It has been five days since Nikolas had his family brutally taken from him, tasked by his goddess with a vital mission and transported into a whole new realm only to realize he had taken the form of a young colt.. Though his time to acclimate had been brief, he had made quite a bit of progress towards achieving his mission…even if there had been some setbacks.

It had taken quite a bit of time and multiple scrapes but he soon had mastered his new quadrupedal form. Having taken quite a few pokemon forms in the past had made the transition into his new body quite easy. Nikolas had been quite surprised that the movement of his new form had been similar to that of rapidashes, though smaller and without any of the fire hazards. One of the most surprising things about his new body had also been the overwhelming amount of energy he now had. It had been so long since he missed that blessed youthful energy to run around for hours on end. However, this new found well of energy would have become his downfall if he did not find a substantial amount of food to fuel it.

Having awoken by a river with crystalline clean water had surely been one of Giratina's blessings and had allowed him to stave off certain starvation during the first days of exploration in the forest. Thanks to his survival training back in his homeworld, he had been able to sustain himself on the tail grass that flourished along the edges of the river and the roots of several forbs in the forest. With a constant supply of food and water, Nikolas had thought that the forest would have made for an awesome home…that is until a new problem arose.

Turns out that the forest had been home to countless predators, especially massive wolves made from timber scraps whose breath stank worse than their attitudes. He had come very close to becoming their dinner several times, but his small frame had allowed him to evade capture by hiding in small animal burrows. Worst yet had been the more blood thirty carnivores that fought the wolves for a chance to eat him such as manticores, chimeras, and even a colossal hydra. It was as though the whole forest was out to kill him for Giratina’s sake! If there was any hope of surviving in this crazy world, it would have to be anywhere but the forest.

In his previous world, Nikolas and his husband Chester could've easily taken down every single of those beasts without much effort. His darling and courageous husband had even taken on a ferocious dragon many years ago when they had first met during a quest. That horrid feral beast had ambushed their party at the worst possible moment and had almost killed them all. Had Chester not pushed him out of harm's way despite losing one of his arms in the process, Nikolas would have surely died long ago. Nikolas could not believe his own eyes moments after when he saw his future husband pick up his own arm and proceed to ruthlessly beat the dragon back with pure magical rage. Quickly regaining his focus, Nikolas’s healing magic surged towards Chester keeping him alive while the rest of the party attacked as a sole unit giving the monster no chance to retaliate. Not soon after the battle had concluded and Nikolas tended to Chester’s wounds that they found that the dragon had actually been protecting a hoard of treasure. Even if it had been such a long time ago, that violent and precious moment was when they had found Ava’s egg carefully hidden amongst the piles of gold.

However, it seemed that fate had played another cruel trick on him yet again when it came utilizing all of the powerful magic he had learned. Turns out that he could, in theory, cast all minor spells at his disposal such as small healing magic to his most powerful secret spell, a partial demonic transformation but not without severe consequences. Since his current body lacked the mana and blood reserves necessary to perform powerful spells, Nikolas could only perform minor spells without the risk of dying from anemia. Meaning that he could not risk sacrificing his life transforming into a more powerful form and had to solely rely on his wits rather than magic.

In his exploration of a new home that would not attempt to kill him at every turn, Nikolas soon found a blazed trail on the outskirts of the forest. It had been such a relief to finally find some semblance of civilization since the forest had been so massive that Nikolas feared he would have been lost forever within it. If this place was often traveled by others, it meant that he would need to come up with a cover story. It would be hard for anyone to believe that a child had somehow mysteriously emerged from the deadly forest and survived by themselves for several days. Besides, having been reborn as a hybrid species that most likely didn’t exist in this world, would cause him to be treated as a monster himself by the rest of the populace.

After much debating he came with a foolproof plan, except that it required him to do something his Goddess would greatly disapprove of and could very well end in disaster if he was not careful. Trotting around the trail, he listened closely for the sound of predators roaming in the area. After only a few minutes, he heard the rustling of bushes coming from the surrounding area. His sensitive nose right away picked up the foul scent of rotten wood and flesh, a clear sign that wood wolves were prowling nearby. Rather than hide away, Nikolas began walking towards the danger nonchalantly against his better judgment. He needed to goad one of the bloodthirsty beasts to attack him while he kept his guard down. His ears perked up as he listened to the creatures pick up his scent and began to stalk him. "Three…no…two of them by the sounds of it and they aren't as big as the ones I saw the first time. Most likely teens or pups practicing their hunting skills among the forest meadow. It doesn't seem that there are any full grown ones nearby…good. I need to survive for this to work.” Nikolas sighed with a heavy sense of regret at what needed to happen next.

He really hated having to resort to this method but he had no other choice or plan that could work. Taking a deep breath to relax his body, Nikolas braced his mind against the incoming mauling. The moment he turned his back on the wolves, they instantly pounced on their supposed easy meal. Nikolas grunted in pain the moment he felt one of them bite deep into his leg while the other ripped into his shoulder. Thankfully, these young pups were not too skilled since he was quickly able to shake them off. Whimpering at the sudden retaliation from their prey, the two pups distanced themselves from Nikolas and proceeded to growl as they encircled him. "Come on boys, is that the best you can do? I thought you were the top of the food chain around these parts or is a tiny widdle creature too much to handle. Hahaha guess you lot are all bark and no bite huh?!?” he said in a mocking tone. Gnashing their teeth at the savage mockery of their kin, the wolves rushed Nikolas with hatred now burning in their eyes.

In the minutes that followed, Nikolas endured the savage attacks of the wood wolves, gaining cuts and bites across his body as they attempted to rip him apart. Making sure that the wolves inflicted as much damage as possible without letting them attack his jugular, Nikolas was soon completely covered in his own blood, monster bile and dirt. Having enough punishment, Nikolas slammed his front hooves into one of the wolves towering over him that was attempting to tear his face off, causing a magical rune circle to appear on its torso. A black tendril with a red tip violently bursted from its back much to the wolves' pained surprise and immediately latched onto its companion. Unable to even have the chance to yelp, the black tendril lifted the pup from the ground and slammed it against a tree with tremendous force. The wolf still pinning Nikolas down watched in horror as its brother shattered apart into pieces as his back slammed in the tree, its remains gently falling into the floor like leaves in the wind. Wasting no time, Nikolas slammed the wolf’s torso again, sending it jolting back slightly, which allowed him to roll back on his hooves and regain his fighting stance.

The tentacle that had been violently wriggling disappeared from the wood wolf's back, only to emerge from the ground next to Nikolas. "It's been fun but sorry little buddy, I can't let you rough me up more. No tasty pony meat on the menu for the supposed top predators of the forest. Guess all that you lot are good for is becoming fertilizer for the worms!" Nikolas sneered, maliciously smiling at the stunned wolf. The young creature, naïve as it was, immediately ran at him in defiance, only to find itself lifted in the air by the neck. The dark tendril holding it up slowly tightening around the pup's whimpering neck until it popped into millions of pieces.

With his foes defeated, Nikolas began to relax, causing the magical circle rune to vanish along with the demonic tentacle. As the adrenaline in his body began subsiding, he finally began to feel and inspect the extent of the damage he had received. To his surprise, his body was torn and shredded quite severely to the point he could swear that he could see his muscles and even some bone. He had severely miscalculated his new body’s fighting endurance compared to his previous adult form. His whole body was caked in a mixture of mud and blood with every other part still oozing a frighteningly large amount of blood. He needed to get back on the path and find someone right away otherwise he would soon die from blood loss or get eaten by one of the actually dangerous beasts. Trying to walk, Nikolas gasped in pain realizing that they might have also broken one of his legs, being unable to put any weight on them. Despite the agonizing pain, he pushed his body to its limits limping towards an intersection on the forest trail where someone would mostly pass by.

To his tearful delight, it seemed that fate had shown a little bit of kindness since he had caught the glimpse of what looked like a flying pony flying among the canopy of the forest. He immediately seized the opportunity and yelled out in agony, "H-Help! Please somebody!"

Nickolas stumbled into the floor soon after as his eyesight started to become blurry and could not shake off the wave of dizziness drowning his mind. It seems that yelling combined with the constant blood loss had stolen what remained of his energy. "This is fucking great…perfect timing to start fainting when I am about to get saved and need to act innocent." Nikolas thought to himself sarcastically as he did his best to stay awake at least slightly longer, he had to keep up a facade after all.

Just then, he noticed that the flying pony had stopped mid-flight, most likely hearing him and began flying towards him. The flying blur that was quickly approaching him had turned out to be a pegasus and had a yellow fur and long pink mane coming down one side of her face before curling back up slightly. Looking around, the pegasus called out trying to find whomever had called out for help,"Hello?...Does anypony nee–GASP! Omygosh! What happened?!? I need to get you to a hospital quickly!”

With his consciousness quickly fading away, Nikolas had just enough willpower to sell his story of a poor defenseless foal. Taking a step away from the pegasus as they rushed towards him, he let his tears run freely while making his body shiver in fake fear. Seeing that his savior was reaching out to hold him, he shrieked in fear trying to put as much panic in his voice as possible, "Ple-please don’t hurt me!"

--POV change: Fluttershy.--

Fluttershy was on her way to see the manticore that lived in the Everfree for its weekly check-up. The poor thing had been slowly recovering from a nasty cold and couldn't leave its cozy cave to visit her animal clinic. Singing a merry tune to pass the time, she joyfully flew just below the trees trying to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

What she didn't expect was to hear the voice somepony crying out in anguish, in the middle of the Everfree forest of all places! Everypony knew that the Everfree was a very dangerous place to go wandering around by themselves, making the cry for help all the more concerning.

She quickly followed the source of the sound trying to call out to whomever had called for help, “Hello?...Does anypony nee–”. She began to say when to her disbelief she spotted an injured child on a branching path and quickly flew over to him. Fluttershy face blanched in horror the closer she got closer to the young colt and noticed the full extent of his injuries."GASP! Omygosh! What happened?!? I need to get you to a hospital quickly!” Fluttershy said as she attempted to put on a brave face for the child as she reached towards him. She needed to get him to safety and having two panicking ponies would only make things worse. "

The foal's reaction was not what she was expecting when she reached out to save him. Cowering away from her with wide eyes full of tears and quivering with pure panic, the child shrieked at her to get away as though she were a monster."Ple-please don’t hurt me!"

This made Fluttershy freeze for less than a second, worry filling her mind as she tried to assess the situation. “Oh no…this is worse than I imagined. The poor thing must be so frightened that they are not thinking clearly. The poor boy must have been through something just…awful…to suffer this way.” She thought, trying to think of the best way to delicately approach the situation.

Landing on the ground a few steps from the cowering colt, she lowered herself to his eye level to appear less threatening and began to speak in a soft soothing voice, “Shhh…It's ok…I know you are very scared right now but I'm not going to hurt you.”

The baby unicorn in front of her stopped shaking, being taken aback by the sudden genuine compassion. Its teary eyes began filling up with new found emotions as it struggled to speak, “Ho…How do I…kn-know you are not lying?”

" I promise nothing will happen to you while I'm here, I just want to help you. What's your name, little one?" Fluttershy explained herself in a calming voice, taking the time to inspect the foal quickly while they talked. He was unusual to say the least, the end of his tail was split in two, his ears looked more like a cat, his pupils resembled Nightmare moon's and she caught a glimpse of canines in his mouth when he spoke. He didn't have a cutie mark, but that was normal for the age he seemed to be.

"I-I'm Nikolas, Nikolas Memphis."

"What a unique and lovely name, Nikolas. I'm Fluttershy, nice meeting you," she smiled, her voice warm, motherly and full of kindness.

"W-what are you going to do with me?!?" Nikolas suddenly asked with fright crawling at his throat, surprising her.

"I am not going to do anything to you…I just want to get you the help you need, Nikolas. You're full of cuts and bruises, do your parents even know where you are?"

The foal began fidgeting and averting his eyes at the question as though they were trying to avoid the question, only worrying Fluttershy more. "I…snif snif…daddy told me not to tell anyone, especially strangers. But…I d-don't know where I am and I can't move anymore. I…I'll go with you but please…PLEASE don't take me to a hospital!” Nikolas pleaded, reluctantly holding out his arms at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gently held the unicorn in her front hooves trying to make him comfortable as she took up flight. “Thank you for being so brave Nikolas and believing me just a tiny bit. Please do your best to hold on tight, you have a lot of bruises and we need to take care of you right away.” Holding Nikolas close, Fluttershy noticed how her fur was now smeared with blood and mud. Doing her best to not panic at the sight she increased her speed, soaring near mach speed towards Ponyville. If the boy was still bleeding this profusely after finding him all alone out here, there was little time left to save him. “Um…I know hospitals can be a bit scary. But I promise that the Ponyville hospital will fix you right up Nickolas” She said, trying to maintain a brave attitude despite the situation. .

"I trust h-hospitals even less, I…I don't wanna go there..." Nikolas responded in a frail tone.

"You'll be fine, sweetie. I assure you” she smiled as she sped past the forest. "How about I stay with you while the doctors check on you and make sure you're okay?"
"
"Fine..." Nikolas relented with a sigh, trying to maintain his grip on her despite trembling.

However, Fluttershy soon noticed that Nikolas was beginning to go limp and seemed to be ready to faint at any moment. “Nickolas? Nikolas?!? Don't fall asleep sweetie, please stay with me we are almost there!”

--POV change: Nikolas.--

Several hours later

The sun was setting down over the horizon, illuminating the sky over Ponyville in glimmering oranges, pink and yellow colors. While many of its colorful citizens were beginning to close down their shops and heading home, inside of the Ponyville hospital numerous doctors and nurses were still scurrying about completing their daily duties.
Within the intense recovery room, Nikolas laid in bed trying to recollect his thoughts after having regained his senses from the anesthesia. His body was hooked up to several machines monitoring his vitals, an orthopedic cast on one of his legs and was completely covered in bandages & stitches.

"That went easier than I thought, though that could have ended extremely horrible. Dang overgrown pups and their knife-like fangs almost got me bleeding to death. But I supposed that was almost my fault for being overconfident…I hope that Giratina can forgive me for this lapse in judgment. I'm still wary of that pony…Fluttershy I think was her name. She didn't seem like she was lying and almost made me drop my act with how genuinely concerned and kind she was. I have not felt that much compassion from anyone aside from Ches–”t "

"Now, sweetie. My name is Redheart and I'll be one of your primary nurses looking after you for the duration of your stay. I'm going to have to ask you a few questions, is that alright? But if you don't want to answer some of them, it's fine. I know you might still be feeling a bit woozy from the surgery." The sudden voice broke Nikolas's train of thoughts as he looked up at the pony before him. Nikolas had completely forgotten about the nurse that had just arrived to check his monitoring equipment and vitals now that he was fully awake. The nurse had beautiful white fur akin to that of snow and a rose colored mane & tail. She. Her mane was put in a bun bundled inside of a white nurse cap with a red cross with red hearts on its corners and coincidentally had the same patterned tattooed on both sides of her flank.

Nikolas nodded his head in understanding, sitting as far back as he could in the bed trying to create as much distance between them both as possible.

"First, what is your name?"

"Nikolas Memphis."

"Alright, how old are you?"

Nikolas thought about how to respond since he couldn't divulge his true age. Besides, it's not like anyone would believe him and probably think him crazy. Lying seemed like the best course of action in this case and he thought of an age that might have closest resembled his form. “I’m eight”

"Do you know the name of your parents or any other relatives?"

Nikolas shook his head.

"I see…” Redheart said with a slight tinge of incredulity in her voice

Do you know the name of the city you live in with your parents?"

He nodded. "It was called the Fairheaven village."

"That's odd…I don't recall ever hearing of such a place before even in the outskirts of Equestria. Are you sure that's the actual name of your hometown? ? Where is it located?"

"Daddy told me not to tell strangers where the village was..." Nikolas looked away as though bothered by the question, doing his best to act distrustful.
"Really? Why's that?"

"Daddy says bad men will come chase us away if we do...bad men that would not stop looking for until we were all d-dead," he added the last part in a small voice, barely above a whisper, faking a look of guilt upon saying the words.

What the boy had said made her pause momentarily as she peered at him with a look of concern. The things Nikolas was mentioning to her flashed several warning signs through her mind. Although Redheart was thankful she had received extensive pediatric training during her academic tenure, she really hoped that what the kid might be implying was incorrect…since it could only mean the worst possible scenario. Snapping away from her thoughts, she refocused her questioning trying to obtain more solid answers.. "Men…I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean sweetie. Dear, do you mean to say ponies?

“No um…it's just what daddy and everyone back home used to call them that. Though, I guess I ponies would be right since they looked an awful lot like you” Nikolas quietly corrected.

“Alright…why would other ponies or ‘bad men’ as you call them, assault your village?"

"Huh, so the dominant race in this so-called Equestria are ponies. Interesting and good to know for later on. I need to get her to divulge more information that might help solidify my story even further. Nikolas thought as he glanced at the nurse, making it look like he was debating between telling her or not.

"I was told men–er, ponies were afraid of Daddy and hated everyone else in the village for who they were…”
The nurse's eyes narrowed slightly at the insinuation that ponies would commit such heinous things, but managed to maintain a disarming kind smile.. "Why would anyone be afraid of your dad, sweetie? All of the ponies living under Celestia’s brilliant light are known to uphold the teaching of harmony and friendship. Aren't the other members of your village also ponies?" Redheart attempted to deflect, hoping that boy was simply lying to her about such horrible things.

Nikolas shook his head.

"Oh, Alright…what species are they then?"

"I–I am not supposed to tell anyone…” Nikolas managed to mutter softly, trying to appear uncomfortable with the constant questioning.

Nurse Redheart paused for a moment, trying to process all of the troubling information she had received from the young child. . "Sigh…Very well. Thank you for telling me all of this, you’re certainly a very brave colt Nikolas.. There's only a few questions left for you to answer and they may be a bit uncomfortable to answer, is it ok if we continue?” Taking Nikola’s nod as confirmation, she asked the one question that had been bugging her since the start of their conversation. . "Okay…Can you tell me why you were found wandering around the middle of the Everfree? It is a pretty dangerous forest for anypony, especially for a young colt."

Nikolas let a small moment of silence hang in the air looking downcast before speaking up.. "I... I ran away from home. Bad ponies were attacking the village and I ran away without turning back when daddy told me to, after the houses started burning and the screaming began..."

The nurse couldn't help but gasp in shock and horror at the grisly revelation,"Celestia above…how could ponies do such a gruesome thing?!”.Despite being able to feel the palpitating amount of worry in her voice, Nikolas could still not bring himself to completely trust her.
"I-I don't feel like talking about this a-anymore…”

“Alright Nikolas, thank you for being able to tell me all of this. I know it must be painful to recall such bad memories, especially since they are so recent. We can continue our little conversation once you have had to fully recover, if that's ok with you.” Redheart said with a motherly smile, before making her way to the door.

“Now please make sure to lay back and take it easy for the rest of the day. I'll bring you some dinner in a few hours and if you need anything please make sure to alert the nearest nurse using that buzzer.” She said, walking fully out into the hallway

There was a long moment of silence as Nikolas settled back into bed, releasing all of the tension he had been unknowingly holding. However, just as he was settling down to formulate a new plan there was a knock at the door.

“Um Nikolas, can we come in? I was told by the nurses that you woke up not long ago and we wanted to see how you were doing” A voice called out, one that he recognized to be from that pegasus named Fluttershy. Before he could answer, Fluttershy entered the room along with another pony that he did not recognize. That other pony was bright pink, pinker than even a Slowpoke, which was definitely a sight to behold. Her mane was just a tad shade darker of pink and both her mane & tail were so extremely poofy that it resembled cotton candy. She also had two blue balloons and a yellow balloon tattoo on both sides of her flanks, which Nikolas had learned that they were called Cutie marks. While he had been barely awakening from the effect of the anesthesia, he had heard multiple nurses comment on the matter during his post-surgery examination.

Although he was not sure why, the sight of the cotton candy stranger filled him with a mix of curiosity and uneasiness. If what his gut feeling was telling him to be true, then he knew that there was more to this pony than meets the eye.

The two mares approached him, Fluttershy speaking first, in her small but soothing voice.. "How are you feeling, Nikolas? I was extremely relieved to hear that the operation had gone so well."

He shuffled slightly on the bed, mostly to nudge the dagger still hidden in his mane in another position as its placement was getting dangerous. He was still not sure how the doctors had missed it since his arrival, but he needed to pray his thanks for Giratina later for his luck. Then again, it's not like anyone would have thought twice to randomly pat search a child for potentially carrying dangerous weapons.
"I-I'm feeling good, I suppose...um. I wanted to t-thank you again for–" was all he had begun to say, before The pink mare suddenly appeared at the foot of his bed with a big, dazzling smile.

"that's great! also hi, i'm pinkie pie! you can call me pinkie! when i heard there was a new foal arriving in ponyville, i was extremely excited! then I learned he was in the hospital because he was found injured by fluttershy and i was sad, but I knew the ponyville hospital would patch you up without a problem! i was even more excited when i heard you weren't a normal pony! you're so cute with your floppy ears! and your eyes remind me of nightmare moons, ohhhh it's kind of scary but still looks cute on you! when I heard of you, i knew i had to throw you a party! but I can't throw them in the hospital. i wonder if it's because of that one time i woke up twenty foals for singing happy birthday to another one? but that just means i'll need to wait for you to be out of here so i can throw you a welcome to ponyville and happy recovery party! ohhh, it's gonna be so exciting! what's your favorite flavor of cake?!"

Nikolas jumped back in surprise at the barrage of words coming from the overly hyperactive mare,, cowering as far back from her as he could manage against the bed. Had he not been bandaged and bed ridden with a broken leg, he would have most likely tried to jump out the window in an attempt to escape. That is, until Fluttershy yanked the mare backwards giving her a disapproving glare. He was not sure how to describe it but that glare had such a force behind it that it sent shivers down his spine of pure fear. If he was going to survive in this new world, he needed to keep in mind to never anger her.. "Pinkie, I think you're scaring him, maybe try to be a bit more gentle?"

Pinkie chuckled and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Oops, sorry haha. I didn't know it was too much for you!"

Seeing that he was no longer in danger of being glomped by a living mass of cotton candy, Nikolas began fidgeting, his life quickly flashing before his eyes. Though it was also mostly to shoo away the primal shivers of fear that he still felt on his back. Doing his best to force a smile, he finally responded with a shaky voice “"I-It's fine..."

Pinkie's grin immediately came back, even wider than that of a cheshire cat. "That's great! I'm going to learn all I can about you so that I can throw you the best party ever!"

Author's Note

Hello there! Been a while since I posted a chapter of any of my stories now, hasn't it?

Sorry about that, I was working on this one. It was supposed to be longer, but I had so much trouble with writing what comes later in the story and this was a perfect place to cut it in two so that's what I did.

Next chapter should hopefully come with less time between it than this and the first chapter.

Also!

This chapter introduces you all to my Point of view system for this story and possible others I'll write!

To put it simple. It's a third person POV but with some informations hidden from the reader as we only know what the character the pov is centered on knows and some other details!

Is it my turn now?

Ahh! Pinkie! Second time you've done this! Why are you in my author's notes?!

Because I can!

You barely appear in the end of this chapter just to scare the poor boy anyways, are you serious?

Hey! I can break the logic and be here all I want! Plus I like appearing in the second chapters of your stories!

Last time you appeared in chapter three not chapter two...

Oh, psssch! It's just an error because you can't be bothered to write longer chapters!

Well sorry that I want people to be able to read my stories. Anyways, anything you want to add?

Just wanted to say that this take place in se-WHACK

Owww! What was that for?!

You are NOT telling what season this happen on! The readers will discover it by themselves in the next chapter! Now shoo! This Author note is getting too long! You'll get to have fun talking with Nikolas later in another chapter!

Okie Dokie!

Finally some peace and quiet. Anyways! Like last time, huge thanks to my proofreader and editor, Xowatle for helping me work on this story! See you all next chapter!