Chapters Unique... that was the one word that would describe him. Anthony Williams was not the regular 23 year old male who would spend his free time going out partying or trying to hook up with the ladies... he would rather spend his time either reading something new (be it a book, story on the internet or an article in the news), helping out the elementary school by filling in as a substitute teacher, helping out with the local market (selling produce or other merchandise), the list would go on and on.
People would just wonder as to why he would continuously help others instead of enjoying himself when he got the chance, yet no person was willing to ask him that. The truth was that Anthony was alone in the world, having no family to return to or any true friends to rely on. He was an orphan at the age of 13 (his parents passed away in a car crash driving home from a pizzeria) and his other family simply left him at the orphanage while they stole his inheritance from his parents’ will. Thus he made a commitment to himself that he would always help anyone out as long as they desired to be helped. However, because of his helping nature, many of the children his age has always had a disdained relationship with him, which would eventually lead to ridicule and ostracism.
Anthony didn’t let this bother him for a time, until he reached the age of 15, where he was asked by his teacher what his 3 wishes were for his life. The only 3 things he desired most above all other things in his life were:
• True and honest friends who would be there for him no matter what
• A woman who would love him with all her heart and not try to change him
• A family to love
Wishes like these would only be considered insignificant by any other person who had it, yet for those who did not have it (like Anthony) it was more valued than gold or platinum combined. He longed for company that would accept him for who he was (not to change him into something he is not, for other people’s acceptance), yet because of that the loneliness would grow deeper and even envelop him in the darkness of depression. The only solace he had in aside from helping others was reading stories of fantasy. How he dreamed of being in world of pure fantasy, where magic existed, were helping others was not frowned upon by the society that he lived in today, and to not be alone anymore.
However, Anthony knew better than to let dreams and fantasies rule his life and his better judgement (still a part of him held onto those dreams through the years of high school and college). After graduating, he found work in the public as a substitute teacher (in English Literature), a part-time librarian, and a fruit/vegetable seller at the local market on a weekend basis. Why he did this was not because of income (though he needed the money to live with the bare necessities), it was because he just wanted to help others.
So life continued on like this for him, for nearly a whole year. Though he felt content with helping others in this way, he still felt lonely in his life. Little did he know that on this particular night (New Year’s Eve) after one particular event, his whole way of life and the course of his destiny would change forever…
A/N: This is my very first fanfiction ever... so I do apologize if the grammar and/or spelling is off. Like to give thanks to Criticul94, Untitled01, RLYoshi and MeowthRocket for inspiring me to write this... hope you all enjoy it and feedback will be much appreciated
Chapter 1: A New Year’s Eve Revelation
10:32pm, 31st of December 2011, Cape Town, South Africa
Working late at a supermarket is not something one normally does on New Year’s Eve, especially if the person is still in his early twenties. Though Anthony wasn’t bothered at all, even though it was a matter of getting income for rent and food, he would always help out anywhere no matter what. Crazy is what some people deemed him to be, or as it would go in his country “Kak-Mal” but he preferred to be known as unique. He believed that everyone, no matter how much they try to conform to the society around them, is unique in his or her own way even if they denied it. He himself was unique in his self-sacrificing personality and his flaws in trying to see the good in everybody around him. He was always trusting of anybody, and that often lead to disastrous results the past, such as bullying or mugging from stranger, yet he would continue to be himself as he refused to become something he was not. Perhaps in spite of everything that has happened to him, this night was bound to be a night that would change the course of his life forever…
As Anthony was packing boxes in the storage compartment of the store, his employer Apollo Skin, a skinny Jamaican immigrant around 1 and a half meters tall in length, dark-skinned and dark-brown curly hair in the style of the late Bob Marley , came to him from the till of the shop and told him:
“Hey Anthony-man! Its thirty pass’ ten, I’m abou’ to clos da shop-man! You take a nice tip of me-man! You earned a lil reward for the ‘ew year-man! Hey-man, why don’t you go and party with da ladies-man!” said Apollo after gave him a pat on the back to indicate he has done enough for today.
Finishing up with the packing of the last box and sighing as he was very tired from working nearly 14 hours, he went up to Apollo to reply properly to him in a friendly manner saying:
“Mr Skin, you know I’m not a fan of those kinds of celebrations. Plus women today are not exactly looking for a guy like me” he said whiles smiling and looking at his Jamaican boss.
Laughing at his own statement of women, he realized that it wasn’t completely true as women did indeed find him attractive.
Being a man of nearly 2 meters in length, azure eyes, golden blond hair and well-built physic was a perk when trying to attract the opposite sex; but what he wanted was not what the eyes could see only but what was inside the person that made them unique and the majority, if not all the women in his life were completely shallow obnoxious spoiled-brats.
“Don’t you give me that kak-man! You a lady-killer, I know lot of nice lil ladies who would die to get a chance at your stuff-man!” Apollo exclaimed whiles showing off his two pure golden front teeth at Anthony, something that most people found utterly disgusting.
Anthony just shrugged it off and tried to retort kindly:
“Thanks Mr Skin but –“
Before he could finished, he was interrupted by Apollo shushing him and looking at him dead on with eyes of seriousness:
“Don’t you call me Mr Skin-man. You worked here since the beginning of the year-man! We friends aren’t we? Apollo be my name and helping others out to get work is my game-man!”
Anthony replied in all modest respect:
“Well it’s just a bit more respectful, considering you are my boss and all-“
Apollo began to laugh at this scene of chivalry and kindness, something that was of a dying nature today in this world... something he respected Anthony greatly for. He then wiped away tears after laughing and told him:
“Anthony-man! I know your dad taught you lot of manners when you were a kid-man! Wish my pappy did that too… but you must learn to let loose once in a while-man! I can see it now… beginning next year you be on top of the world with lot of buddies and a lovely lady-man. Well I just hope I’m there to see you with all the light that will shine down on all those who are there…” Apollo replied in a philosophical tone, as he always did give advice to his employees and Anthony was his favourite for his hard-working nature.
Smiling at this prediction Apollo made, he simply replied:
“I don’t know about that Apollo… but anything can happen.”
“Exactly-man! Now get outta here! I’m closing for the ‘ew year-man!”
Apollo said whiles scooting him away from the till and to the door and gave Anthony a fat envelope of money, something Apollo called a 'treat'.
Waving goodbye at his employer, Anthony's last words to him for the day was:
“Will see you in two days Apollo”
Feeling smug about his accomplishment at making Anthony call him by his first name, he simply laughed and waved back before walking in to his shop:
“See you in the ‘ew year-man! Hahaha!”
As he was walking out the shop and into the busy street of Long Street, he couldn’t help but notice all the clubs and bars packed filled with people who were either older or younger than him. Anthony was not against parties or any form of celebration at all, in fact on a few occasions he would accompany a few of his colleagues to any party that they went to, simply because they asked him to helped them out by being what they called ‘wing-man’ (support for getting women).
Though his main purpose for going was not because of this sort of act, it was mainly because he wanted to be of some help to his fellow colleagues (even though they didn’t consider him a friend at all, which in all likelihood was sad).
Walking back home to his apartment in the night he couldn’t help but notice how many stars were showing in the night sky. Normally living in a metropolis like Cape Town, where light pollution was high at night, the stars were few in number.
However, on this particular night one could see many if not all the stars and constellations up in the heavens. Shrugging it off as nothing more than nature being weird again, he headed off to his home… only to realize that he was actually very hungry since he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.
Going to a convenient store just down the road from his apartment, when he entered the store his choices were limited as to what he could actually consume. Another thing that made Anthony unique was that he’s a strict vegetarian, because his father taught him to cherish as even the smallest animal had the right to live a full and promising life hence why he refused to taste meat. After scanning the store for anything edible to his nature, he later walked out the store with some apples, grapes, a melon, peaches and watermelon slices (his favourite five fruits).
Once he paid the clerk and left the store, Anthony walked on back to his appartment until he suddenly heard a woman’s voice screaming. As the voice screamed again, Anthony tried to locate the source of the voice by running to a nearby alley. Once he was just a meter away from the alley, had the voice’s owner been confirmed to him as he saw what was happening.
A middle-aged woman wearing an old-ragged cloak had been cornered by three teenage-gangsters, each wielding a Swiss-army knife and ready to attack. Immediately running towards the group, dropping and ruining his newly purchased fruit,
Anthony began to yell at the group of gangsters:
“Leave her alone you bastards!” He yelled whiles running at full-speed to the closest gangster, ready to tackling him to the ground.
Looking at where the voice was coming from, they spotted him and smiled in glee as Anthony was running towards them whiles they had their knifes in their hands.
“Hey look guys, another victim!” said one gangster flashing his knife around as if cutting the air itself.
“You want me to kill you too asshole?” another gangster threatened Anthony whiles smiling devilish him.
The woman who was lying on the ground began to look up and pleaded to Anthony:
“Please help me! I am in trouble you see!”
As he reached the group, Anthony gave the gangsters one final warning:
“Get away from her!”
Laughing at his threat, the gangsters merely took a stance and replied:
“Try and make us boy!”
As soon as Anthony was in close range of the persecutors, he dodged the knife-attack that was coming to his left, disarmed the one wielding it and gave him a good right uppercut to knock him out. The remaining two charged at him from the front and Anthony was able to counter the closest one and subdue him, but the other one was able to stab him in his left arm before receiving a thorough beating from Anthony.
After he was finished dealing with the vermin, he turned his attention to the cloaked woman sitting on the ground watching the whole scene before her. As Anthony was about to reach out to her, he felt a sharp pain in his right arm and there he saw the knife wound that he had received no less than a minute again with blood flowing freely out of it. He then staggered as his consciousness was slipping from him and he fell to the ground with a his world coming to complete darkness, but before he could reach the floor he was caught by the woman who held him and told him.
“For saving my life when I was in need, I will return the favour with this deed.” she said whiles she was dragging him off to someplace unknown.
Yet before he could respond, he lost all consciousness as he was drifting with his life slipping away from him.
Opening his eyes, he noticed that his surrounding was different to the filthy back alley where he lost consciousness. Instead he was inside a rather peculiar house, at least he deduced it was a house from the things he saw in it (windows looking out on the whole city, a bathroom from what he saw, 2 sofas in the middle, a kitchen behind him, a bed he was lying on but the most unique object in the place was a large pot with some concoction brewing in it).
As he stood up from the comforts of the bed he was lying in, he saw on the walls a number of old African tribal masks (either from the Sangoma or Khoisan culture of Africa) and he noticed that the pot was sparkling a number of different colours all at once (from red, blue, yellow and he noticed that the other colours belonged to the 7 colours of the rainbow).
As Anthony was looking deep into the pot, he heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and he saw the woman who he had helped earlier that evening. Noticing an old antique clock in the background that was showing him 23:30 (he had been out for 20 minutes only... which raised some questions in his mind such as why does his arm feel better now in such a short time, even though it was bandaged... or how was a woman of 1.5 meters able to carry a man like him here to her residence and not show any signs of fatigue?).
Though before he could deduce these questions, the woman before him spoke in a very kind voice of tone, giving her greatest gratitude to a stranger saving her life:
“I see you are awake, though move not so fast for your sake” she said whiles standing still in place right in front of him.
Looking at her and having multiple questions at the same time, the first question he asked her in a friendly but nervous tone was:
“Where am I exactly Miss?”
Turning around and sitting at nearby chair, she looked around at first before looking him in the eyes and telling him:
“You are in my temporary house young man, if you have any further questions I will answer them as best as I can”
Listening to her intensely, he looked at himself and then at her again before asking:
“How were you able to carry me back here in such a short time?”
Laughing at this question, something he was not expecting and started to get a little annoyed, she merely replied after a few good laughs:
“Your weight was no problem to me, I am much stronger than what you see me to be. My temporary house was very close to where you fell, though you certainly are light that much I can tell”
Noticing the same words spoken in nearly ever sentence she pronounced, he added yet another question albeit rude question (in his opinion):
“You keep saying temporary house, are you moving to another vacancy?”
Standing up from her seat, she walked towards a window over looking the city of Cape Town. Sighing to herself, she finally spoke after a few moments with a voice of seriousness and a hint of sadness:
“I am only going home tonight, home to where there will be an awful plight”
Looking at her in confusion, Anthony was could see in her eyes that she was worried for her home where ever it may be... Anthony knew that most African countries were in conflict either in civil warfare or in corruption. He mustered up enough courage to ask her:
“What do you mean by plight?”
Regretting what he just asked as he could see a tear from the basis of her eyes, she wiped it off with her right index finger and looked outside the window before replying:
“My home will soon perish, unless I bring the Light I will lose everything I cherish”
Looking down on the floor after she had spoken her words, he felt really bad for this woman and wished there was something he could do to help. Though before asking her what favour he could posibly provide her, he had to ask her another question that was bothering him:
“This Light you mentioned... what is it exactly?” he asked her whiles he sitting down on the bed again.
The woman walked towards him and took a seat on a nearby chair and spoke to him:
“The Last Element to save my world is Light, but in my world it was not in sight. It was foretold that if would be found here, and I believe I have found it in you dear”
Feeling very lost and confused over the new statement she has given him, he just looked at her and said:
“Hold on... ‘my world’ and ‘you’... what do you mean by those two statements?”
Smiling it off and standing up again from her seat, she walked to the front of Anthony and looked upon him whiles saying:
“Ah... you see if I told you now you will deduce it as lies, so I will show you the truth in front of your eyes”
He then looked at her with confused eyes, wondering what she meant by ‘the truth’, though before concluding what she meant, what he saw next was not what he expected.
She began to glow in an eerie light which surrounded her whole body, and it would seem that she was going under some kind of metamorphosis. The light began to intensify in a blinding manner, and Anthony could not help but cover his eyes and he was unable to see what was truly happening. The light began to dim, and what he saw was just a zebra with rings around her neck and she had a Mohawk hair style accompanied by large ring earrings dangling from her ears. Her right foreleg was also encased in rings such as her neck, and on her flank she had a strange spiral shape inside what appeared to by a drawing of the sun.
Anthony began to look around himself, calling out the woman thinking this was some kind of hoax. Then the Zebra began to trot forward towards him (the Zebra was one head shorter than he was) and then it spoke words:
“This is my true self yes, do not be afraid or you might make a mess” the zebra said whiles smiling.
Anthony was shocked at this and began to utter words such as:
“Woah! What the-!”
Backing away from the zebra as she spoke her words, Anthony tripped over the bed he laid on early and fell to the floor with some impact. Groaning from the pain he felt from the fall, he soon recovered as he looked with a shocked expression into the eyes of the zebra.
“Y-Yo-You are a talking zebra!?” he shouted in disbelief and thinking this was some sort of trick on his mind or some prank.
The zebra trotted towards him and placed a hoof on his shoulder before replying:
“As profound as this may look, the cover will not tell you much of the book” she said in a kind, almost motherly tone if one should call it that.
Anthony began to calm down when he looked at her eyes, there was something about the zebra's eyes that told him this was the truth. As he was calming down, he panicked again though after feeling the hoof on his shoulder and asked the zebra with a suspicious tone:
“But how?! Wait... you said you are not from this world? Where do you come from really?” he looked at her whiles he tried his best to remain calm and rational... though he felt like he was losing grip on his sanity at this point.
The zebra removed the hoof and trotted to the pot and turned facing towards him and said:
"I come from the world of Equestria dear, a place where peace and freedom is so clear”
Thinking of the words just spoken to him and noticing the contradiction in her words to her earlier spoken words, Anthony corrected her whiles he was standing up:
“But you just said that your world will soon end, unless you bring back the ‘Light’... what exactly is the ‘Light’” he said whiles looking at her, noticing that she was now avoiding eye contact with him.
“Indeed I did say my world will perish without the ‘Light’, unless I can bring it back to help with the fight. Though the Light is not it to say, rather refer it as ‘him’ anyway” she said whiles her head was facing away from him, making it impossible for Anthony to determine what current emotion was flowing through her.
As Anthony tried to find a way to not make her feel any more discomfort, he realized that she was speaking of was not some mere object or force.. but rather something animate and by her words, it gender was male. So he asked her with a simple question, a question that he wished he had asked earlier had he known the impact of the answer:
“Him? Then who is he?” he asked her.
She looked at him with a small smile, a smile that showed a hint of concern in it (as though her answer may do more harm then good). She finally replied with one mere gesture to a mirror on the wall.
“Look into a mirror, and you will see him even clearer” she said whiles looking at Anthony, who was making his way to the mirror.
After he made reached the front, he looked at the mirror for a full minute trying to figure out who this Light was. Finding no answer at all, he sighed with defeat until a rather insane realization appeared in his mind. Looking at the mirror now with eyes of shock and to the zebra, he simply exclaimed:
“Wait! I’m the Light?!” he questioned her in a tone of utter shock over this revelation.
She was now truly smiling at this and nodded to indicate a 'yes' before replying:
“Indeed you are, the Last Element know as Light... the 7th Element of Harmony to win the fight” she admitted in friendly tone.
Shacking his head from side to side and waving his hands in the air, Anthony replied in tone of desperate denial:
“There must be a mistake! I’m just a regular human being with nothing to live for, even though I try to help others... what good will I be to a world that is not even my own, and why choose me of all people living? There must be better suited? More importantly, if you have come from another world, then why choose this world to find the Light?” he said after stating what he thought to be the obvious.
The zebra then reached out for an old looking bag, and grabbed a small tablet from the contents and placed it on the floor. As it was lying there, he noticed images of equine looking beings on the tablet representing zebras and other horses too. What caught his interest was the 3 images, one a dark horse filled with a moon insignia, another creature who looked like a dragon/horse hybrid and the third one... who looked like the strongest of them all, a pure black horse figure with malice-looking eyes.
As he was finished looking at the tablet, he looked into the eyes of the zebra just as she was beginning to speak again:
“A prophecy was foretold by my creed, that the Light will not found by the pony-breed. It will only be found by the Earth Realm beyond, where it will be spawned. After 2 great evils that would be defeated, a 3rd great evil would soon be added. The 3rd great evil would make the others look like babies, for its evil and darkness would destroy it sees. Acted I must, to find the Light and bring it back before all is lost to dust.” she said whiles trying her best to hold back a tear coming from her eye, fearing for her the loss of her beloved home.
Trying his best to see reason in all of this, Anthony questioned her again:
“But how do you know I am the light?”
She simply answered him in plain tone:
“Seeing you fight those fiends without hatred or murderous intent, and seeing your wounds heal with haste after the event, I saw the Light flow deep inside you and noticed it scent. Should you not believe me, look at your cut and see” she pointed her hoof at his bandage.
Looking back at his bandaged cut, he slowly removed it and noticed that it was indeed healed (save for a scar that remained). Anthony looked up to the Zebra with shock and a hint of joy for the fact that she saved his life, he was truly grateful to her and would do anything to repay her for the kind deed. Though what she said about him, her world to be destroyed and about her claims that he is the ‘Light’ left him only a few questions to ask her. Even with these questions in his head, he had no idea of the name of the zebra standing before him, so he asked politely:
“What is your name, miss?”
Slightly blushing, she soon realized that she hasn't properly introduced herself to the man she claimed to be the Light. She then spoke after a few moments:
“Oh excuse me, such bad manners I have indeed. My name is Zecora, the zebra who is in need” she said in rhyme again.
Zecora... truly a unique name, he thought to himself as he was memorizing the new name. Anthony walked towards the window and spoke to Zecora whiles looking outside to the city, noticing the New Year celebration happening outside:
“Judging by your claims that I’m the ‘Light’ and that you are from another world, a world that is devoid of humans, and that your world will be destroyed if the ‘Light’ is not found... are you implying that I should come with you?” he asked her.
She nodded at his question, and replied:
“There are no humans in my home, only pony, zebra-folk and other creatures roam. To bring you into this world I must, or Equestria will turn to dust” she said in tone of determination and desperation.
Contemplating her claims, he thought it over in his mind if he should trust Zecora or not. He barely knew this zebra for no more than an hour, but he felt like he could trust her with his life. It was either her body language or her strange friendly aura that he felt when he first met her in human form, but Anthony still needed to ask:
“What makes you think I can trust you? I barely know you and you are already claiming I’m some sort of Light, let alone trying to bring me to some odd place” he looked at her trying to see any form of deception in her eyes and seeing if she really could be trusted.
She answered him with a pleading tone and not holding back a tear that was coming from her eye:
“It may seem hard to trust me at this moment, and if I brought you to Equestria it would be permanent. Yet I saw in your heart what you truly desire, and there I am certain you will receive it all... for I am no liar. Please I beg of you to help us win this plight, for you are the one that holds the Light” she said to him whiles looking deep into his eyes.
He was shocked over what he saw in Zecora's face, and felt really awful for ever doubting her. Though he needed to know one crucial thing though:
“Will you please explain to me what is the Light?” he asked politely, hoping it wouldn't make her even more upset.
She smiled at his innocent question and told him:
“Long ago in ancient time when Equestria was still in its prime, there existed an evil that was known as Nethermore who was bent on destroying everything forever more. Though came the one known as the Light, who sealed him to end our plight. Though he left specks of his evil to breed, the Light left behind the Elements of Harmony to his creed. Yet he knew his time was at an end, so he instructed a prophecy to his old friend. A friend who was not of his creed yet trusted beyond all, the zebra and his kind carried his words from the old to the small. A prophecy saying he would be reborn in a world ruled by what is know as man, where he would not know of his own plan. The signs would show of Nethermore’s return within 2000 years after his defeat, and 2000 years has now passed and Nethermore will return from his retreat.”
Looking at Zecora with bewildering eyes, he could see deep down that she was indeed pleading for help. Remembering what his father taught him about always helping those in need, even if it would hurt you in the process... rewards for the labour will always be presented to those who are worthy.
This made Anthony think of his current life and where it was going... where he had no decent friends to call upon in times of need, a dead-end career even though he has multiple other side-jobs and alone with no family to welcome him. He gave Zecora a glance and spoke her:
“What do I need to do?” he asked her as he was collecting his thoughts on tonight's whole revelation.
Zecora spoke as she reached to Anthony and placed a hoof on his shoulder again, trying her best now to comfort the poor man as he was indeed in a state of deep thought:
“As the Light in spoken legend, you will need to save Equestria along with the other Elements of Harmony that reside and you will need to learn everything of Equestria from far and wide. Living with the pony creed is also a requirement, as I’m certain that’s where you will be after a day’s retirement. I will also teach you of your inner power, for your magic level is near the top of the tower” she spoke in a rather reassuring tone.
He then wondered about 'magic' being mentioned, and asked Zecora:
“Hold on... you just mentioned that I have magic? Why was I never able to use magic?” he asked her expecting some long-explanation for an answer.
“This realm is devoid of magic to use for man, yet magic exists in the form of life and the flora clan” Zecora said in a 'this-is-a-common-fact-tone whiles smiling at Anthony.
He just smiled at her answer... though he was bothered by one thing that she mentioned to him earlier on. Bringing him back to her world, Equestria if he remembered correctly. He had to know from her whether this trip would be one way or return, so he asked her:
“Are you also implying that once I come to your world, Equestria... that I will never be able to return to Earth ever again?” he asked her.
She looked away from his eyes, before having the actual courage of giving him a truthful answer. She then looked up at him as he was standing up and said to him:
“Unfortunately it is so, the magic spell given to us from the Light can travel once to and fro. Once you enter, you will not return for worse or for better”
Anthony was shocked, not for the answer of not being able to return but for the answer that it may be a better world for him. He asked her in all respect, though he was trying to hind his skepticism:
“For better? How can I possibly survive in a world that’s not my own, let alone that I am a human and from what I heard you said... there are no humans in Equestria, right?” he asked her expecting no answer.
Instead she replied in calm tone: “Indeed no human exists over there, but I can do something for you to make it all fair. Changing you into a pony I can do, but you must decide if you want it so”
Anthony was now looking at Zecora with eyes with confusion and wonder, he knew she had to have some special powers... but changing others into something they are not... was that even possible? He had to know:
“You have the power to change me into something that I am not?” he asked her whiles he walked to the window and back again, trying his best to stay calm.
“No I can’t change who you are, that power is a reach too far. Only your exterior can change, into something else strange. The soul you are will remain, once you enter into my domain” Zecora replied to him, and sitting down on her flank as if she had said all she could say to him.
Taking in all of the facts that was given to him by Zecora, Anthony tried his best to not show any concern. Yet how can anyone stay calm after hearing such a story, and hearing that a world’s future is dependent on your very existence. Anthony looked up at the old clock and saw that it was 23:50, very well near to the New Year.
He walked up to her and went down on his knees so that his face would be on level with Zecora's and final spoke, giving her an answer that would change his life forever:
“I will go...”
Unable to contain the happiness she felt (being able to save her home and save her people) she released a river of tears and smiled at his answer. She quickly wiped the tears away and trotted over to the pot and gestured him to come over and spoke to him:
“You have my eternal gratitude! I will be your ally in this the coming war of great magnitude. Now we must make haste, we do not have time to waste. See that pot over there with the content? It does give off a weird scent. That is how I got here and will also come back, and that is where we shall also go to be exact” she said with pure happiness in her tone.
Smiling as he moved forward to Zecora, he then noticed that the pot was her method of getting back to her world, but how would it be his method of going there? The pot's size was awfully small for him to simply jump in... he looked at Zecora and said:
“Hold on... how am I going to fit into such a pot of that size?”
Laughing at his question, she answered whiles giving off a few giggles in between:
“My dear boy, do not think we will jump into that. We will merely spread it to form a path to Equestia back” she said.
Anthony just asked in response:
“Spread?”
Zecora smiled and said:
“Like so, be ready so that we can go”
As she finished her last sentence, she walked up to the pot and with her head she knocked it over one side so that the contents would all spill on the floor creating a rather unsightly mess. Though what happened next could only be described as magic, as a portal was forming from the basis of the mess. The portal looked like an oval shaped entrance to a bizarre looking passage filled with the colours of the rainbow, all spiralling in a one direction. It looked almost hypnotising, but what caught his interest was at the end of the passage he could see a bright light.
Looking back at Zecora, she smiled at him in a reassuring manner that it was save to go in. He looked back at the portal and thought to himself:
“Oh well, a new life and a new place... though I have to save it. At least I won’t be alone... I hope” he said to himself as he was preparing himself to do something either brave or something stupid.
Taking in a deep breath, he walked into the portal with Zecora coming to his side to walk along with him. As soon as he entered the portal, the portal began to diminish into nothingness and the residence they were in began to disappear also.
The trip in the portal felt unusually calming to his senses, he felt truly gentleness around his body as he continued further into the spiralling passage. He heard an odd humming tune coming from the surroundings of the passage, but the humming was that of euphoria to him. His sight was collided by a number of what appeared to be stained windows. Each representing ponies, though from the look of these ponies they were not the like he was used to. They were all in different abstract colours, contrast to the dull colours that the horses back on Earth had. The next thing he saw was that there were three different types of ponies, ones with wings and others with horns or nothing at all.
He then saw an image of two large ponies, one being pure white with a mane of rainbow colour (though it was blended with a pinkish tint) and another with dark-lavender fur and a mane which looked like the night sky with stars attached to. Though the one thing that made these two different from the rest he saw was the fact that they both had wings and a horn on their forehead. The next image was that of six ponies in a circle; he could identify two unicorns, two pegasi and two normal ponies among those six.
The one that caught his interest was the one unicorn on top of the circle, who had lavender fur and a mane with a purple colour with a stripe of pink running down the middle. Among the six, she was in his opinion the most beautiful pony he had seen. The others were consisting of white, pink, yellow, cyan and orange each with a mane that held a bizarre colour to them. What was in the centre of the circle was another pony who was pure white with a golden blond mane with white stripes running through it. Anthony was then blinded by what appeared to be light and it engulfed him, his breathing hastened every second as he felt his body changing from inside and out.
As he was about to scream in shock and fear, he was instead greeted by a voice... a motherly voice that sounded very similar to Zecora’s:
“Welcome to Equestria”
A/N: I apologize for the delay of chapter 2... but I had some issues back at home, which has now been resolved. I'd like to give credit to Vozzlefox and Untitled01 for advicing me on my writing (again I say to you all, English is not my first language). Hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Chapter 2: A New Name
“Welcome to Equestria”
As soon as he heard those three words, Anthony realized his eyes were closed... he had been asleep for god knows how long. He slowly opened his eyes, his vision was blurred. He groggily rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. Only when his vision cleared up did he notice several changes to his environment, such as the surrounding inside a hut accompanied by the similar if not the same items from the residence he was in when he met Zecora.
Though what shocked him more was his appearance, as he took a good look at himself without the aid of a mirror. His hands where replaced by hooves, his body had a pure white coat and from the look of his tail it was a blond colour with white highlights running through it. He began to panic, falling off the bed he was laying in, feeling rather sore afterwards. As he tried to stand up, he began to wobble as he quickly lost his balance. hastily reaching for the bed he fell from, he rolled onto it and stayed there until he could figure out what was happening to him. Just as he began to think of how he was going to use his new appendages to be more mobile, a familiar zebra entered from the entrance with a smile as she spoke:
“You are awake I see, would you care for some tea?” as she was gesturing to a cup filled with what looked like herbal tea to the naked eye.
Nodding his head and taking the cup in his one hoof, which surprised him since he had no fingers yet was able to hold an object perfectly with a blunt hoof (which felt rather soft and rubbery compared to the hard-like hooves he thought horses had...). He took a sip of the tea and was amazed by its flavour. Sitting it down on his side, he looked at the zebra.
“Zecora, what is happening to me? Where am I?”
He sat on the bed’s end in a position he thought impossible for equine species.
Zecora came up to him, climbing up the bed, taking her side next to him as she placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.
“You are no longer a man Anthony, I ensure you that this form will serve you better. You are in my humble home, where you will live if you wish.”
Smiling at her response, he tried to stand again. His legs gave in the moment his hooves hit the hardwood floor, causing him to fall to ground, landing on the floor with a loud thud. He groaned in pain as he shot the zebra a helpless stare. Zecora helped him up to the bed once again. and he smiled sheepishly in embarrassment for his little accident.
“I’m going to need to learn how to walk on these things if I want to be of any use to you and your friends.”
Smiling at his words, she reached out to him, hugging him in a warm embrace.
“Dear child, don’t be a fool. You are by no means just a tool.”
As she was hugging him, he felt shocked at Zecora’s sudden gesture... but what shocked him even more was how comforting it felt to him, the unusual warmth emanating from her body as she held him. Smiling and returning the hug, he only spoke two words that would always be remembered by the hermit zebra.
“Thank you”
Zecora let go of Anthony, blushing slightly as she did, she shook it off and stood up from the bed once more. She stood in front of him as she began to speak again.
“Don’t worry my friend, do not fret, we’ll have you walking again without a sweat.” she smiled.
Listening to her every word, he couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at her rhyming. whether this was the way all zebras in Equestria spoke, he could only wonder. He nodded his head to her statement.
“OK... so how am I supposed to learn how to walk properly?” he said in a kind tone.
She walked over to the end of the room, standing next to the door. Anthony could guess that the distance was about ten meters. She gestured for him to come closer.
“Try your best to walk to me, take your time.” she said with a gentle voice.
He shot her an unsure glance and looked down at his wobbly hooves, Anthony took all of his courage to stand on all four hooves again. He wobbled when he stood, but he was able to keep his balance in place. He then began to move his right leg forward, putting pressure on it as he tried to reach the zebra. As soon as he tried to move, he began to wobble dangerously. Zecora rushed over to catch him just in time.
He looked at Zecora with a sad frown, slightly disappointed at himself for not being able to walk, she simply smiled and spoke to him:
“If at first you don’t succeed, try again young one. Master it all until you are done”
He tried again, and although he was shaking quite a bit after taking the first step, he was able to move one hoof in front of the other... though he felt like an aged old man trying to do so. After twenty minutes of clumsily walking he reached Zecora, but not before falling face first to the ground where she was standing. Though before his face hit the floor, he was caught in time by Zecora, using her front legs to safe him from his sudden descent. He was surprised at how strong she was, being able to catch him and lift him with ease. She smiled at him and walked to the bed as she gestured him to try once again from where he was standing. Anthony felt like a baby walking for the first time, this was so embarrassing. But one does not simply gain a pair of legs, let alone use them.
After 6 hours of constant practising, had he gained a small amount of mastery in trotting small steps without falling.
As he was still practising his new found limited-mobility, Zecora left him alone for a few moments before coming back with two bowls of that appeared to be filled with some kind of soup. After finishing the soup, a mixture of butternut and potato soup... which he noted was very delicious.
“What’s going to happen to me now? Am I just to be thrown into battle and hope for the best?” he asked her as he was sitting down on the bed.
Zecora looked at him and shook her head as he stood up and began to speak:
“Do not fear, I will risk your health, my dear. How could you think such a thing!?” she retorted.
Quivering a bit after her reaction and looking guilty for asking her such a question, she noticed this and began to apologize for her sudden outburst:
“I’m am sorry for that, yelling is not a habit for me in fact” she said whiles moving slightly away to not panic him any more.
“No no no no! It’s my fault! I shouldn’t be so quick to ask such questions” he said after waving his hooves in the air to keep Zecora from jumping to any conclusions.
Zecora walked over to her bookcase, grabbing a rather frail looking book with her teeth, which she placed upon the table. She opened the dusty tome to reveal a number of pictures. It resembled a foal’s book, so many pictures, so little text. Zecora cleared her throat before speaking again.
“As I have said before, the one who held the Light told my people of Nethermore’s return. He predicted that Nethermore would come back and make Equestria burn. He also predicted that the Elements of Harmony would only work with if his power was present, and that he would be reborn in a different land.” she read out loud to Anthony who was listening intently to her every word.
“What are the Elements of Harmony?” he interrupted her with an honest question. The zebra gave him a soft smile.
“The Elements of Harmony consist of six, powerful alone but even stronger when mixed. Of Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic they consist... but combined with Light do they create a force to make evil desist” Zecora answered his question.
Remembering Zecora mentioning two other evils when he first encountered her, he replied with yet another question:
“When you first told me of the Light, you mentioned two previous evils... how were they stopped if this ‘Light’ wasn’t there to help out?” he asked in skepticism.
Zecora merely smiled at him.
“Discord was created by Nethermore’s shard, Nightmare Moon was created from the pain of Princess Luna’s heart. All these occurrences happened because of him, though his true power did not linger in them. The Elements of Harmony were able to defeat the shadows alone, but the Light will be needed if Equestria should not burn to the bone”
“What is the ‘Light’ exactly?” Anthony asked her
“The Light is an element that reacts to the others of Harmony, it brings true power to the other. It can be seen as an elder to its brothers. It represents what you would call “good”
As he sat there for a few moments, taking in all the facts that were given to him by Zecora, Anthony began to sigh as he spoke.
“So what should I do? I don’t think I’m that powerful, I can’t even walk properly.” he said with a hint of frustration as he looked to his new legs and hooves.
Zecora stood up, trotted slightly away from the bed as she spoke.“That is why practise makes perfect. I can help you become a native of this world, but I fear that my knowledge of magic is faded.. and old...”
“So I can do magic?” he asked her with a hint of excitement in his voice.
“Of course you can, you are now a unicorn my young man” she responded
“Wait, what?.” he then reached a hoof up his head and felt a sharp long object projected from his forehead. Noticing this, he then deduced that he had a horn, he was an actual unicorn. one that could evidently preform magic. Looking at Zecora, he tried to stand up again and move towards a mirror on the wall at the opposite end of the room. Though before he could even more one centimeter, had he fallen to the ground with full force. Feeling the pain and ache throughout his body, he mumbled a few curses and groan at the pain. Zecora came over and gently lifted him from the ground into a standing position before acting as support for him to move about the hut. As he reached the mirror, he saw for the first time his new body. He had fur as white as snow, he still keep the azure colour in his eyes, his mane was semi-long with his golden blond colour and white highlights running through it, the same was true for his tail which was long enough to reach the ground and had the same colour pattern as his mane. Though the thing that caught his interest was a weird marking on his flank, looking at it closely it resembled an image of the Holy-spell in any Final Fantasy game that he used to play back on earth.
He turned to Zecora and noticed that she was smiling at him as he observed his new body, something that he found somewhat unsettling at first, but he quickly dismissed it.
“Zecora, what is that weird mark on my body?” he pointed with one of his hooves to the image implanted on his flank.
“That is a cutie mark young pony, one you get only. Yours represents light, with that the truth is in sight” she said whiles holding him to support his stance whilst he was looking at his flank.
After thinking for a minute, he turned to Zecora and gestured her to head to the bed. She gladly complied by moving with him to the bed’s side, where he sat down before finally speaking.
“I’m guessing names such as ‘Anthony’ or ‘Williams’ do not exist here in Equestria?” he said
Nodding at his deduction, Zecora responded:
“Indeed such exotic names are not used, so your name will unfortunately be refused” she said
“What kind of names do they use here anyway?” he asked her.
“Names of ponies consist of either verb or noun, such as the ponies who live in the nearby town” she answered him
“Where are we exactly? Some sort of forest?” he asked her whiles he was looking outside the window for a better view
“Indeed we are, the Evergreen Forest is where this hut lies. Though it is also home to monsters, crawling on the ground or in the sky like flies” she said
“Why do you live so far from away from civilization? More importantly, why do you live so deep in a dangerous forest?”
“Only ponies live in the city, there are no other zebras which is a pity. This place has a certain peace, though sometimes it is missing a piece..”
“I know how that feels... being different. Though what you do you mean by ‘missing a piece’?”
“I will tell you later about it, but now we must make a name for you to fit”
“Oh... ok. Hmm... Well... you keep calling me the ‘Light’, why not simply ‘Light’ for my first name... something that goes along with it? Well since you tried to find me why not ‘seeker’? Yeah that could work... ‘Light Seeker’, that has a nice ring to it!”
“A name fitting to your element, and it shows off your talent”
“Though I feel kind of bad for lying to the ponies.“
“Guess it can’t be helped”
“I’m afraid not and please forgive me for putting you in this situation, though I will be there for you since this road will lead to complication”
“Guess starting a new life and being called for to be a hero has its downs too”
“There is always a downside to being a hero, but that doesn’t mean that good things are zero”
“Yeah..”
“Shall we now begin again Light? To trot you need to learn for the coming fight”
“Any piece of advice though?”
“Four legs must work as a pair, work separately one should not dare”
“... ooook, well lets get started”
The rest of the day was spent practising his hoof work, though there were some accidents now and then. So it went on for at least a week for Anthony who was now named Light. Though he did master how to trot properly in that week, he couldn’t help but feel more welcomed to this world than he ever did back on Earth. And even though he felt like he was throwing away his identity, he took a great liking to his new name. As for Zecora, she looked and acted more lively with each passing day that Light spent with her. Though she did teach him how to maneuver without her assistance, she also taught him the basic culture of Ponyville and a brief history of Equestria from the books that she had borrowed from Twilight Sparkle, the town’s librarian. Though she did not dare tell Twilight why she needed these books, as Zecora was afraid of Twilight’s reaction and the resulting curiosity which would lead to even further complications.
A few days later, while Light was busy trotting about the house (morning exercise as he named it...), three little visitors came to see Zecora about a certain problem they’ve been having. But the unsuspecting fillies would have a run in with a certain white stallion:
“Hey Zecora! We need your help!” a filly shouted in a Texan accent.
Whiles a tomboyish filly’s voice replied:
“Yeah, something your potions can-!”
Though she was interrupted as all three fillies suddenly had their eyes on Light, they were surprised to a see another pony deep within the Everfree Forest let alone a stallion. They then asked in unison:
“Hey! Who are you mister!?”
“Ya’re not Zecora” the yellow filly with a bow on her hair said
Light just smiled as he trotted towards them to properly reply to them:
“Oh sorry little fillies, she went to get some supplies. Though I’m sure she will be back soon” he said to them whiles looking down at them with a smile.
“Awww... and we were hoping she could’ve helped us!” they replied with dissapointment in their voice as they all looked down on the floor with their ears drooped and a frown forming on their faces. The yellow filly then sighed as she spoke:
“Ah know ah shouldn’t be saying this, but this always happen”
Light was trying to figure out a way to cheer them up, since he could see they were really expecting to run into Zecora. He thought maybe if they introduced themselves, they would probably be a little happier.
“Uh... may I ask, who are you three?” he asked with that very purpose in mind.
They then looked up with smiles on their faces and began to introduce themselves, starting with the yellow filly:
“Ah’m Applebloom!”
“Sweetie Belle!” a white filly with greyish pink curly hair spoke in a high pitched girly voice
“Scootaloo!” an orange filly with dark pink hair said with a proud tomboyish accent
“and we’re... THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” they exclaimed in unison.
Looking at them with a black expression as he was trying to figure out why they called themselves that, he noticed that their flanks did not have a symbol on them. Light then replied to their introduction:
“Oh? So you don’t have your cutie marks? Why?”
Shuffling a little in their place did Applebloom spoke with a tone of slight embarrassment whiles walking towards Light and looking him in the eyes:
“Well some of us get it later than expected... we just try anything to see what our special talent is...”
“Is there a need to rush?” Light asked them.
The three fillies then looked at each other trying to find a reason for needing their cutie marks as if their lives depended on it. Sweetie Belle then sighed as she replied:
“No... but we’re the only ones at school that don’t have their cutie marks yet.”
“Oh... I see, peer pressure and social life in school can make you pretty desperate for somethings...” Light said as he remembered how in primary school and high school peer pressure can make you do desperate things.
Applebloom replied to that statement:
“Well ah just want to know what my special talent is... well, we all do”
Light then thought of how old these fillies were (he couldn’t tell due to the size of them and he couldn’t compare them to the fillies on Earth as those fillies’ aged faster than what humans did. Also Light was certain that Equestrian ponies lived longer than 30 years, the average life span of a horse on Earth). He asked them hesitantly (as he knew asking a woman or a girl their age was rude):
“How old are you fillies?”
“12 and you sir?” they replied with an answer and with the same question to him.
He simply answered:
“24”
The three fillies then walked up to him and examined his flank. The saw what his cutie mark was but they did not know what his true talent was. They did not even know his name, so they asked in unison (Light began to wonder if these fillies had a hive-mind):
“Say, who are you and what your cutie mark mister?”
“My name is Light and it represents light”
“How did you get it?” Applebloom asked
Light began to sweat bullets as he did not have a back story for his cutie mark. He tried to think of an answer but all he could say was:
“Um...”
Scootaloo noticed his nervous state and began question him as she trotted towards him, whiles he was backing up to the wall:
“You don’t know how you got it?”
Trying to find an excuse for the time being, did Light finally say with a weak smile:
“I just can’t remember now, sorry”
Sweetie Belle then thought to herself why this stallion was in her in the first place. So she moved towards Light and asked him with her eyes narrowing as she stared into his eyes:
“Wait... what you doing in Zecora’s hut anyway?”
Trying to find a reasonable answer knowing that telling them the truth would only make matters worse, did he only utter words:
“Oh... um... that’s because... um -”
“You must be a thief!” Scootaloo shouted with her eyes bearing daggers at him
“What?! No I’m not a-!”
Then the fillies began to smile devilishly with their eyes locked onto him as they shouted in unison whiles raising their one front hoof in their air as if they were performing a battle cry:
“Cutie Mark Crusaders Police Force is a go!”
All he could say to this was:
“Wait, what?!”
As soon as he said those words, the Cutie Mark Crusaders began to ‘capture the thief’, which was their attempt to subdue him and earn their cutie marks as Police Mares. Applebloom was charging from the front whilst Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were on either side of his left and right (forming a pincer formation to take down the stallion that was before them). Light began to look rather worried at what these three fillies were about to do to him, though before he could respond they made their first move. Scootaloo tackled Light with a mighty head-butt whilst Sweetie Belle was on his back trying to wrestle him into submission.
Applebloom began to lasso a rope around him to hold him in place, something she was still novice to. Falling to the ground hard face first as he was being assaulted by these three fillies, Light was beginning to lose his patience with the foals. Assuming they were victorious, the three crusaders cheered as they tried to drag him off for their ‘bounty’, but they had no idea... of what was coming next.
Light’s eyes, which had been azure in colour before, now glowed with an infinite white. Just as the three fillies took notice of this change, did the rope which bound him begin to disintegrate into nothingness. Then a a white aura began to glow around the three fillies and they were lifted up into the air, as they were now squirming to get out of this situation. They saw the face of Light, which was now full of rage. No trace of the kindness he once had was there, only eyes that brought the deepest fear into the young fillies hearts. Beginning to panic, they could not see how they were going to get out of this situation alive. Just as they thought they were going to meet their end, did a familiar voice boom from the background of the hut.
“Stop Light! Do not fight!” The zebra yelled
As Zecora stood behind Light and yelled out those words to him, the white aura which engulfed the fillies began to vanish. They fell to the ground ,though luckily, they landed safely on the floor. As for Light, his eyes returned back to their normal azure colour. Just as his eyes began to adjust themselves to their natural colour, he fainted and fell to the ground. Rushing to the fallen stallion, Zecora held onto him to check if there were any sings of serious injury. Taking note that he was only exhausted from executing so much magic for his first time, Zecora looked at the Cutie Mark Crusaders with a stern look on her face. Looking down to avoid the gaze Zecora emitted, the little fillies realized that what they did was not right. Zecora carried Light to the bed and after she laid him down, she begin to walk to the fillies and said.
“You three have some explaining to do, and one may only speak whilst silent be the other two”
Looking away from the zebra’s gaze, did Sweetie Belle finally spoke:
“Well... we thought he was a thief because he was stuttering when we asked him some questions... we thought if we captured him, we would help out”
“I understand you were scared, but rather then act you should have thought instead”
“Zecora! What’s up with his magic!? Ah neva saw such magic before since Twilight!”
“Yeah! What’s the deal? Who is he?”
“He comes from Zebrafrica which is my home and lies far in the distance of the rising sun...”
“Though to be precise he is family, he is my son”
“Eh!!!”
Just as the the Cutie Mark Crusaders were expressing themselves over the revelation that Zecora gave them, did Light open his eyes as he was waking up. Feeling dazed by his sudden outburst of magic, his vision was a blur and his hearing was deafened temporarily as he lifted his head from the comforts of the pillow.
When all of his five senses were functioning properly again, Light noticed the three fillies looking at Zecora with surprised expressions on their faces. As he was waking up, Zecora looked at him with relief in her eyes, and the three fillies turned around to look at the stallion they had so mercilessly attacked earlier. Just as he was looking down at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the fillies’ expressions turned to remorse and tears were about to be shed. Now having a confused expression on his face, did Light finally spoke:
“What did I miss?”
Seeing the fillies who were in tears, he wondered why they were crying. So he asked:
“Why are you three crying?”
They replied in unison with tears in their eyes, their ears drooped and sad looks on their faces:
“We’re so sorry!”
“If Ah’d known that you weren’t a thief, Ah’d never had hurt you like that”
“Attacking somepony on a whim is just wrong, and we feel bad”
“Yeah, we’re sorry mister”
“Please don’t hate us!”
“Aww... I’m such a softie when it comes to this sort of thing”
“It’s ok, you were only trying to help a friend... I should have been more clear on my part”
“Really?” they pleaded
“Really” Light said as he gave the fillies a kind nod.
“Yay!”
“It’s so cool to have you here, especially if your Zecora’s son”
“Pardon?”
“Yeah, Zecora told us when you were asleep”
“She did?”
“Yeah, just after you used your magic on us”
“I did?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“Um... not really”
“Oh?”
“Sorry if I hurt any of you...”
“Nah you didn’t hurt us, just scared maybe”
“Ah was kinda scared, but that was so cool!”
“Yeah!”
As the fillies were going on about Light’s magic, he looked at Zecora who was shying away from the whole scene. Perhaps she was feeling guilty for lying to the little fillies, perhaps she wanted Light to get to know other ponies better... whatever the reason, he could not stop thinking of one question that was embedded to his head:
“Why did she say I was her son?”
Though before he could respond in anyway, did Zecora motion to the fillies to gain their attention. She looked at them as she spoke in a calm voice:
“Girls, it’s time to head on home now, staying out here this late I cannot allow”
“Aww...”
“Though visit you can do, since tomorrow is a day anew”
“Yay!”
“Bye Zecora, Bye Light”
“Bye girls”
“See you”
Five minutes later, after they left the hut, Light turned to Zecora and asked her:
“I feel really bad now”
“Why do you say that? They have not been hurt and that is fact”
“I know that, but I feel more bad for lying to three little girls” he said dejectedly
He then looked up at the roof with and said to himself as if someone was looking down on him and judging him for the lie:
“Forgive me, father”
Noticing Light’s expression, did Zecora try to reason with him:
“I know what you mean, but the truth could be bad from how it could be seen”
“Yeah... anyways, could you tell me more of ‘the Light’?” he asked Zecora as he was looking up to face her
“Rather then tell, why don’t you read the book that fell?” she indicated to the floor with her fore hoof
He then looked to the ground and saw another old book lying there. He then reached out and saw the cover of the book with an image of his cutie mark on it. When he opened it, he saw text in there and it certainly wasn’t English. Though one thing that shocked him was that he could fully understand the words written in it. He began to read the first page as it was written:
Long ago from past well forgotten
Chaos overwhelmed the world
As a deity known as Nethermore ruled with an iron-hoof
Using the power of darkness
Draining all hope and joy from every living being
All seemed lost and hope was naught
Until another deity came forth to challenge Nethermore
The name of this deity still remains unknown to this day
He wielded the power of Light within him
With this he was able to seal Nethermore in the realm between realms
Knowing his power would vanish with his passing
He separated the power in seven parts
Each fragment representing a bond with harmony
Honesty
Kindness
Laughter
Generosity
Loyalty
Magic
and Light
Six of the seven he gave to the alicorns Gaia and Terra
Whiles the Light he could not give
As he foresaw that it would be reborn in another form
Though the knowledge was only shared to the zebra-kind
Who he trusted beyond any other
When it would be needed
After the defeat of the two lesser evils left by Nethermore
Would the zebras act
To deliver the missing element
To combat the inevitable return of Nethermore...
After reading these words, Light closed the book and place it on a nearby table before heading off to the bed and lying down to take in all the information that was shot into him on this day. He then Turned to Zecora and asked.
“So who are Gaia and Terra?”
“They were father and mother to Priceness Celestia and Princess Luna, who are the rulers of this words’ flora and fauna”
“What of the two lesser evils?”
“They are Nightmare Moon and Discord both created from him, defeated they have been by other six. Though as said, with Nethermore... Light would be needed in the mix”
“So who holds the other six elements?”
“The ones who carry them are all mare, and they are all in Ponyville’s care”
“... I guess I will have to meet them if we are to stand a chance”
“Indeed you will, but not now as you need your strength to refill”
“Say Zecora?”
“Yes?”
“Why did you call me your son to those fillies?”
“... Another time I shall tell, but now you must rest to get well”
“... ok”
Just as Zecora left the room to allow Light some peace and quiet, He noticed a droplet on the floor from where she stood whilst speaking to him. Light could tell she was crying after his one question, but he wondered why? So many questions left unanswered, he laid on the bed thinking about his future in a different world. He didn’t think of it too long, as he was steadily drifting to sleep in the warmth of the bed he was lying in.
Meanwhile, in the dreams of a certain lavender mare, something strange was happening in her mind. She saw her five other friends standing with her side by side as they faced a black stallion who bared blood red eyes and was occupied with a number of pony minions who were made only of pure darkness. They charged to the six mares with the intent to kill them but they halted as an orb of pure light formed between the gap of the black stallion and the six mares. What came from the light was a pure white stallion with golden blond mane and azure eyes, as he was facing his darker counterpart. He then looked at her and smiled whiles uttering three words to her.
She then woke up with a jolt. She was sweating, shocked about what she saw in her dream. Looking at the clock, did she see it was 01:30 am. Wiping away the sweat and trying to ignore what she saw in her dream, did she try to fall asleep. But she was interrupted again.
Hearing the loud snores coming from a certain baby dragon, did she see his blanket lying on the floor next his bed (which was in actuality a basket). Getting up from her bed, she trotted towards the baby dragon. Looking at him with caring eyes, her horn glowed with a purple aura and the blanket was engulfed in magic as it was levitating and was placed onto the dragon.
She then smiled at how the dragon was now clinging onto the blanket for warmth. As she was turning around.
“Mom...” Spike said softly.
Looking at the baby dragon with surprised eyes, did she think he was dreaming of what his mother dragon looked like. Though these thoughts were dismissed as soon as he said another word.
“Twilight...” he whispered
Now looking at the dragon with joy in her eyes, did she know what he was dreaming of. It was of her. With a single tear forming, did she trotted towards to baby dragon and moved her muzzle quietly to his forehead. Placing a single kiss on his forehead, did she look again at the baby dragon with motherly eyes and a smile that reached from ear to ear.
“Sleep well, Spike..” she said in a caring tone.
She then made her way back to her bed as she was trying to fall asleep again. However, two thoughts kept her from sleeping peacefully. The first was the dream she had. Who was that black stallion who looked evil with those minions of his? Who was that white stallion that looked at her and said those three words? The second was of what happened just now. She could remember the first day she met Spike, how she literally brought him to life by hatching him from his egg, which was also an entrance exam for Canterlot’s school for gifted foals. That was also the day she received her cutie mark, but that was also the day when she met her dearest companion Spike.
Only after tossing and turning for more then an hour, Twilight Sparkle had finally fallen asleep again.
The First Day in Ponyville
Chapter 3: The First Day in Ponyville
5 months later:
Light and Zecora were walking through the darkened forests that surrounded the Zebra's hut. Light could feel the twigs and shrubbery of the trees crack underneath his hooves as they walked. They were headed towards the small, rural town that stood in the distance. Even though Light had gotten more than enough time to prepare for the days ahead, he was still a bit.. unnerved by the whole situation. The two left the outer reaches of the Everfree Forest, only to be greeted by flowing fields of green. "Hey Mom.." Light said as he turned his head towards his caretaker. "Do you think they'll accept me? You know, the other elements?" Zecora let out a light chuckle, causing Light's nerves to calm.
"Of course my dear, they are not the ones you should fear." she smiled at him. It was only a couple of days ago since the Zebra had told him that he would be leaving her home, to live in the nearby town of Ponyville.
There appeared to be a modestly sized cottage in their way. Several woodland critters could be seen outside, scattered in the grass and trees that stood before the wooden cabin, it seemed strangely cozy to Light, he decided to go and take a closer look. The unicorn charged off through the tall grass, causing it to rustle past his legs, he stopped just a few feet away from the cabin's walls. "Hey Mom! Who lives here?" he yelled back at her.
“A dear friend to animals big and small, Fluttershy is know for her kindness to all.” She said as she caught up with Light. “She is one of the mares I have spoken of, who most of Ponyville have come to love”
“Oh that's good to know, guess I have to give befriending her a go.” he rhymed as he gave her a sly wink, causing Zecora to chuckle slightly as she nudged him with her muzzle, signaling him to move forward. Suddenly, a soft humming could be heard, coming from the other side. Slowly, he made his way around the humble home. He could see a pegasus, tending to the animals that surrounded her home. Her coat was yellow, and she had a long, pink mane. Her eyes were closed as she hummed a cheery tune, unknown to Light.
He couldn’t help but feel like he had seen her before somewhere. But he simply couldn’t remember. The pegasus was busy feeding some carrots to her little bunny, but he didn’t seem to agree to this at all. He took the carrot out of Fluttershy’s hoof and threw it into the grass. he crossed his arms as he gave her a stubborn look.
“Oh Angel, you know these carrots are good for you” she tried to reason with her furry little friend. “Just one, for me?” she pleaded, sending him a begging stare. The bunny turned his back to her in response before running off into the forest. Fluttershy sighed heavily in response.
The two approached the timid pegasus. “Good mor-” he got interrupted by a sudden shriek of fear. Fluttershy leaped several feet into the air, swiftly maneuvering herself behind a nearby tree. Which proved to be a futile disguise, seeing that they could see her wings shaking from either side of the tree. Light turned his head towards Zecora. “Does this happen often?”
“More than you can imagine.” she chuckled in response. The zebra trotted over to the tree. “You can come out Fluttershy my dear, there is nothing to fear.” she tried to reassure the frightened pegasus. An eye peered from the base of the tree, growing wide as she saw her friend.
“Oh Zecora..” she whispered, Light could barely hear it. The cyan eyes turned their gaze towards Light, inspecting him closely. “Who is your friend?” she mumbled, even softer than before.
“Of course my dear, this is Light, my son, and he will be staying in Ponyville this year.” she said as she pointed her hoof towards the unicorn, who wore an awkward smile as he waved at her. After a few seconds of merely staring at each other, Light decided to shatter the silence.
“Nice to meet you!” he exclaimed in the friendliest voice that he could muster. He extended his hoof for a proper greeting. Sheer willpower was the only thing that enabled Fluttershy to bring her hoof to his. She mumbled something that Light was unable to hear. “excuse me? I didn’t quite catch that” he said as he brought his head closer in an attempt to hear what she was saying.
“Likewise” she whispered softly, turning her gaze away from his azure eyes as she let go of his hoof. “I.. I have to go and.. find Angel! Yes, that’s it. I have to find Angel.” she whispered before charging off into the woods.
A confused look spread across his face as he turned to Zecora. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked in amazement.
“Oh no don’t think that, she is always like this and that is a fact” she whispered back to the worried stallion’s ears.
Meanwhile, at Ponyville’s local library, Twilight Sparkle was busy reading her personal copy of “The picture in the House.” A book which she had read countless times before, not that it mattered to the studious mare. She sat on her lavender bed, the blanket covering her up to her waist as she used her magic to flip the pages of the dusty tome, smiling contently as the scenes danced in her mind. Twilight had always been a clever pony, the personal prodigy of Princess Celestia herself, but her studious, uptight nature had caused her to become a bit of a recluse, only leaving her adobe when instructed to do so by her friends. Sadly, this had caused the Ponyville Library to be in a state of total disarray, piles of stacked books covered the floors, arranged in an order that only Twilight Sparkle could understand, to Spike’s great dismay.
The young dragon was given to her after she had hatched him from his egg, so many years ago. Twilight herself, was of a very young age when she accomplished this feat of magic, which earned her a place in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. He was her assistant, but she saw him as a friend. Spike however, regarded her highly, in a way, she was like a caretaker to him. He looked up to her, he never had the courage to admit it though. He was always happy to help whenever she needed him.
Meanwhile, the said dragon was downstairs, picking up the books and novels that were scattered across the room, and putting them in their designated place, just like he would do everyday. But this time it was different, he stumbled through the room, taking the books in his grasp one by one, and practically hurling them into the usual holding place, groaning in annoyance all the while. The poor dragon could not remember the last time that he had gotten a good night’s sleep. He looked up at the dim light, shining from the candle in Twilight’s room, piercing the creaks in one of the library’s many ancient doors, he sighed in dismay. “Twilight never has any time for me these days..” he sighed as he started to carry the last pile of books. “I don’t need any praise, but a ‘thank you’ would be nice once in a while..” he though to himself as he took the last book in his grasp, stretching his arm towards the highest shelf of one of the many bookcases that stood in the Library’s main floor, but he simply couldn’t reach it. He stepped unto the first shelf, in an attempt to reach his goal. “Nearly got it..” he groaned as he stretched his legs to get that last edge.
“Spike! Could you come up here for a second!?” The young dragon got caught of guard by the sudden noise, causing him to fall to the floor. In the heat of the moment, Spike frantically held on to the edge of the bookcase, causing it to fall over. Moments later, a little dragon head emerged from the sea of books that were scattered across the library’s floor. Spike groaned in pain, putting his claw to his head as he did. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking dully at the excruciating mess, that he would undoubtedly have to clean. He raised his claws into the air, roaring angrily. He could hear a sudden gasp, coming from behind. Twilight was standing at the end of the stairs with an angry look on her face as she gave Spike a stern look. Spike sighed heavily, knowing all to well what was about to happen.
“Spike!? What is this mess?” she yelled with a hint of anger in her voice. “What did you do!?” He simply sighed in response. He picked himself up from the ground, causing the layer of books that covered him to shift.
“I’m sorry, Twilight..” he sighed.
“Sorry is not going to cut it mister.” she told him. “You’re not leaving until this mess is cleaned.” she said, sending him another stern stare. The dragon’s eyes shot open wide as he heard those words.
“But Twilight!” he exclaimed. “That’s going to take forever, it’s my night off remember?” he yelled as a hint of anger started to make its way into his voice. He simply stared at her in disbelief.
“Well, the plans have been changed. I want this clean by tomorrow.” Spike didn’t even bother arguing with her, it was a lost cause anyway. He sighed as he stepped through the countless books. It seemed that Spike had become more of an assistant and less of a friend to Twilight lately.
Light and Zecora were trotting happily across the road leading towards the rural town of Ponyville. They could see numerous tall buildings and structures emerge from behind the hills. He was just about to turn his head towards the zebra to ask her about the inhabitants of the town, but he got cut off by a blue blur, flashing past her head and hitting him in the side, causing him to soar a few feet through the air before hitting the tall grass, that stood at the side of the rode, with a loud thud. A sudden sting of pain filled his body as the grass rustled past it.
He investigated the source of the impact, and rather quickly, he noticed a rainbow-maned cyan pegasus, sitting in the grass beside him. She put a hoof to her forehead as she shook it vigorously, to rid herself of the dizzy feeling that plagued her mind. “Hey! Sorry about that buddy! You should look where you’re going.” she laughed towards the stallion who was groaning in pain due to some random pegasus flying into him.
“Rainbow Dash!? Why don’t you look out for my son, you might have actually hurt someone.” Zecora said, causing Light to look at her with an irritated look as if to say. ‘This doesn’t count or something!?’
Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly as she brought her hoof to the back of her head, rubbing it in an attempt to suppress the pain. She got up from out of the tall grass, spreading her wings as she took off into the air, levitating a few feet above Zecora. “Gee Zecora, would you relax! I was just trying out this awesome new move. Well, up until your son got in the-” She suddenly paused as she examined the rolling ball of white, coughing in the grass. “Son?” she asked with a tone of confusion in her voice.. She blinked dully at the Zebra for a while, trying to comprehend the information she had just received.
Light raised himself from the grass, stumbling on his hooves for a while, still groaning from the pain that he had just received from the tackling pegasus. A sudden surge of pain shot through his legs, causing him to fall over again. Zecora jumped over towards him, catching him just before he made contact with the ground. After she helped him up, he simply stood beside her, leaning on her for support. Rainbow Dash however, was still baffled by what she had just heard.
“Zecora has a son? No way! He’s not even a zebra! He’s a pony! A new pony... must be a spy!” Rainbow Dash was astounded by her own amazing sense of logic. She shot through the air, levitating just inches in front of him as she gave him a piercing stare. “Are you a spy!?” Zecora sighed heavily, this was the normal turn of events whenever the overly energetic mare met someone new.
“I’ve never seen you here before! Come on, spill it!” she began interrogating the stallion who could barely stand up straight as he was still using Zecora for support. The zebra stomped her hoof into the ground, catching the rainbow-maned mare’s attention.
“That is enough of that tone! Leave him alone.” she said to the invasive pegasus. Rainbow was now looking towards an angry zebra, an unnerving sight to say the least. Rainbow was known for having a brave persona, but even she was caught off guard by Zecora’s sudden change of personality, she had never seen the calm zebra get mad before. She landed gracefully on the floor, and looked down to avoid the zebra’s judging gaze.
“Don’t worry Zecora, I never knew you had a son. I mean, it’s not like you ever told us.” She said, her ears drooped down into her neck as she wore a fake smile across her muzzle.
“Did you even ask?” Light interrupted her, not really expecting an answer. He had become able to stand up straight without Zecora’s support. He gave Rainbow, who he deemed as a great annoyance, an angry stare. “What did you say your name was again?” he said, softening his stance.
Suddenly, Rainbow took off into the air, hovering a few feet above the two. She spread her wings to the midday sun. “Rainbow Dash! The one and only!” she exclaimed, flipping through the air as if it was nothing before landing on the ground once more. “And who might you be?”
she asked, having already forgotten the events that had transpired.
“My name is Light. Light Seeke-”
“Oh pony-feathers! I’m going to be late for my cloud schedule! See you all at the party!” she said as she flew off into the distance , not even taking the time to wave back at Light, who was now standing there, dumbfounded over the mare’s actions.
He turned his head towards Zecora. “Party?” he asked. She simply shrugged in response.
Light and Zecora had made their way into the centre of Ponyville. The unicorn had received a fair share of curious glances, but that was understandable for a newcomer. Light’s curiosity suddenly peaked as a delicious smell filled his nose. He stopped in his tracks, searching for the source of the aroma. It seemed to be coming from the large building, with the gingerbread roof. “Hey Mom, what is this place?” he asked, staring at the candy that served as the building’s decoration.
“A bakery is built here, where they make many treats, my dear.” She said. Light’s stomach rumbled at her words. He felt a sudden craving for banana muffins. Suddenly, the bakery’s door swung open as a puffy pink pony bounced out, holding a basket of sweets in her mouth. Her gaze fell on Light and Zecora, causing her to stop midair, hovering a couple of feet above the ground for a few seconds as her eyes grew larger.
“Um... Hi, my name is Light. I’m new here in Ponyville. It’s nice to meet you Miss-” he said nervously to the mare who was staring at him with the brightest of sparkles in her eyes. Suddenly, she leaped even higher into the air as she let out a loud gasp, only to run off at high velocity afterwards. “What did just happen?”
“The Element of Laughter you have just seen is Pinkie Pie, her joy and energy will never die” she said whiles looking amused at what happened recently.
“I’d say” he thought, baffled by the randomness of the moment.
They continued along the path towards the local Library, and Light’s anxiety got the better of him, as it so often would. “Magic” he thought to himself. “I could actually do magic?” it all seemed so inconceivable to him, to wield such power. There was something off about the setting however. The town, which had been buzzing with busy ponies just a few moments ago, was completely empty, as if everypony just got up and left. “Where did everyone go?” he asked Zecora.
“Whatever do you mean, everything is fine as you have seen” she answered, wearing a playful smile on her face.
“But...” he argued. “never mind. Where is this Library anyway?” he asked, branding the disappearance of the ponies as insignificant.
“The library is right in front, we are now finished with our hunt” she said, pointing her hoof towards the massive tree in front of them. The Library appeared to be built into the base of the tree. Something that astounded Light greatly.
“Finally” he thought to himself as he felt his legs beginning to tire. He noticed a small dome which housed an observatory with a rather large telescope sticking out of the roof. Light was just about to open the door when a sudden thought came into his mind. He turned to Zecora. “Say... this is a library right?” he asked with a sense of doubt in his voice.
“Correct.” she nodded with a smile.
“A public one?” he asked
“Indeed” she said
“And this Twilight Sparkle lives here?” he asked, wondering why anypony would want to live in a local library.
“What are you trying to mention, why do you have so much tension?” She asked, unsure what he was getting at.
“Shouldn’t I ask for permission to come in?” He asked Zecora.
“Just open the door, and see what it has in store” she told him.
“I guess..” he said
He opened the door, Zecora was the first to enter, he believed in the saying ‘Ladies first’ after all. The zebra entered the room, followed closely by Light. The door closed shut behind him, only then did he notice that the room was completely void of light, he couldn’t see a thing. He could hear the muffled murmurs coming from the shadows of the room. He put his hoof to the wall, searching for the switch that would enlighten the room. He smiled as he felt the switch to his hoof, flicking it swiftly.
“SURPRISE!!!”
And surprised he was. Standing in the middle of the room, he was greeted by what he assumed to be nearly every pony in Ponyville. Banners hung from the ceiling reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville’, confetti still floated through the air, tables filled with sweets and drinks were scattered along the wall and at the end of the room, stood a turntable, complete with pony DJ. The unicorn used her magic to levitate the needle onto the record, and the music started playing. “Wait.. what?” Light said, looking over to Zecora, who was busy talking to the pink party pony that they had seen just a few moments ago. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed with his hooves in the air. “Who planned this!?”
Suddenly, Pinkie bounced towards him. “Oh it was me silly!” she giggled loudly. “when you told me that you were new here, I just had to throw a ‘Welcometoponyvillesurpriseparty’ for you! By the way, my name is Pinkie Pie! What’s your name? Do you like parties? Do you like cupcakes? Oh oh! Do you like muffins? We have lots of those here. Oh oh! Did you meet my friends? You must meet them all! Do you have any friends here? Where are you from? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” Light simply stared at her, his brain broken by the arsenal of rapid questions fired at his head.
“well, I don’t haven’t really met anyone here yet. I’m Zecora’s son from Zebrafrica and-” he got cut off by Pinkie Pie, gasping loudly.
“Zecora! Why didn’t you tell us you had a son?” Pinkie asked the Zebra standing next to Light.
“Silly Pinkie, you never asked.” Zecora smiled with a giggle.
As he glanced around the room in an attempt to find something to drink, he saw a table, standing on the other side of the room, complete with punch and glasses on the side. He moved towards his price. Just as he was about to pick up the glass he could hear somepony whimper from underneath the table. Suddenly, he noticed a pink tail, shaking from the table’s side. When he got a closer look, he saw Fluttershy, trembling on the ground, covering her face with her hooves. “Fluttershy..? Why are you hiding?” he whispered.
“Oh, I... um, well... I’m, well...” she said in whisper, turning away from his gaze.
“Why don’t you come out and party like the rest of the ponies?” he said, lowering himself to her face-level.
“It’s just... I don’t really like big parties... just all the ponies... I don’t want them all looking at me...”
“Aww c’mon.” he cooed. “It’s not so bad, you just need to be brave, is all”
“Really?” she looked up to the stallion who was smiling down contently at her.
“Tell you what? I’ll stay by your side and make sure that nopony’s mean to you, ok?”
“Really?” she whispered as she raised her gaze from the floor, looking up into his honest eyes.
“Really.” he replied, causing the mare to come out of her hiding spot. She stumbled up on her hooves and smiled meekly at him.
After the heat of the moment had died down, and everypony started to mingle and interact, Pinkie called her friends together, not wanting to wait another second before she could introduce her new friend. The music still boomed through the dimly lit library. “Guys! Guys!” Pinkie exclaimed with her hooves in the air, causing her friends to give her half-hearted smiles, seeing that Pinkie often made a fuss about nothing. She wrapped her arm around Light’s neck. “This is-” her excited expression turned to one of confusion. “Oh silly me! I forgot to asked your name” she gasped.
“My name is-”
“I’m so so so so so so sorry for not asking your name. Normally I’d ask the pony’s name straight off, but today I’m so excited! Especially finding out your Zecora’s son! Oh oh! Do they have cake and cupcakes where your from? Do like parties? Do you like this party? Do you like the music? Do you? Do you? Do you? Do yo-”
“Woah there, take it easy... my name is Light... Light Seeker” he said, turning to the other ponies that surrounded him. A unicorn mare with white a white coat and curly navy blue mane turned to him and smiled.
“And I am Rarity, but you knew that of course.” she said, extending her hoof to him for a civil greeting. Not really sure if ponies actually ‘shook hooves’ he took his hoof and put it to hers.
“Pleased to meet you, miss Rarity.” he said.
“Charmed, I’m sure. It’s nice to see that SOME ponies still have standards.” she said, turning her gaze to Applejack, giving her a smug look, causing the earth pony to cut her off.
“Will you get over it already!” Applejack growled, obviously talking about an argument between the two. Light wasn’t sure what was going on, but he preferred to not get involved. The earth pony turned to him. “Ah’m Applejack.” she smiled.
“Pinkie Pie! How many times do I have to tell you to not throw a party in the library without my permission!” The group all turned their heads at the sudden yelling. A lavender unicorn approached the group, looking unamused to say the least, she looked furious.
“Aww but Twilight it was for the new guy! See?” she tried to reason with her uptight friend, pointing her hoof towards Light.
Twilight turned to the silent stallion, causing him to raise his gaze to meet her eyes. Suddenly, a spark jumped between them as he looked into those deep purple eyes. “Wow..” he thought to himself. When he looked into those eyes, he could have sworn time had stopped between the two of them. There was something alluring about the mare that was standing before him that he could not quite explain. He could have sworn that he had seen her before, whether it was in reality or in his dreams. She had a lavender coat and a purple mane with a single pink stripe running through it.
“Oh...” she managed to utter, blushing ever so slightly. “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”
“My...” he spoke whiles trying his best to focus on what he wanted to say. “My name is Light Seeker, Miss Sparkle”
“Oh... just call me Twilight, please” she replied , still looking into his azure eyes.
He then looked from side to side with his eyes only, feeling nervous around this mare. The seven ponies had gathered in a circle by now.
“So where are you from if I may-” she asked him before she as interrupted by sudden spark.
A piercing pain appeared in Light’s mind, causing him to put his hoof to his head in an attempt to suppress it as he closed his eyes. The six friends looked at him with confused stares. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, emanating a blinding, white light through the room, it was so intense that everypony had to cover their eyes to avoid the sudden pain. The six friends however felt a strange warmth rushing through their bodies. It was almost identical to the feeling they had when they found their respective Element in the old castle where they defeated Nightmare Moon.
Light floated a few inches into the air as his horn started to glow with a light even brighter than his eyes. Suddenly, the glow subsided, causing Light to slowly close his eyes shut as his body became numb. He fell to the ground, hitting the wooden floor with a loud thud as his world went black.
“Light? Light!” Zecora’s sudden pleas were the last thing he heard before he lost his senses.
A/N: I'l like to give credit to my editor and friend Vozzlefox for helping me out with this chapter. You guys should check out his *story "Lately"... its awesome! :)
Contemplation - Part 1 .
Falling...
Light found himself falling into nothingness, surrounded by nothing but an infinite blackness. Trying to open his eyes, he finally noticed that he was slowly descending towards some sort of structure, emanating a bright white light. As he reached it, his hooves softly tapped the glass surface. He looked down and noticed that he was standing on a circular, enlightened platform in the middle of an infinite sea of blackness, peering into its surface, he saw that there was something depicted upon the surface of the glass. In the middle he saw a picture of a white unicorn stallion with a golden mane, staring back at him. The unicorn appeared to be surrounded by six portraits of mares, he simply couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen them before. He lifted his head in an attempt to view his surroundings,only to be greeted by the thick darkness that surrounded him.
“Your Element has reacted...” A mysterious voice said, shaking the air, sending ripples of bright lights through the dark smoke that surrounded him.
He frantically moved his gaze across the room in an attempt to find the source of the voice, but to no avail. “Who’s there!?” he yelled into the sky. “Show yourself!” he shouted in the hope that the voice would speak again.
“You know so little of the actual power that lies within you.. there is a realm of power so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it..”
Light was starting to get frustrated, causing him to run to the very edge of the platform, nearly falling off. “Tell me what’s going on! I want answers!” he shouted into the darkness, only to be met with silence.
“There is so much to learn, yet so little time...”
Light put his hoof down, lightly tapping the glass. Immediately, the glass cracked in response; the sound sent a shiver down the pony’s spine as he looked down at the floor, his eyes opened wide. The crack traveled across the platform, piercing the pristine figures that stood upon it; once it reached the edge, the ground underneath Light’s hooves shattered, causing him to fall into the dark unknown as subtle white shards filled his vision, now blurred and unfocused. Everything went black for a second as he felt his body hit the floor.
When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself on another glass stage. He gathered himself, struggling to get back up on his hooves, his hair hanging over his head, obscuring his view. He wiped his golden mane out of his sight, staring down at the floor below him. This platform, much the last, was covered with illustrious colours, yet these were different, more playful, more childish, it brought a certain sense of cheeriness to the wandering unicorn. He stepped back in order to get a better view of the figures that were depicted upon the floor. A sincere smile grew across his muzzle as he saw the three little fillies that he had met just a few weeks ago, smiling back at him. Suddenly, a sparkling wooden doorway standing on the edge, flashed into his view. He examined the door closely, tapping its wooden surface with his hoof. He stared attentively at the scenes that appeared to be carved into the wood, but the images were too blurred for Light to make any sense of them. He grasped the golden handle with his hoof, which proved to be surprisingly easy despite his obvious lack of fingers; he pulled back but the door didn’t seem to budge. He got up on his back legs, using his weight to force the door open. He narrowed his eyes in sheer hatred for the inanimate object that stood before him. Light pushed his hooves against the wooden surface, pushing back with all of his not so terrible strength.
The mysterious voice spoke once again, leaving a trail of blissful lights, flowing through the sky before disappearing into the dark. “The path is still blocked... The door is still sealed... You are not ready for it... It is still closed, like your mind”. Slightly shocked, Light quickly scanned the area, only to be greeted by the same shadows and shades, the eerie sound of silence only amplified the lonesome feeling that hung in the air.
The only sign of life that he could see was the fading yellow glow that hung in the otherwise black, empty sky. “What do you mean ‘my mind is closed?” he yelled to nowhere in particular, hoping to elicitate a response from the mysterious presence.
“So naive...” it said in its monotone voice. “You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding... The darkest days are still ahead... Your importance is beyond your comprehension...”
“I’m tired of your mind games!” he said in an aggravated tone. “Just tell me what I need to know, how do I open this thing!?” he yelled, bucking the door’s frame with his hind legs.
“So much to learn... The door will not open simply because you demand it... Simply because desire it to be so... Your rage blinds you of your path...” Nothing the voice said made sense to him, and frankly, it started to annoy him. He simply stared dully at the seemingly ancient door for a while before giving it another swift buck of his legs, growling in annoyance.
“An angry pony opens his mouth but shuts his eyes... He is a fool who acts without thinking...” Light wished that the voice would make sense for once as he looked at the obstruction before him, which seemed to be unharmed by his punishment. “Wise ponies wonder while strong ponies die...”
With those words the glass underneath Light’s hooves started to shake violently. Stumbling over his hooves, he watched as tiny cracks started to form in the floor. He ran towards the door as fast as he could, motivated by the fear of falling, but just before his hoof grasped the handle, the floor shattered into countless pieces.
He fell into the dark abyss lying beneath him. He tried to scream but there was no sound at all. Opening his eyes, he found himself on another platform. This one was marked with gloomier colors. Dark purple trees marked its edge, shadows crawled over the glass, in the middle of the floor he could see a rather large image of the zebra that he knew as Zecora.
The shadows, silently creeping across the glass, gathered in the middle of the floor. They spiraled around each other, becoming one. The amalgamation of shades rose from the floor, changing its shape into a rather familiar zebra. Soon Light stood face to face with what appeared to be his caretaker, cloaked in black, looking at him with expectant eyes.
“Mom!” he shouted as he ran towards her. But before he could reach her, shadows embraced his legs, freezing him in place. No matter how hard he tried to get closer to his beacon of safety, he just couldn’t get himself to move forward. “Wha-” he uttered as he looked at the cloak of shades that enveloped him up to his knees. “What’s going on here?”
Zecora simply stood there, looking into the distance,she seemed to be unaware of his presence. Suddenly, she turned her head, looking straight into his fearful eyes. “Why did you choose to help us so willingly?” she said. Something was off about her, she wasn’t speaking in rhymes as she normally did, and her voice sounded so.. empty, void of any emotion.
“What do you mean?” he asked, still frozen in place by the creeping darkness. He could hear the wind rustling past the leaves of the sinister trees that spotted the edge of the platform. “Who are you? What do you want from me?”
Zecora wore a displeased look on her face, one that soon turned into a sly smile as she stepped closer to the helpless stallion. “An answer for an answer.” a deviant smile grew across her face.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“That is not how it works.” she said bluntly.
Light wore a look on his face that one could only describe as ‘are you bucking kidding me?’ Still frozen in place with nowhere to go, he decided to just play along with her games. “So...” he said awkwardly. “Do you want to ask me a question?”
“A question already spoken.. Why did you choose to help us so willingly?” As the words left Zecora’s muzzle, the trees that spotted the place suddenly caught fire, large flames danced in the darkness, leaving a strong orange glow on the two. “Why did you give your old life up so easily? What about those that cared for you? What about the life you left behind?”
Doubt and distrust clouded his mind as he searched for the answer. “I came to help because they needed me, at least that’s what I thought. I couldn’t simply say no.” he said, trying to justify his means. “Now will you tell me how I get out of here already?”
“No” she said, Light’s eye twitching in response.
“Why the hay not!?” he said, his dialogue having adjusted to that of the people of Ponyville. “I gave you an answer!”
“An answer to the wrong question. Your lies will not serve you here. I watched with dismay as you grew into a weapon of deceit, lying to the ponies of Ponyville, those that welcomed you so warmly. Now, answer my question.”
Her words stung him deep, he was never one to lie so why did he lie now? Self preservation? A change to be what he always wanted to be? He snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed Zecora, still staring at him.
He sighed heavily. “Okay.. maybe.. maybe I didn’t want to be.. Anthony anymore. He had an empty life.. He was never important, He was never needed for something. This was.. a chance. A chance to be who I never could be... I just didn’t want to be alone anymore...” He was slightly baffled by his own words, but truer words were never spoken.
Zecora shot him an honest smile, the orange light emanating from the flames still marking their faces. “Very well, now I believe it is your turn to ask.”
“Very well.” he said with a new found feeling of confidence. There were so many questions that were still left unanswered, and he wasn’t sure if the mysterious zebra has any answers, but it was worth a try at least. “Why me?”
The moment he spoke those words a powerful gust of wind blew past their heads, extinguishing the burning trees, leaving them black and tarnished, their leaves turned to ashes. It was a question that still burned in the back of his head.
“Because a weak man knows the value of strength, knows the value of power.. Your failure will give you strength, your pain will be your motivation.” Before he could answer, he could hear the familiar cracks forming underneath his feet.
“Oh buck, not again..” he thought to himself as he fell through, leaving Zecora and the forest behind. The air around him started to shake as he continued to fall into the unknown.
“Patience.. there is still so much left to learn before you can face him.” The words still chimed in his ears as his world went black.
Light found himself lying on the floor once more, but as he opened his eyes, he realized that was surrounded by a complete and utter darkness, he could not the usual shadowy shapes in the distance, just blackness. Wondering where he was, the unicorn stumbled up on his hooves. The darkness was.. unnerving to say the least. Carefully, he took his first step forward.
Suddenly, he could feel the building shake as an unfamiliar voice filled the darkness “There is a little lamb lost in the dark woods..” the voice sounded dreadfully sinister to Light, it sounded like it was about to stab him in the back any moment now, echoing slightly. The mysterious, invisible entity was soon accompanied by the familiar voice from before. This one sounded more honest, more noble.
“To help with this fight... you must learn” it spoke in its gentle voice.
“Learn what exactly?” Light asked, peering into the darkness of the room.
“Learn to guide the way... Learn to light the path...”
“Huh?” he said as shook his head in confusion. He was unsure whether he should try and move forward, a fear of what might be hiding in the dark kept him at bay.
“Do not fear, for even in the pitchest of darkness... there is always a light that never dies... A fading shimmer of hope... Believe in yourself... you carry a light so strong...”
He watched with amazement as a tiny dim light appeared at the end of his horn, leaving its glow on his face. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He sensed a strong source of energy at the tip of his horn, flowing down into the rest of his body. The feeling of... power. Somehow, he knew that he could bend it, manipulate it. It came as natural as his first steps. He focused on the shining light, turning it brighter and brighter. He looked down, noticing that he sat upon a hardwood floor, books were scattered on the wood. He forced his eyes shut, trembling slightly as he tried to get all of the energy that was surging through his body to his horn. His eyes suddenly snapped open, shining with the brightest of lights. The light that was still emanating from his horn turned into a powerful, bright flash, enveloping the room in a blinding light. “Is this what unicorns feel like all the time?” he wondered, for a moment, it felt like he was free from reality’s limitations. A jolt of energy coursed through his body for a second, before fading away.
When the fog before his eyes was lifted, a bright light shone at the tip of his horn, revealing the dark corners that were once invisible to him. He appeared to be sitting in a darkened bedroom, books were scattered all over the floor. Looking up, he saw the night sky, filled with thousands of twinkling stars. “I feel like I’ve been here before..” he said to himself as he gathered his courage and started to make his way through the thick darkness, having only the dim light to guide him.
The wood underneath his hooves creaked in response to his every step, only amplifying the unnerving feeling that held his mind. The modest light that he had summoned could only reveal so much, he was still surrounded by darkness from every side. Ever so often, he would nearly collide with one of the many strange objects that stood in the halls of the place. Suddenly, he could see what appeared to be a rather old wooden staircase, leading down into the living room.
The stairs appeared to be even older than the wooden floor, screeching loudly whenever his hooves hit the steps. He sweared that he could hear soft, unrecognizable murmurs and whispers, coming from downstairs. This did not really increase his eagerness to move forward, but his fleeting courage kept him going.
He gulped as he saw the end of the stairs coming into sight. Ever so often, he could see something move in the corner of his eye, causing him to swiftly turn his head, only to be greeted by the same silent shadows. His heart skipped a beat every time he heard a soft, sneaking hoofstep.
“They are coming for you.”
Light’s eyes shot open wide at the sudden words. It was the same sinister voice that he had heard in the bedroom above. He stood frozen in place, too afraid to move an inch as he carefully scanned the room for a sign of life. All of the sudden, a door swung open at the other end of the room, creaking loudly as it did. Light trembled slightly as he kept staring at the darkened door frame, fearing that something would appear.
“It is standing right behind you... Do not move... Do not breathe...” Light gulped in response. He dared not move around, just in case the voice’s words were more than trickery and illusions. “Flee! Screaming into the blackness!” it yelled, causing light to shut his eyes in fear as he ran towards the newly opened door.
Running through the frame, the door slammed shut behind him with a loud thud. His utter fear had caused him to lose his focus, extinguishing the light that shimmered at the end of his horn. Once again, he was enveloped in total darkness, the sound of his heavy, frantic breathing filled his ears as he leaned up against the closed door.
His heart nearly stopped as he heard somepony sniveling softly in the darkness, quite far away. Once his fear had died down, he tried to funnel the energy inside of him towards his horn once more, resulting in a dim light, shining from it. He opened his eyes, only to find out that he was no longer standing in the old, broken library. He found himself in rather large, darkened hallway. The floors appeared to be made of sapphire, shimmering in the dim light that his horn was emitting. Long blue silken tapestries hung from the ceiling, a picture of a crescent moon was depicted upon them.
A quiet clopping sound echoed through the seemingly endless corridor every time his hooves tapped the pristine floor. The sound of the soft sniveling become louder and louder as he made his way through the mysterious building. The walls of the place were spotted with stone bookcases, filled with books, some appeared to be ancient. He noticed a sign, engraved in the wall. He moved closer, allowing the light that shone from his horn to reveal the words. It read: “Canterlot’s academy for gifted unicorns.”
Ever so often, he would see wooden doors at the side of the hallway, but his fear of what might be inside kept him from opening them. He just continued to move closer towards the nearly inaudible sound of crying. Until finally, he saw an opened door at the end of the hallway. He stared at it from a distance, but all he could see was utter darkness.
He slowly sneaked closer towards the opened door. Peering inside he saw several beds, standing against the wall of the place. The opposite wall appeared to be spotted with several small bookcases and desks. Light walked through the opened door-frame, the sound sniveling became more apparent, it sounded like a crying filly.. He could see something small, sitting in the middle of the room, but it was too dark to make out what it was.
“Enough of this darkness!” Light said as he focused his newfound feeling of power towards his horn, causing the light to turn brighter, revealing the darkened corners of the room that were once hidden to him, it was still dark, but just light enough to see the shapes of the room.. A mix of fear and sympathy overcame him as he saw a young, blue unicorn filly with a white mane, sitting in the center of the room, rocking back and forth as she wept. She appeared to be looking at a small picture, locked in her hoof.
Light was unsure of what to do, he simply stared at the weeping filly, who appeared to be unaware of his presence. After a while, Light decided to move closer. “Hey..” he whispered quietly. “Are you alright? What’s your name?” he said in the most comforting tone that he could muster. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks, staining her pristine azure coat.
She turned her gaze towards the picture frame that she held in her hooves, her tears dripping down onto the glass. “Why couldn’t I be like you?” she sobbed. “I just wanted to impress you... To make you see...”
“Hey..” Light said in a comforting tone. “Come on, don’t cry.. I can help you.”
The filly gasped loudly as she turned her gaze from the picture, looking straight at Light. “Wh- Who are you!?” she yelled. Light could clearly hear the fear in her voice, she wore a frightened look on her face. Her cutie mark appeared to be a white wand, standing in front of a crescent moon. Light started to move closer to her, he just wanted to comfort the young foal.
“Stay away from me!” the young unicorn yelled as her horn started to glow with a bright, azure aura. Suddenly, he felt a force, holding him tight around his waist as he started to sparkle all over. “Leave me alone!” she yelled as she pushed her horn forward, causing Light to be thrown back with great force. He flew through the air until his back met one of the large, stained glass windows that stood against the wall. The glass shattered as he flew through it, shards flying all around as his world went black.
When Light regained his consciousness, he found himself lying face-flat on the floor, his legs sprawled out wide. He opened his eyes to see a white hoof, standing just inches away from his face. Looking up, he saw a pony standing before him. The mysterious stranger was cloaked in a robe of pure white with golden stitchings, obscuring his face. Light quickly stumbled up on his hooves, rubbing his eyes as he did. The arcane pony slightly lifted his head, revealing only his pristine white muzzle, bearing a serious frown, they appeared to be standing on the same platform that Light had landed on when he first arrived in the land of the dreaming.
“Who are you?” Light asked, slightly baffled at the sight of a friendly figure in this ever-changing realm of insecurities and fear.
“You have done well... Better than I expected.” the pony said. His voice had a certain sense of.. nobility about it.
“You haven’t answered my question... who are you?” he asked stubbornly.
“This is just the beginning, however... There is still so much to learn..” he said, with a tone of distress in his voice. “He will come. He will try to break you, but you cannot fail as I did. He speaks such consoling words, but you must not believe them. All the beast can do is lie. There is no sharp distinction between the real and the unreal.”
“Who is he!? Why are you telling me all this?”
The cloaked pony lifted his left front hoof to reveal a bracelet encircling it. It appeared to be made of gold, white emeralds studded its edge. “Take this gift, mortal.” The bracelet started to shine with a blinding white light. Light swiftly put his hoof to his head as a searing pain appeared inside it. Hundreds of images flashed through his mind, tales of a time now forgotten enveloped his very being. When the pain subsided, Light opened his eyes only to find that the puzzling pony had vanished.
“Use it wisely..”
A sudden blinding light formed in his vision, surrounding him from all sides. He quickly closed his eyes in an attempt to shield himself them from the sudden blaze of light. He felt his body being lifted upwards as all he could see, all he could think, was the blinding light...
“Remember, Light... There is yet hope...”
A/N: Like to give credit to * Vozzlefox, my friend, editor and fellow brony (Writer of Lately and Co-Writer of Striped Scares) and to **ezio dementay , my friend and fellow brony (Co-Writer of Striped Scars)*
The Encounter of a Dragon
The Encounter of a Dragon
“Is he alright? Is he awake? Please be ok Light! Please wake up for my sake! ” All Light could see was a blur as familiar voices penetrated his mind. A bright flare burned in the corner of his eye. The sound of his own frantic quivering filled his ears, as his gaze flew across the room, focusing on nothing in particular. Looking up, he saw what appeared to be the night sky, filled with hundreds of stars. He felt his whole body shake uncontrollably. “What’s he doing? Something’s wrong! I don’t like where this is going! Light, stay strong! ” The voices sounded muffled, it sounded as if he was surrounded by water, bubbling in his ear.
“He’s reacting to outside stimuli! Showing an awareness of his surroundings! ” Suddenly, an unfamiliar face came into his view as he looked up into the sky, panting heavily, his heartbeat raising to insane levels. A purple mare stood above him, looking down at him with worry in her deep purple eyes.
“Beautiful... ” he whispered under his breath.
“I think he’s waking up, Twilight! ” his vision kept failing him, constantly fading to black.
“Dammit, he’s not ready yet! I have to get him to sleep! ” A sudden purple glow overwhelmed his senses, he could hear a faint sparkle in his ear. A familiar Zebra came into view. “Light, don’t try to move, just lie still. Try to stay calm. ” Was the last thing he heard before his world went to black, his senses turning silent.
Twilight sat at the side of her old wooden bed, looking down at the stallion that slept underneath her covers, his golden mane flowing over the pillow. She simply watched as his chest slowly rose and fell. “I’ve never seen anypony quite like you..” she whispered softly. Never before had she been faced with something that her books could not explain to her. She had no idea who this stallion was, but she would like to...
Light opened his eyes as slightly as possible, groaning in pain as the overwhelming chamber light punished them, his vision still as blurred as ever. Once the flash faded, he looked up at the same starry night sky. An unexpected sense of comfort washed over him as he started getting closer to the waking world, he appeared to be lying in a soft bed, purple woolen sheets covered him up to his shoulders. He felt like he could stay in that exact spot for eternity. Light lifted his head from the pillow’s soft embrace, groaning softly as the tension spread down into his limbs.
A sudden surge of pain appeared in his head, quickly he put his hoof to the spot in an attempt to suppress it. He felt exhausted, his entire body felt numb. A wave of apathy came over him as his eyes duly wandered across the room. Bookshelves appeared to be carved into the wooden walls of the places, each one filled with countless volumes of quaint and curious forgotten lore. Nearly everything in the room appeared to be made out of wood, with the exception of a number of curious, brightly-colored gems that were scattered across the room. Looking up, he noticed that the ceiling had been painted in the color of the night sky, hundreds of stars were depicted upon its surface. A golden chandelier hung from the ceiling, burning with dim, purple lights.
“You’re awake!” his ears perked up at the sudden sound. As fatigue lost its grasp over his mind and his senses returned to normal, he noticed that he was not alone. At his bedside, stood a lavender unicorn, looking at him as he were some sort of foreign object. He asked the only thing that was on his mind at that very moment.
“Wh-Where am I..” he whispered as he sat upright in the wooden bed, his hooves pressed into the mattress below him as a means of support.
The mysterious mare shot him a confused look, tilting her head. “You mean.. you don’t remember?” she said, drawing closer to the exhausted unicorn. “How can you not remember something like that!?” she sounded quite distraught.
He groaned loudly as the pain in his head threatened to make a return. “Remember what? All I remember was.. being at the party, and this.. bright flash. And these.. weird dreams?” he was still recovering from his enduring slumber. “How long was I out, anyway?” he asked curiously, turning his head, forcing her to look straight into his bright azure eyes. The same, unexplainable feeling rushed through her once again, causing her to swiftly avert her eyes, staring down into floorboards of her room.
“You fainted. You radiated some sort of.. power, it was nothing like I’ve ever seen before!” she tried to explain the situation to him. “You went completely out, your heart even stopped for a while. It’s a wonder that you’re still alive!” she exclaimed. “You’ve been in a state of sleep for at least a week, Ze-”
“A what!?” he interrupted her, his eyes growing wide at the sudden realization. “Wait.. I remember something. The first time I woke up.. Mom!” he exclaimed, keeping Twilight’s presence in mind. “Where is she!?”
“Wow, hold your horses!” she exclaimed, giggling slightly at her own hilarious and witty pun. “She’s downstairs, she’ll be glad to see you’re doing okay.” she said as she gave him a sincere smile. Without warning, Light charged out of his lying position, leaving a torrent of sheets and pillows on in his wake. Light was so taken with his thoughts that he didn’t notice the floor under his feet giving in for stairs. “Woah!” he exclaimed as he flew through air. Suddenly, a purple aura appeared around him, freezing him in mid-air. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh as she gently put him back down on the ground. She joined his side and the two of them made their way down the spiraling staircase.
The two of them entered the library’s kitchen. It appeared to be rather small for a house this size. As in the rest of the house, the largest part of the room was made out of wood. He wondered how anypony could think that a wooden stove was a good idea, but shrugged it off as something insignificant. In the middle of the room stood a large, pristine dinner table. At the edge sat Zecora, shrouded in a warm blanket, looking down into the warm brew that sat in her hooves. Her bloodshot eyes appeared to be encircled with a deep shade of red, from her tears and a shameless lack of sleep. “Zecora?” Twilight said softly, the zebra duly shifting her eyes towards the two in response. The moment she saw Light, she charged towards him, leaving a trail of tears through the air. Once she reached him, she wrapped her forelegs around his neck, grasping him as tightly as possible as her face was buried deep into his shoulder. His eyes started to tear up, causing him to force them shut, a single tear running down his cheek. When Zecora finally lifted her head, her eyes were even redder than before thanks to the tears that were shed. She then quickly wiped the tears away, feeling a bit of embarrassment for breaking down like this in front of the town’s librarian. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at the sudden display of affection.
“Mom, it’s ok. I’m fine” he assured Zecora, gently nuzzling the side of her face in an attempt to comfort her. This seemed to work, as he could feel the weeping Zebra’s heavy shaking die down. She then held onto him again and nuzzled him back. She closed her eyes as she was lost in bliss, knowing that her son was finally awake. This went on for a good few moments, before she let go of him. Once she regained herself, she cleared the tears from her face, though her eyes remained teared.
“Forgive me for being so weak, but it was so hard seeing you so meek” she said as she placed a weary smile on her face. The poor mare looked as if she had been crying for days. She took notice of Twilight standing at the door, wearing a comforting smile on her face as she thought back at the nights that Zecora had spent in the library, simply waiting for any sign of hope.
“I should give you two some time alone, you two can stay for the night.” she said in the kindest voice she could muster before leaving the room to get herself ready for bed, happy that the whole ordeal was over with. The exhausted unicorn dragged himself towards the couch, lowering himself to his stomach, taking his place next to Zecora with his head resting on the soft comfort of the pillows below him. His eyes shifted towards the cup that stood on the coffee table. He admired the swirling brown liquid that laid inside, staring at it with wanting eyes.
He focused his new-found power on the cup, lifting it into air as a shining white aura enveloped it. The marble chalice slowly made its way towards his waiting muzzle. As took a modest sip of its content, a wave of disgust came over him as he noticed that the coffee had become cold, making it difficult for him to enjoy the glorious liquids. Zecora shot him a look of pure amazement. “When did you learn how to do magic my boy, it almost looked like you were merely playing with a toy?!” she exclaimed in a surprised tone, In all the time that they had spent together, Zecora had never seen him perform magic.
“Well...” Light said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. “Don’t tell anypony this ok?” he asked Zecora, who simply nodded in approval. “Like.. when I was out, I had this weird dream..” he looked over to Zecora, who appeared to be listening intently. “I found myself in complete darkness, and I couldn’t find the path. This.. voice told me how to find my way out with magic!” he exclaimed, knowing far too well how absurd he was sounding. “I’m not sure if anything of that makes sense or not..” he smiled meekly.
“I honestly do not know what this will spell, but I suppose only time will tell” she replied, looking for a way to ease the unicorn’s mind. “Not everything is always as it seems, do not be fooled by the realm of dreams.” she smiled to him.
Light looked down into the swirling black brew below him as a frown formed on his face, there were so many questions left unanswered. It was all so.. vague, so enchanting. But then again, weren’t dreams always like that? No, this was different, this was stronger, it felt so.. real to him. He decided that it would be best to just dismiss it, both for the sake of his, and Zecora’s sanity.
It took awhile before the reality of the situation came to him. "I can do magic.." he stared fearfully at his own hooves. "I can do magic!" he exclaimed, turning his gaze towards the sickly cup of cold coffee. "I'll combust ye!" he exclaimed, pointing his horn towards the chalice in an attempt to heat its content, but instead the stone shattered, causing the glorious, delicious liquids to pour over the floor, eliciting a deep frown form Light and a hearty chuckle from Zecora.
“Say mom, what’s the time? I’m feeling rather tired..” he said, feeling quite unbalanced due to this disruption of his sacred sleeping pattern.
“We may indeed go to bed, my body feels like it’s at its end” she replied with a weak smile, her gaze slightly dropping towards the floor as she felt the merciless grasp of fatigue invading her senses. They were about to exit the room, when suddenly a slight growl escaped from Light’s stomach. Light rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
He chuckled softly “I think I could do for a quick snack before bed” he said smilingly. He quickly grabbed the nearest meal he could find. He saw Zecora stumbling on her hooves, her drowsy head lowered towards the floor. She appeared to be having trouble keeping her eyes open. “Let’s go to bed.” he smiled softly, nuzzling the side of her head as a sign of gratitude for all the trouble that the poor zebra had gone through for the last few days.
Meanwhile, Twilight was lying in her bed, cloaked in her brown, satin sheets. She was doing the same thing that she would do every night when boredom took over: contemplate. She pondered about everything that had happened lately. This stallion just barged into her life and took control of it. Ever since that night at the party, she simply couldn’t keep her mind from wandering towards this mysterious stranger. Who was he? What caused him to black out for so long? And most importantly, why did she feel so flustered whenever he spoke to her. Something was hidden behind those deep, azure eyes, but she simply couldn’t figure out what. She turned her attention to the young dragon, sleeping in the tiny basket beside her. Spike’s frantic movement had caused his blanket to fall to the ground. She smiled as she used her magic to pull the sheets over his slumbering form. He immediately accepted the sudden warmth, latching onto the covers with his claws. She moved her muzzle to his forehead, placing a soft, motherly kiss upon it. She turned in her bed, pulling the sheets over her shoulders as she closed her eyes, allowing the allure of sleep to take over. She slowly drifted off into rest, hoping that the morning would at least give her some answers.
Light awoke the next morning with sunbeams shining on his sleeping face. He groaned for a second before lifting himself up from the makeshift bed that laid on the floor, stretching his body to ready himself for the day. He saw his mother lying soundly asleep in the comforts of the bed that he had laid in for an entire week. He smiled at her peaceful face, wearing a slight smile with eyes closed. He silently sneaked towards the door, not wanting to awaken the slumbering zebra. He succeeded in leaving the room stealthy enough to not disturb Zecora. His nose suddenly caught a sweet scent, his ears perking up instantly. He made his way down the stairs sniffing his way towards the direction of the scent. He reached the kitchen, which was damp with steam, enveloped in a delicious smell.
He gasped loudly as he saw something truly unfamiliar. Something that appeared to be a... lizard, with pink scales and green spikes running down his spine stood behind the stove. The lizard in question was humming a cheerful tune as it looked to be busy preparing breakfast. It turned around, revealing a very drowsy looking unicorn. One look of the sudden invader was enough to cause both of them to dart into the air, eyes growing wide in fear.
“Woah! Who are you and what you doing in here?!” the beast growled at Light, who still hadn’t fully woken up. Pointing a spatula towards him as if it were a proper weapon. Our favorite unicorn was a bit startled by sudden threat, backing away with no idea of what to do in this situation. “Well!?” it asked him in a threatening tone, it’s eyes burning with rage. Without further warning, the beast launched itself towards Light. “Feel the wrath of Equestrian steel, fool!” it exclaimed as it smote Light with its cooking appliance.
He screamed in utter terror of the tiny pink reptile, jumping away from the threat. “Look!” he exclaimed in an attempt to calm his assailant. “I’ve been here for a whole week, asleep, but present nonetheless!” he uttered as fast as he could, clenching his eyes shut in fear.
All of the sudden, Light heard a muffled burst of laughter. He opened his eyes in confusion only to see the lizard in a fit of laughter. Light was confused by the creature’s sudden change of personality and looked down upon it with a questioning look. “That was so awesome! Haha” the lizard finally spoke after a few good minutes of laughing itself into submission. “You should have seen the look on your face!” it said as it was looking at Light with glee and pointing a finger at him, still laughing lightly.
Light couldn’t help but let out an honest laugh at the dragon’s words. He reached his hoof out towards him. “My name is Light by the way. Light Seeker” he introduced himself to the little troublemaker.
“My name’s Spike, nice to meet you, Light!” he reached out to the hoof Light was sticking out to him and shook it vigorously. “I was just making some breakfast, scrambled eggs and hay, you want some?” he asked Light after letting go of his hoof. Almost on cue, Light’s stomach cried out in hunger which embarrassed Light even further. “I’ll take that as a yes" Spike chuckled, motioning Light to the breakfast.
The rest of the morning was spent eating breakfast, Light was quite impressed by the young dragon’s cooking skills. Once they were finished, the two of them started with Spike’s daily chores, namely, the dishes. Light took it upon himself to do most of the work, seeing as his new companion has gone through the trouble of making him breakfast after all. Spike was rather surprised by the unicorn’s sudden compliance. He wasn’t used to getting so much help from anypony. Suddenly, a small fiery bird flew into the room and landed on the table.
“Hey there you are Peewee!” Spike exclaimed in joy as he reached for the table and held the little bird in his claws. He brought it up to his face and gently rubbed the top of its head with his talon, who in return rubbed Spike’s chin lovingly with its head.
Light couldn’t help but smile at the touching display. “That’s your pet?” he asked Spike, moving in closer to get a good look at the thing. The bird’s yellow and light-red feathers were sizzling slightly, as if they were ablaze, and Its eyes were colored in a gleaming gold. “What exactly is it?” he asked, never having seen such a creature before. Suddenly, it decided to fly out of the dragons hand, taking its place atop Light’s head.
“That’s Peewee, my pet phoenix” Spike said, pointing to Light’s head where the phoenix was now resting. Spike was slightly appalled by Peewee’s swift acceptance of the unicorn. He had never told him, but Peewee would often burn a pony's mane or peck on their heads in a furious flurry of torment if they tried to touch him. Even Twilight had trouble with Peewee, she had always wanted to study a phoenix up close, but she dismissed her attempts after getting burned five times by the little fire maker.
He then kneeled carefully down to Spike’s level, allowing him to carefully take the now-sleeping phoenix with both his claws. He moved towards the windows, where a tiny bed and perch were located. He placed Peewee down gently into the bed and walked back to Light. The unicorn shot him an awkward glance. “Say Spike, what exactly are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Spike looked up at Light, and shot him a confusing stare. "How do you mean what am I!? I'm obviously a fierce, terrifying dragon!" Spike exclaimed, raising himself in an attempt to make his image intimidating. Light couldn't help but laugh at the foalish display.
"You're.. a dragon?" he chuckled, obviously not taking the young dragon seriously. "Aren't dragons supposed to be.. Scary.. And big?" he said looking down at his tiny, purple comrade. "You're actually kinda cute!" he said, laughing loudly all the while.
Spike's welcoming expression turned to one pure irritation. "I'm not cute! I am a fire-breathing, village-plundering, earth-shattering dragon!" he exclaimed in one breath, slamming his claw on the table for added effect.
"I'm sure you are." Light chuckled, receiving an irritated groan from Spike.
“So what you doing today? Cause for the last week you were here, you’ve done nothing but sleep. I wish i could do that!" he said, raising his claws above his head. "With all my work at the library, I don't get a day off, let alone a week!"
Light blinked dully for a few seconds before answering. “Well... to be honest, I don’t know what to do” he said, rubbing his hoof behind his head and looking away from Spike’s gaze. “I haven’t seen much of Ponyville, so I don’t exactly know what there to do here” he said to the dragon modestly, giving off a weak smile as he had missed out on so much during the last week. “What are you doing today, anyway?” he asked Spike, seeing if he could spend more time with his new friend, perhaps.
It was Spike’s turn to be surprised. Nopony had ever bothered asking him what he was going to do on any day. “Well...” Spike started to speak after gulping a lump down his throat. “I have some free time... but I don’t have anypony to hang out with, today.” he said to Light “... or any day...” he whispered to himself not wanting Light to hear. Spike braced himself for the usual incoming rejection.
Light however was glad to hear this, seeing a chance to get to know his new friend better and to learn more of the peculiar town of Ponyville. "Spike?" he asked, the dragon's eyes shining with anticipation like rare gems. "Could you like.. show me around Ponyville today? I'm going to have to get to know this place eventually if I'm going to be staying here." He had never seen anypony smile as widely as Spike did at that very moment. "Just, let me write this note to my mom first."
Spike was lost in joy at that moment. He hardly had any time to enjoy with a friend, let alone himself. “Awesome!” Spike jumped with his eyes beaming in joy. He grabbed his trusty leather pouch in which he stored his bits and jumped onto the unexpecting Stallion's back, grasping his mane in his claws. "Hi-Ho, Light, Allons-Y!" he exclaimed, causing the stallion to stagger unto his back legs before charging out of the room with a laughing dragon on his back.
The two of them charged across the many paths of Ponyville. Light felt the sun's rays shine down on him. He was genuinely excited to learn more about the town of Ponyville and its residents, but the best thing about the whole thing was the premise of friendship.
Zecora finally awoke from her deep slumber to the chirping of birds in the morning air. She rubbed her eyes to rid herself of the sleep that remained. She then saw that Light’s bed was empty, yet the sheets and covers were stacked neatly on top of the bed “Light?” she called out to him as she finally stood up from the comforts of the bed she was sleeping in. She saw a note on the door. A modest smile appeared on her muzzle as she read its words
Morning mom,
I’m just writing this to let you know that I’m going to be away for the day, just seeing Ponyville with my new friend, Spike. Don’t worry about me, we’ll be back later on today
Love you ,
Light.
The Return of the Mystique
Fatigue was the primary feeling coursing through her body, along with dehydration and hunger. She focused on her flask and tilted it to release water to her muzzle, cracked and bloody. No water was present to quench her thirst. A sigh was all she could utter, even her tear ducts were depleted to show her agony. As she walked over the hill, she beheld a sight that made her think she was in the afterlife. Filled with apple trees that bared the delicious fruit, she wanted to just consume one to satisfy her hunger. Hundreds of apple trees were lined up as in rows from beyond the horizon, each looking a healthy as the other. From a far was a barn and farmhouse that wore a proud apple insignia. Thinking one apple would make her hunger go away temporarily, she thought it best to just take one and leave as fast as possible.
Yet her body would not comply, due to overworking itself to the point of exhaustion. She turned her head to see a vibrant town and she once again sighed, this time in remorse. She looked to herself, seeing how she was back then and how she is now. She was covered in dirt and robe smeared with mud. The only thing of value on her was a necklace she refused to part with. Inside was her promise, her hope and she would do anything to fulfill it.
“I guess this is the end of the line ,”
Her eyelids began to close automatically, and her body submitted to the fatigue. She fell down and began to tumble and roll from the hill. Her body’s movement was stopped by hitting a tree, the full weight of it had the same impact as a powerful buck. Her sound and touch were the only senses still operating, if only for a moment. She heard the chirping of birds, the sound of the wind clashing with the leaves and the voice of a mare rushing to her side.
“Woah Nelly! Ya alright there?!”
A distant voice called to her. The chattering of her own mind and the horrid weather raging in her ears made it difficult for her to understand what the voice was saying, it immediately shook her from her silent contemplation; she had not expected to find anypony else out here. She couldn’t breath, she couldn’t think; her body started to long for oblivion as she laid in the grass. A jolt of pain shot through her as she felt something prodding her side. Through sheer determination and willpower she was able to open her eyes ever so slightly. The last thing that she saw was somepony looking down at her. She focused on the ponies eyes and saw something that she hadn't seen in a long, long time; compassion.
Words lingered on her tongue; words left unspoken, the very words that she came here for. She refused to give up before she had said them. She had never been the kind of pony that gave up that easily. She lifted her head to stare up at the mare that stood above her. It was now that she got a better look at the her. The pony’s orange coat appeared to be matted with sweat, her mane hung sluggishly over her head with a knot tied in it at the end. The words came to her again. They were words that she had never been able to say with ease. She doubted if she had ever said them at all. “I-I’m sorry...” She managed to release one last dusty, broken breath before her head sank down into the wet grass below and her world went black.
“This a very good muffin,”
“Never underestimate the wise words of a dragon, Light”
“The wise words of a baby dragon Spike,”
The two friends laughter could be heard from afar as they left Sugarcube Corner, having bought some treats for the day ahead. Spike was reclining on Light’s back, his arms crossed behind his head as he rested on Light’s back. The unicorn looked around him. The town appeared to be just as vibrant as he saw it a week ago with his mother at his side.
"I really like it here, it’s so... refreshing. Wonder where we should go next?"
“Hey Spike,” he turned his head around to meet the dragon’s gaze. “Where should we head to next?”
“Well,” Spike began to rub his chin in thought. “We could go to the boutique, but I hear Rarity’s awfully busy right now with an order,”
“Who’s she again?” Light asked innocently, not remembering every new pony he had met a week ago.
“She’s one of Twilight’s friends, she’s very pretty too,” Spike replied blushing in the progress.
“That doesn’t answer my question. What does she look like?”
“What she looks like!?” Spike sounded as if he couldn’t believe that he had to ask. A little smile appeared on his face as he continued. “She.. She’s got the most beautiful mane and- and when she looks at you! When she looks at you you just lose track of everything else.” he sighed. Spike looked over at his friend who seemed to be wearing a devilish grin on his face.
“Oh that one...” Light said, thinking of the other friends of Twilight. “Doesn’t she have a little sister called Sweetie Belle?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?” he asked tentatively
“She’s pretty hard to forget.” he chuckled. “She and her two other friends came to visit when I was living at my mom’s a few months ago...” he replied, gulping at the memory of when he lost his temper with those little ‘angels’.
“Yeah those three are really something,”
Spike snickered for a moment, “Let me guess, they caused some trouble for you, right?”
“That obvious?”
“You’re too easy to read,”
"I Hope that’s not true for my sake and my mother’s"
Light frowned slightly, but he immediately displayed a grin when another thought came to mind. “I bet they have caused you some troubles too hey?”
“Yeah...” Spike answered, slumping back into his reclining position.
Light laughed lightly, “Wonder if one of them will cause something right now?”
“Unlikely, they’re still in school right now,” Spike stated to Light, who nodded his head. “Though I wouldn’t be surprised if one of their sisters came running this way right now.”
“Though not Scootaloo,” Light said under his breath, thinking for a moment on what Scootaloo’s family is like. “What’s Applebloom’s sister’s name again?”
“Apple-”
Suddenly a force collided into Light making him fall backwards onto his back. Light groaned and lifted his head from the ground, shaking it to rid himself of the dizziness that was inflicted upon him. He heard a muffled sound coming from behind and saw Spike’s body lodged into the ground, with only his legs and tail sticking out.
“Hold on Spike,”
Light used his magic to engulf Spike in a white aura, pulling him from the ground. When his head came out, a sharp gasp left the dragon’s mouth and he began to cough out any dirt remaining. Light placed him onto the ground and turned his attention to the source that made contact with him.
“Applejack?”
Upon hearing her name, Applejack groaned slightly before lifting herself up from the ground and shaking off any remaining dirt off of her. She picked her hat up with her teeth and dusted it off before putting it back on her head and repositioning it. She blinked her eyes profoundly and saw a stallion before her, standing alongside a baby dragon.
“Ah’m sorry Spike, and to you too sugarcube-” Applejack froze in place and saw the same stallion that caused a freaky light show at Pinkie’s party before passing out. “It’s you!”
Light was puzzled by her sudden ‘claim’, “Excuse me?”
“Yer that stallion who Pinkie threw a party for and then did some weird hocus pocus before goin’ down. Ya’ll gave Zecora such a fright Ah’ve never seen the poor zebra so scared and in tears before,” Applejack told Light, who looked away from the mare’s gaze. Applejack placed a hoof on her chin and examined Light, “Ya’ll seem just fine now,”
“Yeah, a week long nap will do that to you,” Light answered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and Spike snickering at his side. Before Applejack could respond, a groan come from behind her and Applejack’s pupils shrank.
Her eyes shot wide open as if she had just realized that she had forgotten something. “Woah nelly! Ah Need to help this one real quick!”
As Applejack turned her back, Light and Spike took a glimpse at whatever was behind her. They both gasped loudly at the sight before them. A sky blue colored unicorn mare laid on the ground, she appeared to be beaten and broken. Her long white main sprawled across the ground. The grass rustled softly against her lifeless body. Light couldn’t escape the creeping feeling that he had seen her somewhere before... but where?
Spike grimaced at the sight before him, “Geez... what happened to her?” he asked Applejack who approached the unconscious mare. “Is she gonna be ok?”
“Ah dunno Spike, just hope to Sam Hill that it’s not too late to help her out,” Applejack said as she bowed her head and shook it, causing her rugged blond mane to sway slightly. She wore that same voice that she always spoke with when she didn’t want anypony to get worried.
She gasped as Light ran past her and grasped the helpless mare’s mane with his muzzle as he pulled her onto his back. He instantly seemed to struggle beneath her weight. A look of determination crossed his face.
“Lead the way to the hospital.” he said with nothing but determination in his piercing gaze.
Applejack just stared dully into the distance for a moment before shaking her head and running after him. Light looked at the mare he was carrying, with a myriad of thoughts crossing his mind. Though the most prominent thought stuck to the back of his mind, and he made a mental note to ask her if he ever got the chance
Who is she?
Blissful comfort became a myth to the mare who had not expected to ever open her eyes again. A bright light filled the entirety of her vision as a light zooming noise forced itself into her ears. The blissful feeling was soon torn from her as excruciating pain rippled across her body, she tried her best as to not make a sound. She felt the comforting warmth of a bed beneath her and the zooming noise was swiftly replaced by the beeping of monitors and machinery. Soon enough she gave up on fighting the pain.
Her bed seemed to be the only one in the room, large and comfortable. The entire room had a certain sense of tranquility about it. She followed her muzzle towards a steaming plate of hay that rested on her bedside, she could nearly feel the warmth as she looked at it. He instincts kicked in and she quickly consumed it, proper etiquette was the least of her worries now. Though it didn’t have much to offer her much in taste, it did fill her up more than anything did in the last week. As her mind settled in she realized how utterly weak she was, it felt as if she could barely lift a hoof. Despite the grimness of her life and her current situation, she still couldn’t help but smile softly as the warmth enveloped her. She soon noticed a tear trailing down her stained cheek. She shook her head in dislike. “Trixie does not cry. ” she assured herself. But if that was true... then why was she?
As though to answer her questions, she heard hoof steps trampling on the other side of the door. She hastily wiped the tears from her eyes and placed the bowl back on the table. The door creaked open and a white mare with a nurse cap and a red cross cutie mark covered with four hearts came rushing in. She appeared to be shocked to see that the unicorn was awake. The nurse immediately put her hoof to her patients head and gasped. “You’re burning up!” she exclaimed. Trixie merely stared at her with an questioning look on her face.
The unicorn opened her muzzle in an attempt to speak but all that she could manage to utter was a broken squeal. She whimpered as she coughed, it was then that the sporadic nurse noticed that she was in pain. “Nurse?” the mare began to speak in a broken voice, “Where am I?”
“Oh you're at the Ponyville Clinic dear and lucky too,” the nurse answered as she reached out a spoon and filled it with medicine from the tray. When she filled the spoon to the brink, she carefully moved it to the mare’s muzzle, “Open wide,”
She hesitantly complied and accepted the medicine, as a sour taste flooded her mouth and her throat. The nurse gave her a glass of water, which she gladly accepted but the sour aftertaste lingered. “The nastier the medicine is, the better the results,” the nurse told her with a wink and smile. “Just take this twice a day, drink lots of fluids and three whole meals a day... you’ll be good as new. Oh and by the way, my name is Nurse Redheart. What is your name dear?”
“My-my name is-”
The old wooden door slammed upon causing it to nearly break from it’s hinges. “Oh looky here! The Great and Powerful Trixie back for more! Couldn’t leave Ponyville alone could you?!” A cyan mare with a rainbow coloured mane hovered above the wounded unicorn with her hooves across her chest and glaring at the injured mare in bed. The mare’s eyes shrank in fear. As if on instinct she tried to bite back but she couldn't get a single word out of her muzzle, she didn't know whether this was due to her injuries or because of the fact that she knew that she deserved every little bit of venom in the pegasus´ words.
“What? You too full of yourself to make a comeback?”
“T-”
“Need an audience to say proper words?”
“Trixie-”
“Bet you faking those injuries huh?”
“Trixie is sor-”
“Oh you’ll be sore alright! Once I’m done with you, you won’t be able to show your tail in any-”
Rainbow soon found herself immobile as a white glow enveloped her. Just as she was about to complain, she was dragged to the ground and placed firmly where two figures overshadowed her. Nurse Redheart and Light glared daggers at her.
“What?” Rainbow asked naively at the two ponies before.
“Rainbow Dash! That is no way to handle anypony who is injured!” Redheart scolded her.
“What?!” Rainbow shouted out, clearly clueless as to why any of this was her fault. “Don’t you know who she is?! She’s-”
“Why does it matter?,” Light interrupted her, with his eyes still locked on Dash. “She’s hurt.” Light said sternly. “Would you stoop so low as the hurt a helpless pony?” he asked as he stared her down. The staredown between the two seemed to last forever until Rainbow sighed heavily.
“I guess.” she said stubbornly as she flew out the window.
Light just sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes in the process. “Is she always like that?” he asked Redheart, as he opened his eyes and looked to the nurse who was tending to the shocked mare.
Redheart smiled. “She can’t help it, it’s her stubborn pride,” Redheart replied, putting ice to the mare’s head. “I’ll come by later to change your bandages ok?” the mare did not answer. She seemed to be lost in thought. Redheart dismissed it and trotted out the door. Just as she left, Applejack and Spike entered the room and beheld the mare with pity and worry in their eyes.
“Ya alright there?” Applejack asked her as she approached the bed, “Ya look like ya went through Heck and back.”
“Trixie is always ‘alright’” The mare laughed weakly at this, but coughed violently as her throat was still parched from thirst. Applejack handed her a glass which she emptied in less then a second. Applejack noticed that the broken mare was avoiding eye-contact at all costs, she simply stared forward, looking through her sheets.
Applejack couldn’t help but feel concerned for her, “Something wrong?”
“Trixie is..,” she exclaimed. “Well...” she said softly.
Applejack simply stared and cleared her throat, “Ain’t no use in lying ta me,”
The mare turned her head to meet Applejack’s and was faced with eyes that she swore could gaze right into her. She gulped and grimaced at the stare, looking from left to right to divert the stare. But it was no use, something inclined her to speak the truth. Something that made her apologies to the cow mare earlier. Something deep inside her heart. “It’s just... Trixie thought you might be angry towards... Trixie.”
“Beg ya pardon?!” interrupted her and look shocked at what she was saying, “Now why in tarnation would Ah be mean to a pony who’s in a hospital?!”
Light stepped forward until he was at Applejack’s side, “Well you see, our rainbow maned friend wanted to give her a thorough beating for whatever reason,”
Applejack’s jawed dropped and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull, “She did?!” she asked the others in the room, with Nurse Redheart nodding solemnly and the mare nodding slightly before looking away again. “Yer name Light right?” she asked Light, who nodded his head to confirm her question. “Ok, I trust ya know what to do from here... if ya’ll excuse me,” she said, shifting her stetson right before heading to the door.
“Where you going Applejack?” Spike asked her when she passed him.
She turned to Spike, wearing only a frown on her freckled face, “Ah’m just going kick that filly’s flank!” she said to the baby dragon, leaving the hospital room and closing the door with a snap behind her.
Spike shivered slightly at the thought of Applejack and Rainbow Dash having an argument, thinking back to the Running of the Leaves and other occasions. Spike turned around and jumped onto Light’s back landing with a thud. Spike sensed the tension in the room and thought of ways to bring it down, “Well looks like you won’t have to worry about a grudge match any time soon,” Spike said in a joking tone, though the reception he was getting was not what he expected. The sound of a pin falling and landing on the floor could be heard. “What?”
“Timing Spike. Timing is key.” Light whispered to his ear, with Spike letting out an ‘oh’ before Light cleared his throat. “So...” he said awkwardly. “you're Trixie?” he asked the mare, hoping that she would shed some light on the situation.
The mare sat up right with her back against the bed railing, and Nurse Redheart placing a pillow behind her back to ease her. The mare beamed at the stallion before ridding herself of his gaze. She raised her chin and closed her eyes, “The Great and Powerful Trixie is Trixie’s name.”
Light blinked twice and his head turned sideways, looking at the mare in confusion. “What?” Light raised his eyebrow, “Did you just refer to yourself in the third pony?”
She nodded her head with her eyes still closed, “Trixie did- hey!” she suddenly heard Spike snicker and saw Light looking at her in confusion. “Why look at Trixie like that? Do you dare doubt Trixie?” The unicorn was clearly infuriated, her cheeks puffed in anger as she narrowed her eyes. Her angry stare soon turned into flinches as pain shot through her weakened body.
Light couldn’t help but feel compassion for her. “What happened to you? Why are you like this?”
Trixie looked down on her bandages and her brittle ribs, “Trixie...” she said as she looked away from Light’s gaze. “Let’s just say-” The last thing that she wanted to do was tell the truth. a sudden growl escaped from her stomach, startling her and causing her to blush out of embarrassment for the moment. “Trixie hungers.”
“I think you need to recover first before you answer anymore questions,” Light said, before turning to Nurse Redheart. “I’ll be staying at the library if something happens Nurse Redheart,” he told her as she nodded her head and bid them goodbye.
“Wait!”
Light turned to Trixie as she called out for him, “What do you hope to gain from helping Trixie?” she asked him as she was growing curious and suspicious at his behaviour.
“Nothing.” he answered her flatly as he walked out the door, leaving Trixie with her thoughts.
“So he is adopted?”
“That is correct Twilight, but he still my son, Light”
“Oh no! I didn’t mean to-” Twilight Sparkle was now flaying her front hooves in panic, nearly knocking over her tea which she had been served. Zecora chuckled softly and raised one hoof to sooth the unicorn. Twilight swiftly took another sip of the specially made Zebafrican tea. “This is delicious, Zecora.” Twilight commented, hoping to change the topic before further embarrassing herself.
Zecora savoured the taste of her brew for a few moments, “An old recipe.” she smiled. “Passed down in my family tree, my son has also learned this from me,”
Twilight’s curiosity flared up as she heard the last words being heard, “Are you saying he can also brew special potions? What is his special talent? Is he-”
“Calm your mind, I shall serve all that you may wish to find. He is indeed skilled in some potion mastery, yet his true skill lies in carpentry,” Zecora told Twilight as she was sipping on her tea. Zecora looked up to see Twilight’s eyes glittering with curiosity and smiled at this. “I see your curiosity shines with a mighty glow, and knowledge of him is what you wish to know,”
Twilight looked down on her teacup, trying to pick her next words carefully. “Well... he is certainly interesting, that magic he did a week ago, how we felt when he did it, how I felt when I he did that magic, how I feel everytime I look at hi- I mean how I-” Twilight felt her cheeks burn up in embarrassment as Zecora let out a chuckle at her antics.
“You’re interest in him shows not only within your study, but also in something you are new to entirely,” Zecora rhymed to her as she finished her tea and giggled at Twilight’s burning face.
“I have no idea what you are talking about Zecora,”
“The Element of Honesty I may not be, but please do not lie to me,”
“I mean, you see-”
Before Twilight could finish her excuse, the front door opened and Light and Spike walked into the library. Twilight stood up from the table and made her way to Spike, “Welcome home Spike,” she said in a motherly tone,nuzzling him.
“Hey Twilight,” Spike replied to Twilight as he hugged her in return. “Oh hey Zecora, how you doing?” he asked her after letting go of Twilight and walking past her.
Twilight was left alone with Light, “Hi there,” he said to her as he waved a hoof to greet her. Twilight was staring at him, looking into his azure eyes and becoming slightly nervous at his presence. There was only one word she could describe him, even in that moment... captivating.
"Twilight Sparkle! Stop looking like a foal and say something to him! "
“Um... good evening,” she said with a sheepish smile and looked away, with her cheeks burning slightly.
"Oh great! Now I’ve made a foal of myself again! Why does none of my books explain this to me?! "
Light’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked at her in confusion. “Are you alright?” he asked her, hoping she wasn’t getting sick or worse... getting scared of him.
“I’m fine! Really!” she replied with a sheepish grin and started laughing nervously, with a streak of sweat forming from her head. She looked around the room with her eyes darting everywhere, hoping for a sign of escape from this embarrassing moment. Her gaze fell on Spike, who was scratching his head and looking at Twilight as if she was having another panic attack. “Spike! Will you get supper ready for us please,”
Spike blinked and simply smiled with a sigh. “Ok, but Twilight... why are you sweating?” he asked her.
“It-It’s a bit humid here, that’s it!” Twilight told him, though he was rolling his eyes at her weak excuse. Spike walked to the kitchen mumbling ‘whatever’ under his breath and began making supper for four.
Zecora watched this whole scene from a distance, smiling and shaking her head at the skit. She approached Light and greeted him with a hug, with him doing the same.
“How was your day, my son? I hope you had lots of fun.” she asked him, noticing he had some dirt on his white coat.
“Interesting to say the least,” Light started as he recalled what happened to him and Spike. “Met an interesting pony today. Though I wish it was under other circumstances that we had met.” he noted with a frown forming.
Twilight’s ears perked at this and grew curious at his statement. “Sorry for intruding, but what do you mean by that exactly?” she asked him, though once he looked into her eyes she blinked and looked the other way.
“Well, Spike and I were just hanging about when Applejack tackled us,” he saw Twilight’s look turning to one of concern. “... accidentally, cause she was carrying a pony on her back who was close to death,”
Twilight and Zecora let out a gasp and both of them had their front hoof to their mouths, with their eyes widened in shock. “But she’s ok, we got her to the clinic in time. Though once she woke up, a certain rainbow maned mare thought it be wise to try and inflict damage onto her,” he said.
Twilight was shocked to hear this. “Rainbow would never do that!” she exclaimed to Light, defending her friend.
“Actually she did try Twilight,” Spike said, with his head popping out of the kitchen door. “She actually did try and hurt Trixie, cause she thought she was just acting to be in pain,”
Twilight let out a sigh of her own, “I’m going to have a word with Rainbow tomorrow,” she noted to herself out loud.
“No need,” Light said. “I already gave her a warning of my own and Applejack was going to give her a lecture, though a lesson via a beating by the words she used.” he finished and saw Twilight expression turn grim and shak
“Light... did you give her the look, the one that I did that she took?” Zecora asked Light, worried that he may have repeated another Cutie Mark Crusader incident.
“Yes, but it was controlled anger to say the least,” he whispered her, with her sighing in relief. “But her name is not Trixie... at least its not her real name,”
Zecora and Twilight were intrigued by this, with Twilight’s front hoof on her chin in thought. “Pray tell what is her name, cause Trixie sounds more like a game,” Zecora asked him.
Light looked up to the ceiling, “Well, I can’t say for sure,” Light said to Zecora, who starting humming in thought. “I’m not sure how to handle it but..” he leaned in closer to Zecora to whisper into her ear. “The dream I had, I swear I saw her in there mom,”
Zecora’s ears perked up and her pupils shrunk slightly, “You are absolutely sure, my boy? Could your mind not play you like a toy?”
“There’s no mistake, she’s got something to do with my dream, my element-”
“Um excuse me.”
Light and Zecora jumped slightly at the sudden interruption, caused by Twilight who stood behind them. Light turned to Twilight, who was chanting apologies for her interrupting. “It’s ok Twilight, something wrong?”
Twilight sighed in relief before smiling at Light, “Supper is ready you two,”
“Ah thanks,” Light answered her, with his stomach growling in hunger causing him to blush and Twilight to giggle at this.
“My timing is impeccable as always,”
Light chuckled softly as he made his way past Twilight, though his mind was drifting on an enigmatic mare who was now lying in a hospital bed recovering and remembered her wearing a pendant of some sorts around her neck.
