The Good, The Bad, and...The Ponies?

It took a couple of days, but the nurse (coincidently named Nurse Redheart) managed to completely heal my wounds, remove the leg cast and release me from the hospital I was at.  Over those few days I was kinda bored.  She had told the ponies that they couldn't visit me; something about how their visit had put me behind  my healing schedule.  Well, I wasn't completely bored.  They let me choose a book to read while I was there.  I picked the first thing that caught my eye; Daring-do and the Quest for the Saphire Stone.  At least my mind got a good stretch once in a while at that dismal place.

Though, there was one problem.  It was my eye.  She told me that eyes can’t be healed with magic; therefore it’d be a few more days before it would be fully healed, so I had to keep wearing the eye patch.  Meh, whatever.  When life gives you lemons, you make life take back the lemons and make lemonade. Besides, I think it makes me look about 20% cooler.

I was strapping my boken to my back when Applejack walked in, “Hey Applejack.  What’s up?”

“Oh, not much sugarcube.  Everypony’s jus’ waitin’ out in the lobby so we can give ya a tour of our mighty fine town.”

“Thanks for telling me.  By the way, do you know how I got to this hospital?”

“Sure ah do.  But why do ya need ta know?”  She asked.

I walked over to the window and looked up at the blue, slightly clouded sky, “Well, I’d like to thank the pony who saved my life and see if there is anything I can do to repay them.”

“Anythin’?”

“Yes, anything.”

She took a second to think over my answer and said, “Well y’all don’ need ta go n’ look fer 'em.”

I turned around and looked at the orange mare in confusion, “Why not?  Did something happen to them while I was here?”  I started to get worried.

“No need ta worry sugarcube, ah’m the one who brought ya here.”  She said with a smile.

I stood there with my mouth agape.  "How could a pony her size carry someone like me?" I thought to myself.

She could see that i was in shock, "If'n yer wonderin' how ah gotcha here, it wasn' easy." she started, "Ah actually had ta sneak ya'll in here with a blanket covered cart."

I could only utter one word due to the shocking reveal, "... whoa."

"Anyway, we shouldn' keep the others waitin' on us." she said nervously.

"Alrighty then." I struck a heroic pose, pointing at the door.  "Lets go!"  This caused her to chuckle.  "What?  Did I do something weird?"

"Nah, ya didn'." she said as she opened the door leading into the hallway, "It was jus' funny."

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As AJ and I were walking to the lobby, my left eye started to throb.  I put my hand over it to apply preasure in hope that would ease some pain.  But as soon as my hand reached my eye, the throbbing ceased.

AJ looked up at me looking worried, "What's the matter sugarcube?"

I quickly put my hand down at my side.  Putting on a nervous smile, I said, "Oh I was just uhh, fixing my eye patch."

She just stared at me unconvinced by my lie.  "Ya know ah can tell when somepony is lyin' right?"

"Was it that obvious?"

"Kinda."

I looked down in shame, "Heh, sorry."

She looked back at me forgivingly, "Aww, think nothin' of it.  Jus' remember, if'n somethin' is botherin' ya, anythin' at all, ya'll can tell me."

This was stunning to me.  Even though I just blatanly lied to her, she still forgave me.  Hell she even gave me advice.  "Thanks AJ... I'll remember that."

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When we reached the lobby, I was greeted by everyponies smiling faces, even Rainbows.  After the *shivers* Party Cannon Incident...Rainbow and I have gotten to be good friends.  She apologized for insulting me and for hitting me over the head.  I told her that everything was "Water under the bridge" but she just wanted to say it to make herself feel better, you know, to get it off of her conscience.  Anyway, Back to the main point.

We were all standing in front of the sliding door leading to the exit, ready to embark on our tour and take any challenge that stood in our way.  Twilight walked in front of me preventing me from walking outside.  "Kiyoshi, wait."

"Just call me Kiyo.  It's way easier to say."

"Okay...Kiyo, you remember the plan?"

I stood there with a blank expression. "Yes I do.  First we visit Sugarcube Corner, then we go to Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres, Fluttershys' Cottage, Rainbows' Home, and then to the Library AKA your home."

She continued to stare at me, "Aaaaannnd?"

"And in the event I get separated from the group.  Just head to the Library, which is located smack dab in the very center of town."

Satisfied with the answer, she started to move out of the way.  That's when it hit her, "Hold on!  One more thing."

"Did I forget something?"  I went over the instructions again in my head.  "Go to SCC, CB, SAA, FC, RH, and then the Library.  I'm pretty sure that's everything."

"No, you didn't forget anything." she reassured, "In fact, I actually just remembered something."

"What is it?"

She looked at me with a stern expression, "Remember, you're considered to be an alien, and we don't know how everypony will react to seeing somepony like yourself."

I merely tousled her mane as I walked past her.  I chuckled, "You worry too much Twi.  I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about.  They'll probably just see me and want to be friends."

As soon as I took my first step outside somepony screamed "OH SWEET CELESTIA!!!  RUN FOR YOUR LIVES EVERYPONY!!!  IT'S A MONSTER!!!"

I stared at everypony running and this way and that, screaming for their lives. "...or i could be wrong..."

I looked up hearing the sound of something flying overhead.  I saw what looked like five, snow white pegasi in golden armor flying towards me.  "You there!!! Monster!!!  You're coming with us!!!"

"...Correction, dead wrong..."  I immediately turned and sprinted to my left into an alleyway now running for my life.

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Somewhere in a cave near the Everfree Forest, a dark hooded figure was looking into a crystal ball.  He quietly laughed to himelf as he watched Kiyoshi being chased through the back alleys.  "It looks like your 'little friend' has drawn a little attention to himself."

Another dark figure stepped out of the shadows, "It appears he has Arcana."  He walked up next to Arcana and also stared at the images, "But no matter, he will obey us and destroy the Elements of Harmony whether he likes it or not."

They walked away from the crystal ball to the back of the cave to a large table with different potions, spell tomes, scrolls, and a singular candle lighting the area.  Aracana spoke up to his friend, "How do you intend to do this Lord Malice?"

Malice looked at Arcana in anger, "You dare question my abilities!?"  He conjured a sword and held it to Arcanas' throat with his magic.

Arcana trembled with fear at the thought of having his throat slit open.  "Of course not my lord!  I just wanted to know what your plan to control him was."

Malice stared at the trembling crimson unicorn.  He canceled his spell causing the sword to disappear and Arcana to sigh with relief.  "You'll see with time but for now," Malice levitated a dagger off of the table and threw it at a picture of Celestia on the other side of the cave, sticking it right between her eyes.  "Let's just see how much trouble he can cause."

He walked back over to the picture of Celestia and removed the dagger, "Just you wait Celestia, you will be defeated and I will become the true ruler of Euestria."  He released a laugh that shook the foundation of the cave and struck fear into the very soul of Arcana.

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As I was running for dear life, I noticed that there was something different about how I moved.  It wasn't how I ran, or how I was breathing.  "What is it that's throwing me off so much?" I thought to myself. "Surely it can't be as simple as I think it is."  I turned my head to see how far the guards were from me.  To my utter surprise, they were flying as fast as they could towards me but I was pulling away from them.  Thats when it hit me, "The gravity here must be much lighter than mine back on Earth!"  This was great news! Not only was I faster than normal but that would mean I don't have to spend as much energy on anything at all. "Hmm, I wonder..."  I pushed off the ground with one foot as hard as poosible.  What happened next surprised me.  I got about ten feet of air, "HOLY SHIT! THIS IS SOOO COOL!!!" I shouted.  But that happiness was short lived.  For soon as my foot landed, the roof below me gave in and I fell through landing on my back.

Once the dust settled, I quickly sat up and looked at the hole in the ceiling just in time to see my pursuers fly past it.  I gave a sigh of relief as I started to rest from being chased.  "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"  I quickly turned around to see a very frightened family of ponies huddling in a corner.  The wife screaming like a maniac, the husband holding her staring at me with pure anger and the two babies were crying.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't the right time but, where's the library?"  The husband pointed directly outside the door to a tree.  I stood up and ran out the front door, I quickly stuck my head back inside and said, "Sorry about the roof!  I'll pay for it later."  and I proceded to sprint towards the tree.

When I reached the tree, I stood there mouth agape, amazed.  It wasn't even a tree at all, it was a house built inside a strong looking tree.  "I guess this is where they came up with the term 'tree house'."  I began to snicker at my own joke until I heard the sound of wings getting closer.  "Damn it!  I thought I lost those guys at the roof."  I quickly jumped into an open window and hid underneath the window ledge.

I heard one of them say as they past the window, "I think I saw it go this way!  Hurry up!  I don't want to lose that thing!"

I closed my eye and began to relax from the relentless chasing.  "Geez!  Took ya long enough to get here."  I looked up to see Rainbow Dash flying in front of me with a smirk.  I looked past her to see that everypony else was there too; Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all standing looking at me, happy to see that I was safe.

"You try *pant* being chased *pant* by those guys.*pant*"  I stood up and brushed myself off, while looking at my surroundings.  The inside of the tree was much more impressive than what I originally thought it would look like.  Lining the walls were hundreds upon thousands of books on shelves, catagorized from astronomy all the way to (insert catagory here).  The sight was absolutely breathtaking; so much knowledge in such a, well... impressively themed place.

"Those guys?  HA!"  She laughed.  "They wouldn't stand a chance.  I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria!" She proceeded to fly circles around the room leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.

"You probably have the biggest ego too."  I muttered to myself.

"What was that?"  She said appearing in front of my face.

"Nothing."  I walked past her and sat on a chair next to the fireplace leaning back and facing up eye closed.

Twilight and the others walked over to where I was and sat on their haunches on the carpet.  "Sorry that the tour didn't go the way we planned."  Twilight apologized.  "I was hoping that everypony would be a little more accepting than this."  She hung her head looking sad.

I looked back at her, "Don't worry Twi," I said assuringly, "They'll warm up to me...eventually."  That seemed to make her happier.  "So besides the tour, what else did you have in mind of doing?"

"Oh yes, that's right!  I wanted you to meet somepony important."  She trotted over to the stairs and yelled, "Spike!  Can you come down here for a moment?  I need you to meet a new friend of mine."

I heard the sound of something pitter pattering down the oaken steps "Who is it Twilight?  Is it your coltfriend?"  They asked sarcastically.

What stopped at the bottom of the stairs was one of the last things I could have possibly imagined seeing.  There, standing next to Twilight was a small, bipedal purple and green lizard!  His voice sounded like that of a small boy and was about the same hieght as one too.  He stood at about half her height with green spikes running from the top of his head to the base of his tail (I wonder how he got his name).

We stared at each other for a few seconds until he shouted, "Look out girls!  It's a monster!"  He jumped in front of me putting his hands up like he was ready for a boxing match.  "Go get the elements!  I'll distract it till you get back."  He started to hop up and down throwing jabs towards my direction.

I sat there looking down at the little lizard in dibelief.  "What do I do about...this?"  I looked up at Twilight as if she would give me an answer but she just watched the performance.  I looked back down as Spike was still ready for the fight.  I smirked as a plan popped into my head.  I got onto both of my knees in front of him, held my hands up and said, "Alright!  Show me what ya got!"  I could here the sounds of chuckling around us as the fight began.

Every punch that he threw didn't have much power into them, they felt about the same as being shot in the plam with a Nerf gun.  I had deflected them all making it look effortless.  "He has the determination of a younger version of myself... but with scales."  Spike was sweating and gasping for breath, his legs were shaking violently exhuasted from the fight and his movements were becoming sluggish and lazy; we had only fought for about a  few minutes. Just by looking at him, I could see that he was giving it all and wasn't gonna go down until I was.  "*sigh* I should let him be the victor of this battle."

I let his uppercut skim my hand and land squarely on my chin, which I followed with falling backwards.  As I fell, I bellowed, "AAAAUUUUUGGGHH!!!  HOW COULD I BE DEFEATED?" and faked to be dead.

Spike finally gave into the exhaustion; he let his arms fall to his side, dropped to his knees and said with a tired grin, "That'll teach ya *pant* not to *pant* mess with *pant* me."  With that, he was out like a light.

I gently caught him before he hit the ground and slowly picked him up as I whispered to him, "Way to fight little guy."  He gave a small grunt as he proceeded to lightly snore in my arms.  I looked over to Twilight and the others who were smiling at the performance making me blush a little.

Twilight led me upstairs to where her room was.  Just like down stairs; it was also filled with books galore.  Next to her bed was a small basket with a blanket covering it.  She levitated the balnket  to let me put Spike in the basket and covered his body with the warm embrace of the soft blanket.

As we walked out of her room and quietly shut the door behind us she said, "Thank you Kiyo."

"For doing what Twilight?" I asked.

"For letting Spike win.  I'm sure that you could have easily beaten him, but instead you didn't.  You've probably just made him the happiest dragon in all of Equestria."

"He's a dragon?" I exclaimed.  "Now that explains why smoke was coming out of his nose as we fought.  Now I just have one question."

"Yes?  What's on your mind?"

I looked at her confusedly, "What's Equestria?"