Condemned to Equestria

Chapters

Booze and Crowbars
First Signs of Madness
Delving into Madness

Booze and Crowbars

Dark and dank, two words that described the scene perfectly. There in the dark ally overlaying several bars and porn shops sat a man in a pile of his own self loathing and even in the trash of others. Ethan Thomas, former FBI agent and current homeless drunk. He was drunk at the moment, staring at nothing in particular as he felt himself lightly dozing off in the rancid smelling garbage left there by the apartment dwellers not to far off. He sighed, gritting his teeth a bit before launching the bottle at the nearby wall of the ally in an out of nowhere rage. He breathed heavy, now standing on his feet. He looked at the glass that now surrounded him, panting heavily at the sight. He just shrugged, walking off deeper into the ally to avoid any sort of contact from other city inhabitants.

He put his hands into his lightly torn and heavily dirty pockets, looking around for a stray bottle of booze that wasn't quite empty just yet. He failed, kicking at the ground in frustration. He found himself entering the small part of the ally way with a bar on the wall. The bar was made for the people that lived in the apartments nearby. He huffed, looking at it with his bloodshot eyes as he reached into his pocket for any sort of money. He only felt a few loose bills in his back pocket and some spare change in his side pocket. He cracked his neck, the pop echoing lightly in the ally before the sound of a creaking door and loud metal music filled it instead.

The bar was empty, save for the bartender and another patron hooded in a large and thick coat. The bartender scoffed at the sight of Ethan, knowing a homeless drunk when he saw one. Ethan sat down at a bar stool, not caring what the bartender thought of him. "Scotch, on the rocks. Give me some aspirin too would you?" Ethan asked, grabbing three singles from his pocket. It was just enough, the bartender taking the bills and going to make his drink. Ethan sat there, not able to help but feel two eyes pry into the back of his head. He turned, looking to the hooded man that sat at a booth not to far off. Ethan glared to him, not knowing why, but he felt an unnatural hatred for him already. He just shook it off, looking at the stubby glass and pills left on the counter for him. He picked up the glass, breaking the pills under the glass then putting the shattered aspirin into the drink itself. He sipped his drink, licking his booze covered lips without a regret.

Ethan felt something bump him from behind, causing him to spill the majority of his drink. He put the glass on the counter, turning to the hooded man that had purposely pushed him. The hooded man gave Ethan a smirk, right as Ethan tackled him to the ground. He threw several right hooks to the mans face, right before stopping to realize what he was doing. He stood back up, breathing heavy as he noticed the bartender come in from behind the bar with a metal bat in his hands. "Leave. Now." The bartender said, gripping the bats handle. Ethan snorted, slapping his drink off the counter before begrudgingly walking out. He sat on the steps that lead to the bar, huffing as he stared at his bloody hand.

He stood up after a few moments, shaking his head as he just walked deeper into the ally, unknowing of the gang that inhabited the deep portion of the ally. He walked past a few gang bangers, the bangers eying the defeated and drunk man with malicious intention in their gaze. One picked up a pipe, the other a crowbar, and the last a brick. The three made their way towards him, smirking as they did so. "Hey buddy, where you going?" One said in a teasing tone. Ethan turned, snorting as he saw the three trying to stare him down.

"I'm not looking for trouble." Ethan said, huffing as he looked around the ally way just in case. His eyes landed on a trash can and a plank of wood with nails sticking out.

"Oh, but we are." One of the other bangers said, raising the crowbar. "You got any money on you?" He asked, spinning the crowbar in his hand.

Ethan pulled out whatever change he had in his pocket, tossing it to the ground. "Happy?" He said, shaking his head as he turned to walk away. One of the bangers took that as challenge as he rushed Ethan, swinging the pipe right to Ethan's head. Ethan ducked, turning in his crouch position and punching the bangers stomach. The banger fell, clutching his stomach as he dropped the pipe. Ethan grabbed the pipe, swinging down and caving in the bangers skull, bits of brain and bone flying everywhere as blood oozed from the large head gash.

Another banger rushed Ethan, swinging down the crowbar. Ethan blocked with the pipe, the crowbar causing the pipe to bend at an odd angle. Ethan kicked the stomach of the banger as they were both stuck in a deadlock. The banger took the kick, stumbling back a bit as he went for another swing with his crowbar. Ethan took the slam to his side, arching a bit as he swung the bent pipe right at the banger. The banger took the blow to the shoulder, screaming in pain as his arm bone was surely broken. He dropped the crowbar, falling to his side in agony. Ethan took this chance and caved in the other bangers skull.

The last banger took this chance and smashed in Ethan's skull with the brick, causing Ethan to drop the bent pipe and fall onto his back. He yelled from the shock and the pain, clutching the part of his head that had been struck. The banger straddled Ethan, going to slam the brick into his skull again. As weak as Ethan felt from the blow, he grabbed the bangers arm, punching the banger right in the elbow. The bangers arm snapped, causing him to drop the brick. Ethan grabbed the brick, slamming it onto the bangers temple with a force. The banger fell to his side, limp and lifeless.

Ethan dropped the brick, panting as he felt his vision blur slightly. He tried his best to stand up, before he felt a force on his chest tackle him to the ground. He coughed up a bit of blood as he felt his spine slam onto the hard concrete. Looking down at him, with the same sinister smirk as before was the hooded man from the bar. "Hurts don't it?" The hooded man said in a raspy and intimidating tone. The man grabbed the brick, looking down at Ethan. "If that didn't, I know this will!" The man yelled, slamming the brick down onto Ethan's nose. Ethan coughed up even more blood, his nose being slammed out of place. Ethan felt his cheek hit the cold and unforgiving concrete as he felt himself loose consciousness.

...

The moon slowly rose over the horizon, the stars following suit. The small village that sat on the foot of the mountain that held the large city of Canterlot. Several equines wandered the street idly, going to their homes to rest for the night. One mare that caught the attention of all the others was none other than Twilight Sparkle, the famous librarian that has saved Equestria three times in a row, including the Crystal Empire. She had a slight smile on her face, quills and scrolls filing her saddle bags as she trotted home. A small purple dragon on her back, snoozing lightly from the work he had done for her that night. Twilight slowly opened the door, looking around her library. Everything was orderly and clean, just as she enjoyed it. She placed her quills and scrolls onto her desk, placing Spike onto the couch before she went over to her desk to being writing out her friendship report for the day.

She took a while to finish this one, as she did for all the other reports she would fill out at the end of the week. The magical lavender aura kept the quill right where she wanted it, writing down all of the notes she had in mind. After she had finished, placing her saddle bag next to her desk as she yawned. She used her magic to pick up Spike and place him onto her back. She trotted upstairs, placing Spike onto his small bed on the corner as she slipped under the covers. Slowly closing her eyes and drifting to sleep.

From downstairs came a loud and audible grunt, startling he mare to attention. She sat up, looking down the hall, "H-Hello?" She called, slowly slipping out of her bed to see what was downstairs. She slowly crawled down the steps, her heart racing and small amounts of adrenalin coursing through her. She was breathing heavy, wondering what could have made such a loud noise from downstairs. She slowly poked her head out from the side of a book case, looking around the living room. Another groan rang out, startling the mare. She gasped lightly, hiding behind the bookcase again. The sound of boots on wood sounded as well, some words in another language slowly speaking into the darkness that was her library at the moment. She licked her lips, ready to subdue whatever was in her library. She jumped from behind the book case, using her magic to grab and hold up the ape like creature that stood there in her living room. He was tall, muscular, and seemed to be wearing clothing.

"Hold it right there m~" She didn't have time to finish her sentence as she looked at the creature she held. He thrashed about wildly, yelling in a language that she didn't understand. What she noted as blood seemed to run down his temple and the side of his mouth. She felt the strain of holding this large creature, twitching a bit as she tried her best to keep him up.

...

Ethan groaned loudly, pain ringing around his skull and brain. He felt blood run down several parts of his face, also dried blood on his target shirt and khaki pants. He placed his boots onto the floor as he shakily stood up. He gripped his head, looking around the dark building. He didn't know where he was, but he was sure that he wasn't in the ally anymore. He sighed, dropping his hands to his sides in defeat. He had found himself in another mess, he just didn't know the severity of his situation at the moment.

Suddenly, all he saw was a lavender light surround his vision. He started to panic as he felt his feet raise from the ground. He thrashed around madly, looking for something to grab onto. He heard an odd series of clicks and neighs. This confused him to the point where he felt he might go mad. He began to yell curses and swears at a mad pace, his anger reaching high levels. He turned his body somehow, laying eyes on what appeared to be a... glowing horn? His eyes widened, his madness soaring. He could swear that he saw black ooze start to seep from in between the books. He yelled loudly, unknowingly using his super sonic yell to launch the mare onto the wooden wall. He ran toward her, grabbing the ponies horn and slamming her against the wall. It yelped, failing its arms around in a wild fashion. He put his free hand to his chin, looking Twilight right in the eyes. "What the fuck are you?!" He yelled into her face, tightening the grip on her horn.

Suddenly, he felt a fire scorch his side, loosing grip on the ponies horn and falling over, trying desperately to put out the green fire on his shirt. He managed to put out the fire, but he felt his vision fade again. His eyes flustered shut, his body going still.

...

Twilight hit the ground with a pant, feeling a pain run down her horn. "Are you alright Twi?" Spike called, going over to his care taker.

"Yeah..." She managed to say weakly, her words followed by pained groan. "What was that thing?" She asked, looking over to the passed out ape next to her. He was breathing heavy, his skin slightly sizzling as part of his shirt was missing, "Spike, restrain it. I don't want it to happen again." She said, shakily standing up. "I got to find out more about this... Thing." She lit the candles that adorned the room with her magic, getting a better look at the creature.

"That thing... It's so huge." Spike said, poking it lightly.

"It's about... six feet tall?" She said, estimating. "It has hands, and clothing. So it must be intelligent if it has some sort of clothing on." She used her magic to flip him onto his back, reveling the burn wound Spike had left him, She cringed a bit, his skin burned but thankfully not damaged beyond repair. "He is unshaven, long hair, blue eyes, and ape like features." She pondered for a moment, grabbing a nearby book of species. "It's looks like a shaven ape, but that's it." She sighed, shutting the book. "There isn't much more to list."

"Ah man, you have to have a book with something like this somewhere." Spike said, looking around for another book on species.

"This book had all the species that Equestria has to offer Spike. I don't think we'll find it anywhere else." She sighed, sitting down looking at the ape like creature before her. "We should get the rest of the girls on this, I don't want to be alone tonight."

Spike sighed a bit, noticing how Twilight didn't count him as somepony again. "Yeah, let's go get them." Twilight placed Ethan on the couch, placing an immobility spell on him, just to be sure..

"Let's go Spike." She opened the door, running out of the door. Spike followed behind, a bit dejected but still hopeful that his care taker knew what to do.

...

First Signs of Madness

The small kindling flame that surrounded the ever shortening wick of a nearby candle was all that kept Ethan slightly warmerd in his moments on the library's couch. He was panting heavy, sweat and small traces of blood falling from his face. The library was quite, besides the heavy grunt snoring. The library seemed dank and even minorly depressing at the moment, even the fire by Ethan seemed to make him even more cold. His eye lids slowly creaked open, his bloodshot eyes and overextended pupils slowly reveling themselves to the new colorful word before him. His eyes shot open as he remembered his surrounding, sitting up and looking around, adrenaline shooting through his veins. He was breathing heavy, looking down to his hands real quick to test his vision. Everything seemed normal at the moment, but the color of the floor beneath his hands seemed to be so bright and even more colorful than his mud encrusted and wrapped hands.

He slowly stood up, taking a quick look around before grabbing his investigative PDA given to him by the FBI Crimes unit he worked for at the moment. He turned on the chat feature, getting not a single bar of signal. He grunted, putting away the PDA and taking one last long look around the library. He decided to grab a book, maybe to get an idea as to where he was. Opening the pages of the clean and pristine book did nothing for him, the language the book was written in being utterly alien to him. He tossed the book aside in a fit of rage, grunting again as he punched the book case. Several books flying from the shelves. The books scattered the floor around Ethan, Ethan kicking one in another fit of rage. He stomped his foot back onto the floor, shaking his head at his own gross wrath. He took a deep breath, calming himself a bit before he did something regrettable.

He decided to check out the building further, slowly walking and ducking under and through the small archway to the kitchen. He noticed a small counter, stove, fridge, and an even smaller table all adorned the poorly lit room. What Ethan found odd, is the lack of chairs at the table. He shrugged it off as some sort of foreign practice, he instead put his attention to the fridge, hoping to find some sort of alcohol in the cold ice box. He opened the fridge, the cold air hitting his face as he crouched to get a good look in the illuminated fridge. The only thing there was some scraps of vegetables, coffee, and to Ethan's hope, a half full jug of cider.

He wrapped his hand around the cider jug, uncorking it and taking a long drink. It wasn't as strong as he had hoped, but the taste was of sweet apple, the mixture not burning his throat as other alcohols would. He re-corked the bottle, saving a portion of it for later. He stood back up, licking the sweet drink from his lips with a gleeful smile. He turned to walk out of the kitchen, feeling satisfied with his findings. He ducked again, looking to the stairs that sat at the far end of the library lobby.

He walked over to it, placing his foot on the first step. The stairs were thinner and less spaced out than Ethan was used too, causing him to falter and nearly fall. He gripped the hand rail of the stairs, trying his best to balance himself on the thin steps. He soon did make it up the steps after much struggle and work. He was panting as soon as he hit the last step, the labor to go up the stairs more than he had hoped for. He saw two rooms, both closed off by a small wooden door. He looked left and right, wondering where he should enter first.

He shrugged, placing his hand on the door knob of the right door, opening it and crouching to walk in. What he found was a small bed room, several books adorning the shelf that replaced a portion of the wall, a balcony that led out into a small walkway, an oddly tiny bed with clean and pressed red sheets, and a small doggy bed in the corner. "Where the fuck am I? A land of dwarfs?" He questioned jokingly, looking around the room a bit better. Nothing of interest caught him, besides the glass balcony door. He put his hand on the handle, crouching to walk through the door.

Ethan felt the cold night air hit his face, the feeling was pleasant because the air wasn't followed by the stench of trash. He walked out further, looking over the unnaturally bright night sky, the stars twinkling more than they did in the already bright city he used to inhabit. He gazed at the moon for a moment, noticing the odd cluster of craters that formed an odd image of a unicorn on the very face of it. He found that odd, the moon never having that formation of craters to his knowledge. He shook his head rubbing his eyes to look up at the moon once more. The same formation stayed, causing Ethan's jaw to drop slightly. He shook his head, walking back inside before his mind caused him even more insanity.

He walked out of the bedroom, grabbing his hair in disbelief and worry. With a gulp, he heard an odd breathing close to his ear. He turned, looking from side to side in worry. He then looked to the floor just to be sure, noticing a black ooze seep from the bottom of the left room door. He started to step back, the sight freaking him out more than anything else in the library. He stopped right eat the edge of the steps. Ready to turn and just leave the library completely. "Didn't I warn you about the stairs?" He felt a force shove him, Ethan tumbling down the stairs, the jug of cider in his hands flying toward a downstairs bookshelf. Ethan felt the back of his head shoot with pain as it made contact with the stairs, several other snaps and cracks running through his body.

He slid down to the bottom floor, groaning is shear agony. He gulped once more, looking upstairs for someone to kill. He saw nothing, the sight of the thin air scaring him more than should have been possible. He crawled back up to his feet, the adrenaline now coursing through his veins letting him ignore the pain. "Come on... One last room okay?" The doors to the library basement snapping off their hinges as they flew into the darkness that was the downstairs.

"FUCK YOU!" Ethan yelled, going to the front door to get the hell out. He gripped the handle of the door, the door suddenly shooting spikes into his hand, piercing through his flesh. He let out a yell, yanking his hand from the spikes.

"Oh Ethan, why can't you just behave?" The voice let out a sinister snicker. The voice sounded exactly like Ethan's, except it sounded to get more and more distorted. Ethan got to his knees, holding his bloody and now holed hand. A tugging force gripped onto Ethan's ankle, pulling him toward the basement. Ethan tried his best to grip something to keep himself from going into the dark room. The force kept pulling him anyway, ignoring his attempts to escape. "Just accept that this is part of trying to make you something better, something like me." The voice said, a figure reviling itself to Ethan right as they stood at the stairs of the basement. It looked exactly like Ethan, just that two porcelain lumps of a mask stare into his eyes. "Got it?" The Ethan clone said, tossing Ethan down into the basement.

Ethan felt himself land in a pile of sludge like material, the smell was of an intense rot with the faint hint of blood. He tried to push himself up, his hands plunging deeper into the sludge. He barely got himself up, breathing as heavy as he could to keep himself from fainting. "GOT IT?!" His clones voice repeated, several computer glitch sounds mixing into it. The lights flashing, showing the room around him, several skinned and gutted animals adorned the walls. Ethan was about to vomit, the sight of the animals worse than anything else he has seen. He then looked down, a heap of black sludge under his feet. He didn't dare to look up, knowing what would be above him. He just started to step backward, feeling something grab his back as a screech rang out in the room. A burned, fetus looking creature grabbed Ethan's shoulders. It whipped his head back, ready to headbutt Ethan. Ethan looked to the thing, instantly throwing a punch at it.The creature fell into another pile of black sludge onto the floor. Ethan fell backward, ready to faint from the sudden house of horrors that surrounded him.

His doppelganger appeared before him again, gripping at Ethan's neck. Ethan gasped lightly as his doppelgangers hand wrapped around his neck. Ethan felt himself be lifted, the mask his clone wore close to his own face. "You fucking weak piece of shit." Ethan's doppelganger just went to punch Ethan in the face. Ethan falling back onto the ground. Ethan felt his eyes fluster shut, his consciousness dropping.

...

Twilight looked to Ethan's twitching and shivering body, worried for the poor man who hyperventilated and shook weakly. Fluttershy came over to him. "The poor thing is having a nightmare." She said, looking to Ethan that lay on floor of the carriage.

"It looks like a bad one too, never have I seen such movements while Sweetie Bell has nightmare." Rarity said, putting a hoof to his chin.

"Or.... Maybe it just sleeps like that?" Rainbow poked at Ethan's chest a bit, curious.

"Now hold on Rainbow, don't get to close to it." AJ put a hoof to RD's neck, slowly pushing her back,

"Yeah Rainbow, we don't want it to wake up." Twilight used her magic to keep him from waking up. Ethan had been asleep for about three hours, his shivers and trembles starting about an hour into his slumber.

Fluttershy went over to calm Ethan by whispering some calming words into his ear. The words seemed to have some effect, Ethan's trembling going down slightly, now going down to shakes. "See, he just need to calm down a bit." She nuzzled him lightly, his shaking reduced completely.

"You seem so calm around it, how do you manage Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, looking to Fluttershy with a cocked brow.

"Well... I-It is asleep is all." Fluttershy said meekly, looking back to Ethan. "And... It doesn't look so bad." She smiled a bit, trying to build her own confidence.

"Are you kidding me? It's covered in blood. It looks like one of those killer monsters in a Daring Do book!" She said a bit to loudly, Twilight putting a hoof to her mouth.

"Exactly... We don't want it to become a monster." Twilight sighed, putting her hoof down.

"We are here." One of the royal guard escorting them to Canterlot castle said from outside the carriage, stopping the regal looking carriage.

"Alright girls, now all we have to do is wait for Celestia to come and examine our friend over here." Twilight put one last sleep spell on Ethan, to make sure he would not awaken and attack Celestia. The five mares that had come on the trip all waited there quietly, to not wake Ethan. They had excluded Pinkie for the moment, due to her unpredictable nature and possible death if she were to irritate the beast that lay in the carriage with them.

The tension grew moment by moment, the five knowing that Ethan could awake at any moment. Soon, the bright white princess did come out of the castle, having a more serious expression overshadowing her usually cheerful smile. She opened the door of the carriage, letting out a gasp as she laid eyes on the knocked out Ethan. She used her magic to slowly carry him out of the carriage, making sure to keep him from hitting the thin door of the carriage.

She turned to the five, motioning for them to get out of the carriage. "I must thank you girls for bringing this thing to me, even in the dark hours of my sisters night." She said in a hush whisper, looking over his lightly shaking and grunting body. "And why is it shaking?"

"We believe it is having a nightmare, or so Fluttershy says." Twilight said, wondering how much longer Ethan would stay asleep.

"And where is it you found this creature to begin with?" Celestia asked, noticing the blood and light burn wound. "And how was it harmed?"

"W-Well... Spike defended me." She said, still kinda surprised as to how Spike reacted to begin with. "I didn't expect it to be honest, but it did have it's hands on my neck."

"And when did it get it's hands onto your neck?" Celestia asked, looking over Twilight's bruise, the bruise being not as noticeable due to her purple coat.

"Three hours ago, I tried to restrain it with my magic when I first saw it, but it got loose and attacked me." Twilight sighed, sitting down.

"It might not have been out of malice." Celestia said, looking at Ethan. "It might have been out of self defense." She looked back to the five, moving her eyes between all of them. "Has he been shaking like this the whole time it has been with you?" All five just nodded, Celestia looking to Ethan once more, specifically at his forehead. "I'll have a look into it's mind, maybe see if I can stop the nightmare and understand it a bit better."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, looking down at the still shaking Ethan. "What if it's... A really bad dream? Something worse that what our minds can come up with?"

"Well, it's a risk worth taking for you to help us learn of it. Isn't it Twilight?" She smiled a bit, trying to reassure her student. Twilight nodded, feeling that her mentor could handle herself. Celestia let a gleam of magic run up her long horn, slowly putting the tip of it onto Ethan's forehead. Something shot up her horn, causing her to struggle instantly.

...

Delving into Madness

"Huh... I never figured something could come INTO his mind. This planet is surprising me." The masked figure that lingered over Celestia said, crouching and staring at her passed out body.

Celestia let out a slight groan, her eyes slowly opening to her new environment. Her environment being nothing but the smell of rust and darkness She felt a rough and powerful hand grip both her mane and horn, pulling her up to stand. She squealed, the hand on her horn preventing her from doing magic. She tried her best to resist, but the more she resisted, the more force the masked figure placed onto her. "Come on... Behave you fucking horse.... I'll give you a carrot." He laughed manically at his own joke, tossing her aside.

Celestia slammed into what felt like a metal floor, the clang of her hoof shoes on the floor making it apparent. "So you're curious as to why that 'student' of yours brought this weak fuck to you?" The masked figure made a projection of Ethan, only that he was damaged and near death in his projection. He cackled madly at the sight of Ethan near death, the sight only making Celestia want to vomit. "You seem so much weaker than he is... How sad." He materialized the near death Ethan, tossing the bloody body onto Celestia.

Celestia let out a bellow of terror, kicking the body off of her. If she had lacked her coat at the moment, her now pail skin would make it seem as if it was still there. She looked to the oddly and horrifically real blood that covered her. But at the same time, she still knew she was in Ethans thoughts, but deep inside, she knew it couldn't be Ethan that was doing such things to her. She shakily got up, only to feel a large amount of dark ooze start to fill the plain of Ethans mind. She gasped, trying to fly up, only to find her wings heavier than anything she had ever tried to lift. Her wings stayed stuck to her back as she helplessly whimpered, knowing that magic might not even affect the individual that tortured her at the moment. What was this maniacal creature? Was this Ethan? She doubted that, being the mask it wore and how it pale it looked. She gulped, hoping she herself would survive this.

"Aw... You really think I'm that pitiful sack of shit?" Ethans thought form cackled, keeping the ooze level to her chin. "You really think you can do anything to stop me here? HIS MIND?!" That scream reverberated through Celestia's ears, dazing her as she felt her legs nearly give up under her. "This is where I am strongest, where I rule... To come in here is to challenge me. Was that so smart Celestia?" He let out a hollow chuckle. "Alright.... I think maybe since you are just a fucking unicorn, I'll leave you off with a warning this time. DON'T come back now." He laughed as he shot Celestia out of Ethans mind with a force.

...

Celestia felt herself being shot back into reality, landing on the hard soil beneath her felt terrible as her head pounded from pain. Another groan rang out from the small group as Ethan rose, his head also pounding and throbbing. He gripped at his forehead, trying his best to rub out the pain. But before he could react, he felt a spear jab at his throat. He looked at the metal point with a shock, grabbing the shaft from behind the point and tossing whatever threatened him to the side. He panicked, getting up to his feet as fast as he could, looking around for what had nearly tired to kill him. When he saw an armored pony, his eyes went wide, noticing that his nightmare wasn't over. He clung to a nearby brick wall, trying his best to compose himself as he felt another spear pierce his thigh. He gasped in pain, falling to his side as he kicked at the point of the spear, trying to get away desperately from his attackers, but before he knew it, he was surrounded by armor clad ponies with spears. He clung to the wall that the group surrounded, his eyes looking left and right over and over again to assess the situation which he still couldn't believe was actually real.

"S-Stop!" Celestia demanded in her own native tongue as she looked over to the shaking Ethan, blood staining his pant leg. She sighed, seeing that her guard had already harmed him without even her command. Ethan took notice of her... Speaking, but at the moment, he seemed to know what she said... As if he had taken her memories in some sort of way. He looked to her, still gripping the spear tight in his hand as Celestia slowly came up to him. Ethan had softened his gaze as she laid eyes on him, somehow feeling like he knew... All about her, everything in fact. He shook his head, he had never even seen the white alicorn before him in his entire lifetime. How could he have recollected so much about her?

"So... Celestia..." He said coldly. "That's your name... Right?" He said in the ponies language, the others in the group gasping as he said the words so perfectly.

Celestia nodded. "Yes, Ethan?" She said in an asking tone, hoping he was the Ethan that dreaded thought form had spoken of. "Please drop the weapon, we are not here to harm you. We only ask that you listen and follow me... Us." She said, remembering that the mane six had come to bring him in the first place. Ethan was about to ask Celestia how she knew his name, or how he knew so much about her. But then it hit him. She had traveled to his mind. 'You're welcome weakass...' His other self told him with a slight laugh.

Ethan shook his head, nodding as he stabbed the spear into the ground. As soon as his adrenaline left his body, he felt his leg give way under him, causing him to fall to his right knee. He groaned, feeling the sharp pain in his leg course through his body. "Anybody got a band-aid?" He said jokingly, forcing himself back up.

Twilight and her friends looked at the six foot tall monkey like creature with pure awe as he spoke in their native tongue so fluently. She was about to approach him, until Celestia raised a hoof, shaking her head to Twilight. 'Not yet...' She told Twilight with telepathy. 'I've gone through his thoughts, his memories... You shouldn't ask anything till I am sure he isn't a threat to us. I'm still not sure.' Twilight just lightly nodded, looking back over to Ethan.

"Come on then Ethan." Celestia said, motioning for him to follow as she went inside the castle, Ethan and the six not to far behind.

"Okay... This is fucked up. How did I end up here?! Last thing I remember was some sort of library for dwarfs or something." Ethan said coldly, now finding the whole situation absurd. "And... All of you are god damn ponies?!"

"Yes? Got a problem with that you hairless ape?" Dash said, his worry lightly rubbing off on her as she felt uneasy around him. Ethan just snorted, not feeling it was worth it to start killing the poor things. But what he got from Celestia's thoughts, he felt like the poor thing. They could use... Magic? Of all god damn things. He felt like he had jumped into a shitty girls TV show. But he sighed, he figured that even this couldn't be as bad as the usual scary shit that will eat you alive at first glance.

Soon, they made it to Celestia's throne room. Ethan took in the full awe inspiring beauty that her large throne room could cause to someone so absent to buildings without graffiti or bricks missing. He shook his head, focusing on the situation at hand... Was this a blessing? Or a curse? That thought washed through Ethan's head several times, making him ponder several things about his new world, and the one he currently stood in. Was it really worth asking Celestia to send him back? If she even could in the first place? He sighed as he looked left and right. This ponies around him... He knew them just as well as Celestia did, Their place, powers, maybe even a few things that she didn't want them to know yet. Their true strength, power... Bond.

These thoughts clashed with his, what had his other side done to him? Was he just messing with him like usual? Or was he actually trying to get him to stay? But for what? He sighed, still not sure as to what he should do. But he felt like he never did. After he got kicked out of the FBI, he felt his entire life shatter in moments. That sudden rush of memories, all he had lost... He felt rage slowly burn inside him, feeling betrayed by his own people, even after all he had done to help his own people. Analyzing Celestia's thoughts, he looked for all the con's first, making sure to get every single specific detail that he could find. But then looking at the pro's... He felt like he just couldn't do it. There were so many things he considered positive about 'Equestria'. 'Of all the names... Where the hell did I end up? Really... I better get better answers than the shit in my head.' He snorted as he finished his own personal rant.

Soon he was brought back from his thoughts by the sudden sound of the throne room doors opening. He also noticed the six had suddenly left the room without a word as he stood there. As he looked back, he noticed he had left large muddy... And bloody marks in the carpet Celestia had leading to her throne. He gulped, hoping that she wouldn't notice, or just not care. Of course Celestia didn't, seeing as she had more important business to attend too at the moment. She took in a long breath, about to speak before Ethan asked something.

"How much do you really know about me?"

He asked in a cold and bitter tone, his usual way of talking. He looked up to her, his broken and tired looking brown eyes boring into her without remorse. She gulped as well, looking side to side. "W-What do you mean?" Celestia asked, taking a moment to truly look him over.

"You did know my name right?" Ethan said in retort. "How much more do you really know?"

"Well... That's about it." She replied, feeling a sense of awkwardness in the air. She would have started by introducing herself, if it weren't for the fact that Ethan already knew her name. "Why is it you ask."

"Don't think I don't know. You went into my mind while I was passed out... Met him... Am I right?" He said, glaring to her at this point.

"How do you know that?" She asked, a visible shiver traveling down her spine as she noticed his cold glare.

"He told me... He let me know... Everything about you. He had sapped your memories while you were his plaything. Sorry to say, but I may know more about you than you know about yourself." He said a bit jokingly. 'Actually... Tell her to come back.' His other self snickered. 'I've always wanted a pony!' Ethan rolled his eyes at the antics of his other self.

"I see... Well..." Celestia said, looking around for a moment, looking for words that would suit the situation. What on earth could she tell him? He already knew all that had to be known about her, but she knew only his name. "Why not tell me about yourself Ethan?"

Ethan cocked a brow. "Really? Just like that? You aren't going to restrain me or send me to that magic proof jail cell you got under this castle? Huh... Your thoughts are confusing me now." He joked, sensing her nervousness. As much as he didn't want to admit, he kinda liked the environment he was in, it seemed calm... Relaxing. He knew nearly everything about this place, if not everything about this place. He shook his more relaxed thoughts, knowing that he still didn't know this place that well, or more specifically the ponies around him, besides Celestia anyway. He noticed the cold looks he got from the guards that stood in the room, he glared back, one of the guards visibly shaking for a moment. "Good... I prefer the lack of conflict."

Celestia lightly smiled, a bit thankful that he didn't try anything hasty or anything violent. "That's perfect Ethan, makes getting to know you a bit easier. Since you know all about me... Why not let me know something about yourself?"

Ethan took another moment to look her over, thinking for a moment. Was it really worth just telling her all about himself? He shrugged. "Isn't much to tell to be honest, even if there was, I wouldn't be sure how to word it correctly. It's not often people ask me for my story. Most of those that care just go through my files. But I guess I don't have that luxury this time." He sighed. "Go ahead, ask away..."

...

End of chapter 3