Despair's story

by winterman17

Rating: mature
Tags: Romance, Tragedy, Slice of Life, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4593

The story of a lost horse that has to fit into the world of ponies he found himself in.

Despair is scared after the war. His master is gone, he has no friends and Luna has abandoned him to live in the forest. Now he has to make a life for himself among the weakness of the ponies that inhabit this world. He will make friends, find love, and do some things that he is not proud of. But when his master calls again, will he accept and watch as his life becomes devoted to war again, or will he deny and watch it all come crumbling down around him.

Published 2013-02-07 01:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-09 03:10:46 UTC

Watching and Waiting

All I'm trying to do is survive and make good out of the dirty, nasty, unbelievable lifestyle they gave me.
~Tupac Shakur

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Despair wasn't old by pony standards, in fact, he was a child. Despair was about a year and a half old, but his body was about twelve which meant he was a horse in the prime of his life. His body was also stuck at that age forever which had the consequences of turning his coat into a pale color, much like that of a body with all the blood drained from it. In his short life he learned the basics of everything, and mastered every art of combat that could be applied to a horse. Most of the combat styles came from this planet, as it was mainly inhabited by ponies. Ponies were strange, they were all different colors, they were small, they were somewhat cute, most were weak, and most knew only of friendship. The task he was charged with by his master, was to destroy the ponies. His master was gone though, and princess Luna, who had asked him to escort her, ran to the everfree forest, and abandoned him. All he could do now was wait for something. He didn't know what, but he had to wait. As he remembered the forest, it was gone. But when the archangels imprisoned his master, everything he had done was reversed. The forest was standing, the destroyed cities were rebuilt instantly, dead ponies were resurrected without side effects, and the archangels had the memories of the ponies of this realm wiped so that they thought it was just another day after they left. For all the ponies knew, a strong hurricane had come through the kingdom and wrecked a few buildings. Despair watched all this happen, not sure if he was willing to give up his waiting.

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You've had enough of the silence. That constant silence you have heard over the last month is unbearable, and now your not sure if you should be waiting for something. You might be strange, you might not be as colorful, you may never get a cutie mark or whatever the ponies call it, but you will not listen to the silence for another day. With that you decide to move for Ponyville the next day. You start a fire and sleep until early morning. You set out for Ponyville at two thirty in the morning, assuming that there aren't many distractions you should reach the small town by four. On your way through the forest you see a large tree decorated with masks.

"Zebra? That's interesting." You mumble to yourself.

You knew of all types of magic and you mastered all of them. Your master had trained you to be a killing machine, and that's what you were, but you decided that the best chance of survival would be to blend with the ponies as best you could. Zerbra magic was interesting in the fact that it required consumption of the magic for it to work effectively, you could probably teach that zebra a thing or two about making her potions more powerful, but you decided that would be rude and rudeness would mean trouble to ponies who knew nothing but comfort. It had been about an hour when you reached another odd landmark. A small cottage with a bunch of animals gathered around outside, you would check what is in there but you didn't want to risk the wrath of the animals. In a few more minutes you reached Ponyville station. The night staff called out to you in the night. As you walk up to meet him you step into the light, and he gasps at seeing what you look like. Aside from the unusual color of your coat, you were a little more than two feet taller than a standard pony, ice blue eyes, and a black mane that seemed to have a dark purple flame ignite on the the end of random hairs in it and go out just as quickly. This gave your mane a glow of light much like that of the void, it didn't give off obvious light but made it possible to see an area around you even though it could be pitch black. Adding to your unusual appearance even further, was the stone embedded in your head and carved with an ancient rune right where your horn would be, if you had one. It was a small stone, about one and a third the diameter of a unicorn horn, but you thought of it as a trophy and you didn't like when creatures stared. You know that you are more powerful than these ponies and such you spoke to them like you were.

"Do not stare at my stone! Why are you up at this hour anyway?" Normally you would have a deeper voice than most, with no accent, and near perfect grammar, but you hadn't had water in a week so you could hardly talk at all.

"Sorry pal, please don't get mad. I didn't mean anything by it. As for the reason I'm up, I have to watch for ponies like you, who might want a train or directions." He said.

"Well then, I would like directions to the town square." You rasp.

"Well just continue down the road, it'll take directly to the town square." The stallion was calming dow now, but he still thought you looked a bit odd.

"Thank you."

And with that you continue down the road you had come from hoping that his directions were correct. You look up at the sky to see the moon setting, but the sun had not yet risen. Luna's moon was a beautiful sight, but then the day would come and he would be swarmed with questions from the local ponies, asking where he had come from. But that wouldn't be for a few hours, and as you walked through the town you saw that the local library still had the lights on. Deciding to take a look, you knock on the door. The door opens and a lavender mare opens the door.

"Hello?" Then she gasps.

"Why is everyone surprised when they see me?" You ask quietly.

"Well, it's because you are unique. You sound like you need water, come inside." She says worriedly.

"Thank you very much." You rasp thankfully as you walk in.

She brings you a glass, and you ask her to bring a few more. After the next five minutes you have drunk twenty three glasses of water.

"When was the last time you had water?" She asks, shocked.

"Nine days."

"You shouldn't be alive." She says even more shocked.

"As you can tell, I'm not an average pony."

"Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Can I stay sheltered in here for the next few days?"

"The basement is all yours."

"Then we can start tomorrow."

"Not fair!"

"I am tired, when I can think clearly I will answer your questions."

She unlocked the door for you, and you walk down the stairs. You can see as you walk through the dusty space, and decide it needs to cleaned. A small tornado goes around the room, picks up the dust, and bursts out of the window. You make a large bed appear in the center of the room. As you lie down, you think about the hospitality of the mare. You weren't stupid, and you could think perfectly clearly. The mare that had just let you in was Twilight Sparkle. Though you had no personal qualms about her, since even your master had spared her, you decided to be cautious until she trusted you.

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As Twilight went to bed she thought about all the questions she would ask the strange pony over lunch, starting with his name. She also wondered what he liked to eat, maybe that would be the first question. She wasn't sure but she was excited anyway, it wasn't everyday that Ponyville got visitors.

Author's Note

This story is what happens to Despair in the ten thousand years between wars. Give me ideas and tell me what you think, ratings and tags may change as I decide what to do with the story. Constructive criticism and compliments accepted.

Questions and Answers

When Twilight walked downstairs she saw the last thing she expected to see. All the dust in the old basement was gone the books were rearranged into alphabetical order, and there was a very large, and very luxurious princess sized bed in the middle of the room. The bed sheets, and pillow cases were made of velvet, and the pillows themselves were stuffed with pegasus feathers. The bed was made, and her strange visitor was sitting on top of it, reading one of her most advanced magic books. It was surrounded by a dark purple, almost black, glow that could hardly be seen through. Which in itself was very strange because she had not seen a horn on your head, even now that you were sitting down she could not see one, because you were still slightly taller.

"Pitiful." You mumble under your breath.

"I am going to ignore what you said about my book. I'm also going to ignore what happened down here. Those will be some of the questions you promised answers to." Twilight said worriedly, she didn't know where the expensive bed came from.

"Hello, Twilight is it?" You ask, in a good mood. It was the first decent sleep you have had in weeks, and you even get to eat again.

"How do you know my name?" She asked even more worriedly.

You simply float the book that you were reading over to her. It said To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. From Princess Celestia.

"You must be very important for the princess to take notice of you. Anyway, where are we eating?" You say as you reshelf the book.

"I will explain that to you on the way their. As for the restaurant, what do you like to eat?"

"Do you like riddles?" You ask.

"Yes." Twilight says happily, she always loved a good riddle, but no one had ever given her a riddle she couldn't figure out.

"Then the answer is the same as this riddle."

"Okay, what's the riddle then?" Twilight was eager to hear what it was.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" You ask, knowing she would never get it.

You wait for about a minute and then get up and walk out of the house calling for Twilight to follow. As you walk down the surprisingly empty street you hear several noises that would suggest deep thought coming from Twilight. Picking a random corner cafe, you walk in and, despite the whistle from the waitress, order a table for two. Seeing that it was was now one thirty, about fifteen minutes from when you had left, there was nopony around, and the waitress took her time. She set the table, gave you and Twilight a menu, and finally the librarian gave in.

"I give up, why is a raven like a writing desk?" She asks frustrated that she hadn't been able to find the answer.

"I haven't the slightest idea." You say with laughter, you had just fooled the smartest pony in town, and all it took was one simple question.

"That's not fair! Besides I know I've read that somewhere." She yelled happily. To her any challenge of the mind was fun, even if it wasn't fair.

"Now you know what I like to eat too." You say jokingly.

"Wait, you don't know what you like to eat?"

"Nope, not a clue. I think I'll just order one of everything. Don't worry though I'll pay for both of us, get whatever you like." You say politely.

"How are you going to pay if you don't have money?" Twilight was curious.

"Who said I don't have money? Do me a favor and point your horn at the table."

"Okay?"

She did as you asked and she could feel something sliding off of her horn. She heard a thud and what sounded like coins spilling on to the table. She looked up and found a large pouch filled with gold bits that had a puncture mark where it had been on her horn.

"I'm no stranger to magic, but even I'm not able to do that! Where did you come from?" Twilight was obviously shocked.

"I came from a place that is all but gone now." You answer, not seriously, but not laughing.

"I'm sorry to hear that, what would you like to eat?" The waitress had come back.

"I'll have one of everything." You say handing her the bag of golden bits. "She can have whatever she wants too, take a fifty percent tip, and give the rest to the owners of this establishment, if it is not enough come back and see me."

"I'd like to have a hay and watercress salad with some coffee please." Twilight said.

The waitress nodded slowly and stared at the massive bag of pure gold bits that you had just given her. She walked away quickly and when she was in the kitchen you could hear the waitress spreading news of a large, somewhat handsome, and very rich pony arriving in the shop to all of the staff. You chuckle and think of the little nightmare it would cause you. Oh well, you were already answering questions.

"What else would you like to ask?"

"Why are you able to cast magic? I don't see a horn anywhere." She asked curiously, she had never heard of anything using unicorn magic without a horn of some kind.

You bend down your head and show her the stone embedded in your skull.

"I was born with a horn, but when I was just a few minutes old they cut it off almost to the base, fused this stone to it, carved a rune in it, and pulled up the skin around it until, as you can see, it looks just like any other part of my body."

Twilight gasped. "Who would ever do that! Where are they? Something must be done about it!" She yelled, outraged that somepony would ever do such a thing, and to a foal no less!

"They are gone now. I didn't feel a thing, they used magic to numb my head. The rune on it makes my magic stronger anyway, and It was also a tradition."

"It was a tradition? Was it done to everypony who lived there?"

"No, I guess you could say I was royalty, the tribe didn't last long."

"Well If they treat their foals like that I am not surprised!" Twilight was upset that someone so nice was put through so much torture. Who would do such a thing in the first place.

"Next question." You say.

"How come you said my book was pathetic." Twilight remembered to ask, sounding offended.

"The magic in the book was trivial, I learned transmogrification magic in a day and mastered it to the fullest extent in a week, do you mean to tell me that the student of the princess is struggling with this?"

"That's not possible! You can't simply master a form of magic in a few days!" Twilight was shocked at this new pony, he seemed to know as much as Celestia.

"Then explain to me how I am able to turn the air into a rather large pouch of gold bits." You demand playfully.

"You must teach me some of the things you know!" Twilight was giddy at the idea of being able to master magics in weeks, let alone days.

"I'm not a very good teacher, but I can try."

"The owners send their sincerest thanks, sir." The whole waiting staff had brought out the food.

They mainly just wanted to see you, but when the did they were shocked. They weren't scared, obviously sneaking up on someone at night would be a lot more terrifying with the way you looked, but the mares thought you were quite handsome, due to your mane and icy blue eyes, the fact that you were a lot bigger and muscular than any stallion they had ever seen didn't hurt your chances either. Twilight had also taken notice of this and when they left twilight asked you about it.

"Why do your mane and tail have small flames on them? It seems a bit dangerous." Twilight said, the whole building was made of wood.

"It is like your princess's mane, she can suppress the color when she wants to, but she doesn't because it adds a recognizable effect." You say between bites.

"Okay. How old are you? With so much knowledge you must have started training as soon as you could to only be this age." Twilight was getting more curious as the questions went on.

"As to the regards of physical age, I am twelve. In actual age I am about a year and a half. They said I could have any date I wanted for my birthday, so I picked December twenty fourth. It was next to a holiday of yours and I like the winter."

"What!" Twilight couldn't comprehend this. "You're a child! How!"

"Yes, by your standards I am a child, but I am not your exact species. I am horse, not a pony, and therefore we age differently. Horses live to be slightly over twenty on average, while ponies live to be around ninety, and alicorns live indefinitely. But just because I am not your exact species doesn't mean I can't enjoy life with ponies, aside from a few strands of DNA we are practically identical, and because of a few permanent spells placed on me I will live forever just like your princess."

"I think I can follow this, but I have one last question for now."

"Out with it then!" You say as you finish the massive meal set out in front of you.

"What is your name?"

"Despair."

"Well that's not a nice name. No offense of course but why do you keep it?"

"I feel that it is a good name for a soldier."

"You were a soldier?"

"Ah, ah, ah. You said no more questions. Come and find me later Twilight." You say as you get up to leave.

It had been a few hours since you walked in, and now the early dinner ponies were here and business started to pick up. You notice the mares staring at you like a prize, and the stallions staring at you with jealousy. You walk up to the waitress and say a few things.

"Thank you for the excellent service." You compliment as you hand her another large bag of bits. "And if you could sweetie, tell everypony that walks in, that drinks are on me." You say with a deeper voice than you normally would.

Walking past the line you flip your mane to the other side with a burst of fire, and the mares start stuttering. You knew by now that you were good looking by pony standards too, and you decided that you would exploit it. Thinking back on your conversation with Twilight, you thought that it felt nice to put the past behind you, and as you look up to Celestia's sunset you vow to improve your life from now on.

Author's Note

Yes this story will get sappy, just incase anyone is wondering. If you wanted gore, than I can assure you that Despair will slip quite a few times. All compliments and constructive criticism are accepted.

New Residence

Twilight expected you to be back at the library. She was wrong. Twilight looked around and called your name but could not find you, and she wouldn't until she started asking around town. Solely for the reason that you were planning to get your own house. You were walking to the town hall to, one, introduce yourself to the mayor, two, tell her that you don't mean any trouble, and three, fill out whatever paperwork is required for a large lot. Walking up the steps, the doors opens and the mayor walks out.

"Hello, you're the mayor are you not?" You ask, with a voice that is loud enough to counter the noise of ponies hanging around the town square.

"Why yes, and who are you? I haven't seen anyone like you around." She says, blushing. The mayor didn't expect to have anypony approach her, especially somepony like you.

"My name is Despair, I got here earlier today and I'm looking to buy the largest lot you can give me."

"Well it is odd that you would want to buy property after getting here only today. I've also never seen you before, but I suppose I could help you. Just come inside and fill out a sheet or two, and you can have the largest lot we have. It is outside of the town though, I'm not sure about your feelings on that. Also, there's no house on it, but you asked for a lot so I don't think that worries you, does it?" The Mayor said very professionally.

"I think you ponies are too trusting for your own good, but I thank you anyway. How much is it?" You say more politely than would be expected.

"Fifty thousand gold bits, if you can afford it."

"Very well then, where is the paperwork?"

"Inside, follow me."

After about thirty minutes you had finished everything, and you were heading of to your new plot of land. Which, as it turns out, was a full six acres on the east outskirt of Ponyville. The land itself looked over Ponyville, and reawakened a glorified feeling of control. Using a powerful form of telekinesis you uproot quite a few trees from the everfree forest, ripped them into planks, and built a massive frame. High ceilings, large rooms, a few sheds in the massive backyard that you now owned, and a twenty foot circle made of wooden posts that could rotate. After that you used your magic to search for clay, brought some up, and fired it right in front of you. The massive display of nearly black flames had brought a few ponies over, who then proceeded to watch the spectacle. You break the hardened clay into bricks, cover the walls of your house with them, and make the roof out of clay tiles as well. You decide that you want a wooden interior so you take more trees, split them into planks, and use a spell to fire proof them which had the added effect of polishing them as well. Floating them into your house, you walk inside and tell the rest of the ponies that they could follow. You place the planks into various places so that they all fit perfectly, and then you fuse them together using more of your magic. The interior was now a massive, polished, singular piece of wood. Following this great performance you conjured up the furniture, made from the most expensive fabrics, and carpeted the entire building except for the bathrooms. You added a crystal chandelier here and there, dug out a basement and put a cellar, and library down there, walking back outside, you made a garden growing various plants, and finally you decided to get the ponies home.

"I am sorry to say that you must leave now, as you can see all of this magic has made me tired." You say, faking a tired expression.

With plenty of disappointed noises coming from the local ponies, there was one that didn't leave.

"Hello Despair, there is still plenty of time before sundown, and you promised that you would teach me some things." Twilight said hopefully.

"How can I say no?" You ask with an expression of surrender.

"Yay! What are we going to start with? Transmogrification? Advanced telekinesis? Maybe quantum physical magic?" Twilight was quite obviously excited.

"It depends, can you read minds?" It was a very serious question.

"Hey Twilight are you okay? I saw a massive fire and thought something was burning and- oh hi there. Twilight who's the new guy?" A cyan pegasus had just darted from the skies.

"Hello Rainbow Dash, this is Despair." Twilight said politely.

"Despair huh? Why that name? Is it to make you sound cooler?" Rainbow teased.

"It is a fitting name for a soldier." You know what Rainbow was like, and you didn't have the largest amount of patience in the world.

"Soldier? So everypony is supposed to respect you then, is that it? You don't even look like a pony! What can you do that is special enough to make you a soldier?"

"He has very powerful magic Ranbow. She has a tendency to be more disrespectful to new people than she normally is." Twilight said, warningly. She knew where this was going.

"Powerful magic huh? I bet you aren't better than Twilight. Can you make yourself faster than me? I don't think so." Rainbow boasted. She didn't take Twilight's hint.

"My patience is wearing thin, pegasus." You say more rudely than you would have wanted to, given the circumstances.

"So the soldier that doesn't have patience, huh? Without patience how can you learn all the fancy spells your able to do? I bet the best you can do is levitate a fork!" Rainbow crossed a line that she shouldn't have crossed.

After hearing this, the sky around you darkens, clouds pull over your head, and lightening comes down, scorching circles around you. The rune on your stone flares with magic, your mane and tail burst into dark purple flame, and you head begins to be covered in stone slabs. The armor unfolds on your body spreading from the stone on your head. Soon you resemble a royal guard wearing the most protective armor available, with purple fire accenting each groove. You stomp each of your hooves individually, and in each part of the armor on your hooves six stone spikes shoot out, making your hooves leathal weapons. Now clad in black stone and dark purple fire you vent your rage.

"Rainbow Dash! Do not take me for some conjuror of cheap tricks! I am not trying to be a nuisance!" You roar in her direction.

Rainbow cowers as you calm down. The armor comes of, the flames die down, and you move closer to the frightened pegasus.

"I am only trying to survive." You say calmingly.

"How did you do that!" Twilight was fascinated by the display of power.

"Now is not the time, and I will be going to bed." You say with a yawn.

As you climb into the bed of your new mansion you wonder what to do with all the space that you have. You think through many solutions, but you decide on a training ground. It will be the finest ever made, and you will have it training the royal guard by the time you are done, that sounds nice. Oh well, that would have to wait a few days, between the magic of creating the house, dispelling the rumors of what you had just done, and deciding what your favorite food was, you would have to rest for a while. Besides, you still had four more ponies to meet.

Author's Note

Tell me where you would like to see the story go. All constructive criticism and compliments are accepted.