Could this be paradise?by TimemasterChaptersMy first birthday! Change.Infiltration.I do not know.Uh-ohPipe dreams. (Short chapter. Sick)A Grave Situation.Down the path. (Short chapter + a new story for my extremely small fan-base).The show must go on!The Beautiful City!Strange.A place demons fear.The days that were lost...My first birthday! My first birthday! My first birthday! Many things have happened in this year, but I have forgotten them all! I cannot remember anything except for my parents and the Apple family, how numerous they were too, for I met all of them a few days after being released from the smelly place. There was this weird stallion, Braeburn, who talked to me repeatedly, until my mother stopped him. He was talking about some mare he once knew and how they nearly had foals themselves. All of these ponies seem surprised at the fact that I can remember things well, and it confuses me as well. They say that babies are supposed to forget everything within a day, but I remember the day I was born! Mother calls me a genius, but dad has barely talked to me. I barely see my dad, for he usually is out bucking the lemon apples or something like my mom said, or he is too tired from work and just sleeps by me. Even though he doesn't really talk to me, he sits by me and watches me with a smile. The ponies, although I can barely understand them now, keep on saying that my father has a booboo in his throat. I wish I could heal his booboo, but I fear I may make it worse on accident. 'Sour Lemon is almost always happy', my mother always tells people, but I never feel happy. I just smile out of understanding is all, but knowing that my other is happy makes me a bit happy. Suddenly interrupting my thoughts is mother, who bursts through my door with a small, round thing with a stick coming out of it. Mother places it on the ground, making sure it doesn't fall, and smiles at me, saying,"Happy birthday Sour!" I smile, for mother is smiling, and watch as mother takes out an odd block object with a liquid in it. Rolling a round thing on the block, a small spark of fire erupts from the block. I just sit there, staring at the suddenly ignited fire, mystified at its appearance , and drool a bit. My mother grabs a small napkin and rubs my neck, now wet with drool, and says,"Come on Sour, ya only gotta blow out this here candle." she said in simple words for me to understand. I look at the block with fire coming out and watch as it ignites a piece of yarn on top of the stick, setting the stick itself on fire. Mother told me to blow it out, so I try, but my tries are foiled by just a little bit of spark left on the candle. Mother smiles at me and slowly eliminates the fire for me and says,"Make a wish, Sour!" Wish? I do not know what to wish for really, but I guess I could wish at anytime right? What is mother doing? Mother picks up something she never allowed me to have, a knife, and began cutting the circular object after taking out the stick that had the mystifying fire. "Here you go Sour,"Mother said, giving a piece of it to me,"This is apple cake!" Apple.... cake? I always wanted an apple, but what is a cake? Mother gives me a small spoon, which I am used to eating cereal with, and moves her hooves over the cake, symbolizing that I should eat it. Hearing it had some apples in it, I drive my white, plastic spoon into the cake. The cake, spongy and colorful on the inside, tempted me to eat it, so I scooped up a spoonful of cake and deposited it into my mouth. The taste was indescribable. Odd feeling on my tongue tickled me from the inside (in a good way) and made me smile. I smiled larger, devouring more of this sweet/sour goodness. I could taste something moist, maybe it was apple? Realizing I just had apples, I began to smile wider and happier, seeing my mother do the same. Mother, in all of her majestic beauty, was eating cake the same way I was, giggling at how happy I was. Then, interrupting this moment, Dad stumbled in. He was carrying a few boxes, oddly stacked, and laid them on the floor in front of me. I stared at them for a while, until my mother started unwrapping one that was laid in front of me. Opening the box, she pulled out a peculiar object, colorful and shiny, and handed it to me. The object, in my grasp, seemed to have a lot of star-shaped objects in a glass ball on top, and a long stick penetrating out of the back, allowing me to grasp it. My mother made odd motions, seeming to just wiggle around, and I giggled at her. While giggling, my body usually moves my arms around, causing something amazing. The object began making noise when I moved, but unlike my rattler, it was noises like *Bonk* and *Plow!*. Giggling out of awe and happiness, I began playing with the toy of awesome, as it will be called from now on, and stopped listening to my parents for a little bit. This toy is wonderful! I have been hitting things with it, for it seems that I am super strong, but I am pretty exhausted from flailing my arms around, so I set down my toy in front of me and turn to my parents. My parents, still smiling, give me another box. They start unwrapping it as they did before, and hand me the toy. This toy, though, is far better than the rest. This toy was a stuffed thing, full of fuzz, and I couldn't resist hugging it. The toy looked like me, but instead of my eyes, it had two buttons as eyes. I was hugging the toy when Dad gave me another box, albeit smaller, and started unwrapping that one. Inside the box was clothing, but it was much to small for me. Tilting my head, I watch as my dad takes my toy and puts the cloths on it. Oh my Celestia this is the best gift ever! I can cloth him, hug him, play with him, and do anything! I take my toy, hugging it, and think of something. 'I am going to name you...' "Bubblepants!" I.... said? My mother drops the box she was holding, looking at me in absolute surprise. My father does the same, except he had no box, and they both stare at me. "Bubblepants!" I said, surprised at my ability to talk. My mother rushes over to me and hugs me,"Sour Lemon, you fast learner you, sooner or later you will be using magic!" My mother, who I have observed as an over reactor, starts to cry happy tears next to my face. My father, who was happily laughing all the while, says in his deep voice,"Good job *cough* Sour!" We all were smiling, Bubblepants in my grasp. We stayed still like that for a few minutes, until mother said,"Open your last box, my little brainiac." The last box, smaller than all of the others, is opened by my mother. Out came not a toy, but a large article of clothing. "This vest, made of many different materials, will shift to fit your size, so even if you.. outgrow your mother, you will still have a piece of home." Mother said in a soft tone, still happy. Mother places the vest on me, but instead of it having to be moved to fit me, it SAID,"What is your name?" I know how my name is pronounced... so I try to say,"Sour Lemon." I strained myself to say. My mother and father were clapping as I finished my name,"So my new master's name is Sour Lemon?" Master? Suddenly, the vest changes color and grows a name on the front. The vest is now pure black with a red pattern stitched in the front that read,'S R L' and that is all I could understand. My mother walks up to me, points at the stitched thing, and says,"Sour Lemon." I look at the stitching again, saying with more ease,"Sour Lemon." My mother claps and walks away, knowing that she had succeeded. But something happened... Father started to cough, shocking mother. Mother looked at Father with eyes of pure terror, but all dad was doing was coughing right? Dad suddenly fell onto his side, coughing uncontrollably, an odd red liquid was dripping out of his mouth, his body beginning to pale. Mother puts me and Bubblepants to bed in another room before she went to father again. Even though I was in another room, I could hear the murmurs of my parents... Loud banging noises, coughing, and a heart-wrenching scream is all I heard, hugging Bubblepants... 'I wish Dad would stay with me...' I think. .... Silence. Absolute silence. All I hear now is my own heart beat, thumping hard against my chest, but it begins to slow down. Dad must be better now, right? I am so very tired... .... ..... I felt darkness overtake me... Mrs. Lemon is sprinting to the local hospital, her husband on her back, breathing very lightly. Seeing the hospital, she bashes through the door, freezing every doctor in the room. "Its happening again!" She yells, seeing a few doctors scramble to her. "Take the patient to the E.R.!" A pure white stallion, named Lionheart, said. Mrs. Lemon looked on in horror as her husband was put into the E.R. This was not the first time. Mr. Lemon has a disease which can kill him at any time, but usually the E.R. saves him with their magical surgery... But Mrs. Lemon fears the worst. ... After a weary hour of silence, a doctor comes by Mrs. lemon with a smile on his face. "We did it." He said, smile growing ever-so larger,"We found the cause of his illness." Mother nearly collapses, for all of this time she had expected the worst. "there was only one bad thing that happened, but he is still alive."the doctor said, scratching his head. "What is it?" Mrs. Lemon said, fear still in her voice. The doctor looked at his chart,"He will not be able to walk without assistance again..." he said, a little pane of sadness in his throat. Mother looks at the doctor,"That does not matter, for my husband is alive!" she hugs the doctor. "Would you like to see him?" The doctor said, escaping the happy hug of doom. Mrs. Lemon nods, following the doctor down to the E.R. ... Mr. Lemon lays asleep, his leg severed off. His face has a calm demeanor, as if he doesn't know he is missing his leg. His breathing is nicely paced, not even one degree higher. Mrs. Lemon sits beside her husband, hoping that he would wake soon. Hours pass, Mrs. Lemon only leaves for food or the bathroom, but when she returns she sees something that makes her happy. Mr. Lemon has woken up, but instead of saying nothing, like usual, he says,"Good morning..." Mr. Lemon grabs his own throat, smiling all the while. "There is no pain! I can speak!" He turns to his wife, who is also smiling. He is about to get off the bed, as per usual on his visits, but he cannot move his left back leg. He looks to see what may be holding his leg down... Only to see that his leg is gone. "My leg!" He screams, his wife trying to calm him down. "Honey, your leg was filled with the curse, you are cured now!" Mrs. lemon said. Mr. Lemon looked a little mad, but his wife calmed him down quite a bit... Now he only wanted to choke the witch who gave him the curse to death. "So... Who is going to work on the farm now?" he said, scared his family may become bankrupt or something. "There is a lot of ponies in the Apple family without jobs, they would graciously accept our offer of one, but enough of that." She said, grabbing a wheel chair for her husband,"It is time we show your son you are alright! You scared us both to death." She said smiling. Mr. Lemon chuckles,"Yeah, I hope Sour will understand my predicament." The Lemons chuckle and giggle when leaving the hospital, for there was a motto that all of the Lemon family must follow. 'Always look on the bright side of life!' I wake up from my dream abruptly, my mother rubbing the back of my head. "Honey, your father has something to say to you." Mother said. 'Dad is safe? Did the wish work?' I hear the crunching of the carpet of my room as a wheeled object comes through the darkness. My mother turns on the light, revealing my father without a leg, but smiling. Worried at his leg, I nearly frown, until my father, in his amazing Old Equestrian accent, said, "Some things in life are bad They can really make you mad Other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle Don't grumble, give a whistle And this'll help things turn out for the best... And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... If life seems jolly rotten There's something you've forgotten And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing. When you're feeling in the dumps Don't be silly chumps Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing. And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... For life is quite absurd And death's the final word You must always face the curtain with a bow. Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow. So always look on the bright side of death Just before you draw your terminal breath Life's a large zit When you look at it Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true. You'll see it's all a show Keep 'em laughing as you go Just remember that the last laugh is on you. And always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the right side of life... " When my father finished the song, I smiled. I smiled with so much happiness, that I wore myself out. I fell immediately asleep on my bed, my mother and father leaving the room. Bubblepants right besides me, my blanket over me, and my parents in the next room, I felt so secure that my sleep was perfect that day. "Always look on the bright side of life....zZzzzz...." Change.Change. A wet feeling chills my bones, seeming to drill into my mind. My body cringes at the feeling, for it wants to escape. Suddenly, replacing the wet feeling, is a chill. A chill that did more than freeze me, for it seemed to burn. I tried to escape, my body running in all directions, but stopping once I felt something different. A crisp, warm air circulated around me, filling me with warmth that I haven't felt in... some time. Opening my eyes, I see something odd. Shaped like a crescent moon, a large toothed smile appears in front of me. I look at the smile in fear, but not because of the smile itself, but because it was nothing else. There was nothing but a smile... *Drip I shot upwards, my make-shift blanket around me, and gasp. 'What the Tartarus was that?' My, sweating, body is hit by a passing wind, causing me to shake. "I thought Luna protected ponies from nightmares..." I mumble, getting up and out of my blanket. Standing on my hind hooves, I pick up my blanket... 'My hind hooves?' I look down and see that I am balancing, perfectly, on my hind hooves. Grunting, I go back down to my fours, but something odd happens, my front hooves, instead of balancing on the ground perfectly, fumble and I fall. I felt just like Granny Gray Ape, for she had injured front palms, causing her to be bipedal all day... But I felt like this was natural. '... This is odd, but I have no time to lose.' Before leaving my small camp, I try to remember why I even built it. Then, I remember: Slowly trotting down the path, I start to feel a small wet sensation bombarding me from the sky. "You have to be kidding!" I pout, running to find a perfect tree. A perfect tree is one that is around other trees, for if there was thunder, it would strike the nearest tree... hopefully. I smile, seeing a perfect tree just downhill, and rip off some of a neighboring tree's leaves. "Thank you." I say to the tree, feeling as if it was looking at me. Grandpa Black was a nice ape who once tole me something very important,"All of nature has emotion in this world of magic, but some have more emotion than others, so much, in fact, that if you hurt it, you can FEEL its pain." I always laughed at the kind old ape when I was younger, but I guess he was right. The rain, pelting harder, starts to form a melody, making me sleepy. Creating a leaf blanket, I lay under the tree, waiting for sleep to come. '... And come it did' I think, chuckling. Finally all packed, I proceed to open my map... Which was not there for some reason. (Processing...) "Foal of a cow!" I yell, seeing the road. Angry, I march onto the road a few feet away. ... After a long time of walking, I finally came across something other than the warm, orange trees. It stood there, basking in the morning light, with its blessed words upon it. I saw a crossroad and its sign. Running on my hind legs towards the crossroad felt odd, but good. My hind legs felt very weird to stand on, since I am not supposed to, but it felt more good than weird. On the last steps to the crossroad, I see the words on the sign... They are weather worn, the wood seeming to be cracking as well, but it is readable. Pointing west was a sign saying : Canterlot, our national capital. Pointing east was a sign saying : Las Pegasus, is this a Mexicolt city? Pointing North was a sign saying Canterlot- Express route. Pointing South was a broken sign, cracked in half in age, making it unreadable. 'Where should I go?' I wanted to go to Canterlot, but the temptation of Las Pegasus was assaulting me... I was thinking about this, when something disrupts my thoughts. "Watch out!" A voice yells extremely loud from the sky. Looking up, I see a gray pegasus with a large satchel on her side. Instead of dodging, I cast a spell that Witch-Ape Orange taught me to catch falling boulders. Boulders were a big problem on one side of the camp, for Gnomes always tried to attack the apes with them. Anyhow, The spell completed, casting a pure black net above me. Cackling as it did so. The pegasus seemed to be in shock, for her winds were pelted together, ramming into my net. "Owww." The pegasus said in a feminine voice,"Are you al-" The, presumably, mare stares at me. 'Why is she staring at me?' I look at myself and realize something. No, it was not that I was standing on my hind hooves, but I looked... different. My coat was a pure black, not having a single light colored hair, while my mane was pure red. My muzzle was a dark gray, making me look.... "You look awesome!" the mare says, breaking me out of my thought. Again. I look back at her, my eyes seeming to water. "What is wrong with me?" I say, quivering. I de-summon the black net, causing the mare to hit the ground softly. I curl into a ball, seeing that my tail, too, looks very different. I move my tongue around my mouth, noticing something odd. My teeth have changed as well. I have one oddly sharp tooth, while the rest are normal. I shiver, for a mild wind has passed by me, and begin to question everything. 'Am I even me anymore? Why do I have a sharp tooth? I have hooves and a muzzle, so at least I am still a pony, but with a sharp tooth? Why is my coat different? Is this even my body? Am I dr- "Hello?" a calm voice says into my ear, causing me to nearly spaz out. I look at the slightly startled mare, seeing that she had confusion in her eyes. "Why are you curling into a ball?" She says, as I suck up my tears. "I am not me." She looks in confusion. "I do not look like I did yesterday." "Do you mean you got a manecut?" "No! My entire body feels different!" I nearly yell. She jumps back, even more startled and confused, and says,"At least you are still yourself. Right?" I look at her and... smile. "I guess I am." She smiles as well, saying,"Well, I have to go now, I will see you later..." "Sour Lemon." i say to the mare. She looks at me for a full minute, seemingly shocked. "What?" I say, staring at the mare. She grabs my hoof, shouting,"Are you sure you are Sour lemon?!" "....Yes?" I say, confused. She says nothing and takes off, wobbling in mid-air as she went. 'This is getting weird.' Shrugging off what just happened, I go due north, to the Canterlot Express Route. While walking on my hind hooves, I start to check out my new body, seeing how different it is from my old one. My mane looks extremely different, but not because of the color change. My mane feels... lighter. My mane is the same size as last time, but lighter, which is very odd to me. Also, something else that is odd, is that my voice sounds a bit different than normal. "Always lo- OK..." Did my voice just crack? ... (processing...) I am 'growing'. Is that why I changed? That is... Awesome, since the mare liked it too. Mare? ... (Idiot processing again...) "She was the first pony I have ever met, and I just let her walk away!" I yell, slamming my front hooves into the nearest tree. "Sorry Mr. Tree." I say to the tree, feeling its pain. I get away from the injured tree and walk to the 'express route'. Whatever that is. 5 hours ago... "Derpy?" Applejack says to me,"Are you there?" Everyone taunts me about my eyes, since they are always pointing the wrong way, but some people take it too far. Applejack never does that, which is why she is my friend. "Yeah!" I say, my voice exploding out of my control. Applejack smiles at me, just like everyone else, with sympathy, and says,"Can you deliver this mail to Braeburn?" I look at the envelop, seeing a sad apple sticker on it. "What is it about, if you don't mind!" I say, as if I was exclaiming it. I can never control myself, but I will try. Applejack stares at me, like usual, and says,"It is about the Lemon's family annual search party..." "..." I take the letter, carefully putting it into my satchel. I take off, knowing that this was of grave importance. ... I wish that the Lemon's did not disappear. Rushing up to the counter of the odd building with a 'toll' sign, I hear a mare saying,"10 bits to cross." 'what?' "10 bits or you cannot cross." She said in monotone, her redish color blinding me. 'Is she trying to rob me?!' I run away from the scary theif-lady, straight through the 'toll' and towards Canterlot. "You are not taking my stuff, thief!" I yell backwards. ... I finally made it to these pearly gates, the white castle in my sight. Staring in awe at the beauty of the scene, I almost forget my surroundings. Snapping back to reality, I hear a loud, masculine voice say,"Halt! You did not pay the 10 bit toll, law-breaker, n-" I scream, surprised at the odd white thief. Seeing his confused expression, I quickly aim my horn at him. "Disappear thief!" I say, shooting my most powerful spell. It was used to kill bandits trying to attack my family, so of course the thief just exploded. I smile at the corpse, knowing there must be more of them around. I take the golden armor and don it. "I might want to blend in." I say, cleaning the armor of burnt flesh. For some reason, I was never afraid of the dead, only the living. Grandpa Gray said it might be because I have suffered through 'trauma', whatever that is. Ponies that try to hurt me will fall, for why should I let them kill me? Or steal from others? I am just doing what any good pony would do. Smiling, I take the dead pony's pony-tag, which had his information, and wear that too. "Hmm..." it said 'White' in the color part of the tag, but I am in no way white. Using my magic yet again, I morph the words to say 'Black'. Smiling, I say,"This is actually kind of fun!" 'I should find more of these golden guys, and put a stop to them!' Infiltration.With this heavy-ish armor on, I am very uncomfortable. My vest seems to be trying to stick to the armor, for it is a weird object, so I have to manually morph the thing. I learned how to morph the thing when a lot of bandits came to our village. This vest, albeit weird, is very magical, for it became hard (but light) every time I almost got hit, deflecting the bandit's weapon/hands. I love this vest. Anyway, I check the dog tag again, for there may be more information I needed... [Name: Sour Lemon Rank: Recruit Fur color: Black Barrack Location: Southern Gate HQ] 'Southern gates?' I look towards the gate that I wandered to, finding something that made me happy. It said 'Southern gate' in bright yellow letters, making me smile. My smile, with the large tooth poking out, looks like something an evil person would do, for it looked wrong on me. ... Did I just insult myself? Disregarding that odd situation, I walk forward, into the southern gate. The room is gray and dull, seeming to tear away at the fabric of happiness of the outside world... A human, aging and nearly starving, is seen wearing a confusing outfit. The outfit seems to be a combination of THE fallen nation's police uniform and the average, black, police outfit. The old man is sitting at a desk, a piece of paper in his left hand and a pen by his resting right arm. The man picks up a pair of glasses, golden with clear lenses and begins to read the paper out-loud. "Day 234 of the assassin's imprisonment, My liege, it seems that this young child never quits, for everyday he seems to try his best to escape, but to no avail. I, Prof. Cornwallis, am very afraid of his mental health, for even the last, silent, prisoner never tried to escape. Anyways, his mental state seems to be one of S.P.D., or Split Personality Disorder, for there are some days that his is extremely quiet, but others when he is extremely violent. Prison Guard Albert was attacked by our prisoner, but not one person mis-heard his pleas for help, so every guard came to the aid of old Albert, saving his life. In fact, the prisoner is so lost in his mind that he thinks he has only been here a week! We know that we are NOT supposed to kill prisoners, even if they are terrorists, but all of us here at the prison hope to slaughter this man and end his pain." The old man said, a large strain on his throat. The old man reaches for his cup of tea on the other side of the desk, but someone knocks on his door. *Knock knock* "Come in." The old man says as cheerfully as possible. The door knob began to turn, a small creaking noise emanating from it, and finally a burst of wind replaced this old-dry room. A burly man, much younger than his elder, steps forward to the desk. The room lost all tension for that moment as the burly man clasped his hands together and said,"My liege, we have some problems." My body, twisting and turning, began to do its ultimate spell. Color changing. I know that there is stronger kinds of magic out there, but darn it, I have no training. The only reason I even got this spell was when I was a baby... ... I absolutely forgot what I did then, but oh well. The pain of this spell is minor compared to being hit by an arrow (Only once), so I just shrug as my color becomes white. 'Might as well take the color of the last thief.' I sigh, walking by the main door of the Southern HQ of the thieves and hope, to the omni-potent beings, that I will be passed as one of them. Before opening the door though, I remember something EXTREMELY important. ... I am walking on my hind hooves. Grunting, I lower my front side, hoping I would not fall as I did before, and walk. My muscles contracted in such a way that my eye-balls started to feel the pain. 'I gotta push through this...' I thought, moving ever faster. A long period of time passed, the pain becoming excruciating, until I finally made it to the door... that was only a foot away. *Sigh* I begin to turn the knob using my horn, but instead of getting a magic-detector check or anything I expected, I got nothing except the door opening. '...' Looking through the now open door, I notice what is odd with this room. 1) it has pure gray walls, cracked and dry, while the rest of the city is golden. 2)Everypony seems to have a freeday, for nopony is here. 3)I have actually made a list in my head. Grunting, I walk, on all fours, to the middle of the room. A near-silent echo is heard for each of my hoofsteps, scaring the mane off-a me. ... I turn, using all of my leg muscles to do this complicated task, and see something I missed. Another door. Smiling a bit, I walk towards the door for a full 2 minutes, gasping for breath afterwards... Then I walk on my hind legs. 'They are not here right now, so they will not see me, but if one spots me, I will just say I was popping my spine... yeah.' *Another sigh* I open the door with my horn again, hearing its odd crackle. The sound of the door opening was silent compared to my magic's musical crackles. *Cra-ckle Crack Crack-le ...* it went amusing me for a full minute. 'I need to stop wasting time!' I think, stopping my magic. Seeing the door open, I walk on my hind hooves to check out what is in this room... "Oh. No." I say, in a grumbling fashion. In this room houses the most evil thing in all of my knowing, seeming to taunt me with its near-perfection. It was gray, seeming to be as dull as the walls, but was the most formidable thing ever. What I saw was.... Stairs. "Why does it have to be stairs!" I say, face-hoofing. Stairs have been my worst nightmare for my whole life, but I do not know why. The only times I saw stairs were when I was at Aunt Yellow's hut in the largest tree, for she was too old to climb. Uncle Beige always kept me company whenever I was at my aunt's house, but I never knew how they knew eachother. ... I am getting off track. *Grunt* I move towards the stairs, my mind cowering in fear and annoyance, and walk forwards... just as a loud-blarring sound came from the center of the town. A guard, emblazoned in many medals, runs towards the sound, expecting somepony to explain what the buck was going on. But, before he could make a pony tell him what was going on, he saw it. It laid there, reeking of pure nasty, seeming to gulp up all of the happy in this city. It was on a large strecher, a couple of doctor ponies leading it away... It was a corpse. The corpse was so mangled, that nopony knew who it was, but everypony knew one thing. There was a murderer on the loose, and only the guards could stop it. The emblazoned guard runs up to the closest guard he could find to figure out the situation, but when he heard, he gasped. This body was not killed by any normal magic, on no, but instead, as killed by magic equal to the Alicorn Amulet, if not greater than. The body, even though the doctors said it was killed recently, looked as though it was cooked, exploded, fried, and then served to a few canniponies. This corpse made almost everypony cough-up their lunch and a few guards frowned, but one thing was so certain that even the most naive pony would understand. The first murderer in a few centuries has come to their capital city, but did not trigger the 'I will harm everyone' alarm, meaning he must be eaither A)Insane or B) Clueless... meaning that the person could act absolutely normal at anytime... "This is the hardest case I will ever take." Said the emblazoned guard. "Yes it is," piped up a smaller, weaker guard,"Shiny Stone sir." The guards both stare at the doctors, who began to fly the corpse away on a stretcher, and continued to stare until the corpse was gone. "Come on rookie, we have to go find out who died." Shiny Stone said. "Yes sir!" The rookie said. They share one faint smile before beginning the hunt. Returning to the dull, gray room of the human world, the old man is seen reading another note. The old man, setting aside the note, looks on in horror at the younger, burly man. "My god..." The old man said, trying to get up,"Not if I-" A loud click, followed by a massive push of air and flame, pummel the king,sending him cascading into the wall and expell all of his blood. "There is a new king in town...." The burly man said, smiling at the dead king,"And it is me, father." The burly man walks up to the desk that his father sat in, taking the collection of notes on the table and beginning to read them, he laughs. He grabs a pen, making sure to copy his father's penmanship exactly, and began to write many things to this 'Guard.' Writing it, he began to speak it, for some reasons. "My honorable guard, I too want this man to die now, but I wish for him to suffer. Please put him through Interrogation-chamber #1, 2, and 3, for he deserves it. Signed, your liege." The man laughs, his laugh seeming to crack along the way. "My dear, old father, how I always wished to do this..." the man said, still laughing, reaching for his father. ..................................................................................................................................................................... A few hours later, the old man is seen sitting at his desk again, but his body seems to be larger... and more muscular. "Who is the new king, I am the new king!" exclaimed the old man, his mouth looking much different than before. The old man looks behind him,"That smell is getting to me son, please get it away." On the floor, a small body laid without any skin at all... "Come on son, do as I say!" The 'old man' said, laughing. The laugh continued on for about an hour, scaring the daylights out of any passer-byes. The old man looks down at his big-muscular hands and grabs a pen. I do not know.The sound was odd, for unlike the coconut siren in my old village, this one seemed to be much livelier, emanating panic throughout the land. Walking, on my hind legs, up the stairs, I see a small window. A window embezzled with gold and other fancy materials, shining from the direct light. 'What time is it?' I think, moving upwards towards the window, wanting to see many things, but I mainly wanted to check the time. Straining my legs to move up my entire body, I start to see a glimpse out the window from a few steps below it. The time was, indeed, night, but something was off about it. The moon, unlike normal days, seemed a little sad for some reason. The reason was probably the fact that a hero had to KILL a criminal, but all evil must be stopped! Continuing to walk, a small pain in my flank, I begin to look at the walls of this stairway, seeing paintings of the bandits. Some were painted in a battlefield against the griffens, for what reason is unknown, while another depicts the bandits... earning a medal? ... This makes no sense, for why would bandits get medals? Were they hired mercenaries in some war or something? If not, then something is very amiss. I grunt, looking downwards at the amount of stairs I have climbed.Counting each of them with my mind, the answer baffled me. Fifty. I have only climbed fifty stairs in a few hours, meaning I am very poor at walking on my hind legs. "Dang." I say with an odder voice than ever before,"What the-!?" I exclaim, wanting to know why my voice sounded like some gorilla-book villain. I cannot remember the name, but it was somewhere along the lines of Night-man. But, I did not care much, for I had some bigger problems coming from upstairs. "Hey!" A loud, booming, male voice says, hoofsteps with increasing intensity coming nearer,"What are you doing he-" he stops, looking at me. "Oh, a newbie, eh?" I nod without thinking, "Well, it seems you have a good sense of your surroundings, for you are already in melee battle stance!" He says, a small grin on his face. Observing him, he seems to have a damaged eye, for one had a scar through it, and he was entirely white, ESPECIALLY his mane. I really dislike his mane. I look at him, trying my best not to quiver in fear,"W-where do I go, sir?" to which, he replies with a thinking pose. Unlike the other bandit, he wore no armor, so he may be important. "Well, the armory is downstairs, but you don't need that yet, the kitchen is upstairs, and the royal guard center is upstairs..." he continued to ramble, but I paid no heed, for something just exploded my mind. "Royal... guard?" I mutter under my breath, looking at the... royal guard standing in front of me. "...My chambers is right by the pub, so tell all of your fillyfriends..." he still ranted, seeming to ignore me. Using this to myself, I let my mind wander down to the depressing thoughts. 'The one thing I did not want to do, cause harm, is what I did and more. I am now in someone else's hooves AFTER killing them, taking their place and life... I feel dirty.' "Are you listening?" the stallion barked. "Yes, sir!" I said, trying not to blow my cover with the tears I am about to shed,"But I have somewhere I remembered to go, so excuse me ,Sir!" He nods. I run on my hindhooves all the way down the stairs, my muscles burning with pain that chilled me all the way, and escape out the main door. 'What have I done!' My mind blares, destroying any other thought I had. 'I did not just kill an innocent, I killed a protector, a pony who made their life for good...' I tilt my head to the left slightly,'But...' I sit on my flank near the main door,'It felt odd.' I memorize the intense emotions of killing that stallion and how GOOD they were, I mean, they felt as if I was being pulled inside some deep, dark, yet happy, goo. I was being covered in emotion, but I barely recognized it... 'What sort of monster kills for FUN?!' I yell into my mind, my face cringing. I sit there, thinking... 'The guard did try to take some bits from me I stand up on my hind hooves, feeling wetness on my face. I had been crying. ... it's all justified... I wipe that cringe off my face, beginning to smirk at my reasoning. nothing is wrong...' I clean off my tears, taking off the armor and tag, and placed them in front of me. 'I just have to get rid of the evidence.' I concentrate my magic, performing a spell I used to help build huts around our city. The pressure in my horn, while painless, made me feel like I was being crushed. The pressure kept on building up, crushing my thoughts and dimming my perception of my surroundings. The area around me, including the door, began to distort, mainly due to the hallucinations this spell creates for me to keep me focused. I grunt, my throat feeling sore and inoperable, feeling the pressure release from my horn, heating up the area in front of me. The pain of the release was minimum, but the pleasure was absolute, filling my entire being with the joy of a spell gone right. The outcome of this spell was 50/50 for me: The metal of the armor and tag were melted to an indistinguishable,molten pool, but my mind began to play tricks on me. General Guerrilla Gorilla always tole me about hallucinations, for he always has them of the days of war between tribes, but they soon made peace afterwards. He always said,'Hallucinations are things you must ignore, for if you accept them, you will go mad!', or at least I think he said that, for most Generals of the Gorilla army can speak Equestrian, but not like me. So, in regards to General Guerrilla, I just ignored all of the hallucinations, especially the speaking ones. I waited, for about a minute or two, for the hallucinations to dissipate from my sight. Blinking, I go from the insane hallucination world to the normal one, my eyes feeling bloodshot. 'I should go to the immigration office, for Lion Gorilla told me I would be an immigrant to my own kind a loong time ago.' I make sure my vest has everything first, hugging Mr.Bubblepants before I finished, and began to walk, on my hind legs, to the center of the city/town/capital. ... I have barely walked 10 feet, slowly as to not cause suspicion, and I already see how populated this city is. There are many ponies, dressed in shiny attire in this heat, and they all have their heads pointed up... with their eyes closed. Looking more closely, I see some thu- I mean guards- hidden among the citizens, but their pure gold armor makes them noticeable to the most blind of ponies. Amused and baffled at how the dressed up ponies can see where they are going, I chuckle a little, earning some attention to a guard next to me. "Somepony died today, but you are laughing," he said sadly,"Why?" I look towards the sad pony and see everything he was wearing. He has the normal attire of the guards, but he also had all these medals streamed across his neck and torso. I smile, turning to the guard,"I will giv you an answer, but you must know it will be long." I said, wanting to speak with somepony... even if I only talk. He nods. "I smile not because I am happy, but because, out of all odds, I am alive. I, a pony with no parents, have lived with only gorillas as parents, but yet I live. I have gone through many raids, deaths, and tragedies inside my clan, but I still remain." I grin,"If happiness cannot win, all is lost, but as of right now, happiness is here. If I die, it would continue on, crushing time and space itself, so," I heightened my voice,"happiness will continue on after all is gone, but sadness shall always be there too. We must never allow sadness to win, but we must embrace it at times... but now is not the time." Iclose my eyes, taking a pose,"It is time to repent for all our evils, find joy in sorrow, and bring happiness to the dead." I silently pose there, waiting for a reply, but I got something else instead. Applause. I open my eyes, seeing not just that one guard beside me, but also seeing a large group of ponies with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. I look to the guard, seeing him smile, but still crying a it,"Son,"he started off,"Who are you?" I grin, always wanting to say this,"I am Sour Lemon, raised by gorillas, and I wish to be a citizen of this fine country!" I hear more applause, but I hear quiet hoofsteps approaching me. Turning to the sound, I see a pure white pony with no mane, smiling at me. "I am Emma Great, the immigrant office executive, and I would like you to come to my office for your test." she said, smiling. I smile back, knowing I have just taken the first step of my journey. Applejack and Braeburn are in a small shop in Canterlot, taking a small break from the Lemon family search, when they hear something odd. "I am Sour Lemon, raised by gorillas, and I wish to be a citizen of this fine country!" Applejack spits out the small cracker she had been eating, hitting Braeburn in the process. Braeburn, while disgusted, doesn't care as he rising from the table quicker than Applejack. Applejack rises, slowly because she just ate and look out the window. Sure enough, there was a crowd, but there was nopony in the center of the crowd, baffling Braeburn and Applejack. "What in tarnation happened?" Applejack said, exiting the shop. An energetic blue pony, tears in her eyes, but smiling, says,"A pony named Sour Lemon just made an amazing speech about happiness!" she said, tears of joy(?) waterfalling off her face, hitting the ground in front of Applejack. "Where did he go?" Applejack and Braeburn said in unison. The energetic pony pointed to the gates,"I thi-" Applejack and Braeburn did not listen, running out the city in a flash, causing the pony to slam her flank on the ground,"nk he went to the immigration office, but let me go grab my stuff at the gate....." she said, rambling on. ... Applejack and Braeburn run for miles, searching every stone for Sour Lemon, but came up with nothing. "Gosh darn it!" Applejack yells into the sky, angry about the missed chance. Braeburn looks towards Applejack with the same agitated face she had,"I am going to stay in Canterlot to make sure he isn't there, you go search the roads!" Applejack nods, determined to find Sour Lemon. They both ran, examining their surroundings to make sure Sour wasn't there. I sit in a plain white office, reeking of limes for some reason, as a mare walks in, handing me a document. "Are you ready for your test?" she said, happy. I gulp, thinking of all the fighting tests the General Gorillas put me through, but sighed of relief once the document hit my hooves. "Yes, ma'am." I said, confidently,"but... I cannot write without some help." I confess. The mare smiles and takes the document from me,"Alright, lets do the oral test." I nod, knowing its meaning from Madam Le Gorilla, my teacher. "Who is the leader of Equestria?" "Princess Celestia is the main ruler of Equestria." I say. She nods. "What is the name of Celestia's sister?" "Luna." She nods. ... it went on like this for an hour, but the questions got slightly harder. "What is the square root of pi?" "1.77245385091" I say, grinning. She nods. "Well then! You got 100/125 questions right!" She gets up from her desk and reaches out her hoof,"Welcome to Equestria Sour Lemon." 'On my first day here, I killed somepony. This is such an odd welcoming... Welcome to me indeed.' "Mrs. Emma, thank you for your time." I say, like a gentlecolt (it was a question I got wrong) should. I shake her hoof. "Oh, I am not married, so call me Emma." she said, blushing a bit after I grasped her hoof. After a good shake, I let go of her hoof and begin to walk towards the door. "Um.." Emma said, causing me to stop for a moment,"Would you like to get some coffee sometime? For a celebration that is!" she said, covering herself. "Sure!" I say. Exiting the room, I hoof-pump with sheer joy and glory. 'Finally! A friend!' Uh-ohThe ground beneath my hindhooves rumbles slightly, making me stumble a bit before correcting myself. I look around, wanting to see what everyone is doing. Many ponies are roaming around outside, seeming to be looking for something, so I use my height (I am on my hindhooves. Duh.) to my advantage, I peer over the hoard of ponies. I look left in right, trying to pinpoint some clue as to why everyone was hoofing it around town. A loud, obnoxious voice booms from my left, babbling about something, so I decide to listen, but I missed a few words at the beginning. "... So if any of you can find Sour Lemon, please report to me, Braeburn!" 'Why would he...' My eyes dilate to the size of pinpricks,'They must have found out!' I quickly duck into a bush, scrapping my flank upon entry. I peer out the areas of dead bush, awaiting the area to be clear. 'How could they have found out?' I question myself, retracing my steps. 'First, he verbally assaulted me, then I became scared and blew him to bits... eh...' I shrug, hurting my forelegs in the process by hitting a hard branch. '... Doesn't that make me a criminal?' I think, rubbing my forelegs with their other. Suddenly, I hear a loud, blaring noise, louder than the 'alarm' from earlier. Peering out of the bush once more, I prepare myself for a giant mob of ponies to attack this tiny, weak bush that covers me. ... But, instead of alot of ponies trying to arrest me, I see a large shadow blanket over this pristine city. The shadow made all of the ponies afraid for some reason, so I decided to look up... 'Oh horseapples.' It was huge, covering a vast amount of the sky, dimming all around it. 'Is that...' Instead of being covered by any type of flesh, it seemed to have no flesh at all... 'Oh sweet Celestia...' General Guerrilla Gorilla had fought one of these in a story of his... losing his 'golden' thumb in the process. 'A dracolich.' "AUGHooHA" it bellowed, shaking the ground beneath it. I try to run,but absolute terror makes me tremble instead. I raise my head up, out of the bush, and glare at it. It was starting to descend near me, meaning I need to lay low, unless I'll be discovered.Its wings still had pieces of flesh on them, seeming to flap in the wind, as it descended towards some coffee shop. I gulp, digging deeper into this bush, hoping it would seclude me from the behemoth. It continued to screech and moan, the blood-curdling echo of its bones smacking together reaching my ears for the first time. Digging evermore deeper, I feel a slight tingle in my nose. 'Uh-Oh' My nose started to contract, and in one swift motion, I let out an itchy liquid from my nose. I rub my nose, hoping the dragon did not hear that, but knowing I was, most likely, doomed to an odd death. "AURgHah!" it bellowed, seeming louder and angrier than before. I peer out, one more time, hoping to all the deities that it did not just roar at me... what I see did not help me in the least. The dracolich was moving towards my bush, crushing some red goop beneath it... Red goop? I look at the goop one more time, seeing it covering the foot of the mighty dracolich... seeming to stick to its bones. ... but that does not help me at all. I look upward towards its face, wanting to know what it is looking at. Its glowing, empty eyes were staring back at me, making me tremble more than ever before. "Mortal!" it bellowed,quietly, at me, making me slightly confused. "I have a deal for you." I slowly rise out of the bush, making sure he saw my every movement. Would not want him to be untrusting of me. "Y-y-yes, giant, scary dracolich?" I squeaked, seeming to catch its attention. "... help me." '...what?' I look at it, eyes full of confusion. "The powerful magic guards of this country are going to be taking my life, but I wish no ill-will. It is just..." "Just what?" I ask, my quizzical side taking over my fear. A blackened stream of smoke blazed from its nose, seeming to calm it down a bit more."I will take something from you, something I cannot steal, in return for your life." "Sure." I blurt out, my fear of death making me take the only living route possible... or did it? "... You are either extremely generous or afraid beyond all belief," A bit of both, actually,"so I promise, if I live, I will ---" *Crash* I look towards the sound, but what I saw made me half-grin and half-frown. Magical guards, each armed with superior magic amplifiers, were shooting large, magic, boulders at the (Kind?) dracolich, even though he doesn't bear any ill-will. "Get him!" a mage upfront said, rushing towards the (male?) dracolich. The other mages followed, charging their weapons as they ran. Even though they were going to kill a monster... I couldn't have it. I jump out of the bush, chanting a sacred chant at the guards, catching them... off-guard. I list off many deities from dreams of the gorilla civilization, hoping that they would assist me in this one spell, for just this once. My hooves charge black, enveloping my main body in a shroud of darkness in the process. I look straight at the lead mage, glaring at him with the force of only one god. A god that can only help a mortal once before fading back into its realm. I shake my head back and forth, rising my forehooves up to my standing position. "You will not harm this creature, although he did kill." They stare at me in bewilderment, saying something I pretended not to hear, but I knew all too well. "That is the same type of magic that killed our guard brethren!" I grin, knowing I just stupidly cast aside all my hopes and aspirations of a future in peace, but what can I do? Besides... it was bound to happen sooner or later. "Urgh!" I groan slightly, feeling the final parts of the spell taking place. I run to the side of the large dracolich, grabbing his large leg in the process. He, too, began to darken, albeit quicker than me, and we vanished. "How could this have happened!" a burly guard yelled at the lead mage. The mage shuffled back a bit, scared of the guard's outbusurst, and said,"How could we know a 4-star mage, who is unidentified by the way, would waltz in front of us with a veil of DARK MAGIC?" the mage yelled back, making the guard himself back off. The guard, angered at he situation, just huffs and walks away. The head mage, also angered at the failure, trots off to the mare's room to wash up. She, in all of her days, has never met anypony stupid enough to jump in front of a beast and SAVE it... 'Wait,' she thought, opening the door to the mare's room,'Why did we let him leave without a fight?' She looks into the mirror, seeing her dull, gray eyes stare back at her with amusement. 'I am going to find you, whoever you are.' She then laughs, scaring the shit out of a pony in a stall... literally. A black haze goes across my vision, protecting me from whatever may bump into me during travel, and my arms were growing numb due to the dracolich's weight. I cannot breath, for there is nothing to breath in this space. We are in the Gorilla Magic Bunker, a (not finished) bunker made by the mage gorillas around 50 years ago. We never really needed it. Suddenly, I hear a loud *fztt* from behind me. Curious, I look backwards, seeing the dracolich in its black-haze form. "Where are we?" it- no he, asked. "We are nowhere important, so we should be going." "Where?" He asked, a slight quizzical voice in him. "Do you have a home?" "Yes... why?" "Picture your home, imagine EXACTLY where it is, what it looks like, and how much light enters it." I demand, knowing exactly what to do. I am running out of usable air, so I hold my breath as he concentrates. He nods his head, seemingly finished with his thoughts. I smile, raising my forehoof again, enveloping us in darkness once more. ... Warmth wraps around me, granting its life-giving, anti-cold, stuff. Squawks and chatters are heard all around me, making me feel very good, so I lean back to rest... until I hit something. Hard. "Get off me." he demanded, seeming to be much less cheery than when we were in the portal. All of the darkness fades from our bodies, going back into my hoof. "Are you going to take it or what?" I ask him, slightly wondering what he meant to take. He looks directly at me, nearly making me tremble again, and says,"Goodnight." *THWAP* and all the warmth escaped me. Pipe dreams. (Short chapter. Sick)My body feels sore all over, seeming to squeeze my muscles to a small extent, for I felt weaker. It may have just been the soreness, but as I try to open my eyes, I feel a significant amount of pain in my eye lids, causing me to squint. Using my squinted eyes, I look around me for any sign of the dracolich I had saved some-time ago... But only see a seemingly never-ending forest beside a gigantic mountain. *Ding* "What time is it?" I say, my throat seeming the same, albeit hurt. I look upwards, hoping to see some sign of the sun, but instead, I saw a glistening moon... Meaning I have been out this entire day, or more. "Ugh." I groan, moving from my spot, hearing *pops* from all over my body. 'I wonder where that dracolich is...' *Snap* '...?' I hear mumbling from where the snapping sound came from. The way they spoke reminded me of the 'Royal Guard' ponies... '... I should get out of here.' Moving even more upward, my hindhooves touch the ground. I attempt to take one step, and succeed, but feel a great pain from it. "Urk!" I yelled silently, hopefully not attracting the attention of... "Hey! Who's there?!" a loud, gruff voice said. I point my hoof in his direction, trying to make a cloak of magic to prevent him from seeing me, and concentrate. ... And concentrating did nothing. Not a single spark of magic left my hoof. I just stare at my hoof in surprise, mouth agape. "Hey!?" said the voice again. I needed to do the most stallion-like thing I could think of to evade this guard. Something with class so high, every mortal being wants to do it secretly. I crouched, aiming my body directly at the voice and... Ran in the opposite direction. "What is that noise?" I heard before leaving his field of sight... But not for long. The guard cast a magical field, cascading around the entire area around me. Now in a heap of pure fear, I jump into the nearest hole I could find... Only to land into a pipe. But not any pipe, I landed in a sewage pipe, rusted and abandoned. There is light on the other side of this pipe, but I think it would be safer to stay out of sight for some time and not just escape into the outside. I am sure the guard has eyes. My teeth slightly chatter, just now feeling the coldness of metal that surrounded me. My nose slightly curled up, just happy that this wretched smell was not a 'fresh smell'. I am so tired... I take out Mr. Bubblepants, happy that he is not in harm, and hug him slightly. I felt so tired... The air is dry, but the sky was pure gray, making the world seem darker around me. Coal and burnt wood float through the air to my nostrils, making me feel dirty from the inside-out, but it was normal. Times never change in this world of oddities, for people always fly around on their boards, hoping to go into boxes that look all the same. Everytime I walk this path to my house, all I see are houses just like mine. There is a green one, a pink one, a blue one, and a yellow one. They're all made by the government and they all look the same. The people in this country, themselves, are not very different. There are doctors, lawyers, and business executives who each came from large boxes called 'universities' when they graduated from the smaller, colorful boxes of 'grade school'. This land is so boring. I notice a small crunching sound underneath my feet, meaning I am walking. Walking to my home. My neighbors, who are twins, wave at me, just as they do everyday. I wave back, for it is routine, and get out my keys.They feel cold, but that is just how it is. This world is much colder than it is supposed to be from The Plan, but at least we did not melt. Grabbing the lock, I insert the key, making a sound that I remember so well... because I have heard it everyday for fifty years. "I am home." I say opening the door, yawning as routine. I close the door softly behind me, ready to get to my 'homework' and finally finish it. I take off my heavy clothing, which had included many things like; A heavy, black, undercoat; A large gray coat; A large black hoodie; Lumberjack pants; and my 'Heavy Duty' underwear. I then put on my casual t-shirt and underpants to begin the routine. For this one last time I wake up drowsy, unable to remember much about the dream other than 'home'. Home looked nothing like my home, which is the biggest hut the gorillas own, but much more like a home I saw in Canterlot.. without color. ... I am still tired and fear that that the ponies may be outside still, so I go back to sleep... The time is now. This routine is going to end by my hands, and my hands only, for I am going to do something stupid. Something so stupid that no human on our planet will forget, or forgive, me. I am going straight for the king... "Where is he?" bellowed a guard, seemingly old. I have been hiding in the same spot for four days now. Inside an abandoned (and clean?) sewer. "I could've sworn I heard something over here, Captain." said a much younger guard, hoofsteps becoming louder. I have no way of escape anymore. "Come on out Sour Lemon, we know you were the one who freed that monster!" said the old guard, hoofsteps growing louder by the step. They know where I am. All I can do now is hold still and hope that they, and all the ponies who have seen me, would forget me and move on their merry way. *Clop.* ... *CLop* ... Go away... *CLOp* ...Please... *CLop* "I can't see him, Captain!" said the younger one. Oh thank... Celestia? I look a little down, seeing a slight reflection of my tooth.Isn't she the pony who commands these ponies to chase me? Isn't she the one who wants me behind bars for what I did? I start to shake, knowing I am just going paranoid. I mean, Celestia doesn't actually want MY hooves in chains... Right? Right? *Clank* goes a peice of metal above me, whamming into my skull, making me go face-first into the metal BELOW me as well. I lose all feeling again, but this time I fear I could wake up in chains... Author's Note Followers! I will let you decide something about this story! But you will not know what! On a pair of cards I have a plots written down on each, but they take different paths. Just comment Card A or Card B. A Grave Situation.The shattering of glass echos throughout my eardrums, waking me up from my dream. I know not where I am, but something is extremely off. An odd smell is emitting out of the area behind me, but as I look back, I only see a wall. I see many things graphed onto this wall, but it is too dark in this room to read them. I raise my hand to feel them, to see if I can decipher by touch what they mean. The wall is filled with gaps, making deciphering impossible. The wall itself feels grainy, as if they put no effort in constructing this wall. The question of my location remained unanswered, making me jitter in fear. This was, quite possibly, worse than the dracolich, for at least he was kind-ish. In a fit of panic, fear, and my slight hope of everything, I start banging on the walls, hoping someone would come to my aid. *Pound* I went onto the wall behind me. The first wall gave no answer, so I move onto the next wall, the one to my left, and bang on that one. *Po-oound~* Echoed the wall. 'Huh?' I thought, looking at the echoing wall,'How thin is this wall?' I asked, still hearing the echo. I am about to bang on it once more, but a voice booms into my ears. "Stop bangin' on those walls, scum, for no pony can hear you except me." A brash, loud voice said to me, seeming to come from all directions. "W-," I grab my neck, noticing it is covered completely by some collar, paining when I speak. The pony(?) laughs throughout the room,"Uh- uh-uh, no speaking." I just look around, my eyes becoming used to the darkness. All of the walls look the same, each with the bumps, cracks, and other assortments strewn about them, except one. The one behind me. The one behind me was seemingly thicker than the rest of the walls, so I start pushing onto it, hoping it was a door. "Urk!" I went, my entire body being fried. The pony(?) yet again laughs, "You messed with us, so you are going to get what you deserve when we arrive." 'Us?' I questioned myself,'Who does he-' That is when it hit me once again. The guard. The guard I had killed, the murder I have been trying to say did not matter. The one I have been holding back on. I try to cry, but no tears came out. I tried to scream, but pain erupted through my body. I couldn't even move anymore. This world is a peaceful one, where even criminals are treated kindly, but if I am being tortured like this, it meant only one thing. I was going to be executed. I was going to die... 'No.' I started to pull onto the collar, through the pain, 'No no no no...' I tug even harder, pulling my muscles and paining myself while being electrocuted from the inside. I did not care if I felt pain, for pain is less than death. "NO!" I scream, ripping off the collar. "Huh?" said the pony(?). "Help! i think I am having a heart att-" *Fake cough* The pony(?) gasped, "Don't you dare die before I kill you!" he said. I hear him walk towards the thick door, hoping that this would work, and ready my muscles. They have been asleep for so long, but my life itself is on the line, so it quickly tenses up. *Clank* went a lock, meaning he was in front of the door. I continue to fake cough, crouching downwards, ready for my plan. "You better not-" I release my muscles, leaping into the air with all my might, hearing a loud crunch beneath my hooves as I begin to descend. My hooves are in pain, but this hurts him much more than it hurts me. As I land, I quickly turn towards my opponent, noticing a few things. 1) This was a gryphon, not a pony. 2) She is a woman. 3) She has an odd uniform, seeming to have multiple pockets not in use, a large badge with some symbols on it, and a large, silver object. She is holding her beak, surprised at my attack. She stares at me, her claw slowly reaching for the silver object on her side. "I think this cannot end with us being friends, can it?" I ask, grinning at her. I will not lose, even without something important... She grabs the silver object, with only one claw, and points it towards me, shouting, "Die you prick!" She reaches for a small trigger in the middle of the silver object, but I do not let her finish, "General Guerrilla's legendary attacks!" I scream, laughing. I quickly run in front of her, which my posture allows me to have the advantage. Since I am standing up straight, The General's attacks will be easy to duplicate. I swing my hoof towards the spot right behind her beak, but she quickly grabs my hand. Just what I wanted. With both of her hands full, one with the object and the other with my hand, I thrust my left hoof towards her stomach, feeling a loud crunch as I do so... A crunch? I look towards her stomach and I cannot believe what I saw. My ENTIRE hoof had gone through her rib cage... meaning I had killed another living being... "... I am so sorry..." I say, her object clattering to the ground and loosening her claw's grip on my hoof. Blood is being coughed up from her, tears evident on her face... But I feel no remorse for what I had done. She began to feel colder. Her life force seeming to weaken in my grasp. I do not know how long I stayed like that, but I know she was dead for quite awhile before I removed my hoof. I slowly laid her unto the ground, closing her open eyes. I know what I must do, though it pains me to do such a thing without it... Without my horn. I never stopped to think about it, but the dracolich taking my horn is odd. Anyways, I crouch downwards, grabbing her uniform and undressed her. I felt horrible about undressing her, but not killing her, which is odd. Searching through her belongings, I find a keycard, A map, keys, and, of course, her silver object. I let her keep her clothing and the object, figuring something weird out. The thing I was being transported in seemed to float off the ground... This thing levitated. Taking out the keys, I open the door, finding a small box on top of the dash board (Named after the inventor, Gorilla Glu told me many inventors) with the same key hole as the door. I unlock it and nearly cry. This entire time, I did not notice I was absolutely stark naked, until now. I take my vest, opening Mr. Bubblepant's zipper... only to not find him. I exit the vehicle, anger in my mind, and walk up to the gryphon lady... and smash her head in with a stone. I now am on the road again, my new map out, following a conspicuous trail on said map, and my old vest on. Driving without magic is hard for me, but I guess I am getting the hang of it. "Always look on the something- something ..." I laugh, smirking down the long, dirt path. I smile, heading down a long, treefilled forest path... Not knowing that this was a bad idea. Author's Note How do you like this chapter? -Rate -Comment ~~-Subscribe~~ - Follow Down the path. (Short chapter + a new story for my extremely small fan-base).My cold, sweaty hooves reach down towards an oddly shaped, rectangular object in the middle of a slit that is on the right of me. I grasp my hooves on the stick, wondering what this would do, and tug backwards. *KCarewkwa!* The thing I was driving in jolted upwards. My face felt like it was being pushed into my skull with great force, but I persevered. In the middle of this slightly painful sparse, I begin to hear something over the immense sound that was this flying thing's jets... Wait... Flying? I am just about to scream in slight delight about flying, until the noise from in front of me barked for my attention. "Agent? Where are you? Can you read me? Over." My heart-beat stops, knowing what this must be. This must be one of the inventions that my family told me about... What was it called? Something that begins with ra... ra... rad... radiation? No, that can't be it. Maybe I can ask Mr. Bubblepants... "Grrr..." I nearly forgot. that gryphon... griffon... , whatever, took my favorite being from me. Where could he be? I find a vague green and immediately press it. *Click* Instead of a crackling 'Kaboom' from that button, all of the force going up stopped... except my own. I ram into the ceiling of this thing and cascade down onto the wheel, hurt. I rub my head, making sure to not put any more force on my head than needed. "Hello? Agent!?" the thing in front of me screeched, "If you do not respond in five seconds, I will send in Delta Team!" One... 'Delta Team?' Two... I just stare at the noisy thing in front of me, wondering what exactly this 'Delta Team' was... Three... All I know is that it cannot be good. Four... I gulp, waiting for what may happen. Five... I just hope it isn't that bad... That cannot be too much to ask, could it? It has been many days since the old king was killed. The air is crisp and silent, only a lone man standing with a object straight from his father's old room. On a brand new, straight from the old royal chambers, is the old king's desk. This thing is chock-full of secrets, just waiting to be discovered. The desk is made of hand-crafted iron and wood, both made in the ancient civilization--England--and have more in common that you would think. "My father really did have good taste in objects," said the 'new' king, dressed in his 'royal' attire--consisting of his father's flesh and dye--that makes it a royal purple. No one suspects that the attire is made of human skin, for it was perfectly leather-ed by slaves. "He just never had good taste in ideals." he said, ripping open a large cabinet in the middle of the desk, splintering some of the wood. He grabs many papers, a smile upon his pale, malnourished skin. He hadn't eaten since he killed his father, so people would believe he truly felt grief or something pitiful like that. With papers in hand, his eyes scan through some of them, his smile growing larger and larger... Author's Note I am so terribly sorry for the short as heck chapter, but I have been busy at school, doing homework, drawing, and creating this for my small fan-base. I am trying to stay with ONLY one story, but my ideas are just to bouncy to let go... When school gets a little easier (Tests are done and stuff) chapters will come out faster than Poptarts™! Again, sorry for the short chapters. The show must go on!A few hours of maneuvering this behemoth into the forest for cover against the Delta Team was useless. In only a few minutes after parking, an ominous sound echoed above me. I quickly evacuate the vehicle, but something gets into my vision. Mr. Bubblepants was right behind the seat, along with some other things, so I snatch a few things, put them into my vest and a bag I got, and ran into the forest. ... "Come out with your hooves up!" echoed across the forest, seeming to come from my left. I ran right. I ran right into a tree. My already weakened body begins to feel faint, so I look into the bag of things I took. Moving Mr. Bubblepants from the top of the bag, I saw a few food-items that pleased me. I took a bar with a smeared label that read 'Energe', so it should be an energy source. Perfect. I tear off the wrapper, slowly walking right, and take a bite... My head fills with immense pain, as I writhe on the floor for a moment, but my head quickly clears. It REALLY clears. "Get over here!" yells a pony to my left... And I see him. Well, not him, really, but a vauge outline of him and the surroundings. I was seeing the area around me so clearly that I observed the pony, most likely a guard and male in the outfit, look feebish and scared from his movements. I smiled when I saw that nopony was right by him, so I looked around me. They had split up. The fools. I feel excited as I ran towards the guard-pony at a speed I never knew I could even go and saw his shocked face. He couldn't even speak a word before I smashed his face into the ground. He was alive and breathing, but probably was now concussed with brain damage. He, too, had a silver rectangle on his side, but that wasn't what I was interested in. I removed his guard clothing and put it on. I casually ran through the forest, going straight south (according to the sun) and smiled. I looked around me once more and saw a large group of ponies back North, most likely finding their comrade, for they made a lot of noise. Running much faster, I finally see the edge of the forest. but I do not leave the forest. I see many vehicles outside the edge of the forest. I wait, and listen... An hour passes, and I see something funny. I saw through the ground with my sound-sight thing, and saw an outline of a sewer of sorts. I follow the pipe deeper into the forest and find a broken lid. I remove the lid and go into the sewer, the guard's armor e not feel disgusting... or it could be the fact that the pipe was empty. I slowly moved through the pipe for even more hours and finally emerge on the surface from a lidless opening. I was blinded, for I have been in the sewers for so long, but saw no evidence of ponies around me. I rub my eyes, blinking, and the fuzzy lights dissipate. I was on top of a cliff, looking down onto a city. An empty, destroyed city. Author's Note Without my guy to help me out, I shall begin this series again! Why this one? Because I love it! The Beautiful City!Holding Mr. Bubblepants, I descend into the city streets from a small hill. All there is broken city structures, puddles, and pieces of wood. I go into a building, which had been barely touched compared to the rest, and see that it was only the outside that was untouched. The inside was dripping and cold, a hole from the ceiling being the only light source. Looking around in the dim light, I find a few hard, white sticks. I pick one up in my mouth, carrying it to the light. I drop the stick and nearly scream, for it was no stick. It was a bone. I looked around, seeing more and more bones appearing from the darkness, for my eyes have adjusted to the light. I look around the bodies, noticing that they were picked clean. As if an animal had devoured them after death, I hope. I go to a counter that survived. This must have been a bar, for a few shelves remained above the counter. I open an unopened one, seeing cylinders. I pick one up, and place it on the counter. In the dim light, it read, 'Beer Salt'. yes, this was a bar. I go behind the counter, seeing a door. I would have opened it, if it had a knob to begin with. I just push it down, but it lands inclined upwards. I pull it off the stairs and go upstairs, wondering what may have survived up here. Under another hole in the ceiling, I see something move. I walk to it, and it squeaks in fear. It is a little colt. It was surrounded by several cans of food and a can opener, but they were all empty. "Do you need help?" I say. I hear no response. Must be deaf, too. The little pegasus, blue and small for his apparent age, had an injured wing, too. I couldn't tell if he was lucky to be alive or unlucky to be so mutilated. I look back in the bag that I took stuff from the car in. I find a few foodstuffs like applesauce and lay it in front of the kid. He looks at me, his eyes full of fear. I shush him, and go downstairs. I find a drawer in the kitchen's remains (which is in another door-less are), and pick out a wooden spoon. I go back upstairs and give it to the kid. He begins to eat slowly, watching me. I wait for a minute or two before he finishes. I pick him up, him being surprised. He begins to kick me lightly, but is too weak to do any real damage. I carry him out of the store, covering his eyes as we leave the building. I look at a piece of the counter and repeatedly stab it with the spoon, forming words. I broke off the piece with the words, handing it to the kid. It read, 'Go into the forest, there is people looking for me there, but they will save you. Never mention me'. He still looks untrustingly at me, so I set him down and put the note back on the counter. I hand the kid a toy, the only one I ever had, and he picks him up. I did not want neither of them to feel the painful route I was going down any further. I pat the head of Mr. Bubblepants one more time, and look at the kid. I mouth my name, seeing if he knew how to read lips. "Lemoon?" he said, somewhat loudly. I nod my head, smiling. He points at himself, "Caesar." I smile at him, but then look to the woods. I point him towards the woods and hit his flank softly. He is shocked and begins to run. I turned the other direction, running further into the city. Alone. After a full hour of running, I finally found the source of the problem. This city used to be a riverbed, so they used a dam to block the water from draining here and created a city. It seemed that the dam, though, had a huge hole at the very top. The dam was probably 15 stories high, but it still overflowed, probably drowning everypony unlucky enough to be trapped inside. But where did the water go? I go up a heavily-chipped staircase, walking all the way up the the top of the dam. I look at the city, seeing what it must have been like. An entire forest surrounding a city, beautifully full of wildlife, and an entire lake up top to swim in. The years of life here were probably nice, with this nice wind from up top blowing leaves into the streets. I smile at what it once was, but then look at the hole that caused its downfall. The water level of the dam is right below the hole, but I am pretty sure taht is because the flood has died down. I look at the concrete they used to make the dam, discovering something awful. There was a small inscription that listed the years this thing was maintenance. It was not maintained for a few decades. Appalled at the blatant failure of the mayor's office, I look down stream. The water looked like fresh water, so I take a drink. IT was fresh. I trot down the river, seeing if any other cities were near this one. Hopefully not destroyed this time, though. Strange.After following the river for some time, I have realized some things. Firstly, the trees seem to be changing in an extremely unnatural way, for the trees are changing shape. At first, I thought it was just me seeing new trees by walking, but as I stopped after hitting a rock, the pine trees in front of me changed into palm trees. Though afraid, I continue on down this steam, my mind beginning to shake back and forth. The river seemed to be calmer the further down you went, and I could of sworn that I could walk right over it on my hindhooves. I go to the water's edge, a small squirrel scampering away from me, and dip a hoof in. The water was deeper and stronger than it appeared, nearly dragging my entire body underwater. I pull out my hoof, but something got stuck on it. I look closely, seeing yellow sprinkles of metal on my hoof. Gold. I shake my hoof over my pocket, putting the gold in my pocket. It must have come from upstream, so I continue on with my journey to find the source of this river, for I still hadn't seen any kind of city near me. Weirdly, I was hungry again, but I saw one of the pines in the distance turning into an apple tree. I quickly trot that way, nearly tripping over a random rock that had probably been there for years, and stumbling into a tree instead of falling into the floor. Something fell on my head as I hit the tree, hurting me even further, so I curse under my breath a few times. Or more than that. Picking up the object, I see it is an apple. I kick down a few more, eating them one at a time. One tasted sour, another sweet, and one absolutely bitter. I laugh, happy to partake in this odd feast, so I hit the tree again. It was now a palm tree. I frown, going back to the river, and continue walking on a full belly. Night is arriving soon, so I go into the western (according to the sun) part of the forest to the river. I look around for the most tight and uncomfortable spot possible, for the trees cannot be trusted to lay in and that less big predators could fit there. I find a large rock, seemingly cut through by unknown means, and analyze it. It was like a ring-shaped boulder, half submerged, and has engravings on the inside. I lay inside of it, but there is not enough light to see it. I would make a fire, but then they would see it, or I would set the forest on fire, or something else will find me. I don't want any of that, so I just get as snug as possible, slowly falling asleep... I wake up, the sun in my eyes and bugs in my face. I nearly scream of shock, until realizing that they were harmless caterpillars, and just shake them off. I look at the engravings inside the rock, finally, and begin to read somewhat. I skimmed through it, but I could see that it was a chant of some sort. Bored, I recite it. "Puh," I spit, "gluey maggle'naf 'Kulu Really waggah'nagal Ftagn?" I say, believing it to be an odd chant. Suddenly, though, I felt my back be pressed hard against the wall, so I jump out of the rock. I roll into some brush, feeling small cuts on my legs, and witnessed the horror that happened to the rock. It was being molded into a new shape, something sinister, and it made me slightly sick. The figure that was displayed looked like a hideous, bipedal, creature with no hair. It was covered in scars and rags, but it felt so known to me. I realized why it is. It is a hairless ape. The poor sod, shaved down to his skin, was smiling proudly to the sky, unashamed. I look away, feeling embarrassed for the man, and trot back to the river. Traveling upstream once more, I jog on my hindhooves for some long-overdue practice. It felt good, better than normal, and my bones felt revitalized. The trees seemed more lively and slow, as if they wished to remain as one tree instead of changing every single hour,and the air itself felt more alive than normal. I feel bad that Mr. Bubblepants isn't here, but that child probably needed him more than I did. Is it weird that I think that? If so I wonder if that chant did more than show me a naked ape. I look sullen at the ground for a bit, but remember something. Even the naked ape was courageous and proud, so I should be, too! I think, running bipedally upstream. Author's Note I kind of hate that all my creative juices are only going to TBDSP, so it is hard to make this story... But, I love challenges! get ready for a chapter or two next month, for this is my B-day moth, friends☺ A place demons fear.My vision is all but clear, zoning in and out. The gentle breeze taunting me, seeming to whisper to my cold, dying body. My arms, covered in blood, show signs of burns and other such things. I am on a chair, tied up like some freaking animal, and a gag in my mouth.I was crying, but I have cried for so long that my tears have all dried up. My mouth was dry, for I haven't had water in days.I have seen things that would break the minds of other people, but I had will. I had hope. I hear loud voices coming from right beside me, but my ears have been ringing for hours non-stop, making all sound like mumbles. *Whap* The man beside me hit me with the butt of his gun, continuing to scream at my near-deaf and near-blind body. Blood trickles down my face, making me feel weaker than I already was. I am no victim. ...I am a murderer... or so they say. A year ago, I was captured and placed into this prison for charges of nearly slaughtering people on a day I was out of my country. I was framed, but they never gave me the chance of court, for they believe I nearly killed someone they held more dear than the creator, if it is real. Their king. I was blamed for nearly bombing King Garfield Louisville III and for that, I never got a court. I was never put on trial, I was nearly be-headed, and I did something that 'proved' that I was the killer. I killed a guard. His body going limp within my young hands, clawing at me, trying to escape... I was delusional, my young teenage body could not take this. I knew what I had done, and surrendered. I hoped that they would kill me, so that I could face the consequences in the after-life, but instead... I was put into this place, this prison, where I was only fed once a month, beaten nearly to death each day, and tortured to the highest ways possible. This unforgiving prison, full of dead gray stone walls, had blood along each wall, but from who is my question. I had hope, but each day it was dwindling. I had begun to hope for death, hoping for an end to this torture, but death took a long time to come. ... It took a full year of torture and anorexia to finally kill me. I did not die nicely, for what torturer would allow that? I died, my body hanging upside-down and arms burnt. I guess they finally had enough with torturing only me, for a few days ago, I could have sworn I saw another man being pulled in here. Before I died though, I did say one thing. The only thing I had said in that torture room ever. "Thank you..." I feel a burn, worse than any fire on Earth, for it did not warm me. It chilled me through the bone. My body tensed up, knowing what was to come. The fire, wrapping around me, started to freeze my body in place. Expecting something Hellish to happen, I was surprised to be greeted by something large. A sun-like object, brighter than the chilling fires, warms my frozen body from the inside. My face, covered in tears and blood, takes on an emotion of confusion, for this was Hell, wasn't it? The sun-like object started to glow, long lines of yellow eliminating all of the fire around me. "I will give you a choice." It said, the voice sounding so calming and soothing. "What are you?" I say, wishing to know the name of my savior. The sun-like being turns sideways multiple times in quick succession, creating a large blinding light in the process. When the light receded, I saw something that made my jaw drop. It looked just like me. "I am not you, for I have no real form. I am but a mirror of the spirit realm, knowing nothing, but seeing all." It says, turning back into a sun in a giant snap of its fingers. "What is the choice." I say, wanting to get to the point. The being looks at me, a sunspot changed into s smile,and says,"I will give you another chance at life, but you will live forever. You will begin life as a child in a family, growing up and aging, until you hit 20. You will then never age. You will be stuck at that age for all of eternity, watching as everyone dies beside you." I stare at the sun, my soul's eyes seeming to burn themselves. 'It must be better than this, but could I keep my sanity?' I look at the sun, my decision made, and say,"I accept, but only if you let me name you." The sun looks at me in confusion,"Is that your final wish?" I nod at him,"Then what shall my name be?" I look at him, my eyes, for the first time in a year, having hope in them,"You will be called Savior, for you have saved a hopeless soul like myself." Savior smiles, and says,"I kindly accept that name, but this shall be the last you see of me, for your soul belongs somewhere else now. Begone." He snaps his fingers, and I suddenly fly upwards, ascending towards my new life... My new, immortal life. On a farm in Ponyville... Applejack and Big Macintosh are both enjoying some apple cider they keep for themselves each year, speaking small talk to one another. Applejack was about to say a reply to one of Big Mac's jokes about how old she was, when a sudden *Thwomp* hit the door. "Mac, what was that?" Applejack said to her brother. Big Mac just smiles and points at the knocked out gray mare on the ground. The mare stifles up, and says,"I am sorry I crashed, I just do not know what went wrong in my trick, but here is your mail!" she said excitedly, crossed-eyed. Applejack takes the mail."Thank ya kindly, but isn't it your day off?" she said quizzically. The gray mare just giggles and says,"Ei Mail crashed yesterday trying to impress his crush, so I got today's day and pay!" Applejack smiles and says,"Well, you better go deliver all of your other mail-things, so why don'cha go quickly?" The gray mare smiles and quickly flies away... Cashing into a tree a mile away. "I wonder what's in the-" she sees who it is from,"Granny! The mail is from Apple Lemon!" Lemon Apple is the main producer of the insane magical phenomena called 'Lemon Apples'. Lemon Apples are created when a lemon tree is somehow fused with an apple tree, creating amazing apples that almost rival the Zap Apples. "Well, read it to me! I am not asleep ya know!" Granny Smith says, a little excited. "Alrighty then!" Applejack said. "Dear all of the Apple family, A dear friend of ours, Pollene Lemon, has gone to the hospital on a good notice. Her baby is ready to be delivered! They have asked all of the Apple family to come meet the new child when he/she is born! As we all know, Pollene Flowers and her husband Fire Lemon both have unicorn blood in their ancestory, so we do not know if it will be earth or unicorn! We will all be waiting at Si Addle, where we live. If you wish to visit, take this ticket and follow the directions to the hospital!" Applejack said, happily. "Whoohee! The Lemons are finally having their child!"Granny Smith said, jumping out of her chair. The Lemons are long time friends of all of the Apple family, for they all love apples, while we love flowers too. Granny Smith has been waiting for news on the baby, each and every fear creeping up on her and the rest of the family, but it seems that it has all been for nothing! The baby is healthy, and now the young foal/filly will have to meet all of the Apple family! Granny Smith unlocks a secret compartment underneath her chair, revealing a shiny red button with a green apple on it. Granny Smith presses the button and suddenly a large red apple reflected onto the clouds above, signaling for all Apples in Equestria that something good has just happened. "Granny, I thought ya got rid of that button?" Applejack said, smiling. "What button?" Granny Smith said, leaning back in her chair. Applejack snickers as Granny Smith lulls back to sleep in her chair. 'We should start packing!' Applejack runs to her room, grabbing all that she would need for the meet-up at Si Addle. Collecting many things; Toothbrush, apple snacks, blanket, pillow, and a sheet of paper. Applejack takes the sheet of paper, and her quill that Twilight let her keep a few days ago,and writes a note for all of her friends. 'Dear kindfolk of Ponyville, The Apple family, including me of course, are goin' to Si Addle for a friend of my family is going to have a little foal/filly. We will return in a few days. With sincere kindness, Applejack.' Smiling, she lays the note down on her front door, waiting for Big Mac to tell Applebloom and help her pack, Granny Smith to awaken, and Big Mac himself to pack. Laying down in front of a large window, she watches as all of the animals play around... falling asleep in the process. Through her newfound heavy sleep, Big Mac lifted her to a carriage they had rented, carrying all of their stuff. Though she was asleep, she knew that they were going somewhere, for there was alot of bumps on the road, messing with her dream. But, her dream was so amazing that, in the end, she did not wake up till much later. Applejack smiles, and mumbles,"No thanks Mrs Lemon... You cannot buy our recipe..." Applejack, remembering a time after she had returned home as a filly, blissfully sees the first time she meet Mrs. Lemon. Mrs. Lemon is a silly filly, for she wanted to buy the way we somehow made Zap Apples, but she soon found out it was caused by the Everfree... When she found that out, she curled into a ball, for she is a scaredy cat. She is so very silly, but she is still a good friend to the family... Applejack wonders what the filly/foal will look like for the rest of her dream. Smiling wider and longer... I feel warmth. Warmth of security and purity, making me want to stay forever. I know where I am, but I do not understand how I can feel yet. I am in the womb. My body feels very different than my old human body... How did my human body even feel? What was my name? Oh no... I am forgetting things. This is very bad. This is really bad. I want to remember myself, I need to stay me, but someone is pulling at the strings of my mi- ... "Its a foal!" I hear from a deep, calm voice. I see very little in this bright room, but I can see two forms. One on a bed, the other beside it. Are these my parents? Why am I in the hands of a stranger?! I start to cry out to my mother, for I want to be held by her, not some stranger. "Calm down, my son." a soothing voice said to me. Halting my tears, I see my mother(?) on the bed, holding her hooves out to me. The stranger bundles me up into a blanket, which had red things around it, and gives me to my mother(?). I look up to her, tired, and my vision fades as sleep takes over me... I wake up, after a long, peaceful, sleep, and see many individuals looking at me. I nearly start to cry, but then I see that my mother is holding me. My mother, smiling, hands me over to an individual next to her slowly. "Howdy there little one! I'm Applejack, a friend of your mother, and I can see you're a real cutey!" The kind mare, gently rocking me, makes me feel at ease. Knowing that she was nice and will not harm me, I allow her to pass me to the next pony. The pony is much smaller than Applejack, and seemed to beam energy, as she held me,"Hi there little colt! I'm Applebloom, best sister Applejack will ever have, and I see you're so very tiny!" she starts to rock me a bit fast, but I know she means well... even though I cannot understand anything they are saying. She passes me to a large, red pony who seemed to ooze knowledge above comprehension,"Hello young'un, I am Big Macintosh." he cradles me lightly, seeming to contradict his size, and passes me to an much older mare. I fell asleep in her arms, for she felt tired too, and I smile. 'I have no idea what is going on.' I say in my mind. I am nearly asleep when the old mare passed me over to my mother and fell asleep herself. "I am sorry y'all, but Sour Lemon has to sleep!" my mother says to the individuals in the room. ... Sour Lemon is my name, and I think I have just begun a game. ... I dream of many things; Mom, dad, Apples, and apples. I wonder what an apple tastes like? The days that were lost...The days that were lost... It has been a few months since my birthday, but due to my odd memory, I forgot most of it! I remember the day that I began to walk though, for my parents were even more happier than the time I talked! Father made some quirky jokes about me being the 'last stallion standing', for he was always sitting. I felt a little embarrassment, but it is all in good fun, so I myself smile. My father, with his newfound voice, has been talking to me much more recently, although he still seems to enjoy silence when we are alone. My father has started to grow a mustache with curly ends, but instead of looking hilarious as my mother predicted, he looked quite dashing. With me able to walk and understand basic speech, I am finally able to communicate with my parents, meaning I can now ask for the one thing I always desired... "Mom, can I have an apple?" I say, straining to remember the correct sounds. My mother, who was busy writting a note, sets down the note and quill and says,"Sure, Sour, but let mommy finish this letter first." she smiled as she said. I just nod and slowly walk away. I am no gracious walker yet, for I fall at the slightest bump! Mother tells me to be careful around stairs, but where are stairs? Our house only has attic stairs, so why is Mother so protective? I guess it is because of her over-reactant attitude, but she might be right... but I feel the urge to prove her wrong. I will find some stairs one day and conquer them, causing my Mother to look at me in awe. I am still walking down the hallway, my room only one door down, when my Father rolls by me and says,"I do not know what I've been told!" 'What were the words?... Oh yeah!' "Only fillies believe what they are told!" I say, causing my father to laugh, rolling into the bathroom beside my room. I never understood why older ponies use restrooms when there are perfectly good diapers around, but I guess I will have to learn too, although I do not want to. But... If it will make Mother and Father happy, I am ready for it. My father pokes my on the head lightly, making me aware of how much of my world I was just ignoring. "Come on kid, it is time for potty-training!" My father said joyously. 'Oh joy....' ... My parents and I are all happy again, although I do not understand why I am happy, for I only pooped. Maybe it is because I am now considered more mature? That must be it. I am more mature than some foals my age, but there is something I have yet to master. The art of trotting fast. So, while my parents are in another room, cleaning my 'mess', I start pumping myself up for the trot. I prepare a Finish line with a piece of string and set off, trotting as fast as my legs could take me. Halfway through, I break out in sweat, fatigue taking over my body, but I want to do it. I need to do it. My vision starts to haze, for I am that weak, but I suddenly feel something. I felt the wall. I felt the wall hit my horn. The pain, being almost unbearable, was also silencing. I could not say anything, I could not think, but I think I saw something... I saw it before I blacked out, its eyes boring holes into my own. I saw... Mrs. Lemon was walking out of the room as she heard a *Thump* against a wall near her. She walk towards the odd sound, wondering what caused it, but as she drew closer she saw things. She saw her child, knocked out on the floor, but she also saw something else. Her child's horn was lit up with a black colored magic, enveloping his bruised forehead. She watched in both horror and awe as her son basically healed himself with his magic, but something seemed off. Her son is not a seriously dark color, so why is his magic pure black? Usually your magic comes from your coat... or.. your personality... Black couldn't be a bad color to have a a personality, could it? Ignoring the color of the magic, she turns her attention back to its healing abilities. Something that could heal that much cannot be evil, so she slowly walk over to her son.. banging into a black force field in the process. "Honey!" Mrs. Lemon shouts to her husband,"Our son it having his first magical anomaly, come roll over here!" She says in an excited tone. Knowing that most foals have an odd magic burst like this, she wanted to actually RECORD her son's, mapping out the magical currents. Mrs. Lemon may not be a unicorn, but if you live near a library like she did as a young filly, you would learn A LOT of things. Although she had no idea what her son's shade of black magic meant, she knew it had the ability to heal, so it had to be pure in some way. No impure being has had the ability to cure him/herself except... No, there can not be a way.. Her son is nothing like that crystal obsessed overlord, for if he was, he would have crystals flying out of his diapers! She laughs a bit at that image, gaining an odd look from her husband, who was not in the light of the small joke. They both stand there, documenting their child's first magic spasm for a full hour... It is still in my vision, clouding my mind. I cannot think straight, my body feels weak, where am I, where is mommy? I hear a muffled voice that sounds like mommy, but I can not see her. It will not allow me to leave its line of sight. It looks very odd to me, for its body looks like a shaven ape, but it seems to have something else... Its eyes. The eyes look just like my own, but older and broken... What is this monster? Why does it have my eyes? W- "What are you?" I strain, my lungs feeling as if I had just burst them. Its eye filled with a small black smoke, clouding its face from me... "I.." It began to say, the smoke dissipating. "am..." I could almost see its face again. Suddenly, a bright light shines through the smoke, blinding me. "I am you." is all it said before I blacked out... 'I do not understand...' Mrs. and Mr. Lemon watch in absolute horror as their child is slammed on the wall behind him, ramming in it so hard he caused a dent in the wall. "Sour!" They both shouted, rushing to their child, happy that the shield was down. Sour lays there, unhurt, but does not seem to be waking up. Mrs. and Mr. Lemon know exactly what they must do... They pick up their child, put him in a saddlebag, and rush off to the hospital, hoping the doctors could help him. It was impossible for either of them to make it to the hospital though, for one had no energy, while the other had no leg, so they call the closest taxi they see. The taxi, knowing that this was important, did not ask for money and drove quickly to the hospital. Nearing Oak Rd. , the quickest route to the hospital, they saw a large tree blocking their way. Knowing they could not make it through there, they ask to go to the second fastest way to the hospital, River Road. River Road is right by a large river and there are many quick turning areas, but they are very easy to navigate in normal weather... Until it began to rain. Thunder strikes a few miles away, showing them how much time they had left till the roads all closed. The taxi driver drives fast, dodging many mud splotches that happen in this city. This city rains like no tomorrow, not because of the pegasi though, for it is something worse. Many years ago, a witch named Death Shine cursed the city and the people trying to fight her, like Mr. Lemon, and caused the Si Addle condition. Si Addle now has automatic weather, but sometimes this happens. A large rainstorm or drought can come out of nowhere, nearly starving all ponies, but NOPONY ever wanted this storm. The taxi driver, who wants to save this child as much as the parents, can barely see a few feet in front of him, which is not that bad, but still. "We are on River Road now, only a few more minutes until your son is safe!" The taxi driver says to the Lemons, earning a smile from Mr. Lemon. ... They are halfway through River Road when a large black rain cloud appeared, covering the whole sky that the taxi driver could see. While he was trying to stop to assess the situation, a lightning bolt strikes the front of the carriage... Incinerating the taxi driver completely. The driver's corpse's hoof slams down onto the gas pedal, launching the carriage forward. The carriage flips, crashing into the protective beam, and slams into the river. The carriage bobs up and down, but is steadily sinking. Mr. Lemon tries to open the metal door, but it is melted shut from the lightning bolt. Mr. and Mrs. Lemon hug their son closely and kiss him on the head, knowing that this might be their end, when Mr. Lemon kicked out one of the small windows and pushes their son out. Before they had done that though, they wrapped him in something that would remind him of them... They watch as their son lands onto a floating piece of the protective beam, happy that he is atleast safe, as a lightning bolt strikes the carriage one last time... I wake up, a warm hand on my head. I look up, but instead of my parents or even my home, I see a monkey, picking me out of something wet. Looking backwards a bit, I see a large, raging river, crushing all in its path. This monkey may have saved my life, but why? The monkey smiles at me and hands me a large leaf. The monkey itself puts a leaf on its torso, seeming to warm it up. But it sees I have something else on. My vest. "Mommy?" I say, tears falling out of my eyes,"Daddy?" I say, the word coming out as a broken sound. The monkey looks at me as if it was sympathetic and slowly and lovingly grabbed me. I then notice that this monkey had no tail, so does that mean this is an ape? Through my tears, I see the ape lovingly pick me up and cradle me. I fall asleep, tired from crying, in its arms. 'Always look on the bright side of life...' plays through my head as I sleep. A smile, albeit small, appears on my crying face. I have spent many years in this ape clan, learning the ways of battle and compassion towards all things. Although we could never truly communicate, I always practiced my equestrian with the Clan Head, who was a large gray ape. The large gray ape, know some equestrian himself, grunted when I did something right, but we could never really talk after that. I have learned that the day I became lost was a day in which a witch ruined the land, but only because I understand the apes written language. I have also learned that the apes are third class citizens who are sometimes imprisoned by ponies, which is absolutely horrendous, but the elder has never done anything in aggression towards the empire. I have lived with the apes for so long, but I have learned only one amazing thing on my own without the group. Magic. For the TEN years I have been here, I have practiced magic, noticing some odd patterns in my magic. My magic does not really need much thought to do anything, for I have plucked a whole TREE on accident. The elder, impressed in my skills, has actually done something I thought was impossible. He spoke to me. "Child of ponee kind, I, Gray Ape the Great, am allowing you to leave, but U must always remember to come visit home." He then hugged me, a hug I returned with joy. "Thank you Gray, I will miss you, but I have something I need to do." I say, leaning into Grays ear. He questionably grunts. "I have chosen what I want in life, and that is to bring the end to all who cause evil in this peaceful land." He hugs me tighter, tearing up, and grunts lovingly. ... I wave back one last time, and move out to my first destination. I take out the map in my vest's pocket... My parent's final gift to me falls out of the pocket though. Bubblepants has his white jacket on, contradicting my black vest, as I start to hug him. I put him back in his new pocket, the left one, and pull out the map correctly. The map is a bit old, but there is no way large cities could just up and move, so I start going North. North to ...
My first birthday! My first birthday! My first birthday! Many things have happened in this year, but I have forgotten them all! I cannot remember anything except for my parents and the Apple family, how numerous they were too, for I met all of them a few days after being released from the smelly place. There was this weird stallion, Braeburn, who talked to me repeatedly, until my mother stopped him. He was talking about some mare he once knew and how they nearly had foals themselves. All of these ponies seem surprised at the fact that I can remember things well, and it confuses me as well. They say that babies are supposed to forget everything within a day, but I remember the day I was born! Mother calls me a genius, but dad has barely talked to me. I barely see my dad, for he usually is out bucking the lemon apples or something like my mom said, or he is too tired from work and just sleeps by me. Even though he doesn't really talk to me, he sits by me and watches me with a smile. The ponies, although I can barely understand them now, keep on saying that my father has a booboo in his throat. I wish I could heal his booboo, but I fear I may make it worse on accident. 'Sour Lemon is almost always happy', my mother always tells people, but I never feel happy. I just smile out of understanding is all, but knowing that my other is happy makes me a bit happy. Suddenly interrupting my thoughts is mother, who bursts through my door with a small, round thing with a stick coming out of it. Mother places it on the ground, making sure it doesn't fall, and smiles at me, saying,"Happy birthday Sour!" I smile, for mother is smiling, and watch as mother takes out an odd block object with a liquid in it. Rolling a round thing on the block, a small spark of fire erupts from the block. I just sit there, staring at the suddenly ignited fire, mystified at its appearance , and drool a bit. My mother grabs a small napkin and rubs my neck, now wet with drool, and says,"Come on Sour, ya only gotta blow out this here candle." she said in simple words for me to understand. I look at the block with fire coming out and watch as it ignites a piece of yarn on top of the stick, setting the stick itself on fire. Mother told me to blow it out, so I try, but my tries are foiled by just a little bit of spark left on the candle. Mother smiles at me and slowly eliminates the fire for me and says,"Make a wish, Sour!" Wish? I do not know what to wish for really, but I guess I could wish at anytime right? What is mother doing? Mother picks up something she never allowed me to have, a knife, and began cutting the circular object after taking out the stick that had the mystifying fire. "Here you go Sour,"Mother said, giving a piece of it to me,"This is apple cake!" Apple.... cake? I always wanted an apple, but what is a cake? Mother gives me a small spoon, which I am used to eating cereal with, and moves her hooves over the cake, symbolizing that I should eat it. Hearing it had some apples in it, I drive my white, plastic spoon into the cake. The cake, spongy and colorful on the inside, tempted me to eat it, so I scooped up a spoonful of cake and deposited it into my mouth. The taste was indescribable. Odd feeling on my tongue tickled me from the inside (in a good way) and made me smile. I smiled larger, devouring more of this sweet/sour goodness. I could taste something moist, maybe it was apple? Realizing I just had apples, I began to smile wider and happier, seeing my mother do the same. Mother, in all of her majestic beauty, was eating cake the same way I was, giggling at how happy I was. Then, interrupting this moment, Dad stumbled in. He was carrying a few boxes, oddly stacked, and laid them on the floor in front of me. I stared at them for a while, until my mother started unwrapping one that was laid in front of me. Opening the box, she pulled out a peculiar object, colorful and shiny, and handed it to me. The object, in my grasp, seemed to have a lot of star-shaped objects in a glass ball on top, and a long stick penetrating out of the back, allowing me to grasp it. My mother made odd motions, seeming to just wiggle around, and I giggled at her. While giggling, my body usually moves my arms around, causing something amazing. The object began making noise when I moved, but unlike my rattler, it was noises like *Bonk* and *Plow!*. Giggling out of awe and happiness, I began playing with the toy of awesome, as it will be called from now on, and stopped listening to my parents for a little bit. This toy is wonderful! I have been hitting things with it, for it seems that I am super strong, but I am pretty exhausted from flailing my arms around, so I set down my toy in front of me and turn to my parents. My parents, still smiling, give me another box. They start unwrapping it as they did before, and hand me the toy. This toy, though, is far better than the rest. This toy was a stuffed thing, full of fuzz, and I couldn't resist hugging it. The toy looked like me, but instead of my eyes, it had two buttons as eyes. I was hugging the toy when Dad gave me another box, albeit smaller, and started unwrapping that one. Inside the box was clothing, but it was much to small for me. Tilting my head, I watch as my dad takes my toy and puts the cloths on it. Oh my Celestia this is the best gift ever! I can cloth him, hug him, play with him, and do anything! I take my toy, hugging it, and think of something. 'I am going to name you...' "Bubblepants!" I.... said? My mother drops the box she was holding, looking at me in absolute surprise. My father does the same, except he had no box, and they both stare at me. "Bubblepants!" I said, surprised at my ability to talk. My mother rushes over to me and hugs me,"Sour Lemon, you fast learner you, sooner or later you will be using magic!" My mother, who I have observed as an over reactor, starts to cry happy tears next to my face. My father, who was happily laughing all the while, says in his deep voice,"Good job *cough* Sour!" We all were smiling, Bubblepants in my grasp. We stayed still like that for a few minutes, until mother said,"Open your last box, my little brainiac." The last box, smaller than all of the others, is opened by my mother. Out came not a toy, but a large article of clothing. "This vest, made of many different materials, will shift to fit your size, so even if you.. outgrow your mother, you will still have a piece of home." Mother said in a soft tone, still happy. Mother places the vest on me, but instead of it having to be moved to fit me, it SAID,"What is your name?" I know how my name is pronounced... so I try to say,"Sour Lemon." I strained myself to say. My mother and father were clapping as I finished my name,"So my new master's name is Sour Lemon?" Master? Suddenly, the vest changes color and grows a name on the front. The vest is now pure black with a red pattern stitched in the front that read,'S R L' and that is all I could understand. My mother walks up to me, points at the stitched thing, and says,"Sour Lemon." I look at the stitching again, saying with more ease,"Sour Lemon." My mother claps and walks away, knowing that she had succeeded. But something happened... Father started to cough, shocking mother. Mother looked at Father with eyes of pure terror, but all dad was doing was coughing right? Dad suddenly fell onto his side, coughing uncontrollably, an odd red liquid was dripping out of his mouth, his body beginning to pale. Mother puts me and Bubblepants to bed in another room before she went to father again. Even though I was in another room, I could hear the murmurs of my parents... Loud banging noises, coughing, and a heart-wrenching scream is all I heard, hugging Bubblepants... 'I wish Dad would stay with me...' I think. .... Silence. Absolute silence. All I hear now is my own heart beat, thumping hard against my chest, but it begins to slow down. Dad must be better now, right? I am so very tired... .... ..... I felt darkness overtake me... Mrs. Lemon is sprinting to the local hospital, her husband on her back, breathing very lightly. Seeing the hospital, she bashes through the door, freezing every doctor in the room. "Its happening again!" She yells, seeing a few doctors scramble to her. "Take the patient to the E.R.!" A pure white stallion, named Lionheart, said. Mrs. Lemon looked on in horror as her husband was put into the E.R. This was not the first time. Mr. Lemon has a disease which can kill him at any time, but usually the E.R. saves him with their magical surgery... But Mrs. Lemon fears the worst. ... After a weary hour of silence, a doctor comes by Mrs. lemon with a smile on his face. "We did it." He said, smile growing ever-so larger,"We found the cause of his illness." Mother nearly collapses, for all of this time she had expected the worst. "there was only one bad thing that happened, but he is still alive."the doctor said, scratching his head. "What is it?" Mrs. Lemon said, fear still in her voice. The doctor looked at his chart,"He will not be able to walk without assistance again..." he said, a little pane of sadness in his throat. Mother looks at the doctor,"That does not matter, for my husband is alive!" she hugs the doctor. "Would you like to see him?" The doctor said, escaping the happy hug of doom. Mrs. Lemon nods, following the doctor down to the E.R. ... Mr. Lemon lays asleep, his leg severed off. His face has a calm demeanor, as if he doesn't know he is missing his leg. His breathing is nicely paced, not even one degree higher. Mrs. Lemon sits beside her husband, hoping that he would wake soon. Hours pass, Mrs. Lemon only leaves for food or the bathroom, but when she returns she sees something that makes her happy. Mr. Lemon has woken up, but instead of saying nothing, like usual, he says,"Good morning..." Mr. Lemon grabs his own throat, smiling all the while. "There is no pain! I can speak!" He turns to his wife, who is also smiling. He is about to get off the bed, as per usual on his visits, but he cannot move his left back leg. He looks to see what may be holding his leg down... Only to see that his leg is gone. "My leg!" He screams, his wife trying to calm him down. "Honey, your leg was filled with the curse, you are cured now!" Mrs. lemon said. Mr. Lemon looked a little mad, but his wife calmed him down quite a bit... Now he only wanted to choke the witch who gave him the curse to death. "So... Who is going to work on the farm now?" he said, scared his family may become bankrupt or something. "There is a lot of ponies in the Apple family without jobs, they would graciously accept our offer of one, but enough of that." She said, grabbing a wheel chair for her husband,"It is time we show your son you are alright! You scared us both to death." She said smiling. Mr. Lemon chuckles,"Yeah, I hope Sour will understand my predicament." The Lemons chuckle and giggle when leaving the hospital, for there was a motto that all of the Lemon family must follow. 'Always look on the bright side of life!' I wake up from my dream abruptly, my mother rubbing the back of my head. "Honey, your father has something to say to you." Mother said. 'Dad is safe? Did the wish work?' I hear the crunching of the carpet of my room as a wheeled object comes through the darkness. My mother turns on the light, revealing my father without a leg, but smiling. Worried at his leg, I nearly frown, until my father, in his amazing Old Equestrian accent, said, "Some things in life are bad They can really make you mad Other things just make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle Don't grumble, give a whistle And this'll help things turn out for the best... And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... If life seems jolly rotten There's something you've forgotten And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing. When you're feeling in the dumps Don't be silly chumps Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing. And...always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the light side of life... For life is quite absurd And death's the final word You must always face the curtain with a bow. Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow. So always look on the bright side of death Just before you draw your terminal breath Life's a large zit When you look at it Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true. You'll see it's all a show Keep 'em laughing as you go Just remember that the last laugh is on you. And always look on the bright side of life... Always look on the right side of life... " When my father finished the song, I smiled. I smiled with so much happiness, that I wore myself out. I fell immediately asleep on my bed, my mother and father leaving the room. Bubblepants right besides me, my blanket over me, and my parents in the next room, I felt so secure that my sleep was perfect that day. "Always look on the bright side of life....zZzzzz...."
Change.Change. A wet feeling chills my bones, seeming to drill into my mind. My body cringes at the feeling, for it wants to escape. Suddenly, replacing the wet feeling, is a chill. A chill that did more than freeze me, for it seemed to burn. I tried to escape, my body running in all directions, but stopping once I felt something different. A crisp, warm air circulated around me, filling me with warmth that I haven't felt in... some time. Opening my eyes, I see something odd. Shaped like a crescent moon, a large toothed smile appears in front of me. I look at the smile in fear, but not because of the smile itself, but because it was nothing else. There was nothing but a smile... *Drip I shot upwards, my make-shift blanket around me, and gasp. 'What the Tartarus was that?' My, sweating, body is hit by a passing wind, causing me to shake. "I thought Luna protected ponies from nightmares..." I mumble, getting up and out of my blanket. Standing on my hind hooves, I pick up my blanket... 'My hind hooves?' I look down and see that I am balancing, perfectly, on my hind hooves. Grunting, I go back down to my fours, but something odd happens, my front hooves, instead of balancing on the ground perfectly, fumble and I fall. I felt just like Granny Gray Ape, for she had injured front palms, causing her to be bipedal all day... But I felt like this was natural. '... This is odd, but I have no time to lose.' Before leaving my small camp, I try to remember why I even built it. Then, I remember: Slowly trotting down the path, I start to feel a small wet sensation bombarding me from the sky. "You have to be kidding!" I pout, running to find a perfect tree. A perfect tree is one that is around other trees, for if there was thunder, it would strike the nearest tree... hopefully. I smile, seeing a perfect tree just downhill, and rip off some of a neighboring tree's leaves. "Thank you." I say to the tree, feeling as if it was looking at me. Grandpa Black was a nice ape who once tole me something very important,"All of nature has emotion in this world of magic, but some have more emotion than others, so much, in fact, that if you hurt it, you can FEEL its pain." I always laughed at the kind old ape when I was younger, but I guess he was right. The rain, pelting harder, starts to form a melody, making me sleepy. Creating a leaf blanket, I lay under the tree, waiting for sleep to come. '... And come it did' I think, chuckling. Finally all packed, I proceed to open my map... Which was not there for some reason. (Processing...) "Foal of a cow!" I yell, seeing the road. Angry, I march onto the road a few feet away. ... After a long time of walking, I finally came across something other than the warm, orange trees. It stood there, basking in the morning light, with its blessed words upon it. I saw a crossroad and its sign. Running on my hind legs towards the crossroad felt odd, but good. My hind legs felt very weird to stand on, since I am not supposed to, but it felt more good than weird. On the last steps to the crossroad, I see the words on the sign... They are weather worn, the wood seeming to be cracking as well, but it is readable. Pointing west was a sign saying : Canterlot, our national capital. Pointing east was a sign saying : Las Pegasus, is this a Mexicolt city? Pointing North was a sign saying Canterlot- Express route. Pointing South was a broken sign, cracked in half in age, making it unreadable. 'Where should I go?' I wanted to go to Canterlot, but the temptation of Las Pegasus was assaulting me... I was thinking about this, when something disrupts my thoughts. "Watch out!" A voice yells extremely loud from the sky. Looking up, I see a gray pegasus with a large satchel on her side. Instead of dodging, I cast a spell that Witch-Ape Orange taught me to catch falling boulders. Boulders were a big problem on one side of the camp, for Gnomes always tried to attack the apes with them. Anyhow, The spell completed, casting a pure black net above me. Cackling as it did so. The pegasus seemed to be in shock, for her winds were pelted together, ramming into my net. "Owww." The pegasus said in a feminine voice,"Are you al-" The, presumably, mare stares at me. 'Why is she staring at me?' I look at myself and realize something. No, it was not that I was standing on my hind hooves, but I looked... different. My coat was a pure black, not having a single light colored hair, while my mane was pure red. My muzzle was a dark gray, making me look.... "You look awesome!" the mare says, breaking me out of my thought. Again. I look back at her, my eyes seeming to water. "What is wrong with me?" I say, quivering. I de-summon the black net, causing the mare to hit the ground softly. I curl into a ball, seeing that my tail, too, looks very different. I move my tongue around my mouth, noticing something odd. My teeth have changed as well. I have one oddly sharp tooth, while the rest are normal. I shiver, for a mild wind has passed by me, and begin to question everything. 'Am I even me anymore? Why do I have a sharp tooth? I have hooves and a muzzle, so at least I am still a pony, but with a sharp tooth? Why is my coat different? Is this even my body? Am I dr- "Hello?" a calm voice says into my ear, causing me to nearly spaz out. I look at the slightly startled mare, seeing that she had confusion in her eyes. "Why are you curling into a ball?" She says, as I suck up my tears. "I am not me." She looks in confusion. "I do not look like I did yesterday." "Do you mean you got a manecut?" "No! My entire body feels different!" I nearly yell. She jumps back, even more startled and confused, and says,"At least you are still yourself. Right?" I look at her and... smile. "I guess I am." She smiles as well, saying,"Well, I have to go now, I will see you later..." "Sour Lemon." i say to the mare. She looks at me for a full minute, seemingly shocked. "What?" I say, staring at the mare. She grabs my hoof, shouting,"Are you sure you are Sour lemon?!" "....Yes?" I say, confused. She says nothing and takes off, wobbling in mid-air as she went. 'This is getting weird.' Shrugging off what just happened, I go due north, to the Canterlot Express Route. While walking on my hind hooves, I start to check out my new body, seeing how different it is from my old one. My mane looks extremely different, but not because of the color change. My mane feels... lighter. My mane is the same size as last time, but lighter, which is very odd to me. Also, something else that is odd, is that my voice sounds a bit different than normal. "Always lo- OK..." Did my voice just crack? ... (processing...) I am 'growing'. Is that why I changed? That is... Awesome, since the mare liked it too. Mare? ... (Idiot processing again...) "She was the first pony I have ever met, and I just let her walk away!" I yell, slamming my front hooves into the nearest tree. "Sorry Mr. Tree." I say to the tree, feeling its pain. I get away from the injured tree and walk to the 'express route'. Whatever that is. 5 hours ago... "Derpy?" Applejack says to me,"Are you there?" Everyone taunts me about my eyes, since they are always pointing the wrong way, but some people take it too far. Applejack never does that, which is why she is my friend. "Yeah!" I say, my voice exploding out of my control. Applejack smiles at me, just like everyone else, with sympathy, and says,"Can you deliver this mail to Braeburn?" I look at the envelop, seeing a sad apple sticker on it. "What is it about, if you don't mind!" I say, as if I was exclaiming it. I can never control myself, but I will try. Applejack stares at me, like usual, and says,"It is about the Lemon's family annual search party..." "..." I take the letter, carefully putting it into my satchel. I take off, knowing that this was of grave importance. ... I wish that the Lemon's did not disappear. Rushing up to the counter of the odd building with a 'toll' sign, I hear a mare saying,"10 bits to cross." 'what?' "10 bits or you cannot cross." She said in monotone, her redish color blinding me. 'Is she trying to rob me?!' I run away from the scary theif-lady, straight through the 'toll' and towards Canterlot. "You are not taking my stuff, thief!" I yell backwards. ... I finally made it to these pearly gates, the white castle in my sight. Staring in awe at the beauty of the scene, I almost forget my surroundings. Snapping back to reality, I hear a loud, masculine voice say,"Halt! You did not pay the 10 bit toll, law-breaker, n-" I scream, surprised at the odd white thief. Seeing his confused expression, I quickly aim my horn at him. "Disappear thief!" I say, shooting my most powerful spell. It was used to kill bandits trying to attack my family, so of course the thief just exploded. I smile at the corpse, knowing there must be more of them around. I take the golden armor and don it. "I might want to blend in." I say, cleaning the armor of burnt flesh. For some reason, I was never afraid of the dead, only the living. Grandpa Gray said it might be because I have suffered through 'trauma', whatever that is. Ponies that try to hurt me will fall, for why should I let them kill me? Or steal from others? I am just doing what any good pony would do. Smiling, I take the dead pony's pony-tag, which had his information, and wear that too. "Hmm..." it said 'White' in the color part of the tag, but I am in no way white. Using my magic yet again, I morph the words to say 'Black'. Smiling, I say,"This is actually kind of fun!" 'I should find more of these golden guys, and put a stop to them!'
Infiltration.With this heavy-ish armor on, I am very uncomfortable. My vest seems to be trying to stick to the armor, for it is a weird object, so I have to manually morph the thing. I learned how to morph the thing when a lot of bandits came to our village. This vest, albeit weird, is very magical, for it became hard (but light) every time I almost got hit, deflecting the bandit's weapon/hands. I love this vest. Anyway, I check the dog tag again, for there may be more information I needed... [Name: Sour Lemon Rank: Recruit Fur color: Black Barrack Location: Southern Gate HQ] 'Southern gates?' I look towards the gate that I wandered to, finding something that made me happy. It said 'Southern gate' in bright yellow letters, making me smile. My smile, with the large tooth poking out, looks like something an evil person would do, for it looked wrong on me. ... Did I just insult myself? Disregarding that odd situation, I walk forward, into the southern gate. The room is gray and dull, seeming to tear away at the fabric of happiness of the outside world... A human, aging and nearly starving, is seen wearing a confusing outfit. The outfit seems to be a combination of THE fallen nation's police uniform and the average, black, police outfit. The old man is sitting at a desk, a piece of paper in his left hand and a pen by his resting right arm. The man picks up a pair of glasses, golden with clear lenses and begins to read the paper out-loud. "Day 234 of the assassin's imprisonment, My liege, it seems that this young child never quits, for everyday he seems to try his best to escape, but to no avail. I, Prof. Cornwallis, am very afraid of his mental health, for even the last, silent, prisoner never tried to escape. Anyways, his mental state seems to be one of S.P.D., or Split Personality Disorder, for there are some days that his is extremely quiet, but others when he is extremely violent. Prison Guard Albert was attacked by our prisoner, but not one person mis-heard his pleas for help, so every guard came to the aid of old Albert, saving his life. In fact, the prisoner is so lost in his mind that he thinks he has only been here a week! We know that we are NOT supposed to kill prisoners, even if they are terrorists, but all of us here at the prison hope to slaughter this man and end his pain." The old man said, a large strain on his throat. The old man reaches for his cup of tea on the other side of the desk, but someone knocks on his door. *Knock knock* "Come in." The old man says as cheerfully as possible. The door knob began to turn, a small creaking noise emanating from it, and finally a burst of wind replaced this old-dry room. A burly man, much younger than his elder, steps forward to the desk. The room lost all tension for that moment as the burly man clasped his hands together and said,"My liege, we have some problems." My body, twisting and turning, began to do its ultimate spell. Color changing. I know that there is stronger kinds of magic out there, but darn it, I have no training. The only reason I even got this spell was when I was a baby... ... I absolutely forgot what I did then, but oh well. The pain of this spell is minor compared to being hit by an arrow (Only once), so I just shrug as my color becomes white. 'Might as well take the color of the last thief.' I sigh, walking by the main door of the Southern HQ of the thieves and hope, to the omni-potent beings, that I will be passed as one of them. Before opening the door though, I remember something EXTREMELY important. ... I am walking on my hind hooves. Grunting, I lower my front side, hoping I would not fall as I did before, and walk. My muscles contracted in such a way that my eye-balls started to feel the pain. 'I gotta push through this...' I thought, moving ever faster. A long period of time passed, the pain becoming excruciating, until I finally made it to the door... that was only a foot away. *Sigh* I begin to turn the knob using my horn, but instead of getting a magic-detector check or anything I expected, I got nothing except the door opening. '...' Looking through the now open door, I notice what is odd with this room. 1) it has pure gray walls, cracked and dry, while the rest of the city is golden. 2)Everypony seems to have a freeday, for nopony is here. 3)I have actually made a list in my head. Grunting, I walk, on all fours, to the middle of the room. A near-silent echo is heard for each of my hoofsteps, scaring the mane off-a me. ... I turn, using all of my leg muscles to do this complicated task, and see something I missed. Another door. Smiling a bit, I walk towards the door for a full 2 minutes, gasping for breath afterwards... Then I walk on my hind legs. 'They are not here right now, so they will not see me, but if one spots me, I will just say I was popping my spine... yeah.' *Another sigh* I open the door with my horn again, hearing its odd crackle. The sound of the door opening was silent compared to my magic's musical crackles. *Cra-ckle Crack Crack-le ...* it went amusing me for a full minute. 'I need to stop wasting time!' I think, stopping my magic. Seeing the door open, I walk on my hind hooves to check out what is in this room... "Oh. No." I say, in a grumbling fashion. In this room houses the most evil thing in all of my knowing, seeming to taunt me with its near-perfection. It was gray, seeming to be as dull as the walls, but was the most formidable thing ever. What I saw was.... Stairs. "Why does it have to be stairs!" I say, face-hoofing. Stairs have been my worst nightmare for my whole life, but I do not know why. The only times I saw stairs were when I was at Aunt Yellow's hut in the largest tree, for she was too old to climb. Uncle Beige always kept me company whenever I was at my aunt's house, but I never knew how they knew eachother. ... I am getting off track. *Grunt* I move towards the stairs, my mind cowering in fear and annoyance, and walk forwards... just as a loud-blarring sound came from the center of the town. A guard, emblazoned in many medals, runs towards the sound, expecting somepony to explain what the buck was going on. But, before he could make a pony tell him what was going on, he saw it. It laid there, reeking of pure nasty, seeming to gulp up all of the happy in this city. It was on a large strecher, a couple of doctor ponies leading it away... It was a corpse. The corpse was so mangled, that nopony knew who it was, but everypony knew one thing. There was a murderer on the loose, and only the guards could stop it. The emblazoned guard runs up to the closest guard he could find to figure out the situation, but when he heard, he gasped. This body was not killed by any normal magic, on no, but instead, as killed by magic equal to the Alicorn Amulet, if not greater than. The body, even though the doctors said it was killed recently, looked as though it was cooked, exploded, fried, and then served to a few canniponies. This corpse made almost everypony cough-up their lunch and a few guards frowned, but one thing was so certain that even the most naive pony would understand. The first murderer in a few centuries has come to their capital city, but did not trigger the 'I will harm everyone' alarm, meaning he must be eaither A)Insane or B) Clueless... meaning that the person could act absolutely normal at anytime... "This is the hardest case I will ever take." Said the emblazoned guard. "Yes it is," piped up a smaller, weaker guard,"Shiny Stone sir." The guards both stare at the doctors, who began to fly the corpse away on a stretcher, and continued to stare until the corpse was gone. "Come on rookie, we have to go find out who died." Shiny Stone said. "Yes sir!" The rookie said. They share one faint smile before beginning the hunt. Returning to the dull, gray room of the human world, the old man is seen reading another note. The old man, setting aside the note, looks on in horror at the younger, burly man. "My god..." The old man said, trying to get up,"Not if I-" A loud click, followed by a massive push of air and flame, pummel the king,sending him cascading into the wall and expell all of his blood. "There is a new king in town...." The burly man said, smiling at the dead king,"And it is me, father." The burly man walks up to the desk that his father sat in, taking the collection of notes on the table and beginning to read them, he laughs. He grabs a pen, making sure to copy his father's penmanship exactly, and began to write many things to this 'Guard.' Writing it, he began to speak it, for some reasons. "My honorable guard, I too want this man to die now, but I wish for him to suffer. Please put him through Interrogation-chamber #1, 2, and 3, for he deserves it. Signed, your liege." The man laughs, his laugh seeming to crack along the way. "My dear, old father, how I always wished to do this..." the man said, still laughing, reaching for his father. ..................................................................................................................................................................... A few hours later, the old man is seen sitting at his desk again, but his body seems to be larger... and more muscular. "Who is the new king, I am the new king!" exclaimed the old man, his mouth looking much different than before. The old man looks behind him,"That smell is getting to me son, please get it away." On the floor, a small body laid without any skin at all... "Come on son, do as I say!" The 'old man' said, laughing. The laugh continued on for about an hour, scaring the daylights out of any passer-byes. The old man looks down at his big-muscular hands and grabs a pen.
I do not know.The sound was odd, for unlike the coconut siren in my old village, this one seemed to be much livelier, emanating panic throughout the land. Walking, on my hind legs, up the stairs, I see a small window. A window embezzled with gold and other fancy materials, shining from the direct light. 'What time is it?' I think, moving upwards towards the window, wanting to see many things, but I mainly wanted to check the time. Straining my legs to move up my entire body, I start to see a glimpse out the window from a few steps below it. The time was, indeed, night, but something was off about it. The moon, unlike normal days, seemed a little sad for some reason. The reason was probably the fact that a hero had to KILL a criminal, but all evil must be stopped! Continuing to walk, a small pain in my flank, I begin to look at the walls of this stairway, seeing paintings of the bandits. Some were painted in a battlefield against the griffens, for what reason is unknown, while another depicts the bandits... earning a medal? ... This makes no sense, for why would bandits get medals? Were they hired mercenaries in some war or something? If not, then something is very amiss. I grunt, looking downwards at the amount of stairs I have climbed.Counting each of them with my mind, the answer baffled me. Fifty. I have only climbed fifty stairs in a few hours, meaning I am very poor at walking on my hind legs. "Dang." I say with an odder voice than ever before,"What the-!?" I exclaim, wanting to know why my voice sounded like some gorilla-book villain. I cannot remember the name, but it was somewhere along the lines of Night-man. But, I did not care much, for I had some bigger problems coming from upstairs. "Hey!" A loud, booming, male voice says, hoofsteps with increasing intensity coming nearer,"What are you doing he-" he stops, looking at me. "Oh, a newbie, eh?" I nod without thinking, "Well, it seems you have a good sense of your surroundings, for you are already in melee battle stance!" He says, a small grin on his face. Observing him, he seems to have a damaged eye, for one had a scar through it, and he was entirely white, ESPECIALLY his mane. I really dislike his mane. I look at him, trying my best not to quiver in fear,"W-where do I go, sir?" to which, he replies with a thinking pose. Unlike the other bandit, he wore no armor, so he may be important. "Well, the armory is downstairs, but you don't need that yet, the kitchen is upstairs, and the royal guard center is upstairs..." he continued to ramble, but I paid no heed, for something just exploded my mind. "Royal... guard?" I mutter under my breath, looking at the... royal guard standing in front of me. "...My chambers is right by the pub, so tell all of your fillyfriends..." he still ranted, seeming to ignore me. Using this to myself, I let my mind wander down to the depressing thoughts. 'The one thing I did not want to do, cause harm, is what I did and more. I am now in someone else's hooves AFTER killing them, taking their place and life... I feel dirty.' "Are you listening?" the stallion barked. "Yes, sir!" I said, trying not to blow my cover with the tears I am about to shed,"But I have somewhere I remembered to go, so excuse me ,Sir!" He nods. I run on my hindhooves all the way down the stairs, my muscles burning with pain that chilled me all the way, and escape out the main door. 'What have I done!' My mind blares, destroying any other thought I had. 'I did not just kill an innocent, I killed a protector, a pony who made their life for good...' I tilt my head to the left slightly,'But...' I sit on my flank near the main door,'It felt odd.' I memorize the intense emotions of killing that stallion and how GOOD they were, I mean, they felt as if I was being pulled inside some deep, dark, yet happy, goo. I was being covered in emotion, but I barely recognized it... 'What sort of monster kills for FUN?!' I yell into my mind, my face cringing. I sit there, thinking... 'The guard did try to take some bits from me I stand up on my hind hooves, feeling wetness on my face. I had been crying. ... it's all justified... I wipe that cringe off my face, beginning to smirk at my reasoning. nothing is wrong...' I clean off my tears, taking off the armor and tag, and placed them in front of me. 'I just have to get rid of the evidence.' I concentrate my magic, performing a spell I used to help build huts around our city. The pressure in my horn, while painless, made me feel like I was being crushed. The pressure kept on building up, crushing my thoughts and dimming my perception of my surroundings. The area around me, including the door, began to distort, mainly due to the hallucinations this spell creates for me to keep me focused. I grunt, my throat feeling sore and inoperable, feeling the pressure release from my horn, heating up the area in front of me. The pain of the release was minimum, but the pleasure was absolute, filling my entire being with the joy of a spell gone right. The outcome of this spell was 50/50 for me: The metal of the armor and tag were melted to an indistinguishable,molten pool, but my mind began to play tricks on me. General Guerrilla Gorilla always tole me about hallucinations, for he always has them of the days of war between tribes, but they soon made peace afterwards. He always said,'Hallucinations are things you must ignore, for if you accept them, you will go mad!', or at least I think he said that, for most Generals of the Gorilla army can speak Equestrian, but not like me. So, in regards to General Guerrilla, I just ignored all of the hallucinations, especially the speaking ones. I waited, for about a minute or two, for the hallucinations to dissipate from my sight. Blinking, I go from the insane hallucination world to the normal one, my eyes feeling bloodshot. 'I should go to the immigration office, for Lion Gorilla told me I would be an immigrant to my own kind a loong time ago.' I make sure my vest has everything first, hugging Mr.Bubblepants before I finished, and began to walk, on my hind legs, to the center of the city/town/capital. ... I have barely walked 10 feet, slowly as to not cause suspicion, and I already see how populated this city is. There are many ponies, dressed in shiny attire in this heat, and they all have their heads pointed up... with their eyes closed. Looking more closely, I see some thu- I mean guards- hidden among the citizens, but their pure gold armor makes them noticeable to the most blind of ponies. Amused and baffled at how the dressed up ponies can see where they are going, I chuckle a little, earning some attention to a guard next to me. "Somepony died today, but you are laughing," he said sadly,"Why?" I look towards the sad pony and see everything he was wearing. He has the normal attire of the guards, but he also had all these medals streamed across his neck and torso. I smile, turning to the guard,"I will giv you an answer, but you must know it will be long." I said, wanting to speak with somepony... even if I only talk. He nods. "I smile not because I am happy, but because, out of all odds, I am alive. I, a pony with no parents, have lived with only gorillas as parents, but yet I live. I have gone through many raids, deaths, and tragedies inside my clan, but I still remain." I grin,"If happiness cannot win, all is lost, but as of right now, happiness is here. If I die, it would continue on, crushing time and space itself, so," I heightened my voice,"happiness will continue on after all is gone, but sadness shall always be there too. We must never allow sadness to win, but we must embrace it at times... but now is not the time." Iclose my eyes, taking a pose,"It is time to repent for all our evils, find joy in sorrow, and bring happiness to the dead." I silently pose there, waiting for a reply, but I got something else instead. Applause. I open my eyes, seeing not just that one guard beside me, but also seeing a large group of ponies with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. I look to the guard, seeing him smile, but still crying a it,"Son,"he started off,"Who are you?" I grin, always wanting to say this,"I am Sour Lemon, raised by gorillas, and I wish to be a citizen of this fine country!" I hear more applause, but I hear quiet hoofsteps approaching me. Turning to the sound, I see a pure white pony with no mane, smiling at me. "I am Emma Great, the immigrant office executive, and I would like you to come to my office for your test." she said, smiling. I smile back, knowing I have just taken the first step of my journey. Applejack and Braeburn are in a small shop in Canterlot, taking a small break from the Lemon family search, when they hear something odd. "I am Sour Lemon, raised by gorillas, and I wish to be a citizen of this fine country!" Applejack spits out the small cracker she had been eating, hitting Braeburn in the process. Braeburn, while disgusted, doesn't care as he rising from the table quicker than Applejack. Applejack rises, slowly because she just ate and look out the window. Sure enough, there was a crowd, but there was nopony in the center of the crowd, baffling Braeburn and Applejack. "What in tarnation happened?" Applejack said, exiting the shop. An energetic blue pony, tears in her eyes, but smiling, says,"A pony named Sour Lemon just made an amazing speech about happiness!" she said, tears of joy(?) waterfalling off her face, hitting the ground in front of Applejack. "Where did he go?" Applejack and Braeburn said in unison. The energetic pony pointed to the gates,"I thi-" Applejack and Braeburn did not listen, running out the city in a flash, causing the pony to slam her flank on the ground,"nk he went to the immigration office, but let me go grab my stuff at the gate....." she said, rambling on. ... Applejack and Braeburn run for miles, searching every stone for Sour Lemon, but came up with nothing. "Gosh darn it!" Applejack yells into the sky, angry about the missed chance. Braeburn looks towards Applejack with the same agitated face she had,"I am going to stay in Canterlot to make sure he isn't there, you go search the roads!" Applejack nods, determined to find Sour Lemon. They both ran, examining their surroundings to make sure Sour wasn't there. I sit in a plain white office, reeking of limes for some reason, as a mare walks in, handing me a document. "Are you ready for your test?" she said, happy. I gulp, thinking of all the fighting tests the General Gorillas put me through, but sighed of relief once the document hit my hooves. "Yes, ma'am." I said, confidently,"but... I cannot write without some help." I confess. The mare smiles and takes the document from me,"Alright, lets do the oral test." I nod, knowing its meaning from Madam Le Gorilla, my teacher. "Who is the leader of Equestria?" "Princess Celestia is the main ruler of Equestria." I say. She nods. "What is the name of Celestia's sister?" "Luna." She nods. ... it went on like this for an hour, but the questions got slightly harder. "What is the square root of pi?" "1.77245385091" I say, grinning. She nods. "Well then! You got 100/125 questions right!" She gets up from her desk and reaches out her hoof,"Welcome to Equestria Sour Lemon." 'On my first day here, I killed somepony. This is such an odd welcoming... Welcome to me indeed.' "Mrs. Emma, thank you for your time." I say, like a gentlecolt (it was a question I got wrong) should. I shake her hoof. "Oh, I am not married, so call me Emma." she said, blushing a bit after I grasped her hoof. After a good shake, I let go of her hoof and begin to walk towards the door. "Um.." Emma said, causing me to stop for a moment,"Would you like to get some coffee sometime? For a celebration that is!" she said, covering herself. "Sure!" I say. Exiting the room, I hoof-pump with sheer joy and glory. 'Finally! A friend!'
Uh-ohThe ground beneath my hindhooves rumbles slightly, making me stumble a bit before correcting myself. I look around, wanting to see what everyone is doing. Many ponies are roaming around outside, seeming to be looking for something, so I use my height (I am on my hindhooves. Duh.) to my advantage, I peer over the hoard of ponies. I look left in right, trying to pinpoint some clue as to why everyone was hoofing it around town. A loud, obnoxious voice booms from my left, babbling about something, so I decide to listen, but I missed a few words at the beginning. "... So if any of you can find Sour Lemon, please report to me, Braeburn!" 'Why would he...' My eyes dilate to the size of pinpricks,'They must have found out!' I quickly duck into a bush, scrapping my flank upon entry. I peer out the areas of dead bush, awaiting the area to be clear. 'How could they have found out?' I question myself, retracing my steps. 'First, he verbally assaulted me, then I became scared and blew him to bits... eh...' I shrug, hurting my forelegs in the process by hitting a hard branch. '... Doesn't that make me a criminal?' I think, rubbing my forelegs with their other. Suddenly, I hear a loud, blaring noise, louder than the 'alarm' from earlier. Peering out of the bush once more, I prepare myself for a giant mob of ponies to attack this tiny, weak bush that covers me. ... But, instead of alot of ponies trying to arrest me, I see a large shadow blanket over this pristine city. The shadow made all of the ponies afraid for some reason, so I decided to look up... 'Oh horseapples.' It was huge, covering a vast amount of the sky, dimming all around it. 'Is that...' Instead of being covered by any type of flesh, it seemed to have no flesh at all... 'Oh sweet Celestia...' General Guerrilla Gorilla had fought one of these in a story of his... losing his 'golden' thumb in the process. 'A dracolich.' "AUGHooHA" it bellowed, shaking the ground beneath it. I try to run,but absolute terror makes me tremble instead. I raise my head up, out of the bush, and glare at it. It was starting to descend near me, meaning I need to lay low, unless I'll be discovered.Its wings still had pieces of flesh on them, seeming to flap in the wind, as it descended towards some coffee shop. I gulp, digging deeper into this bush, hoping it would seclude me from the behemoth. It continued to screech and moan, the blood-curdling echo of its bones smacking together reaching my ears for the first time. Digging evermore deeper, I feel a slight tingle in my nose. 'Uh-Oh' My nose started to contract, and in one swift motion, I let out an itchy liquid from my nose. I rub my nose, hoping the dragon did not hear that, but knowing I was, most likely, doomed to an odd death. "AURgHah!" it bellowed, seeming louder and angrier than before. I peer out, one more time, hoping to all the deities that it did not just roar at me... what I see did not help me in the least. The dracolich was moving towards my bush, crushing some red goop beneath it... Red goop? I look at the goop one more time, seeing it covering the foot of the mighty dracolich... seeming to stick to its bones. ... but that does not help me at all. I look upward towards its face, wanting to know what it is looking at. Its glowing, empty eyes were staring back at me, making me tremble more than ever before. "Mortal!" it bellowed,quietly, at me, making me slightly confused. "I have a deal for you." I slowly rise out of the bush, making sure he saw my every movement. Would not want him to be untrusting of me. "Y-y-yes, giant, scary dracolich?" I squeaked, seeming to catch its attention. "... help me." '...what?' I look at it, eyes full of confusion. "The powerful magic guards of this country are going to be taking my life, but I wish no ill-will. It is just..." "Just what?" I ask, my quizzical side taking over my fear. A blackened stream of smoke blazed from its nose, seeming to calm it down a bit more."I will take something from you, something I cannot steal, in return for your life." "Sure." I blurt out, my fear of death making me take the only living route possible... or did it? "... You are either extremely generous or afraid beyond all belief," A bit of both, actually,"so I promise, if I live, I will ---" *Crash* I look towards the sound, but what I saw made me half-grin and half-frown. Magical guards, each armed with superior magic amplifiers, were shooting large, magic, boulders at the (Kind?) dracolich, even though he doesn't bear any ill-will. "Get him!" a mage upfront said, rushing towards the (male?) dracolich. The other mages followed, charging their weapons as they ran. Even though they were going to kill a monster... I couldn't have it. I jump out of the bush, chanting a sacred chant at the guards, catching them... off-guard. I list off many deities from dreams of the gorilla civilization, hoping that they would assist me in this one spell, for just this once. My hooves charge black, enveloping my main body in a shroud of darkness in the process. I look straight at the lead mage, glaring at him with the force of only one god. A god that can only help a mortal once before fading back into its realm. I shake my head back and forth, rising my forehooves up to my standing position. "You will not harm this creature, although he did kill." They stare at me in bewilderment, saying something I pretended not to hear, but I knew all too well. "That is the same type of magic that killed our guard brethren!" I grin, knowing I just stupidly cast aside all my hopes and aspirations of a future in peace, but what can I do? Besides... it was bound to happen sooner or later. "Urgh!" I groan slightly, feeling the final parts of the spell taking place. I run to the side of the large dracolich, grabbing his large leg in the process. He, too, began to darken, albeit quicker than me, and we vanished. "How could this have happened!" a burly guard yelled at the lead mage. The mage shuffled back a bit, scared of the guard's outbusurst, and said,"How could we know a 4-star mage, who is unidentified by the way, would waltz in front of us with a veil of DARK MAGIC?" the mage yelled back, making the guard himself back off. The guard, angered at he situation, just huffs and walks away. The head mage, also angered at the failure, trots off to the mare's room to wash up. She, in all of her days, has never met anypony stupid enough to jump in front of a beast and SAVE it... 'Wait,' she thought, opening the door to the mare's room,'Why did we let him leave without a fight?' She looks into the mirror, seeing her dull, gray eyes stare back at her with amusement. 'I am going to find you, whoever you are.' She then laughs, scaring the shit out of a pony in a stall... literally. A black haze goes across my vision, protecting me from whatever may bump into me during travel, and my arms were growing numb due to the dracolich's weight. I cannot breath, for there is nothing to breath in this space. We are in the Gorilla Magic Bunker, a (not finished) bunker made by the mage gorillas around 50 years ago. We never really needed it. Suddenly, I hear a loud *fztt* from behind me. Curious, I look backwards, seeing the dracolich in its black-haze form. "Where are we?" it- no he, asked. "We are nowhere important, so we should be going." "Where?" He asked, a slight quizzical voice in him. "Do you have a home?" "Yes... why?" "Picture your home, imagine EXACTLY where it is, what it looks like, and how much light enters it." I demand, knowing exactly what to do. I am running out of usable air, so I hold my breath as he concentrates. He nods his head, seemingly finished with his thoughts. I smile, raising my forehoof again, enveloping us in darkness once more. ... Warmth wraps around me, granting its life-giving, anti-cold, stuff. Squawks and chatters are heard all around me, making me feel very good, so I lean back to rest... until I hit something. Hard. "Get off me." he demanded, seeming to be much less cheery than when we were in the portal. All of the darkness fades from our bodies, going back into my hoof. "Are you going to take it or what?" I ask him, slightly wondering what he meant to take. He looks directly at me, nearly making me tremble again, and says,"Goodnight." *THWAP* and all the warmth escaped me.
Pipe dreams. (Short chapter. Sick)My body feels sore all over, seeming to squeeze my muscles to a small extent, for I felt weaker. It may have just been the soreness, but as I try to open my eyes, I feel a significant amount of pain in my eye lids, causing me to squint. Using my squinted eyes, I look around me for any sign of the dracolich I had saved some-time ago... But only see a seemingly never-ending forest beside a gigantic mountain. *Ding* "What time is it?" I say, my throat seeming the same, albeit hurt. I look upwards, hoping to see some sign of the sun, but instead, I saw a glistening moon... Meaning I have been out this entire day, or more. "Ugh." I groan, moving from my spot, hearing *pops* from all over my body. 'I wonder where that dracolich is...' *Snap* '...?' I hear mumbling from where the snapping sound came from. The way they spoke reminded me of the 'Royal Guard' ponies... '... I should get out of here.' Moving even more upward, my hindhooves touch the ground. I attempt to take one step, and succeed, but feel a great pain from it. "Urk!" I yelled silently, hopefully not attracting the attention of... "Hey! Who's there?!" a loud, gruff voice said. I point my hoof in his direction, trying to make a cloak of magic to prevent him from seeing me, and concentrate. ... And concentrating did nothing. Not a single spark of magic left my hoof. I just stare at my hoof in surprise, mouth agape. "Hey!?" said the voice again. I needed to do the most stallion-like thing I could think of to evade this guard. Something with class so high, every mortal being wants to do it secretly. I crouched, aiming my body directly at the voice and... Ran in the opposite direction. "What is that noise?" I heard before leaving his field of sight... But not for long. The guard cast a magical field, cascading around the entire area around me. Now in a heap of pure fear, I jump into the nearest hole I could find... Only to land into a pipe. But not any pipe, I landed in a sewage pipe, rusted and abandoned. There is light on the other side of this pipe, but I think it would be safer to stay out of sight for some time and not just escape into the outside. I am sure the guard has eyes. My teeth slightly chatter, just now feeling the coldness of metal that surrounded me. My nose slightly curled up, just happy that this wretched smell was not a 'fresh smell'. I am so tired... I take out Mr. Bubblepants, happy that he is not in harm, and hug him slightly. I felt so tired... The air is dry, but the sky was pure gray, making the world seem darker around me. Coal and burnt wood float through the air to my nostrils, making me feel dirty from the inside-out, but it was normal. Times never change in this world of oddities, for people always fly around on their boards, hoping to go into boxes that look all the same. Everytime I walk this path to my house, all I see are houses just like mine. There is a green one, a pink one, a blue one, and a yellow one. They're all made by the government and they all look the same. The people in this country, themselves, are not very different. There are doctors, lawyers, and business executives who each came from large boxes called 'universities' when they graduated from the smaller, colorful boxes of 'grade school'. This land is so boring. I notice a small crunching sound underneath my feet, meaning I am walking. Walking to my home. My neighbors, who are twins, wave at me, just as they do everyday. I wave back, for it is routine, and get out my keys.They feel cold, but that is just how it is. This world is much colder than it is supposed to be from The Plan, but at least we did not melt. Grabbing the lock, I insert the key, making a sound that I remember so well... because I have heard it everyday for fifty years. "I am home." I say opening the door, yawning as routine. I close the door softly behind me, ready to get to my 'homework' and finally finish it. I take off my heavy clothing, which had included many things like; A heavy, black, undercoat; A large gray coat; A large black hoodie; Lumberjack pants; and my 'Heavy Duty' underwear. I then put on my casual t-shirt and underpants to begin the routine. For this one last time I wake up drowsy, unable to remember much about the dream other than 'home'. Home looked nothing like my home, which is the biggest hut the gorillas own, but much more like a home I saw in Canterlot.. without color. ... I am still tired and fear that that the ponies may be outside still, so I go back to sleep... The time is now. This routine is going to end by my hands, and my hands only, for I am going to do something stupid. Something so stupid that no human on our planet will forget, or forgive, me. I am going straight for the king... "Where is he?" bellowed a guard, seemingly old. I have been hiding in the same spot for four days now. Inside an abandoned (and clean?) sewer. "I could've sworn I heard something over here, Captain." said a much younger guard, hoofsteps becoming louder. I have no way of escape anymore. "Come on out Sour Lemon, we know you were the one who freed that monster!" said the old guard, hoofsteps growing louder by the step. They know where I am. All I can do now is hold still and hope that they, and all the ponies who have seen me, would forget me and move on their merry way. *Clop.* ... *CLop* ... Go away... *CLOp* ...Please... *CLop* "I can't see him, Captain!" said the younger one. Oh thank... Celestia? I look a little down, seeing a slight reflection of my tooth.Isn't she the pony who commands these ponies to chase me? Isn't she the one who wants me behind bars for what I did? I start to shake, knowing I am just going paranoid. I mean, Celestia doesn't actually want MY hooves in chains... Right? Right? *Clank* goes a peice of metal above me, whamming into my skull, making me go face-first into the metal BELOW me as well. I lose all feeling again, but this time I fear I could wake up in chains... Author's Note Followers! I will let you decide something about this story! But you will not know what! On a pair of cards I have a plots written down on each, but they take different paths. Just comment Card A or Card B.
A Grave Situation.The shattering of glass echos throughout my eardrums, waking me up from my dream. I know not where I am, but something is extremely off. An odd smell is emitting out of the area behind me, but as I look back, I only see a wall. I see many things graphed onto this wall, but it is too dark in this room to read them. I raise my hand to feel them, to see if I can decipher by touch what they mean. The wall is filled with gaps, making deciphering impossible. The wall itself feels grainy, as if they put no effort in constructing this wall. The question of my location remained unanswered, making me jitter in fear. This was, quite possibly, worse than the dracolich, for at least he was kind-ish. In a fit of panic, fear, and my slight hope of everything, I start banging on the walls, hoping someone would come to my aid. *Pound* I went onto the wall behind me. The first wall gave no answer, so I move onto the next wall, the one to my left, and bang on that one. *Po-oound~* Echoed the wall. 'Huh?' I thought, looking at the echoing wall,'How thin is this wall?' I asked, still hearing the echo. I am about to bang on it once more, but a voice booms into my ears. "Stop bangin' on those walls, scum, for no pony can hear you except me." A brash, loud voice said to me, seeming to come from all directions. "W-," I grab my neck, noticing it is covered completely by some collar, paining when I speak. The pony(?) laughs throughout the room,"Uh- uh-uh, no speaking." I just look around, my eyes becoming used to the darkness. All of the walls look the same, each with the bumps, cracks, and other assortments strewn about them, except one. The one behind me. The one behind me was seemingly thicker than the rest of the walls, so I start pushing onto it, hoping it was a door. "Urk!" I went, my entire body being fried. The pony(?) yet again laughs, "You messed with us, so you are going to get what you deserve when we arrive." 'Us?' I questioned myself,'Who does he-' That is when it hit me once again. The guard. The guard I had killed, the murder I have been trying to say did not matter. The one I have been holding back on. I try to cry, but no tears came out. I tried to scream, but pain erupted through my body. I couldn't even move anymore. This world is a peaceful one, where even criminals are treated kindly, but if I am being tortured like this, it meant only one thing. I was going to be executed. I was going to die... 'No.' I started to pull onto the collar, through the pain, 'No no no no...' I tug even harder, pulling my muscles and paining myself while being electrocuted from the inside. I did not care if I felt pain, for pain is less than death. "NO!" I scream, ripping off the collar. "Huh?" said the pony(?). "Help! i think I am having a heart att-" *Fake cough* The pony(?) gasped, "Don't you dare die before I kill you!" he said. I hear him walk towards the thick door, hoping that this would work, and ready my muscles. They have been asleep for so long, but my life itself is on the line, so it quickly tenses up. *Clank* went a lock, meaning he was in front of the door. I continue to fake cough, crouching downwards, ready for my plan. "You better not-" I release my muscles, leaping into the air with all my might, hearing a loud crunch beneath my hooves as I begin to descend. My hooves are in pain, but this hurts him much more than it hurts me. As I land, I quickly turn towards my opponent, noticing a few things. 1) This was a gryphon, not a pony. 2) She is a woman. 3) She has an odd uniform, seeming to have multiple pockets not in use, a large badge with some symbols on it, and a large, silver object. She is holding her beak, surprised at my attack. She stares at me, her claw slowly reaching for the silver object on her side. "I think this cannot end with us being friends, can it?" I ask, grinning at her. I will not lose, even without something important... She grabs the silver object, with only one claw, and points it towards me, shouting, "Die you prick!" She reaches for a small trigger in the middle of the silver object, but I do not let her finish, "General Guerrilla's legendary attacks!" I scream, laughing. I quickly run in front of her, which my posture allows me to have the advantage. Since I am standing up straight, The General's attacks will be easy to duplicate. I swing my hoof towards the spot right behind her beak, but she quickly grabs my hand. Just what I wanted. With both of her hands full, one with the object and the other with my hand, I thrust my left hoof towards her stomach, feeling a loud crunch as I do so... A crunch? I look towards her stomach and I cannot believe what I saw. My ENTIRE hoof had gone through her rib cage... meaning I had killed another living being... "... I am so sorry..." I say, her object clattering to the ground and loosening her claw's grip on my hoof. Blood is being coughed up from her, tears evident on her face... But I feel no remorse for what I had done. She began to feel colder. Her life force seeming to weaken in my grasp. I do not know how long I stayed like that, but I know she was dead for quite awhile before I removed my hoof. I slowly laid her unto the ground, closing her open eyes. I know what I must do, though it pains me to do such a thing without it... Without my horn. I never stopped to think about it, but the dracolich taking my horn is odd. Anyways, I crouch downwards, grabbing her uniform and undressed her. I felt horrible about undressing her, but not killing her, which is odd. Searching through her belongings, I find a keycard, A map, keys, and, of course, her silver object. I let her keep her clothing and the object, figuring something weird out. The thing I was being transported in seemed to float off the ground... This thing levitated. Taking out the keys, I open the door, finding a small box on top of the dash board (Named after the inventor, Gorilla Glu told me many inventors) with the same key hole as the door. I unlock it and nearly cry. This entire time, I did not notice I was absolutely stark naked, until now. I take my vest, opening Mr. Bubblepant's zipper... only to not find him. I exit the vehicle, anger in my mind, and walk up to the gryphon lady... and smash her head in with a stone. I now am on the road again, my new map out, following a conspicuous trail on said map, and my old vest on. Driving without magic is hard for me, but I guess I am getting the hang of it. "Always look on the something- something ..." I laugh, smirking down the long, dirt path. I smile, heading down a long, treefilled forest path... Not knowing that this was a bad idea. Author's Note How do you like this chapter? -Rate -Comment ~~-Subscribe~~ - Follow
Down the path. (Short chapter + a new story for my extremely small fan-base).My cold, sweaty hooves reach down towards an oddly shaped, rectangular object in the middle of a slit that is on the right of me. I grasp my hooves on the stick, wondering what this would do, and tug backwards. *KCarewkwa!* The thing I was driving in jolted upwards. My face felt like it was being pushed into my skull with great force, but I persevered. In the middle of this slightly painful sparse, I begin to hear something over the immense sound that was this flying thing's jets... Wait... Flying? I am just about to scream in slight delight about flying, until the noise from in front of me barked for my attention. "Agent? Where are you? Can you read me? Over." My heart-beat stops, knowing what this must be. This must be one of the inventions that my family told me about... What was it called? Something that begins with ra... ra... rad... radiation? No, that can't be it. Maybe I can ask Mr. Bubblepants... "Grrr..." I nearly forgot. that gryphon... griffon... , whatever, took my favorite being from me. Where could he be? I find a vague green and immediately press it. *Click* Instead of a crackling 'Kaboom' from that button, all of the force going up stopped... except my own. I ram into the ceiling of this thing and cascade down onto the wheel, hurt. I rub my head, making sure to not put any more force on my head than needed. "Hello? Agent!?" the thing in front of me screeched, "If you do not respond in five seconds, I will send in Delta Team!" One... 'Delta Team?' Two... I just stare at the noisy thing in front of me, wondering what exactly this 'Delta Team' was... Three... All I know is that it cannot be good. Four... I gulp, waiting for what may happen. Five... I just hope it isn't that bad... That cannot be too much to ask, could it? It has been many days since the old king was killed. The air is crisp and silent, only a lone man standing with a object straight from his father's old room. On a brand new, straight from the old royal chambers, is the old king's desk. This thing is chock-full of secrets, just waiting to be discovered. The desk is made of hand-crafted iron and wood, both made in the ancient civilization--England--and have more in common that you would think. "My father really did have good taste in objects," said the 'new' king, dressed in his 'royal' attire--consisting of his father's flesh and dye--that makes it a royal purple. No one suspects that the attire is made of human skin, for it was perfectly leather-ed by slaves. "He just never had good taste in ideals." he said, ripping open a large cabinet in the middle of the desk, splintering some of the wood. He grabs many papers, a smile upon his pale, malnourished skin. He hadn't eaten since he killed his father, so people would believe he truly felt grief or something pitiful like that. With papers in hand, his eyes scan through some of them, his smile growing larger and larger... Author's Note I am so terribly sorry for the short as heck chapter, but I have been busy at school, doing homework, drawing, and creating this for my small fan-base. I am trying to stay with ONLY one story, but my ideas are just to bouncy to let go... When school gets a little easier (Tests are done and stuff) chapters will come out faster than Poptarts™! Again, sorry for the short chapters.
The show must go on!A few hours of maneuvering this behemoth into the forest for cover against the Delta Team was useless. In only a few minutes after parking, an ominous sound echoed above me. I quickly evacuate the vehicle, but something gets into my vision. Mr. Bubblepants was right behind the seat, along with some other things, so I snatch a few things, put them into my vest and a bag I got, and ran into the forest. ... "Come out with your hooves up!" echoed across the forest, seeming to come from my left. I ran right. I ran right into a tree. My already weakened body begins to feel faint, so I look into the bag of things I took. Moving Mr. Bubblepants from the top of the bag, I saw a few food-items that pleased me. I took a bar with a smeared label that read 'Energe', so it should be an energy source. Perfect. I tear off the wrapper, slowly walking right, and take a bite... My head fills with immense pain, as I writhe on the floor for a moment, but my head quickly clears. It REALLY clears. "Get over here!" yells a pony to my left... And I see him. Well, not him, really, but a vauge outline of him and the surroundings. I was seeing the area around me so clearly that I observed the pony, most likely a guard and male in the outfit, look feebish and scared from his movements. I smiled when I saw that nopony was right by him, so I looked around me. They had split up. The fools. I feel excited as I ran towards the guard-pony at a speed I never knew I could even go and saw his shocked face. He couldn't even speak a word before I smashed his face into the ground. He was alive and breathing, but probably was now concussed with brain damage. He, too, had a silver rectangle on his side, but that wasn't what I was interested in. I removed his guard clothing and put it on. I casually ran through the forest, going straight south (according to the sun) and smiled. I looked around me once more and saw a large group of ponies back North, most likely finding their comrade, for they made a lot of noise. Running much faster, I finally see the edge of the forest. but I do not leave the forest. I see many vehicles outside the edge of the forest. I wait, and listen... An hour passes, and I see something funny. I saw through the ground with my sound-sight thing, and saw an outline of a sewer of sorts. I follow the pipe deeper into the forest and find a broken lid. I remove the lid and go into the sewer, the guard's armor e not feel disgusting... or it could be the fact that the pipe was empty. I slowly moved through the pipe for even more hours and finally emerge on the surface from a lidless opening. I was blinded, for I have been in the sewers for so long, but saw no evidence of ponies around me. I rub my eyes, blinking, and the fuzzy lights dissipate. I was on top of a cliff, looking down onto a city. An empty, destroyed city. Author's Note Without my guy to help me out, I shall begin this series again! Why this one? Because I love it!
The Beautiful City!Holding Mr. Bubblepants, I descend into the city streets from a small hill. All there is broken city structures, puddles, and pieces of wood. I go into a building, which had been barely touched compared to the rest, and see that it was only the outside that was untouched. The inside was dripping and cold, a hole from the ceiling being the only light source. Looking around in the dim light, I find a few hard, white sticks. I pick one up in my mouth, carrying it to the light. I drop the stick and nearly scream, for it was no stick. It was a bone. I looked around, seeing more and more bones appearing from the darkness, for my eyes have adjusted to the light. I look around the bodies, noticing that they were picked clean. As if an animal had devoured them after death, I hope. I go to a counter that survived. This must have been a bar, for a few shelves remained above the counter. I open an unopened one, seeing cylinders. I pick one up, and place it on the counter. In the dim light, it read, 'Beer Salt'. yes, this was a bar. I go behind the counter, seeing a door. I would have opened it, if it had a knob to begin with. I just push it down, but it lands inclined upwards. I pull it off the stairs and go upstairs, wondering what may have survived up here. Under another hole in the ceiling, I see something move. I walk to it, and it squeaks in fear. It is a little colt. It was surrounded by several cans of food and a can opener, but they were all empty. "Do you need help?" I say. I hear no response. Must be deaf, too. The little pegasus, blue and small for his apparent age, had an injured wing, too. I couldn't tell if he was lucky to be alive or unlucky to be so mutilated. I look back in the bag that I took stuff from the car in. I find a few foodstuffs like applesauce and lay it in front of the kid. He looks at me, his eyes full of fear. I shush him, and go downstairs. I find a drawer in the kitchen's remains (which is in another door-less are), and pick out a wooden spoon. I go back upstairs and give it to the kid. He begins to eat slowly, watching me. I wait for a minute or two before he finishes. I pick him up, him being surprised. He begins to kick me lightly, but is too weak to do any real damage. I carry him out of the store, covering his eyes as we leave the building. I look at a piece of the counter and repeatedly stab it with the spoon, forming words. I broke off the piece with the words, handing it to the kid. It read, 'Go into the forest, there is people looking for me there, but they will save you. Never mention me'. He still looks untrustingly at me, so I set him down and put the note back on the counter. I hand the kid a toy, the only one I ever had, and he picks him up. I did not want neither of them to feel the painful route I was going down any further. I pat the head of Mr. Bubblepants one more time, and look at the kid. I mouth my name, seeing if he knew how to read lips. "Lemoon?" he said, somewhat loudly. I nod my head, smiling. He points at himself, "Caesar." I smile at him, but then look to the woods. I point him towards the woods and hit his flank softly. He is shocked and begins to run. I turned the other direction, running further into the city. Alone. After a full hour of running, I finally found the source of the problem. This city used to be a riverbed, so they used a dam to block the water from draining here and created a city. It seemed that the dam, though, had a huge hole at the very top. The dam was probably 15 stories high, but it still overflowed, probably drowning everypony unlucky enough to be trapped inside. But where did the water go? I go up a heavily-chipped staircase, walking all the way up the the top of the dam. I look at the city, seeing what it must have been like. An entire forest surrounding a city, beautifully full of wildlife, and an entire lake up top to swim in. The years of life here were probably nice, with this nice wind from up top blowing leaves into the streets. I smile at what it once was, but then look at the hole that caused its downfall. The water level of the dam is right below the hole, but I am pretty sure taht is because the flood has died down. I look at the concrete they used to make the dam, discovering something awful. There was a small inscription that listed the years this thing was maintenance. It was not maintained for a few decades. Appalled at the blatant failure of the mayor's office, I look down stream. The water looked like fresh water, so I take a drink. IT was fresh. I trot down the river, seeing if any other cities were near this one. Hopefully not destroyed this time, though.
Strange.After following the river for some time, I have realized some things. Firstly, the trees seem to be changing in an extremely unnatural way, for the trees are changing shape. At first, I thought it was just me seeing new trees by walking, but as I stopped after hitting a rock, the pine trees in front of me changed into palm trees. Though afraid, I continue on down this steam, my mind beginning to shake back and forth. The river seemed to be calmer the further down you went, and I could of sworn that I could walk right over it on my hindhooves. I go to the water's edge, a small squirrel scampering away from me, and dip a hoof in. The water was deeper and stronger than it appeared, nearly dragging my entire body underwater. I pull out my hoof, but something got stuck on it. I look closely, seeing yellow sprinkles of metal on my hoof. Gold. I shake my hoof over my pocket, putting the gold in my pocket. It must have come from upstream, so I continue on with my journey to find the source of this river, for I still hadn't seen any kind of city near me. Weirdly, I was hungry again, but I saw one of the pines in the distance turning into an apple tree. I quickly trot that way, nearly tripping over a random rock that had probably been there for years, and stumbling into a tree instead of falling into the floor. Something fell on my head as I hit the tree, hurting me even further, so I curse under my breath a few times. Or more than that. Picking up the object, I see it is an apple. I kick down a few more, eating them one at a time. One tasted sour, another sweet, and one absolutely bitter. I laugh, happy to partake in this odd feast, so I hit the tree again. It was now a palm tree. I frown, going back to the river, and continue walking on a full belly. Night is arriving soon, so I go into the western (according to the sun) part of the forest to the river. I look around for the most tight and uncomfortable spot possible, for the trees cannot be trusted to lay in and that less big predators could fit there. I find a large rock, seemingly cut through by unknown means, and analyze it. It was like a ring-shaped boulder, half submerged, and has engravings on the inside. I lay inside of it, but there is not enough light to see it. I would make a fire, but then they would see it, or I would set the forest on fire, or something else will find me. I don't want any of that, so I just get as snug as possible, slowly falling asleep... I wake up, the sun in my eyes and bugs in my face. I nearly scream of shock, until realizing that they were harmless caterpillars, and just shake them off. I look at the engravings inside the rock, finally, and begin to read somewhat. I skimmed through it, but I could see that it was a chant of some sort. Bored, I recite it. "Puh," I spit, "gluey maggle'naf 'Kulu Really waggah'nagal Ftagn?" I say, believing it to be an odd chant. Suddenly, though, I felt my back be pressed hard against the wall, so I jump out of the rock. I roll into some brush, feeling small cuts on my legs, and witnessed the horror that happened to the rock. It was being molded into a new shape, something sinister, and it made me slightly sick. The figure that was displayed looked like a hideous, bipedal, creature with no hair. It was covered in scars and rags, but it felt so known to me. I realized why it is. It is a hairless ape. The poor sod, shaved down to his skin, was smiling proudly to the sky, unashamed. I look away, feeling embarrassed for the man, and trot back to the river. Traveling upstream once more, I jog on my hindhooves for some long-overdue practice. It felt good, better than normal, and my bones felt revitalized. The trees seemed more lively and slow, as if they wished to remain as one tree instead of changing every single hour,and the air itself felt more alive than normal. I feel bad that Mr. Bubblepants isn't here, but that child probably needed him more than I did. Is it weird that I think that? If so I wonder if that chant did more than show me a naked ape. I look sullen at the ground for a bit, but remember something. Even the naked ape was courageous and proud, so I should be, too! I think, running bipedally upstream. Author's Note I kind of hate that all my creative juices are only going to TBDSP, so it is hard to make this story... But, I love challenges! get ready for a chapter or two next month, for this is my B-day moth, friends☺
A place demons fear.My vision is all but clear, zoning in and out. The gentle breeze taunting me, seeming to whisper to my cold, dying body. My arms, covered in blood, show signs of burns and other such things. I am on a chair, tied up like some freaking animal, and a gag in my mouth.I was crying, but I have cried for so long that my tears have all dried up. My mouth was dry, for I haven't had water in days.I have seen things that would break the minds of other people, but I had will. I had hope. I hear loud voices coming from right beside me, but my ears have been ringing for hours non-stop, making all sound like mumbles. *Whap* The man beside me hit me with the butt of his gun, continuing to scream at my near-deaf and near-blind body. Blood trickles down my face, making me feel weaker than I already was. I am no victim. ...I am a murderer... or so they say. A year ago, I was captured and placed into this prison for charges of nearly slaughtering people on a day I was out of my country. I was framed, but they never gave me the chance of court, for they believe I nearly killed someone they held more dear than the creator, if it is real. Their king. I was blamed for nearly bombing King Garfield Louisville III and for that, I never got a court. I was never put on trial, I was nearly be-headed, and I did something that 'proved' that I was the killer. I killed a guard. His body going limp within my young hands, clawing at me, trying to escape... I was delusional, my young teenage body could not take this. I knew what I had done, and surrendered. I hoped that they would kill me, so that I could face the consequences in the after-life, but instead... I was put into this place, this prison, where I was only fed once a month, beaten nearly to death each day, and tortured to the highest ways possible. This unforgiving prison, full of dead gray stone walls, had blood along each wall, but from who is my question. I had hope, but each day it was dwindling. I had begun to hope for death, hoping for an end to this torture, but death took a long time to come. ... It took a full year of torture and anorexia to finally kill me. I did not die nicely, for what torturer would allow that? I died, my body hanging upside-down and arms burnt. I guess they finally had enough with torturing only me, for a few days ago, I could have sworn I saw another man being pulled in here. Before I died though, I did say one thing. The only thing I had said in that torture room ever. "Thank you..." I feel a burn, worse than any fire on Earth, for it did not warm me. It chilled me through the bone. My body tensed up, knowing what was to come. The fire, wrapping around me, started to freeze my body in place. Expecting something Hellish to happen, I was surprised to be greeted by something large. A sun-like object, brighter than the chilling fires, warms my frozen body from the inside. My face, covered in tears and blood, takes on an emotion of confusion, for this was Hell, wasn't it? The sun-like object started to glow, long lines of yellow eliminating all of the fire around me. "I will give you a choice." It said, the voice sounding so calming and soothing. "What are you?" I say, wishing to know the name of my savior. The sun-like being turns sideways multiple times in quick succession, creating a large blinding light in the process. When the light receded, I saw something that made my jaw drop. It looked just like me. "I am not you, for I have no real form. I am but a mirror of the spirit realm, knowing nothing, but seeing all." It says, turning back into a sun in a giant snap of its fingers. "What is the choice." I say, wanting to get to the point. The being looks at me, a sunspot changed into s smile,and says,"I will give you another chance at life, but you will live forever. You will begin life as a child in a family, growing up and aging, until you hit 20. You will then never age. You will be stuck at that age for all of eternity, watching as everyone dies beside you." I stare at the sun, my soul's eyes seeming to burn themselves. 'It must be better than this, but could I keep my sanity?' I look at the sun, my decision made, and say,"I accept, but only if you let me name you." The sun looks at me in confusion,"Is that your final wish?" I nod at him,"Then what shall my name be?" I look at him, my eyes, for the first time in a year, having hope in them,"You will be called Savior, for you have saved a hopeless soul like myself." Savior smiles, and says,"I kindly accept that name, but this shall be the last you see of me, for your soul belongs somewhere else now. Begone." He snaps his fingers, and I suddenly fly upwards, ascending towards my new life... My new, immortal life. On a farm in Ponyville... Applejack and Big Macintosh are both enjoying some apple cider they keep for themselves each year, speaking small talk to one another. Applejack was about to say a reply to one of Big Mac's jokes about how old she was, when a sudden *Thwomp* hit the door. "Mac, what was that?" Applejack said to her brother. Big Mac just smiles and points at the knocked out gray mare on the ground. The mare stifles up, and says,"I am sorry I crashed, I just do not know what went wrong in my trick, but here is your mail!" she said excitedly, crossed-eyed. Applejack takes the mail."Thank ya kindly, but isn't it your day off?" she said quizzically. The gray mare just giggles and says,"Ei Mail crashed yesterday trying to impress his crush, so I got today's day and pay!" Applejack smiles and says,"Well, you better go deliver all of your other mail-things, so why don'cha go quickly?" The gray mare smiles and quickly flies away... Cashing into a tree a mile away. "I wonder what's in the-" she sees who it is from,"Granny! The mail is from Apple Lemon!" Lemon Apple is the main producer of the insane magical phenomena called 'Lemon Apples'. Lemon Apples are created when a lemon tree is somehow fused with an apple tree, creating amazing apples that almost rival the Zap Apples. "Well, read it to me! I am not asleep ya know!" Granny Smith says, a little excited. "Alrighty then!" Applejack said. "Dear all of the Apple family, A dear friend of ours, Pollene Lemon, has gone to the hospital on a good notice. Her baby is ready to be delivered! They have asked all of the Apple family to come meet the new child when he/she is born! As we all know, Pollene Flowers and her husband Fire Lemon both have unicorn blood in their ancestory, so we do not know if it will be earth or unicorn! We will all be waiting at Si Addle, where we live. If you wish to visit, take this ticket and follow the directions to the hospital!" Applejack said, happily. "Whoohee! The Lemons are finally having their child!"Granny Smith said, jumping out of her chair. The Lemons are long time friends of all of the Apple family, for they all love apples, while we love flowers too. Granny Smith has been waiting for news on the baby, each and every fear creeping up on her and the rest of the family, but it seems that it has all been for nothing! The baby is healthy, and now the young foal/filly will have to meet all of the Apple family! Granny Smith unlocks a secret compartment underneath her chair, revealing a shiny red button with a green apple on it. Granny Smith presses the button and suddenly a large red apple reflected onto the clouds above, signaling for all Apples in Equestria that something good has just happened. "Granny, I thought ya got rid of that button?" Applejack said, smiling. "What button?" Granny Smith said, leaning back in her chair. Applejack snickers as Granny Smith lulls back to sleep in her chair. 'We should start packing!' Applejack runs to her room, grabbing all that she would need for the meet-up at Si Addle. Collecting many things; Toothbrush, apple snacks, blanket, pillow, and a sheet of paper. Applejack takes the sheet of paper, and her quill that Twilight let her keep a few days ago,and writes a note for all of her friends. 'Dear kindfolk of Ponyville, The Apple family, including me of course, are goin' to Si Addle for a friend of my family is going to have a little foal/filly. We will return in a few days. With sincere kindness, Applejack.' Smiling, she lays the note down on her front door, waiting for Big Mac to tell Applebloom and help her pack, Granny Smith to awaken, and Big Mac himself to pack. Laying down in front of a large window, she watches as all of the animals play around... falling asleep in the process. Through her newfound heavy sleep, Big Mac lifted her to a carriage they had rented, carrying all of their stuff. Though she was asleep, she knew that they were going somewhere, for there was alot of bumps on the road, messing with her dream. But, her dream was so amazing that, in the end, she did not wake up till much later. Applejack smiles, and mumbles,"No thanks Mrs Lemon... You cannot buy our recipe..." Applejack, remembering a time after she had returned home as a filly, blissfully sees the first time she meet Mrs. Lemon. Mrs. Lemon is a silly filly, for she wanted to buy the way we somehow made Zap Apples, but she soon found out it was caused by the Everfree... When she found that out, she curled into a ball, for she is a scaredy cat. She is so very silly, but she is still a good friend to the family... Applejack wonders what the filly/foal will look like for the rest of her dream. Smiling wider and longer... I feel warmth. Warmth of security and purity, making me want to stay forever. I know where I am, but I do not understand how I can feel yet. I am in the womb. My body feels very different than my old human body... How did my human body even feel? What was my name? Oh no... I am forgetting things. This is very bad. This is really bad. I want to remember myself, I need to stay me, but someone is pulling at the strings of my mi- ... "Its a foal!" I hear from a deep, calm voice. I see very little in this bright room, but I can see two forms. One on a bed, the other beside it. Are these my parents? Why am I in the hands of a stranger?! I start to cry out to my mother, for I want to be held by her, not some stranger. "Calm down, my son." a soothing voice said to me. Halting my tears, I see my mother(?) on the bed, holding her hooves out to me. The stranger bundles me up into a blanket, which had red things around it, and gives me to my mother(?). I look up to her, tired, and my vision fades as sleep takes over me... I wake up, after a long, peaceful, sleep, and see many individuals looking at me. I nearly start to cry, but then I see that my mother is holding me. My mother, smiling, hands me over to an individual next to her slowly. "Howdy there little one! I'm Applejack, a friend of your mother, and I can see you're a real cutey!" The kind mare, gently rocking me, makes me feel at ease. Knowing that she was nice and will not harm me, I allow her to pass me to the next pony. The pony is much smaller than Applejack, and seemed to beam energy, as she held me,"Hi there little colt! I'm Applebloom, best sister Applejack will ever have, and I see you're so very tiny!" she starts to rock me a bit fast, but I know she means well... even though I cannot understand anything they are saying. She passes me to a large, red pony who seemed to ooze knowledge above comprehension,"Hello young'un, I am Big Macintosh." he cradles me lightly, seeming to contradict his size, and passes me to an much older mare. I fell asleep in her arms, for she felt tired too, and I smile. 'I have no idea what is going on.' I say in my mind. I am nearly asleep when the old mare passed me over to my mother and fell asleep herself. "I am sorry y'all, but Sour Lemon has to sleep!" my mother says to the individuals in the room. ... Sour Lemon is my name, and I think I have just begun a game. ... I dream of many things; Mom, dad, Apples, and apples. I wonder what an apple tastes like?
The days that were lost...The days that were lost... It has been a few months since my birthday, but due to my odd memory, I forgot most of it! I remember the day that I began to walk though, for my parents were even more happier than the time I talked! Father made some quirky jokes about me being the 'last stallion standing', for he was always sitting. I felt a little embarrassment, but it is all in good fun, so I myself smile. My father, with his newfound voice, has been talking to me much more recently, although he still seems to enjoy silence when we are alone. My father has started to grow a mustache with curly ends, but instead of looking hilarious as my mother predicted, he looked quite dashing. With me able to walk and understand basic speech, I am finally able to communicate with my parents, meaning I can now ask for the one thing I always desired... "Mom, can I have an apple?" I say, straining to remember the correct sounds. My mother, who was busy writting a note, sets down the note and quill and says,"Sure, Sour, but let mommy finish this letter first." she smiled as she said. I just nod and slowly walk away. I am no gracious walker yet, for I fall at the slightest bump! Mother tells me to be careful around stairs, but where are stairs? Our house only has attic stairs, so why is Mother so protective? I guess it is because of her over-reactant attitude, but she might be right... but I feel the urge to prove her wrong. I will find some stairs one day and conquer them, causing my Mother to look at me in awe. I am still walking down the hallway, my room only one door down, when my Father rolls by me and says,"I do not know what I've been told!" 'What were the words?... Oh yeah!' "Only fillies believe what they are told!" I say, causing my father to laugh, rolling into the bathroom beside my room. I never understood why older ponies use restrooms when there are perfectly good diapers around, but I guess I will have to learn too, although I do not want to. But... If it will make Mother and Father happy, I am ready for it. My father pokes my on the head lightly, making me aware of how much of my world I was just ignoring. "Come on kid, it is time for potty-training!" My father said joyously. 'Oh joy....' ... My parents and I are all happy again, although I do not understand why I am happy, for I only pooped. Maybe it is because I am now considered more mature? That must be it. I am more mature than some foals my age, but there is something I have yet to master. The art of trotting fast. So, while my parents are in another room, cleaning my 'mess', I start pumping myself up for the trot. I prepare a Finish line with a piece of string and set off, trotting as fast as my legs could take me. Halfway through, I break out in sweat, fatigue taking over my body, but I want to do it. I need to do it. My vision starts to haze, for I am that weak, but I suddenly feel something. I felt the wall. I felt the wall hit my horn. The pain, being almost unbearable, was also silencing. I could not say anything, I could not think, but I think I saw something... I saw it before I blacked out, its eyes boring holes into my own. I saw... Mrs. Lemon was walking out of the room as she heard a *Thump* against a wall near her. She walk towards the odd sound, wondering what caused it, but as she drew closer she saw things. She saw her child, knocked out on the floor, but she also saw something else. Her child's horn was lit up with a black colored magic, enveloping his bruised forehead. She watched in both horror and awe as her son basically healed himself with his magic, but something seemed off. Her son is not a seriously dark color, so why is his magic pure black? Usually your magic comes from your coat... or.. your personality... Black couldn't be a bad color to have a a personality, could it? Ignoring the color of the magic, she turns her attention back to its healing abilities. Something that could heal that much cannot be evil, so she slowly walk over to her son.. banging into a black force field in the process. "Honey!" Mrs. Lemon shouts to her husband,"Our son it having his first magical anomaly, come roll over here!" She says in an excited tone. Knowing that most foals have an odd magic burst like this, she wanted to actually RECORD her son's, mapping out the magical currents. Mrs. Lemon may not be a unicorn, but if you live near a library like she did as a young filly, you would learn A LOT of things. Although she had no idea what her son's shade of black magic meant, she knew it had the ability to heal, so it had to be pure in some way. No impure being has had the ability to cure him/herself except... No, there can not be a way.. Her son is nothing like that crystal obsessed overlord, for if he was, he would have crystals flying out of his diapers! She laughs a bit at that image, gaining an odd look from her husband, who was not in the light of the small joke. They both stand there, documenting their child's first magic spasm for a full hour... It is still in my vision, clouding my mind. I cannot think straight, my body feels weak, where am I, where is mommy? I hear a muffled voice that sounds like mommy, but I can not see her. It will not allow me to leave its line of sight. It looks very odd to me, for its body looks like a shaven ape, but it seems to have something else... Its eyes. The eyes look just like my own, but older and broken... What is this monster? Why does it have my eyes? W- "What are you?" I strain, my lungs feeling as if I had just burst them. Its eye filled with a small black smoke, clouding its face from me... "I.." It began to say, the smoke dissipating. "am..." I could almost see its face again. Suddenly, a bright light shines through the smoke, blinding me. "I am you." is all it said before I blacked out... 'I do not understand...' Mrs. and Mr. Lemon watch in absolute horror as their child is slammed on the wall behind him, ramming in it so hard he caused a dent in the wall. "Sour!" They both shouted, rushing to their child, happy that the shield was down. Sour lays there, unhurt, but does not seem to be waking up. Mrs. and Mr. Lemon know exactly what they must do... They pick up their child, put him in a saddlebag, and rush off to the hospital, hoping the doctors could help him. It was impossible for either of them to make it to the hospital though, for one had no energy, while the other had no leg, so they call the closest taxi they see. The taxi, knowing that this was important, did not ask for money and drove quickly to the hospital. Nearing Oak Rd. , the quickest route to the hospital, they saw a large tree blocking their way. Knowing they could not make it through there, they ask to go to the second fastest way to the hospital, River Road. River Road is right by a large river and there are many quick turning areas, but they are very easy to navigate in normal weather... Until it began to rain. Thunder strikes a few miles away, showing them how much time they had left till the roads all closed. The taxi driver drives fast, dodging many mud splotches that happen in this city. This city rains like no tomorrow, not because of the pegasi though, for it is something worse. Many years ago, a witch named Death Shine cursed the city and the people trying to fight her, like Mr. Lemon, and caused the Si Addle condition. Si Addle now has automatic weather, but sometimes this happens. A large rainstorm or drought can come out of nowhere, nearly starving all ponies, but NOPONY ever wanted this storm. The taxi driver, who wants to save this child as much as the parents, can barely see a few feet in front of him, which is not that bad, but still. "We are on River Road now, only a few more minutes until your son is safe!" The taxi driver says to the Lemons, earning a smile from Mr. Lemon. ... They are halfway through River Road when a large black rain cloud appeared, covering the whole sky that the taxi driver could see. While he was trying to stop to assess the situation, a lightning bolt strikes the front of the carriage... Incinerating the taxi driver completely. The driver's corpse's hoof slams down onto the gas pedal, launching the carriage forward. The carriage flips, crashing into the protective beam, and slams into the river. The carriage bobs up and down, but is steadily sinking. Mr. Lemon tries to open the metal door, but it is melted shut from the lightning bolt. Mr. and Mrs. Lemon hug their son closely and kiss him on the head, knowing that this might be their end, when Mr. Lemon kicked out one of the small windows and pushes their son out. Before they had done that though, they wrapped him in something that would remind him of them... They watch as their son lands onto a floating piece of the protective beam, happy that he is atleast safe, as a lightning bolt strikes the carriage one last time... I wake up, a warm hand on my head. I look up, but instead of my parents or even my home, I see a monkey, picking me out of something wet. Looking backwards a bit, I see a large, raging river, crushing all in its path. This monkey may have saved my life, but why? The monkey smiles at me and hands me a large leaf. The monkey itself puts a leaf on its torso, seeming to warm it up. But it sees I have something else on. My vest. "Mommy?" I say, tears falling out of my eyes,"Daddy?" I say, the word coming out as a broken sound. The monkey looks at me as if it was sympathetic and slowly and lovingly grabbed me. I then notice that this monkey had no tail, so does that mean this is an ape? Through my tears, I see the ape lovingly pick me up and cradle me. I fall asleep, tired from crying, in its arms. 'Always look on the bright side of life...' plays through my head as I sleep. A smile, albeit small, appears on my crying face. I have spent many years in this ape clan, learning the ways of battle and compassion towards all things. Although we could never truly communicate, I always practiced my equestrian with the Clan Head, who was a large gray ape. The large gray ape, know some equestrian himself, grunted when I did something right, but we could never really talk after that. I have learned that the day I became lost was a day in which a witch ruined the land, but only because I understand the apes written language. I have also learned that the apes are third class citizens who are sometimes imprisoned by ponies, which is absolutely horrendous, but the elder has never done anything in aggression towards the empire. I have lived with the apes for so long, but I have learned only one amazing thing on my own without the group. Magic. For the TEN years I have been here, I have practiced magic, noticing some odd patterns in my magic. My magic does not really need much thought to do anything, for I have plucked a whole TREE on accident. The elder, impressed in my skills, has actually done something I thought was impossible. He spoke to me. "Child of ponee kind, I, Gray Ape the Great, am allowing you to leave, but U must always remember to come visit home." He then hugged me, a hug I returned with joy. "Thank you Gray, I will miss you, but I have something I need to do." I say, leaning into Grays ear. He questionably grunts. "I have chosen what I want in life, and that is to bring the end to all who cause evil in this peaceful land." He hugs me tighter, tearing up, and grunts lovingly. ... I wave back one last time, and move out to my first destination. I take out the map in my vest's pocket... My parent's final gift to me falls out of the pocket though. Bubblepants has his white jacket on, contradicting my black vest, as I start to hug him. I put him back in his new pocket, the left one, and pull out the map correctly. The map is a bit old, but there is no way large cities could just up and move, so I start going North. North to ...
