. “Orange hit me!” “He’s doing his job as the newly appointed class monitor,” said the teacher. “Maybe next time, you’ll think twice before you try to bully somepony in my classroom.” “I’m telling my mom!” “Please do. Please tell your mother that you were punished for being a bully, so she can realize what a failure she’s been in raising you.” Diamond Tiara promptly fainted from sheer emotional damage. Orange nodded in approval. “Very effective.” Cheerilee smiled. Beggars Would FlyDinky Hooves was a filly on a mission. She had to get a pretty flower for her dear mother. Her mission led her to the outskirts of Ponyville, where a great many wildflowers grew. When she got there, she realized that she didn’t know which flower to pick. They all looked so pretty, but she needed to pick a special flower that she knew her mom would like. Would a blue flower work? No, that had red thorns. Red? Pretty, but was it good enough? Yellow? It matched her hair. Maybe Mom would like that one? Dinky’s decision-making was disrupted by the sound of somepony falling to the ground with an “Oof!” The little filly turned around and saw a pegasus colt sprawled on the ground, his face in the dirt. “Are you okay?” she asked. The brown-coated colt looked up at her. His hair was black and messy-looking with bangs hanging over his forehead, while his eyes were green. His face was framed by an broken pair of glasses. He stared at Dinkie with a face that reminded her of Daddy whenever he saw something particularly strange. “Um, hi,” she greeted. “I’m Dinky Hooves.” “Hi,” said the colt. “I’m Harry. Harry Potter.” “Hah-ry,” Dinky repeated, testing how it sounded. “That’s a funny name. I like it!” Harry looked at her. “Thanks. Um, where am I?” “You’re in Ponyville! It’s the bestest place in the whole, wide world ‘cause Mommy and Daddy live here! Ooh! Do you wanna help me find a flower? I gotta get one for my mom.” Harry looked down at his hooves, then back up to look at Dinky. “Alright.” “Thank you!” Dinky quickly hugged Harry, who was taken completely by surprise. “Wanna be friends?” Harry stared at Dinky again. He then quickly looked around, as if he were waiting for somepony. “You… wanna be my friend?” “Yeah! Now let’s look for flowers!” Dinky trotted over to some yellow flowers, while Harry slowly followed her, putting one hoof in front of the other. Harry Potter felt very strange. One minute he was hiding behind a tree by the school play park to get away from Dudley, the next he was a little horse in a field. He had wings now, but he didn’t know how to walk, much less fly. He was definitely far away from Little Whinging, too. Uncle Vernon was going to be furious. When Harry met Dinky, he was in awe, having never met a talking horse, especially a unicorn, before. Combine that with her American accent and Harry had a feeling that he wasn’t in England, anymore. Then Dinky had asked him to be her friend. Nobody had asked him to be friends before. Dudley would always scare everyone away and try to beat up anyone who got too close. Now Harry was a horse, or pony, with wings and this magical unicorn wanted to be his friend. She even gave him a hug! Nobody had ever hugged him before. As he followed Dinky and slowly got used to walking on four legs, Harry felt a very strange feeling, one that he couldn’t remember feeling the whole time he lived with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He felt happy. The two little ponies spent quite some time looking through the many flowers. During that time, Harry started walking much more confidently and didn’t fall down so much. Eventually, they decided on a daisy for Dinky’s mother. Dinky carried the daisy in her mouth, which made Harry giggle a little. They walked into Ponyville and Harry stopped to look at everything. He gazed up in awe at the pegasi moving the clouds, briefly glancing at his own wings. Could he do that? He saw many different shops and restaurants, Sugarcube Corner especially catching his eye. He saw unicorns lifting things with magic while regular ponies carried heavy things. He saw all the ponies going about their lives just like people. Harry knew that he was a bad boy, something Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never stopped reminding him of, but maybe he could be a good pony? “Hah-ry, c’mon!” Dinky called through her teeth. Harry followed slowly, his head swiveling to take in all the sights. Finally, they reached Dinky’s house. It was yellow, with white sidings and a blue roof. Dinky opened the front door and motioned for Harry to follow her inside. Reluctantly, he complied. He had never been in someone else’s house before, except for Mrs. Figg. What was he supposed to do? Harry followed Dinky down the hallway and into the living room. A grey pony with wings and a lazy eye was sitting on the couch. Dinky ran over and jumped up on the couch, showing the daisy to the bigger pony. “Aww,” said the mare, obviously Dinky’s mother, “Thank you.” The two hugged while Harry looked on. “I made a new friend!” Dinky announced when they broke the hug. “This is Hah-ry.” “Hello,” he greeted, hoping that he sounded polite enough. “Hi, there,” said Mrs. Hooves. She set Dinky to her side and walked over to Harry, smiling in a way that made the boy want to smile back. “I’m Dinky’s mom.” She reached out and Harry tensed. To his surprise, however, she pulled him into a hug. “Thank you so much for being her friend!” Harry found himself smiling. “Mom, can Harry stay over?” asked Dinky, “Please?” “If it’s okay with his parents,” her mother answered as she broke the hug. “Do your parents know you’re here, Hah-ry?” Harry’s smile fell. “My parents are dead.” Dinky gasped. Mrs. Hooves hugged Harry again and she followed suit. “I’m so sorry,” said Mrs. Hooves. Harry didn’t know what to say. People had told him that they were sorry his parents were dead, but nobody had ever hugged him over it. These ponies were giving him more hugs in one day than he had ever gotten from normal people in his entire life. Was he really supposed to be a pony all along? Had his parents come from here, but died in that crash? Were Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon even his real aunt and uncle? He didn’t have the answers, but there was something about the ponies made him feel… wanted. Mrs. Hooves parted Harry’s bangs and kissed his forehead, which made him smile. He had definitely never gotten a kiss before. It felt so good to be treated like someone normal. He would have to earn his keep, of course, but it was well worth it if it meant hugs and kisses. Mrs. Hooves gasped as she noticed the lightning bolt scar on Harry’s forehead. “What happened to your head?” she asked. “I got it in the car crash that killed my parents when I was a baby,” he answered, though he suddenly found himself doubting that was what happened, especially if he and his parents were really ponies from this magical world. But if he was a pony, why didn’t he look like one back in England? If he wasn’t, why did he feel so at home among them? Mrs. Hooves hugged him again. “Who takes care of you?” Harry felt dread enter him and he froze. Would they send him back if he told them? Would he never see this wonderful place again? If he didn’t tell them, would that make him a bad and ungrateful pony? His aunt and uncle always said that should be grateful to live with normal people and he was bad for doing freakish thing and his parents were worthless drunks. Would the ponies believe him if he said that the Dursleys weren’t ponies? Normal people never believed him when he tried to explain the strange things that happened around him. Why would normal ponies be any different? Were they going to punish him if he didn’t answer quickly enough? If he answered, they would just call him a liar and punish him anyway. Did ponies punish bad boys worse than people did? Harry didn’t answer, but Mrs. Hooves didn’t yell or punish him for being bad. Instead, she just kept hugging him as if he were being good. “Oh, you poor thing.” Harry couldn’t believe it. She was being so nice to him and he’d done nothing to earn it. Didn’t she know he was bad? But her hugs felt so warm, he didn’t want them to end. He didn’t want to go back and never be hugged again. He found himself choking back sobs. “No!” he thought, “Don’t cry!” He wasn’t allowed to cry! He would surely be punished then! The mare didn’t punish him. She stroked his hair. “Shhh. It’s okay. You can cry if you want to.” And cry he did. Author's Note Harry going to Equestria is nothing new. That said, I’ve yet to read a story where he’s a pegasus. Plus, it’d be nice to see him live with background ponies rather than one of the main six or a villain. On the subject of a certain gray mare, l’m relatively new to this fandom, so I don’t know all the canon/fanon lore behind the character. I gave Dinky the Hooves surname to match her father’s in this story. Her dad’s a doctor, but he’s not that doctor, whom I know next to nothing about. ScarredPonyville General Hospital was a strangely wholesome place during the wintertime, particularly around the Hearth’s Warming season. The halls and wards were decorated, patients received hot cocoa, and carolers would frequently visit. Everypony did their best to make sure the patients felt at home and happy. Nopony should be alone and sad during Hearth’s Warming. It was a rather sad affair when new patients had to be admitted, but one had to make do with what one had to make ponies happy. On one particular evening, Rainbow Dash entered the hospital with a foal on her back. “I was doing my rounds and saw him lying out in the snow,” she explained. “He wasn’t moving.” The colt in question had a hide which was muted gold in color and his hair was black. The most immediate cause for concern was the various cuts and bruises all over his body. Fortunately, those marks could be healed, as they were relatively recent. What truly horrified everypony was the scar. It was as though somepony had pushed a torch into the left side of the colt’s face. “Who did this to him?” That was the question on the mind of every doctor and nurse who took a look at the colt, whom they tentatively dubbed Gold until he could wake up and tell them his real name. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was thinking something else entirely. “Somepony’s gonna pay for this.” Several hours had passed since Gold’s admittance to the hospital. He had not yet awakened, and it was confirmed that nothing could be done about his scar. It had been there for years. He would have it the rest of his life. There was no doubt in anypony’s mind that Gold had been horribly abused and ran away from home. Erring on the side of caution, they placed him in a private ward, where only a few ponies could interact with him. A more public room could very well frighten him. Nurse Tender Heart drove such morbid thoughts from her mind as she went to check on the colt. Putting on her friendliest expression, she slowly opened the door. Gold was awake. His head turned sharply to stare at Tender Heart, fear and confusion in his golden eyes. “Where am I?” he demanded. “Who are you? What are you? What’s happened to me?” Tender Heart now had many questions, but the priority was calming the patient. She raised a placating hoof. “It’s okay. You’re safe here. Nopony’s going to hurt you.” “Safe? Pony?” he looked around. “Is this the spirit world?” He looked down at his hooves. “Is that why I look like this? Are you a spirit” “No, this isn’t the spirit world and I’m not a spirit,” replied Tender Heart, wondering what that meant. “Can you tell me your name?” “Zuko,” said the colt. “If this isn’t the spirit world, then why am I a horse talking to another horse? Is this a dream?” Tender Heart briefly raised an eyebrow at that. How could Zuko know his name, which was decidedly un-ponylike, but not know his own species? She moved closer to the hospital bed. “You’re not dreaming, little one. This is all real.” She reached out. “Can I touch your hoof?” Zuko looked from her hoof to his own. He reached forward and touched her hoof. His eyes widened. “This is real. I’m a talking horse.” “Pony,” Tender Heart corrected. “What happened to me? Where am I? Where’s my uncle?” His voice sounded more panicked with each question. The nurse tried to sound as soothing as possible. If she wasn’t careful, he’d close up at best and bolt at worst. “It’s okay. Rainbow Dash found you in the snow and brought you to the hospital. You’re safe here. Can you tell me what you’re uncle looks like?” “What he looks like? I-! He-! Tell me you know what a human is?” A what? “Sorry, I don’t know.” Zuko’s fear gave way to anger. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Humans! Men! Women! Walks on two legs? Two hands? Five fingers?” Tender Heart backed up to the nearby call button. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. Please calm down.” Zuko didn’t listen. Instead, his breathing quickened. Anticipating what could be a panic attack, she took hold of his hoof to try and ground him. Zuko slapped her hoof away and backed up to the edge of the bed. He shut his eyes and screamed in anguish. Flames erupted from his horn. Tender Heart hit the call button, sending out the code for a combative patient. Two nurses and a doctor arrived in record time. Zuko thrust one foreleg forward, but he was too far away to land a punch. The doctor used his magic to inject the colt with a sedative. One minute and one torched ward later, Zuko was unconscious once again. “What happened?” asked Dr. Hooves. Tender Heart recalled every strange thing the colt had said, how confused and scared he was. “Doctor, I’m wondering the same thing.” Author's Note Inspiration is a fickle thing, isn’t it? Monster DancePrincess Celestia had vanished. In her place was a creature of nightmares. Nightmare Moon sneered down at the residents of Ponyville, reveling in their despair. Effortlessly she fought off the royal guards. “The night shall last forever!” she declared with a cruel cackle. Never in her life had Twilight felt so afraid and helpless. Nightmare Moon was about to vanish in a burst of smoke when something struck her from behind. The crack of a whip was heard and Nightmare Moon fell from the balcony, screaming in agony. Everypony fell back as the dark princess hit the ground. She got to her hooves with a growl and turned to face her opponent. “Who dares?” she demanded. Standing on the balcony was an earth pony colt with a cream-colored coat and a flowing blonde mane. In his hooves was an ornate whip. Nopony could believe what they were seeing. A mere child had stood up to Nightmare Moon! “My name is Simon Belmont,” declared the colt, “I’ve not been here long, but I know a creature of the night when I see one.” The fallen princess bared her fangs. “Insolent foal!” She fired a blast from her horn. Simon dodged by leaping down from the balcony. On the way down, he swung his whip. It struck true and Nightmare Moon reeled back with a cry of pain. She soared into the air and fired a sustained beam at Simon. Taking the whip in his mouth, the colt ran to keep away from the dark magic. Nightmare Moon’s attack abruptly ceased when a cyan pegasus rammed into her, breaking her concentration. Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof into the alicorn’s face, but Nightmare Moon responded in kind, knocking the pegasus back with superior strength. This distraction was all Simon needed to climb up and leap from a nearby building, swinging the whip at the monster. His whip wrapped around Nightmare Moon’s leg. She screamed as though a thousand fires were burning her and began to plummet. Turning around, she fired at Simon, who was in midair, striking him in the chest. He let go of the whip and continued his fall. Rainbow Dash swooped in and caught him while Nightmare Moon crashed once again, struggling to unwrap the burning whip from her back leg. Sensing an opportunity, Twilight fired her own blast of magic at the princess. Nightmare Moon, having just managed to free herself, hastily cast a shield. As she held off the magic of Celestia’s apprentice, Rainbow Dash dove in, landing a brutal strike to her back. Nightmare Moon winced, but held firm against Twilight and Rainbow’s attacks. Unfortunately for her, Applejack decided to join the fight. The farm mare ran up savagely kicked the alicorn’s side. Deciding that enough was enough, Nightmare Moon released a wave from her body that disrupted Twilight’s concentration and sent the other two mares flying backwards. She whirled around to look for the colt, spotting him just in time for the whip to strike. She cried out, but the colt did not let up. He lashed her again and again in quick succession, displaying a mastery with the weapon far beyond his age. She leaped back to escape the pain and returned to the air, conjuring her most powerful shield all around her. Perhaps it was best to retreat and plan a means to dispose of this dangerous foe. “I know not what magic you wield, foal, but you cannot stop the night! You shall soon perish by my hoof!” With that declaration, she transformed into blue smoke and retreated to the castle. She hoped that her old home had been properly maintained in her absence. Author's Note I don’t know much about Castlevania and fights aren’t my strong suit, yet here we are. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t found anything on the site showing a Belmont fight Nightmare Moon. Maybe I just don’t look hard enough.
The HunterAn average day in Ponyville saw a great deal of hustle and bustle amongst its fair citizens as the sun shone down upon them. Everypony went about there lives; going to work, talking with friends, and hoping that no monsters or anything dangerous would show up. On an below average day, something evil, bizarre, or Crusader-related would happen. On an above average day, nothing out of the ordinary would occur and the townsfolk could sigh in relief. The relief, however, could not come until the day had safely passed. As far as the citizens of Ponyville were concerned, today was slightly above average at the moment. The only thing that might be considered out of the ordinary was the strange unicorn colt wandering through town. His hide was pale, not quite white. His mane and tail were unkempt, light in color that was somewhere between light brown and blonde. His eyes were light gray, almost blue. Nopony recognized him, which led to the assumption that he was from out of town. Normally, foals his age would be in school, yet he was freely wandering the streets. Perhaps his family had very recently moved in, yet nopony had heard such news. Ponyville was a small town and its community was typically aware of new faces as a result. This was, of course, helped by the fact that somepony new meant a welcoming party. The local gossipers assumed that they would be receiving their invitations to such an event soon, for that colt was most certainly a new face. His presence still begged the question of who and where his parents were. A few ponies considered talking with the colt to satisfy their curiosities, but hesitated. There was something extremely off about him. Perhaps it was the coat and tricorn hat he wore, which were a century or two out of style. Perhaps it was the syringes filled with a peculiar red liquid dangling from his coat. It might have been the rusty-looking saw that rested on his back. Out of all those very noticeable things on him, what struck everypony the most was the way he carried himself. The child’s head barely moved, but his eyes darted about toward any and all movement. Rather than run about playfully and gaze at every market stall, the colt walked with caution and tension in his steps. This would’ve been mistaken for shyness, readiness to jump at any sudden movement, were it not for the grim, almost blank expression on his face. Were he an adult, the other ponies would’ve compared him to a coiled snake waiting to strike at the first fool to cross its path. Seeing such behavior in a child was most unsettling. Inevitably, the colt was seen by Pinkie, who gasped in her typical fashion and speedily went off to make party preparations. The fact that the colt reached for his saw at Pinkie’s reaction, as if expecting a fight, did not quell anypony’s nerves. Gossip traveled fast in Ponyville and it wasn’t long before some were suggesting that they inform Princess Twilight Sparkle about the uncanny colt, thinking him to be some sort of monster in disguise. Others believed him to be an orphan who had a hard life and therefore struggled to trust anypony. Another group claimed that everypony was overreacting and that the colt was simply playing hooky and pretending to be an adult. This camp was, of course, challenged to speak to the newcomer. Rainbow Dash readily accepted the challenge. The colt was making his way to the Castle of Friendship when the rainbow pegasus landed in front of him. “Hey, there,” she greeted. “The name’s Rainbow Dash. What’s yours?” The colt looked at her, then past her toward the castle. “I am but a hunter,” he replied, his tone almost monotonous and not childlike save for its pitch. His voice carried a slight Trottingham accent. “That castle, does it hold many texts?” Rainbow needed a moment to process that. “A hunter?” There was no need for such an occupation among ponies. Fishing didn’t count. “Yes,” said the colt, ignoring her confusion, “A hunter of beasts.” Rainbow wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of a child hunting monsters or cringe at how serious the colt sounded. “Ya look a little young for that. Shouldn’t you be in school or something?” “I am older than I appear and therefore have little use for school. Now, what of the castle?” Rainbow saw no harm in answering that question. “Yeah, it’s got a library. What about your parents? Where are they?” “In their graves.” Rainbow was taken aback by the sheer bluntness of that answer. Where was this colt from and how long had he been without parents? “What? But-! You’re all by yourself?” “Not quite.” He gestured behind him. “My dwelling is in the forest and the doll is good company.” Forest? Doll? “Wait, you mean the Everfree Forest?” “If that is the name of the wood near this village, then yes.” “Woah, woah, woah! You live in the Everfree Forest by yourself? Yeah, right! My friends and I go in there all the time! We’d have met you by now.” Rainbow was still thrown off by this colt, but his talk of living in a dangerous forest reinforced the idea that he was pretending. She believed that his parents were dead, but scoffed at the idea of him living in the Everfree. She didn’t know what he meant by the doll, however. Did he have a literal doll, or an imaginary friend? “We have not lived there long,” he replied, starting toward the castle again. “Now, excuse me. I have more pressing matters to attend.” Rainbow easily kept pace with him. “Like what?” “Research.” If that was all the strange colt wanted, Rainbow saw no harm in leaving him to it. Besides, she reasoned, Twilight would know how to help him with his research. She’d probably throw herself into whatever project he was working on as well. On the other hoof, there was no harm in asking Cheerilee if one of her students was missing. Within the Castle of Friendship, Twilight was taking the opportunity to relax in the library, enjoying a very good book. She was so absorbed in her text that she paid no heed to the sound of hoofsteps approaching. However, he ears did twitch at the sound of somepony clearing their throat. Twilight turned to the source of the noise and beheld the strangest little colt she had ever seen. “Hello,” she greeted, “Can I help you?” The unicorn colt stared at her for a moment. “You are the only creature I’ve met to have both wings and horn. Why?” Twilight smiled genially, always happy to impart knowledge. “Well, it’s because I’m an alicorn. There are three different types of ponies: unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi. Unicorns have a horn, pegasi have wings,-” “Earth ponies have neither while alicorns have both, yes?” “Essentially.” “Why are alicorns so rare?” “Well, as far my research shows, alicorns aren’t born, they ascend.” The colt’s expression became far more focused. “Explain.” Twilight proceeded to recount the story of how she finished Starswirl the Bearded’s unfinished spell and became an alicorn princess. “You became a Great One,” he breathed, “Yet there is no madness in you.” Twilight found herself blushing at being called great. She couldn’t have done anything without her friends. “Madness? What do you mean?” Was he talking about Nightmare Moon? If so, he should’ve already known about alicorns. “Nevermind. Are there many more of you?” “Only four: myself, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance.” The little unicorn didn’t answer at first, taking a moment to regard Twilight and ponder her words. He then slowly took the wicked-looking saw off his back and set it on the floor, keeping one hoof on it. “Five,” he said, removing his coat. A pair of newly uncovered wings flared outwards. Twilight fainted. Author's Note I can already see somebody insulting me in the comments for making an Alicorn edgleord, but let me explain. See, there’s this video game called Bloodborne, made by the creators of Dark Souls. One of the endings for the game has the PC turn into an infant eldritch abomination and a living doll cradles it. I figured “Hey, they turn into a Great One, so why not an Alicorn foal instead?” Thus, this one-shot was born because I have neither the time nor inspiration to make a full story out of this.
Emo FillyThe peace and quiet of Ponyville was disturbed by the dramatic scream of a little filly. This was no ordinary filly scream, but one so raw and whiny that is surpassed Rarity on the drama scale. The scream was also rather uncanny, as though it had been tuned or filtered through a mask to sound deep. Needless to say, many ponies decided that their day was not about to be ruined by a whiny filly and ran in the opposite direction of where the sound came from. A few more brave souls approached with caution as the screams continued. “WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BODY? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VOICE? WHERE’S MY LIGHTSABER? AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHH!” The filly in question was sitting in an alley, pounding her little hooves against a wall. She was a violet earth pony, wearing a black mask that vaguely resembled a duck’s bill. Her hair was hidden by the mask, but her tail was black. Applejack, who had been running her nearby apple stand in the market, stood in the alley. “What the hay’s goin’ on here?” she demanded. “How come you’re makin’ all this racket?” The filly turned to face the mare, shaking with childish rage. “Who are you? What are you? Did you do this to me?” She gestured to herself. “Do what? You’re the one carryin’ on and hollerin’ like a newborn foal!” “Newborn? I am Kylo Ren! I’m the descendent of Darth Vader, the most powerful Sith Lord the galaxy has ever seen!” Applejack blinked. Everything she had just heard made no sense at all. Foals could be boastful, but this was ridiculous. And who would name their child Kylo Ren? Or Darth, for that matter? “Right, and Ah’m the princess of apples.” The filly, Kylo, growled and pointed her hoof at Applejack. The mare was confused by this, as nothing seemed to happed. The filly lowered her hoof and looked down at it. “I can’t feel it,” she said, a hint of fear creeping into her mask-filtered voice. “Ya ain’t makin’ any sense,” said Applejack. “Be quiet!” snapped Kylo. “I didn’t ask your opinion!” The farm mare moved closer. “Don’t you talk like that ta me, little missy! Ah oughta teach ya some manners!” “You can’t give me orders, you-! Missy?” The filly quickly turned around and looked down. Her breathing increased. “Now what are ya doin’?” asked Applejack. Kylo threw her head back. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!” Applejack cut her off, whacking her upside the head with the hat. “Quit it! Ah swear, Ah’ve had it with yer little hissy fit! Ah’m taking you to yer parents and tellin’ ‘em exactly what you did!” She didn’t know where Kylo’s parents were, but she suspected that her cries would bring them to her. If not, then she would simply bring Kylo to city hall, where they would undoubtedly have records of a new family moving in. They could contact the filly’s parents from there. Kylo lashed out and struck Applejack, but the blow was barely even a tickle to the stout mare. She grabbed the filly’s bill-shaped helmet and pulled it off, revealing light red eyes and a face that would’ve been cute were it not for the rotten attitude. “You can’t do this to me!” Kylo protested. “I’m not some child!” “Coulda fooled me,” Applejack retorted, grabbing Kylo by the ear and pulling her out of the alley. “Ow! Stop it! I hate you! I HATE YOU! I’LL MAKE YOU BEG FOR MERCY! I’LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY! I’LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!” Applejack rolled her eyes, though she was inwardly unsettled by a child making death threats. Adult ponies rarely, if ever, talked about death in polite company. Threats of that nature were a good way to tell somepony that they were well and truly loathed. Kylo was likely ignorant of the meaning of those phrases. Applejack would have to make sure the filly’s parents knew about her filthy mouth. Author's Note I’m sorry it’s short, but I hope it’s entertaining. You can only take a temper tantrum so far.
The MachineAuthor's Note WARNING! This chapter contains body horror! The Machine Sugarcube Corner was widely regarded as the most pleasant place in Ponyville. It was a place where anypony could go and have a good time. Delectable sweets were guaranteed, courtesy of the Cake couple and Pinkie Pie, and nopony could ever feel unwanted there. While Mr. and Mrs. Cake ran the front counter and took orders, Pinkie Pie happily pranced about the kitchen, baking all manner of baked goods for the customers. As Pinkie waited for a batch of cupcakes to finish, she decided to bake a carrot cake. She went to the storage unit and grabbed some carrots. She came back to the kitchen, washed the carrots, then reached for the carrot cleaver. To her surprise, the carrot cleaver wasn’t on the wall where she kept it. She began to check the drawers, assuming that she must’ve put it in there by mistake the last time she used it. It wasn’t there, either. Before she could check the basement to see if she left it with the pickaxe she used to make rock candy, everypony in Sugarcube Corner heard a blood-curdling scream. The scream was one not of anger or a childish tantrum, but pure, unadulterated agony. While everypony else froze in fear, Pinkie dashed out of the building. Clearly, somepony was having a very bad day and needed to feel better. Following the sound of the scream, she came out the back way and found its source. It was a gray unicorn colt. His hair was red and his eyes were shut from pain. The colt was on the verge of tears as he clutched the bleeding stump where his left foreleg used to be. The carrot cleaver lay next to him, covered in blood. Next to the cleaver was a gray leg. Pinkie screamed. Ponyville General Hospital was not very busy most days, and that meant comfort. While the staff might be bored on an average day, that meant that few, if any, ponies were suffering. It was most relieving. That was on an average day, however. Today, the peacefulness of the waiting room was disrupted by Pinkie Pie bursting through the front doors and screaming bloody murder. On her back was a bleeding, unconscious colt who was missing a leg. The nurse at the front immediately called for help, screaming for somepony to get in ASAP and other nurses quickly burst in with a gurney. They put the colt on the gurney and wheeled him away while simultaneously doing their utmost to stop the bleeding. Pinkie stood there in the waiting room, covered in blood that was not her own. Her mane was completely straight and tears were in her eyes. Was the colt going to be alright? “Miss?” asked the nurse. “Do you want to use the shower?” Pinkie didn’t answer. She simply stared at the doorway which the nurses went through. “Would you like to get cleaned up?” No answer. “Miss?” Silence. For hours, Pinkie stood there. She didn’t respond to anypony. She didn’t even move. The nurse had to resort to cleaning the blood off with a rag while Pinkie stared forward. The party pony didn’t respond to anything until a doctor came in with the news. “He’s going be okay.” Two days. The colt that Pinkie Pie had rescued had been asleep for two days. Nurse Redheart recognized that this was on account of the tremendous loss of blood, but she still feared for the child, whom they had dubbed Gray until they could learn his real name. Pinkie had gone back to her old self, thankfully. She was planning a Get Well Soon party for Gray and kept coming back to ask if he was awake yet so she could throw the party and cheer him up. Redheart could only hope that the party could fit in the colt’s room from how much Pinkie talked about it. The nurse walked to Gray’s room to check on him, but stopped at the door. Strange, mechanical noises were coming from inside, ones that didn’t belong to the equipment they kept in there to monitor the colt. She turned the knob, but the door didn’t budge. Fear slowly crept into her as she pushed against the door. Fear became determination, however, and Nurse Redheart bucked the door with all the strength she could muster. Whatever had been barricading the door was pushed aside and the door flew open. Redheart ran in to see what was going on and gasped. The room was a mess. The various machines and equipment had been butchered beyond repair, stripped of their parts. In the middle of it all, standing on the bed with a smile on his face, was Gray. Where there should’ve been a bandaged stump, there was now metal. The metal formed the shape of a leg, but there were claws instead of a hoof. “Wh-wh-what happened?” Redheart stammered. Gray lifted his crude artificial limb. “Beautiful, isn’t it? Far from my best work, but needs must.” Redheart didn’t believe what she was hearing. “Y-you did this?” “Yes. I would’ve preferred something more precise for the amputation, but one must work with the tools given to them.” The nurse had heard many a disturbing thing in her time, but this made her want to throw up. Gray, a mere child, had cut off his own leg? “But… why?” Gray’s smile became a scowl. “Because flesh is weak! There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. There is no strength in flesh, only weakness. There is no constancy in flesh, only decay. There is no certainty in flesh but death. But the machine?” He held up his prosthetic. “The machine is immortal.”
When the New Student is AsianAuthor's Note Based on the comedy of Steven He. When the New Student is Asian “Good morning, class!” greeted Cheerilee. “Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!” said the foals, some more enthusiastically than others. “As you can see, we have a new student with us!” She pointed to the orange earth pony colt wearing a gray blazer. His hair was black and he had a slipper for a cutie mark. “Would you like to come up and introduce yourself to everypony?” The social worker who dropped him off had looked haggard and said that she didn’t know his name. He had tentatively been referred to as Orange. The colt confidently walked up to the front of the class. “Hello. I am professional Asian dad. I specialize in failure management.” He looked over his classmates as they tried to figure out what he meant. Cheerilee assumed that he was trying to be funny in order to make friends. “Today we are going to learn how to start a business.” Cheerilee chuckled at his eagerness. “Actually, we’re going to be going to be learning some other things today.” The colt looked at her. “Yes, you right. They should already have their own business when nine years old.” “We’re ten,” said Diamond Tiara. “Ten years old? What the hail you doing in school? Go start a business!” “Okay, that’s enough,” said Cheerilee. “Go back to your seat. We’re all here to learn.” Orange didn’t budge, however. “You are all ten years old and just go to school and go home? You don’t work? What the hail?” “Ah work,” said Apple Bloom. The “Asian dad” fixed his gaze on her. “Oh, good. You start business?” “Ah help my family business.” “You work family business, what the hail you go to school for?” “Orange!” Cheerilee scolded, “You are being disruptive. Go back to your seat so class can start.” “Oh, we start class?” he asked. “Okay, today I teach you quadratic formula.” “I’m the teacher here. If you don’t stop interrupting, I’m going to give you detention.” To Cheerilee’s surprise, he hoofed her a slipper. “Use slipper instead. Much more effective.” “What?” “Perfect for punishing your failure. I use all the time on my son, Steven. Very effective.” Everypony was silent as they tried to figure out just what this colt was saying. Cheerilee couldn’t remember exactly when her hoof met her face. “I can’t be the only pony who knows that colt’s a complete weirdo,” said Diamond Tiara. “Nothing he said made any sense!” Everypony except Orange was outside for recess. Orange had to stay inside with Cheerilee as punishment. “Yeah, like, he actually thinks he has a son?” asked Silver Spoon. “What’s up with that?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to say something in the new colt’s defense, but found themselves unable to come up with an appropriate retort. Even they had to acknowledge that a broken clock could be right twice a day. Once the fillies and colts were all back inside, they immediately noticed that Orange was nowhere to be seen. They also noticed that Cheerilee was not smiling. The lessons continued as normal up until Diamond Tiara said something very unkind about Scootaloo’s inability to fly. A slipper came flying through the air and hit Diamond dead in the face. Orange came at her seemingly from out of nowhere. “You act like you better than other failures? You can’t even cook rice!” “Miss Cheerilee!” whined Diamond. “Orange hit me!” “He’s doing his job as the newly appointed class monitor,” said the teacher. “Maybe next time, you’ll think twice before you try to bully somepony in my classroom.” “I’m telling my mom!” “Please do. Please tell your mother that you were punished for being a bully, so she can realize what a failure she’s been in raising you.” Diamond Tiara promptly fainted from sheer emotional damage. Orange nodded in approval. “Very effective.” Cheerilee smiled.
Beggars Would FlyDinky Hooves was a filly on a mission. She had to get a pretty flower for her dear mother. Her mission led her to the outskirts of Ponyville, where a great many wildflowers grew. When she got there, she realized that she didn’t know which flower to pick. They all looked so pretty, but she needed to pick a special flower that she knew her mom would like. Would a blue flower work? No, that had red thorns. Red? Pretty, but was it good enough? Yellow? It matched her hair. Maybe Mom would like that one? Dinky’s decision-making was disrupted by the sound of somepony falling to the ground with an “Oof!” The little filly turned around and saw a pegasus colt sprawled on the ground, his face in the dirt. “Are you okay?” she asked. The brown-coated colt looked up at her. His hair was black and messy-looking with bangs hanging over his forehead, while his eyes were green. His face was framed by an broken pair of glasses. He stared at Dinkie with a face that reminded her of Daddy whenever he saw something particularly strange. “Um, hi,” she greeted. “I’m Dinky Hooves.” “Hi,” said the colt. “I’m Harry. Harry Potter.” “Hah-ry,” Dinky repeated, testing how it sounded. “That’s a funny name. I like it!” Harry looked at her. “Thanks. Um, where am I?” “You’re in Ponyville! It’s the bestest place in the whole, wide world ‘cause Mommy and Daddy live here! Ooh! Do you wanna help me find a flower? I gotta get one for my mom.” Harry looked down at his hooves, then back up to look at Dinky. “Alright.” “Thank you!” Dinky quickly hugged Harry, who was taken completely by surprise. “Wanna be friends?” Harry stared at Dinky again. He then quickly looked around, as if he were waiting for somepony. “You… wanna be my friend?” “Yeah! Now let’s look for flowers!” Dinky trotted over to some yellow flowers, while Harry slowly followed her, putting one hoof in front of the other. Harry Potter felt very strange. One minute he was hiding behind a tree by the school play park to get away from Dudley, the next he was a little horse in a field. He had wings now, but he didn’t know how to walk, much less fly. He was definitely far away from Little Whinging, too. Uncle Vernon was going to be furious. When Harry met Dinky, he was in awe, having never met a talking horse, especially a unicorn, before. Combine that with her American accent and Harry had a feeling that he wasn’t in England, anymore. Then Dinky had asked him to be her friend. Nobody had asked him to be friends before. Dudley would always scare everyone away and try to beat up anyone who got too close. Now Harry was a horse, or pony, with wings and this magical unicorn wanted to be his friend. She even gave him a hug! Nobody had ever hugged him before. As he followed Dinky and slowly got used to walking on four legs, Harry felt a very strange feeling, one that he couldn’t remember feeling the whole time he lived with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. He felt happy. The two little ponies spent quite some time looking through the many flowers. During that time, Harry started walking much more confidently and didn’t fall down so much. Eventually, they decided on a daisy for Dinky’s mother. Dinky carried the daisy in her mouth, which made Harry giggle a little. They walked into Ponyville and Harry stopped to look at everything. He gazed up in awe at the pegasi moving the clouds, briefly glancing at his own wings. Could he do that? He saw many different shops and restaurants, Sugarcube Corner especially catching his eye. He saw unicorns lifting things with magic while regular ponies carried heavy things. He saw all the ponies going about their lives just like people. Harry knew that he was a bad boy, something Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never stopped reminding him of, but maybe he could be a good pony? “Hah-ry, c’mon!” Dinky called through her teeth. Harry followed slowly, his head swiveling to take in all the sights. Finally, they reached Dinky’s house. It was yellow, with white sidings and a blue roof. Dinky opened the front door and motioned for Harry to follow her inside. Reluctantly, he complied. He had never been in someone else’s house before, except for Mrs. Figg. What was he supposed to do? Harry followed Dinky down the hallway and into the living room. A grey pony with wings and a lazy eye was sitting on the couch. Dinky ran over and jumped up on the couch, showing the daisy to the bigger pony. “Aww,” said the mare, obviously Dinky’s mother, “Thank you.” The two hugged while Harry looked on. “I made a new friend!” Dinky announced when they broke the hug. “This is Hah-ry.” “Hello,” he greeted, hoping that he sounded polite enough. “Hi, there,” said Mrs. Hooves. She set Dinky to her side and walked over to Harry, smiling in a way that made the boy want to smile back. “I’m Dinky’s mom.” She reached out and Harry tensed. To his surprise, however, she pulled him into a hug. “Thank you so much for being her friend!” Harry found himself smiling. “Mom, can Harry stay over?” asked Dinky, “Please?” “If it’s okay with his parents,” her mother answered as she broke the hug. “Do your parents know you’re here, Hah-ry?” Harry’s smile fell. “My parents are dead.” Dinky gasped. Mrs. Hooves hugged Harry again and she followed suit. “I’m so sorry,” said Mrs. Hooves. Harry didn’t know what to say. People had told him that they were sorry his parents were dead, but nobody had ever hugged him over it. These ponies were giving him more hugs in one day than he had ever gotten from normal people in his entire life. Was he really supposed to be a pony all along? Had his parents come from here, but died in that crash? Were Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon even his real aunt and uncle? He didn’t have the answers, but there was something about the ponies made him feel… wanted. Mrs. Hooves parted Harry’s bangs and kissed his forehead, which made him smile. He had definitely never gotten a kiss before. It felt so good to be treated like someone normal. He would have to earn his keep, of course, but it was well worth it if it meant hugs and kisses. Mrs. Hooves gasped as she noticed the lightning bolt scar on Harry’s forehead. “What happened to your head?” she asked. “I got it in the car crash that killed my parents when I was a baby,” he answered, though he suddenly found himself doubting that was what happened, especially if he and his parents were really ponies from this magical world. But if he was a pony, why didn’t he look like one back in England? If he wasn’t, why did he feel so at home among them? Mrs. Hooves hugged him again. “Who takes care of you?” Harry felt dread enter him and he froze. Would they send him back if he told them? Would he never see this wonderful place again? If he didn’t tell them, would that make him a bad and ungrateful pony? His aunt and uncle always said that should be grateful to live with normal people and he was bad for doing freakish thing and his parents were worthless drunks. Would the ponies believe him if he said that the Dursleys weren’t ponies? Normal people never believed him when he tried to explain the strange things that happened around him. Why would normal ponies be any different? Were they going to punish him if he didn’t answer quickly enough? If he answered, they would just call him a liar and punish him anyway. Did ponies punish bad boys worse than people did? Harry didn’t answer, but Mrs. Hooves didn’t yell or punish him for being bad. Instead, she just kept hugging him as if he were being good. “Oh, you poor thing.” Harry couldn’t believe it. She was being so nice to him and he’d done nothing to earn it. Didn’t she know he was bad? But her hugs felt so warm, he didn’t want them to end. He didn’t want to go back and never be hugged again. He found himself choking back sobs. “No!” he thought, “Don’t cry!” He wasn’t allowed to cry! He would surely be punished then! The mare didn’t punish him. She stroked his hair. “Shhh. It’s okay. You can cry if you want to.” And cry he did. Author's Note Harry going to Equestria is nothing new. That said, I’ve yet to read a story where he’s a pegasus. Plus, it’d be nice to see him live with background ponies rather than one of the main six or a villain. On the subject of a certain gray mare, l’m relatively new to this fandom, so I don’t know all the canon/fanon lore behind the character. I gave Dinky the Hooves surname to match her father’s in this story. Her dad’s a doctor, but he’s not that doctor, whom I know next to nothing about.
ScarredPonyville General Hospital was a strangely wholesome place during the wintertime, particularly around the Hearth’s Warming season. The halls and wards were decorated, patients received hot cocoa, and carolers would frequently visit. Everypony did their best to make sure the patients felt at home and happy. Nopony should be alone and sad during Hearth’s Warming. It was a rather sad affair when new patients had to be admitted, but one had to make do with what one had to make ponies happy. On one particular evening, Rainbow Dash entered the hospital with a foal on her back. “I was doing my rounds and saw him lying out in the snow,” she explained. “He wasn’t moving.” The colt in question had a hide which was muted gold in color and his hair was black. The most immediate cause for concern was the various cuts and bruises all over his body. Fortunately, those marks could be healed, as they were relatively recent. What truly horrified everypony was the scar. It was as though somepony had pushed a torch into the left side of the colt’s face. “Who did this to him?” That was the question on the mind of every doctor and nurse who took a look at the colt, whom they tentatively dubbed Gold until he could wake up and tell them his real name. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, was thinking something else entirely. “Somepony’s gonna pay for this.” Several hours had passed since Gold’s admittance to the hospital. He had not yet awakened, and it was confirmed that nothing could be done about his scar. It had been there for years. He would have it the rest of his life. There was no doubt in anypony’s mind that Gold had been horribly abused and ran away from home. Erring on the side of caution, they placed him in a private ward, where only a few ponies could interact with him. A more public room could very well frighten him. Nurse Tender Heart drove such morbid thoughts from her mind as she went to check on the colt. Putting on her friendliest expression, she slowly opened the door. Gold was awake. His head turned sharply to stare at Tender Heart, fear and confusion in his golden eyes. “Where am I?” he demanded. “Who are you? What are you? What’s happened to me?” Tender Heart now had many questions, but the priority was calming the patient. She raised a placating hoof. “It’s okay. You’re safe here. Nopony’s going to hurt you.” “Safe? Pony?” he looked around. “Is this the spirit world?” He looked down at his hooves. “Is that why I look like this? Are you a spirit” “No, this isn’t the spirit world and I’m not a spirit,” replied Tender Heart, wondering what that meant. “Can you tell me your name?” “Zuko,” said the colt. “If this isn’t the spirit world, then why am I a horse talking to another horse? Is this a dream?” Tender Heart briefly raised an eyebrow at that. How could Zuko know his name, which was decidedly un-ponylike, but not know his own species? She moved closer to the hospital bed. “You’re not dreaming, little one. This is all real.” She reached out. “Can I touch your hoof?” Zuko looked from her hoof to his own. He reached forward and touched her hoof. His eyes widened. “This is real. I’m a talking horse.” “Pony,” Tender Heart corrected. “What happened to me? Where am I? Where’s my uncle?” His voice sounded more panicked with each question. The nurse tried to sound as soothing as possible. If she wasn’t careful, he’d close up at best and bolt at worst. “It’s okay. Rainbow Dash found you in the snow and brought you to the hospital. You’re safe here. Can you tell me what you’re uncle looks like?” “What he looks like? I-! He-! Tell me you know what a human is?” A what? “Sorry, I don’t know.” Zuko’s fear gave way to anger. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Humans! Men! Women! Walks on two legs? Two hands? Five fingers?” Tender Heart backed up to the nearby call button. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. Please calm down.” Zuko didn’t listen. Instead, his breathing quickened. Anticipating what could be a panic attack, she took hold of his hoof to try and ground him. Zuko slapped her hoof away and backed up to the edge of the bed. He shut his eyes and screamed in anguish. Flames erupted from his horn. Tender Heart hit the call button, sending out the code for a combative patient. Two nurses and a doctor arrived in record time. Zuko thrust one foreleg forward, but he was too far away to land a punch. The doctor used his magic to inject the colt with a sedative. One minute and one torched ward later, Zuko was unconscious once again. “What happened?” asked Dr. Hooves. Tender Heart recalled every strange thing the colt had said, how confused and scared he was. “Doctor, I’m wondering the same thing.” Author's Note Inspiration is a fickle thing, isn’t it?
Monster DancePrincess Celestia had vanished. In her place was a creature of nightmares. Nightmare Moon sneered down at the residents of Ponyville, reveling in their despair. Effortlessly she fought off the royal guards. “The night shall last forever!” she declared with a cruel cackle. Never in her life had Twilight felt so afraid and helpless. Nightmare Moon was about to vanish in a burst of smoke when something struck her from behind. The crack of a whip was heard and Nightmare Moon fell from the balcony, screaming in agony. Everypony fell back as the dark princess hit the ground. She got to her hooves with a growl and turned to face her opponent. “Who dares?” she demanded. Standing on the balcony was an earth pony colt with a cream-colored coat and a flowing blonde mane. In his hooves was an ornate whip. Nopony could believe what they were seeing. A mere child had stood up to Nightmare Moon! “My name is Simon Belmont,” declared the colt, “I’ve not been here long, but I know a creature of the night when I see one.” The fallen princess bared her fangs. “Insolent foal!” She fired a blast from her horn. Simon dodged by leaping down from the balcony. On the way down, he swung his whip. It struck true and Nightmare Moon reeled back with a cry of pain. She soared into the air and fired a sustained beam at Simon. Taking the whip in his mouth, the colt ran to keep away from the dark magic. Nightmare Moon’s attack abruptly ceased when a cyan pegasus rammed into her, breaking her concentration. Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof into the alicorn’s face, but Nightmare Moon responded in kind, knocking the pegasus back with superior strength. This distraction was all Simon needed to climb up and leap from a nearby building, swinging the whip at the monster. His whip wrapped around Nightmare Moon’s leg. She screamed as though a thousand fires were burning her and began to plummet. Turning around, she fired at Simon, who was in midair, striking him in the chest. He let go of the whip and continued his fall. Rainbow Dash swooped in and caught him while Nightmare Moon crashed once again, struggling to unwrap the burning whip from her back leg. Sensing an opportunity, Twilight fired her own blast of magic at the princess. Nightmare Moon, having just managed to free herself, hastily cast a shield. As she held off the magic of Celestia’s apprentice, Rainbow Dash dove in, landing a brutal strike to her back. Nightmare Moon winced, but held firm against Twilight and Rainbow’s attacks. Unfortunately for her, Applejack decided to join the fight. The farm mare ran up savagely kicked the alicorn’s side. Deciding that enough was enough, Nightmare Moon released a wave from her body that disrupted Twilight’s concentration and sent the other two mares flying backwards. She whirled around to look for the colt, spotting him just in time for the whip to strike. She cried out, but the colt did not let up. He lashed her again and again in quick succession, displaying a mastery with the weapon far beyond his age. She leaped back to escape the pain and returned to the air, conjuring her most powerful shield all around her. Perhaps it was best to retreat and plan a means to dispose of this dangerous foe. “I know not what magic you wield, foal, but you cannot stop the night! You shall soon perish by my hoof!” With that declaration, she transformed into blue smoke and retreated to the castle. She hoped that her old home had been properly maintained in her absence. Author's Note I don’t know much about Castlevania and fights aren’t my strong suit, yet here we are. I’m actually surprised that I haven’t found anything on the site showing a Belmont fight Nightmare Moon. Maybe I just don’t look hard enough.
