Another Like Me

The young man was speechless, and not just because he was rapidly switching between human and pony form. His mind was still reeling at all the information that it had only begun to process. Luna was Nightmare Moon? She had grown jealous of her sister and in response had tried to overthrow her? No, that couldn't be all of it, because that voice he had heard had been coaxing her into a sense of distrust towards Celestia! Eesh! This is a lot to take in! He rubbed his head as all these questions and more bombarded his mind relentlessly.

"We hath never forgotten that day you know..." A quiet voice broke Shingo out of his thoughts. Turning back to princess Luna he was shocked to see trails of tears streaking down the alicorn's face. As he looked at her more and more, he began to see a glimpse of what that day had done to her. Years of pain, sadness, and regret were clearly evident, and his heart nearly broke at the sight of just how lost and lonely she looked. After receiving no audible response from him, Luna continued. "We hurt our sister so much that day, and I wish that it were possible to return to a previous time and simply redo all those moments that we had felt hate and anger towards her for betraying me, when it is we who were the ones being terrible all along."

As the princess quietly sobbed, Shingo was at a loss of what to do. He was never good with girls, for that seemed to be more up in Benimaru's department. Heck, he still had yet to have landed even one girlfriend, so comforting one of the female persuasion, albeit an alicorn in a land of talking ponies, was still thin ice for him. However, as clueless as he knew he was, he knew that in this situation, doing nothing was most definitely worse than messing up. With that, his mind decided it had had enough of the standing around and simply chose something spontaneous.

Princess Luna was used to ponies shying away from her. Given that she'd threatened all of Equestria  once, she knew that her subjects would be a little...skeptical about return, and from what she'd seen, getting through an entire conversation without a pony begging for mercy or trembling was a feat in it of itself for her! So to say she was confused at why she felt something warm wrap around her while crying was probably an understatement.

Don'tkillmeDon'tkillmeDon'tkillmeDon'tkillme! Shingo prayed to high heaven that randomly hugging a figure of royal authority didn't count as assault and/or something that warranted a restraining order, but since his mind had figured that this was the best option, whatever came out of it was his own fault. Well at least she doesn't look too angry! He thought in partial relief, since the look Luna wore wasn't exactly bad, but it didn't spell out "mission accomplished" either... After what felt like an hour or two he finally broke the unplanned embrace, which prompted Luna to finally regain her ability to speak again.

"Uh...pray tell friend Shingo..." she started off, her face sporting a tinge of red still left over from the sudden contact, "what warranted the sudden...embrace?"

"Eheh..." He coughed awkwardly into his hand since he really didn't have a reason as to why. "It just looked like you needed it I guess?"

Luna eyed him with a curious look. She had never met somepony that knew her history that was willing to even stand bravely in her vicinity, and yet here was a human, a creature that pony kind had never seen or heard of before, who was willing to at least try to comfort her, something only her sister would have before she had turned against her.

"But...art thou not afraid of who I am, or what I became?" She asked him, astonished that he didn't seem even the least bit frightened around her.

"Why would I be?" He asked. He wasn't asking it out of confusion, or sarcasm, Luna noted, but rather he was genuinely asking her to give him one good reason to be afraid of her.

"Dost thou mean to say that...thou art not afraid of me? Even after I turned against my own sister? After I threatened this entire land? Even after I became that horrible monster?"

"Luna stop it!" Shingo said firmly, catching her off guard. However, his stern look quickly gave way to a grin. "Trust me, you aren't even half the monster you think you are!" Seeing that she wore a look of disbelief, he knew further convincing was in order. "I mean first off, if you were a complete monster like you said, then you probably wouldn't be feeling remorseful about what happened would you?"

"Well I suppose..." Luna mulled over his question and slowly began see what he was saying.

"And secondly," Shingo continued, "the only reason you became like that was because you felt alone and threatened! Heck, most of the bad guys my master and I fought did horrible things just for kicks...and world domination!"

Luna giggled at that last part. Even though Shingo wasn't the adept socially, he did possess a sort of charm not unlike Pinkie Pie's. When he was happy or trying to make someone else happy, one couldn't help but smile at his optimism and enthusiasm.

"Well I suppose thou art correct. Maybe I have been too hard on myself..." At this Shingo nodded with a reassuring smile. "Yet, I still wish to speak with my sister about transpired that day...though I fear she might very well still be a bit touchy on that subject."

"Come on Luna, have a little faith!" The fighter replied, placing a hand on her shoulder, "she's your sister! Tying up a loose end like that can only benefit you in the long run!"

"Dost thou really think so?"

"I know so!" Shingo grinned while giving her a light pat on the back. He was about to continue when suddenly he gained a sheepish look. "Uh Luna? How exactly do I get back to the Apple farm?"

Luna had almost forgotten about that. She had been too wrapped up in all the strolls down memory lane she had taken. Now it was her turn to feel sheepish at the fact that she'd almost forgotten that she had neglected to teleport her own guards with her. Luckily though, teleportation spells, while quite difficult for the average unicorn, were not too difficult for her and her sister. So in order to save time she simply walked over to Shingo before charging up her magic, resulting in a bright flash as they found themselves back at Sweet Apple Acres.

Immediately following their arrival the guards Night Stalker and Lunar Edge came to their princess's side. They were both pretty embarrassed at the fact that they had managed to actually lose her, but when your princess is able to teleport and you're both pegasi these things tend to happen. So Luna didn't blame them for anything, rather taking fault for leaving them behind, much to their relief.

"Uh hey Luna one more thing before you go?" Shingo asked, causing the sapphire blue alicorn to turn to him. "I kinda don't want to draw attention to myself while I stay in Ponyville, so I kind of need to ask a favor!"

"Of course, what dost thou require of me?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I kinda need an illusion spell to make me look like how I was while going through your memories."

"Oh is that all?" She chuckled. "A simple matter for one such as me, now hold still." She told him as she charged her horn once again. This time however, the discharge was followed by a puff of smoke, and when Shingo opened his eyes again, he was back in his pony persona, jacket and all.

"Thanks a lot princess!" He said gratefully, "it would have been pretty jarring if I had randomly walked in as something they'd never seen before!" He shuddered at the thought of the ponies in Ponyville all forming some type of angry mob to run him out of town because they thought he was some sort of dangerous animal. He knew that he was already two for two with the whole "fight the human" thing so he figured it would be best to avoid going for a third upset.

"Anytime friend, it's the I could do!" She said, giving him a smile. "I even added a cloud walking spell and a wing spell just to make the illusion more sound and believable!"

"Wait I can FLY NOW?!?" He exclaimed, squealing gleefully like a young filly. Eager to try out his wings he got a running start, leaped out into the air with a grace rivaling that of an Olympic diver, and proceeded to do a perfect face plant into the dirt.

Princess Luna had to hold both hooves over her mouth to stifle her laughter at his antics, while the night guards were simply doubled over in laughter, remembering that they themselves had once been at that level of skill when it came to flying as young colts.

Shingo's face burned brightly as he picked himself out of the dirt. He was embarrassed, but he knew he deserved that one since he was trying to attempt something of which he had no prior experience of. "Eheh, guess I'll work on that later?" He asked, the grin never leaving his face despite his embarrassment. Deciding that he should leave before anymore of his dignity chose to self-destruct, he waved goodbye to Luna and the guards that accompanied her as they teleported back to what he assumed was the castle they had previously been in.

After they had left, the young stallion decided to turn and head on back towards Twilight's tree library. Which, now that he thought of it was something that raised more questions in his mind. How did the tree stay alive if basically all it's bark on the inside were gone? How did they even install appliances in it if no electrical currents were going through the tree itself? How many pages could be made out of a tree like that and was it sad that three-fourths of everything in it were books? Yeah I need to sleep! He told himself as he realized his train of thought was quickly devolving into little more than a wagon of thought. A wagon that seemed to have only three wheels.

However as he was about to leave, he looked around and noticed that it was pretty dark out, and for some reason the words "it's dangerous to go alone," and "don't mine at night," seemed to pop into his head. Shrugging, he figured that while he was a capable fighter in his own right, it was best not to test his luck walking back to Twilight's alone, what with him being on the edge of town and all. I just hope Applejack doesn't mind me imposing on her... he thought nervously as he began to head deeper into the apple orchard.

As he was wandering around, trying to figure out where exactly Applejack's house was in all of these fields, he came across a peculiar little tree house that he hadn't seen before now. He figured that since it was on Apple property that it belonged to one of them, most likely Applebloom since Applejack and Big Macintosh likely wouldn't have much use for a tree house.

Figuring that he might as well check it out, he decided to climb up the tree, which proved to be a little harder since he didn't have hands currently, but he was able to make use of his new wings to boost him upward, finally making it over the railing and through the open window. Unfortunately that last pull up over the railing made him lose balance and fall over with a loud Thump!

"That could have gone way better than it did..." he muttered to himself. Picking himself up, he saw that the window had shut after his leg had knocked the latch that locked it in place. "Don't you dare be..." he tried pulling up the window, only to prove his efforts fruitless as it refused to budge. "Locked...great..." Shingo sighed at the pickle he had gotten himself into, "I guess the only thing to do is wait..." he whispered as he found a particularly nice spot on the hard wooden floor to sleep on. Once he lay down, he actually managed to fall asleep fairly quickly, and was soon snoring away the night, his mind still going over all the things he had found out that day...

~~Another Like Me~~

Discord? A voice rang out across the Canterlot Garden, unheard by everypony except its intended recipient. A few moments passed with no response to its call heard before the voice tried out again, with more force this time. Discord! This time a large yawn was heard until a new voice was heard, though instead of maintaining a serious tone, this voice seemed more lighthearted and carefree.

Would it kill you to pick a better time to have these nightly chats? It asked sleepily. Honestly is it too much to ask to let an avatar of chaos get his beauty sleep at this time of night?

Being trapped in stone for a thousand years should have been enough sleep for you you callous idiot! The initial voice retorted with a hint of anger.

Oh *my!** You wound me dear sir! Such insults should not be tossed around between partners in crime like us!* Discord chided playfully, which made the other voice sigh in response.

Just inform me how your plans are coming along! The first voice told Discord, its patience already running thin with the Draconequus, even though they weren't speaking face to face.

Well if you *must** know my plan to keep causing small amounts of chaos at that school in Ponyville were defused by that little human I decided to let in here!*

I told you that one would only serve to further disrupt our plans, but of course you don't have any sense at all do you?

Oh now where's the fun in making sense boyo? Asked Discord, a fake Scottish accent coming in at the word 'boyo.' Sometimes you have to liven things up a little and take a chance on something crazy!

Whatever! The other voice said, exasperated. Have you figured out anything else?

Actually I have! Discord replied, an excited tone in his voice. I researched a little bit about the world on your end a little and found something interesting about one of those little treasures, specifically the mirror.

And that is?

Well since I have a little influence to dip into its pool of magic, I managed to use what was available to make something like *this!*** He punctuated the end of his sentence with an audible snap of his fingers. Suddenly, a figure began to materialize in front of the statue of Discord. The silhouette immediately gave away the fact that the figure was human, or at least humanoid in shape. As the torso and head became visible however, it was revealed to be a young man with white shoes, a white T-shirt, and an ensemble of black jacket, pants, and gloves. His skin was relatively dark, and his eyes glowed faintly with an ominous red light. After a few moments of standing around the figure finally spoke.

"Huh, you aren't that lady with the mirror who usually summons me..." He said, his voice carrying tones of curiosity and confusion.

Did my appearance of a dragon plus other creatures not tip you off? Discord asked casually.

"Touche." Said the figure, smirking. Suddenly, the casual smirk shifted into a heated glare. "Now what reason did you have for summoning me?"

I have a little proposition for you. A little mercenary work you could say...

"What kind of proposition we talkin' about?" This offer had interested the human, for it's not every day one gets a business venture from a draconequus.

What if I told you I could release from the grip of that mirror, and gave you a will of your own? One not inhibited by any sort of restrictions?Now this was the sort of offer the man was looking for. For a little over 2 years, he hadn't been able to do anything except for follow the wills of that stupid woman and her mirror, but with something like this being offered to him...

"Whats the catch?" He narrowed his eyes. If his time on Earth had taught him anything it was that deals like this never came without a price.

No catch! Was the reply that came back. It reminded him of a sleazy salesman at a market, and those types of guys annoyed him to no end.

"You serious?"

As serious as I can try to be!

"...Count me in!" He said, grinning maliciously.

Excellent! Discord said joyously, before taking on a more malevolent tone. Now let me tell you about a town called Ponyville...