A Different Kind of Acceptance

A/N: stuff inside ** are what i thought while i reminisce about in the prologue parts.

Let’s just get this out of the way now. My name is Markus Knight. Call me Mark, though. I am a brony. I am sixteen years old. I practice Wicca. And I have wanted to live in Equestria since I was six. Until I actually arrived in Equestria a week ago. My only best friends are the princesses, the reason being I arrived in the throne room right in front of them. I am currently under the care of the Changeling Queen Chrysalis.

This is the story of my arrival and first week in Equestria.

-One week ago-

I cannot remember what I was doing before I had arrived, but I woke up with my sorry ass sitting on the floor of the Princesses’ throne room. I looked at the ponies around me in a confused manner. The ponies around me, including the princesses were more or less anthropomorphic ponies, so I was a little less bewildered than just seeing regular talking ponies.

I got a good look at the appearances of the princesses as I was high on adrenaline from my fight or flight reflex.

Princess Celestia has a dazzling white coat, with a large pink, purple, green, and blue mane and tail, which both flow in a nonexistent breeze. Her horn was, what I believed to see as, sharpened to a point, and in front of a crown with a single purplish gem in the center. On her feet are gold shoes. Her eyes are a light purple. Her cutie mark is a representation of the sun.

(this is generally what celestia looks like, i took a long time to find this pic for you so be happy with it)

Princess Luna is, simply put, the polar opposite of Celestia. She has a mysterious deep blue coat; her mane and tail are a translucent purple with a dark blue middle with white sparkles to look like stars. Her eyes are a turquoise blue. On Luna’s feet are silver shoes. Her cutie mark is of a crescent moon.

(and luna's appearance is similar to this. yet again, a long time to find, so live with it)

Odd what you can see when you are on an adrenal high. But I digress.

The princesses were highly surprised of my arrival. The looks from the other ponies couldn’t have been any more hateful, though. I got enough glares to last a lifetime. The guards just stood there, not even seeming to react to my arrival, which I believe was odd.

Princess Celestia dismissed the other ponies in the room*but not the guards* by stating, “There will be no more audiences until I have talked with this human.”

My god was her voice calming! And she knew I was a human, too. A little less for me to need to explain to her.

“What is your name, human?” she asked.

“Markus Knight, but call me Mark Knight or Mark.” I replied.

“Well, Mark Knight, you are receiving a great honor. You have been granted an audience, and on such short notice. I am Princess Celestia. The other alicorn you see sitting next to me is my sister, Princess Luna. Enough talking about us. Tell my sister and me about yourself.” The Princess of the Day said.

We first talked about me and what I could remember, which wasn’t really much. I only remembered my name, my being a brony, my practition of Wicca*not in depth of course. Some Wicca stuff is odd even for my world*, and my age. Not the best things to be able to remember, but it was a start.

She talked about: Herself*a bit*, Her sister Luna*a bit*, the few species of ponies in Equestria*not very in depth*, and some of the towns and cities of Equestria*the big ones only*.

Luna just listened to her sister and I converse with each other. I listened to Celestia intently, hoping to learn more than the TV show had shown me, which I did. The things I learned assisted me later in a way I hadn’t expected.

But that is for later to talk about.

Near the end of our talk*which did last a few hours*, Celestia suggested I live with her student, Twilight Sparkle, in Ponyville. I happily yet nervously agreed to do so, since most ponies I saw so far seemed to dislike me and strongly at that.

She then dismissed me to head to Ponyville. As I was nearing the throne room door, I turned.

“What’s the time, Princess Celestia?” I ask.

“About three P.M. You arrived around midday, Mark Knight.” She answered.

“Thanks. See you later.” I reply.

I left the throne room and walked by the pony-people lined up to get an audience with the princesses. They all glared at me. I looked down, hiding my face, and walked quicker.

After a long line of ponies and a longer walk *with a little bit of being lost*, I arrived at the train station. All the ponies around me were still glaring at me like I was public enemy number one.

I walked up to the ticket-master and asked for a ticket to Ponyville.

“The princesses have paid for your trip. At least a monster like you won’t live in Canterlot. Bucking human.” He said spitefully.

I ignored his insult, not really knowing what he actually meant anyway. He handed me the ticket, avoiding physical contact with my hand like I had a deadly disease that could be passed by physical contact.

I walk to the back of the train and settled in the caboose, away from any distractions, annoyances, and hateful ponies. I fell asleep quickly.

About an hour into my nap and the train ride, I felt an aura nearing me as I slept. *It’s a Wicca thing. Don’t ask “why?” or “how?” please.* It didn’t feel like an evil aura, but I didn’t feel like taking any chances. I woke immediately, sat up, and saw a mare that had a light bluish-green coat, a harp cutie mark, and bright yellowish-gold eyes. *Oh, I forgot to note something. These ponies have their cutie marks on the right side of their necks. Hope that helps some.*

I recognized her quickly but said nothing. It was Lyra Heartstrings, the human mythology expert. I sat up and looked at her, feeling my aura burning with fear and, oddly enough, a bit of excitement, similar to what I could sense of her aura.

(this is what lyra looked like, generally)

I sniffed a bit and a sweet, strong smell assaulted my nostrils. My excitement increased slightly.

‘Shit . . .’ I thought reservedly. ‘She must be in heat . . . or she’s really damn horny . . . Definitely not what I need right now.’

In the little light that was able to pass through the small windows, I could see a faint smile, with a seductive hip-swing as she walked slowly nearer. Her yellow eyes glinted occasionally in the low light.

I frowned. “What do you want?”

“Wow, a human.” She said. Her eyes glinted again. “I knew humans existed. I just knew it!  I need a sample of your fluids, though . . .” she trailed off, still grinning slightly. “For research, of course” she finished quickly.

“Fluid sample? What kind of fluid sample?” I replied with a question, slightly confused and really nervous, yet already knowing what she wanted.

She rolled her body in a vertical wave, sliding her hands over her body sexily. “A . . . sperm . . . sample” she groaned lustfully.

At that moment, another personality I have, named ‘Hawk’, woke up from a nap in my mind.

Uuuuurrrgghh. Dafuq this thing? And what does it want? I didn’t hear properly what it said it wanted the first time. He said in my mind.

‘She wants . . .’ I gulp as I tell him through thought. ‘My sperm’

Well then, give it to her! If she wants it, you should give it to her. Time for you to get laid. He said with pride. My god, was he a horn-dog, I now remember! *That’s one of his quirks. I guess I forgot about that, like a lot of other things.*

Then, Justin woke up too. Not good.

What the hell is going on here!? I was enjoying a perfectly good nap, when I heard something going on out there. Justin said in my mind, annoyed. He said it in a voice that tells he easily gets angered, which he does.

Hawk explained the situation to him. Justin growled at the end of the short explanation.

But I was focused on the pony trying to rape me at the moment. I was focused on getting out of the train right at this moment. I neared the side door of the caboose and grabbed the handle to open the door.

Suddenly my skin was surrounded by a light blue aura and I was pulled away from the door.

‘Justin, I’m sorry but I need your help right now. Take over, please.’ I plead to him.

Fine, but I’m gonna sleep for a week afterwards. He replied, still annoyed at everybody and nobody in particular.

I felt anger fill my mind and I no longer had control of my body. Justin controlled my body now. I was forced into the area of my mind called “The Shadow”. It is the place all my other personalities stay while I am in control of my body. But my body is under the control of Justin, my easily angered alternate personality, so I waited in The Shadow.

He broke free of the magic with an unholy roar.

Don’t hurt her; we just need to get out of the train quickly. I say to Justin from The Shadow.

‘This better work, Mark.’ he told me.

He opens the door and we are assaulted by wind, a great view of no nearby ground, and trees on the far-below ground. I could see the ground slant away from the train tracks and noted that to Justin.

Slide down the slope. It’ll be fine. I say to Justin.

‘Fine, but I will kill her if the fall doesn’t kill us,’ he replied.

Just jump before she grabs us with her magic again. I say hurriedly.

Justin jumped and slid like a surfer down the steep slope. Two rubber-soled shoes heated up from the speed, and our center of gravity was as low as it can get for stability.

It was a gravel slope, so our descent was faster than I had planned. I know Justin is smart enough to change his approach before we crash into the ground, so I don’t worry. He angled our feet perpendicular to the ground, which was quickly approaching.

We slowed down quite a lot from that action and slid to a perfect stop at the bottom of the slope.

“Easy as pies are square” Justin said jokingly.

He let me retake control and he returned to The Shadow. I checked my shoes for no reason. I sighed.

The tread was gone, and a good quarter-inch from the rubber was missing from the bottom of the shoes.

Using my slight skills as a part necromancer, I magicked my shoes to repair them. At least it worked better than last time I tried to use magic. I still have those scars today.

With another part of me being a Were, I transformed into a werewolf.

I had the fur, the muzzle, the claws, the eyes, and the teeth of a werewolf. Everything else was humanoid because I was not all Were.

I sprinted into the Everfree in the direction I could tell, by smell, was towards Ponyville.

Eventually, I reached the edge of the Everfree and skidded to a stop before the light could strike me. Light would have just made me obvious to the many ponies going about their business in Ponyville.

I went back to human, but thought a second.

‘If I could do my Were just right, I could probably look similar to a pony’ I thought.

I tried to transform to the perfect mix of human and werewolf to look roughly similar a pony. What surprised me was what I actually turned into.

I turned into a pony.

Wait a second, I turned into a pony! I can blend in now! But how did I transform so well and so quickly. It was like . . . like . . .

“Ah, God damn it!” I muttered.

It was more fucking magic. Suddenly, a scroll appeared in front of me with a yellow poof of energy and dropped to my feet. I picked it up and read it.

“ Dear Mark Night,

We noticed your dilemma of the ponies glaring at you. We hope this next spell helps a little. The one downside is that it uses your energy to transform you into a pony. Be cautious of how much you exert yourself.

Sincerely,

The princesses,

Celestia and Luna”

‘Thanks Princesses, perfect timing.’ I think sarcastically. ‘Plus, you got my name wrong.’

But then I feel a small burst of magic flow into me. I knew that this was the spell the princesses had planned. Which means . . .

I could turn into a pony myself. Sweet!

I summon a quill and write on the unused part of the parchment.

“ Dear princesses Luna and Celestia,

Thank you for the spell, but it shall be relatively unnecessary. I have very weak magic abilities in me, surely not as strong as yours. I can shape-shift myself to a small extent. Thanks for the friendly gesture, although it was unnecessary.

Sincerely,

Mark Knight

P.S. do not reply to this until Twilight sends a scroll of her own. Thank you”

I magicked the scroll to return to the princesses immediately, and walked into the daylight in my self-done pony-fied form.

Ponyville’s ponies didn’t send me looks of hatred, at least. I saw a few confused ponies and more friendly ponies than I probably would have as a human. At least no ponies showed hatred towards me.

I’m quite sure that’ll change though . . .

Anyway, I have to meet Twilight at the library. I take a determined pace, but not too fast to seem eager or nervous.

I arrived at the tree/house/library that Twilight is usually found in. I knocked on the door and Spike, that purple and green little dragon that Twilight has taken care, opened the door with an annoyed look on his face.

“Yes, what do you want?” he asked, slightly annoyed.

“Dude, two things. First, this is a public library, am I right? Second, I have business with Miss Sparkle.” I reply calmly, not letting his slight annoyance bother me.

“Oh, yeah, you got me there. Right this way, Mr. . . .” he said.

“Knight. Mark Knight.” I finish for him.

He gestures with his claw for me to come inside, and says, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Knight. Right this way”

We walked to the upstairs part of the tree house and he gestures to the door. I knock and a feminine bookworm said forcedly, “Just a moment.”

I waited there patiently for her to finish whatever she had been doing. After a minute or so, the door opened with a flushed purple unicorn peeking out the crack between the door and the wall.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Markus Knight. Call me Mark. The princesses sent me.” I say.

"i hope they sent you a scroll" i mumble under my breath.

Her eyes widen as she gawks at me for a moment. She pulls me into the room and tells spike, “sorry, have to take Mark for a second.” and she shuts the door.

She pushes me to sit on a little chair by the door. “So, you are Mark Knight. The princesses spoke of you in a scroll. I thought you were going to be a human.” She stated. (rely on the cover pic for the mane six's appearances)

“I am a human. I am also a ‘Were’. I can change my bodily appearance, to a degree, as you probably can see.” I say, answering her unasked question. As I speak, I transform myself back into my regular human body.

She frowned. “You can use magic? That is unusual for a human.”

“Well, the Were part of me isn’t human. It is a mix of whatever it is I can change into. But yes, I can also use magic, to a tiny, no, a miniscule degree.” I say, explaining myself. “The only reason I can use magic is because a part of me is necromancer. You do know what a necromancer is, right?”

“A necromancer is a dark mage that summons undead creatures. Of course I know what a necromancer is” she replied. Then she gasped. “You’re a necromancer? You can raise the dead? You can summon zombies, skeletons, demons, and anything else undead or unholy? You are a Dark Mage!” she fired question after question, finishing me off with a hurtful preconception. I put my hand over her mouth.

“Yes, I am a necromancer. No, I cannot raise the dead just yet. No, I can’t even raise a dead ant yet. And I am not evil.” I answer all her questions and reply to her comment. “I am pathetic in my skills. I need proper training or something to become better, and there are no good necromancers in Equestria, are there?” I ask, removing my hand from her mouth.

“No, there aren’t any necromancers in Equestria.” She answers me.

“Good, no competitions necessary then.” I say like it doesn’t matter. “I couldn’t beat a newbie necromancer that wasn’t even trying, because I could never find a good enough trainer to advance my skills.” I sulked.

“Anyway, to get a friendlier subject in the spotlight, I would like you to meet the rest of my friends; Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.” She glances outside.

“Tomorrow, though. It’s late. Goodnight, Mark.” she leaves the room and walks over to her room, and closes the door behind her after letting Spike in.

I close my door and get into the bed, which is the perfect length for me. It is also a really soft bed. I fall asleep quite quickly

I had no dreams last night. It is odd, because I usually have either really action packed gory dreams or really emotionally moving dreams.

It was a nice way to wake up in the morning, with no dreams making me cry or wake up with adrenaline in my veins full-force. I was in a good mood and few things could ruin it. I looked out the tiny window.

. . . It was still dark out . . . and I forgot to turn off the lamp in the room.

I sat there, silently hating the fact I woke before sunrise. But then I thought for a second.

I woke up because I wasn’t tired anymore, right? I am at “fully rested” on my fatigue level, right?

Right, indeedy! I apparently need less sleep in Equestria than I need on Earth. And I need less sleep than a normal human because of the Were in my soul, and even less because of the necromancer in my soul.

So I sleep . . . about three hours for every . . . eighteen hours awake. Sweet again! But I need to do something, and I couldn’t bring anything with me either. So I willed myself to get very fatigued, and lay down and slept.

I woke to the sound of birds chirping and something sizzling in a pan. It smelled like eggs. . .

It was eggs!

I jumped out of the bed and rushed down the stairs. The sight that met my eyes was Spike cooking eggs in a skillet.

“OHMIGOD I LOVE EGGS!!!!!” I shout at the unsuspecting Spike, who jumped out of his skin like he just shed it; which he actually did shed a layer of skin.

“Mark, you scared the hide off of me, literally. If you keep doing that, I have to start getting more wary of my surroundings.” He said, still flustered and breathing heavily.

“Be quiet! I’m trying to sleep here!” Twilight yelled groggily from what I presumed to be her bedroom. after a pause, she yelled, “Nevermind. Now that I’m awake, I’ll just get up”. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and saw Twilight walk groggily down the stairs, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Sorry. Good morning, though, Twily” I say apologetically.

“It’s fine, just don’t do it again. And good morning to you too, Mark.” She said back. “Anyway, let’s eat breakfast and then you can meet my friends.”

Spike flips the eggs onto a plate and walks to the table.

“Do you have any bread to make toast? I have a great idea for an amazing breakfast, but I don’t know if I could do it right. But, it’s better to try and know then not try and wonder.” I say, remembering my favorite egg-related breakfast.

Twilight levitated the bread out of a cupboard and placed it next to the stove. “Here you go, Mark.” She says.

“Can I have some eggs too? It won’t work if I don’t have eggs.” I say. Twilght gets the eggs out of another cupboard and places them next to the bread.

“Thanks” I smile at her. I don’t know if I was seeing things, but I might have glimpsed a blush on her cheeks from my smile.

I crack an egg as carefully as I could and drop it into the pan from a low height.

. . . And . . . Success! The yolk didn’t break!

“Can you toast a slice of bread to a nice golden brown, Spike?” I ask the small dragon.

“Sure” he replies. He walks over and shoots a small, green flame at the toast, turning it a perfect golden brown. He flips the piece of bread over and does the same to the other side of it.

. . . That is a  . . . Perfect . . . piece of toast. I nearly tear up from the thought of eating such a perfectly cooked piece of toast.

“Thanks, Spike.” I tell him.

“No prob, Mark. What’s the toast for though?” He asks me.

“You’ll see, Spike” I reply.

“Now, for the moment of extreme difficulty: flipping the egg over without breaking the yolk.” I mumble to myself. I realize something though.

“Twilight, can you flip the egg over, and gently. I don’t want to break the yolk, and knowing me, I probably will.” I say to the purple unicorn.

“Mark, you are really confusing me. Fine, but only because I don’t really have anything else to do” she replied. Her horn was surrounded by a billowing purple aura, which I could feel quite strongly. The egg was surrounded by the same aura shortly afterward.

The egg slowly lifted into the air and flipped over slowly. It lowered back onto the pan, and I inspected the yolk for breakage.

. . . And . . . no breakage! Yesssssss!

I finished making the egg and used the spatula to put the egg on a plate and put the toast on the plate next to the egg.

“This is a great breakfast, to me. You guys should try it.” I say.

“Meh, I guess I’ll try it.” Spike shrugged.

I broke the yolk and dipped the toast in the it. “This is what I had in mind” I said as I handed him the piece of toast “But only one bite, young dragon” I smiled and transformed into my dragon Were as I spoke.

His eyes widened as he took a bite. “By, Celestia! This is the best thing I ever tasted.” He went to dip the toast in the yolk again but I stopped him.

“I said one bite, little dragon.” I said.

“hey, don’t call me-” he starts, but he sees me and his eyes widen again. “yo-you a-are a d-d-d-dragon! How? What? You . . .” he passes out and I chuckle inwardly.

I return to my regular human appearance and proffer the toast and egg yolk to Twilight. “Try some!” I say, reminiscing about a flipnote i saw once. *watching this video is optional but advised to do(focus of video is the time between 5 and 13 seconds)*

She picks up the toast with her magic and dips it in the runny yellow egg yolk.

“Try some!” I repeat.

She takes a bite and her reaction matches Spike’s reaction to the dot. I grin at her amazed appearance.

“Pretty good, huh?” I ask.

“Pretty good? Excellent. No, perfect is an understatement on how good this tastes.” She says wondrously.

Then someone, probably a pony *of course*, knocks on the door.

“Hello, is anypony home?” a southern voice asks.

Obviously, that’s Applejack at the door.

“Come in.” Twilight says in a singsong voice.

Applejack opened the door and walked in, her anthro body being so much more attractive than her pony body. And her pony body was already really attractive.

‘Hmm, mus’ be somethin’ ‘bout them southern girls and their charm’ I think, faking a southern accent in my mind. I smile lightly. Then I realize something.

I am not in pony form. . . Oh shit, not good.

“What’n tha hay is that thang?” Applejack asks, and i sense a measure of venom in her voice, and seeing said venom in her eyes as well.

Twilight speaks before I could think of a reply. “He’s a human. He was sent to ponyville to become friends with anypony and everypony that he can” she says just slowly enough to be convincing. It worked just right. the venom eventually disappeared from her eyes.

“Well, okay, but why does he look so nervous? Is he shy?” Applejack asks Twilight.

“Hold on a sec.” Twilight says. She gestures for me to follow her. I do, not knowing what she wanted.

“What happened out there? Why were you suddenly so shy? You were perfectly fine before she arrived.” She said hushedly after we entered her bedroom.

“Well, I am gonna be perfectly blunt with you. I see her as attractive.” I say with a little bit of confidence.

Twilight grins as if she was about to laugh. “Really? That’s it? That is the reason why you were suddenly so shy?”

“So? I have no confidence when talking to women, unless I am their friend or we have something in common when we meet. I withdraw into shyness otherwise” I say defensively. “You better not laugh, or I’ll . . . I’ll . . .”

“You’ll what, Mark? . . . I won’t laugh, but this isn’t staying a secret. You are going to tell her.” She said like it wasn’t impossible.

“There are more problems than just that. You don’t need to know those problems yet either. And I am NOT telling her I like her” I growl at Twilight.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t get so hostile. I was joking. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anypony. I Pinkie promise.” she says.

“Really?” I ask, suddenly introverted and shy again.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She says while going through Pinkie’s odd ritual of a promise, ending with placing her palm over her eye.

“Thanks, Twily. But if you do break the promise . . .” I say as I summon a necromanced switchblade and spin it in my fingers before snapping it open suddenly. “Pinkie’s rage over a broken Pinkie promise won’t compare to my rage . . .” I let the switch disintegrate from my hand and I leave the bedroom as if nothing had happened. I walk downstairs and sent a little wave at Applejack.

She sent a little wave back, her face showing obvious evidence of confusion.

“What was that all ‘bout?” she asked, still confused at what just happened.

“Oh, Twilight had a random question. It was no big deal.” I said, technically still telling the truth.

“ooohkaaaayyy, well since yer new in town, and I’m sure yer broke, you mind workin’ on mah fam’ly’s farm with us?” she asked. My heart leaped at the question.

I kept a straight face and replied, “Yes, please. I have no money to my name and I would like to have some bits to make a living. Thank you for the offer.” I say gratefully.

She blushed heavier. “good, cuz this applebuck season will be a little rougher than the last few. Ah didn’t catch yer name yet, though, pardner.”

“The name’s Markus Knight, but you can call me Mark or Mark Knight.” I say, proud with my awesome name.

She holds out her hand and I take it in a strong grip, and feel my hand get constricted by a similar force. I wince slightly from the strength of her grip compared to my grip.

“Applejack. Nice ta meetcha Mark. Ah work at Sweet Apple Acres. If ya ever need a job, or just need a few bits, come on over and ah’ll find ya some sorta work.” She says. Her accent, her green eyes, her sparse freckles, and the way she does her mane all combine into an image of pure stunningness, nearly making me mentally melt and collapse to the floor. I hold my upright stance, luckily.

She lets go of my hand and I mumble a quiet “thanks". She leaves and I close the door behind her.

As soon as the door closes, I lose all bodily control and collapse into a tangle of humanoid limbs and a mental puddle.

I was losing consciousness. Damn! I didn’t expect she’d affect me that heavily . . .

The last thing I see is Twilight sprinting down the stairs towards me as blackness takes over my vision.

I wake up in the bed that is the same one I woke up in earlier today. I was tucked in tightly. Twilight was sleeping in a chair next to the bed.

Then I remembered why I passed out.

'God damn it!' I think. 'Why did that sexy southern girl- erm, mare, have to affect me so much?

I pulled the blankets off with a bit of difficulty and got upright, my feet resting on the floor. I sighed and lay my head down on my palms exhaustedly. I lift my head after a few seconds and stand up. My vision spins and swirls, but I stay standing.

I nudge Twilight to wake her up. She slowly does just that, yawning as she opens her eyes.

Her eyes widen to the appearance of me standing over her. She blushes and says, "Please step back a bit, Mark."

I back up a step or two, and she stands up, cracking her back.

“Sorry, Twilight, she had a bigger emotional effect on me than I had thought possible” I apologize to the purple unicorn mare.

“No big deal, just be more careful before speaking to her next time. I won’t be around every time that happens” she replied dryly.

I blush and hide my face shyly, still standing next to the bed.

‘This is gonna be a loooong week’ I remember thinking at that moment.