The Newcomer

Dear Princess Celestia,

I now remember why I stopped drinking.

Your usually unfaithful and very hungover student, Scourge

Scourge wondered what she would say when she got that letter istead of her usual friendship report as he blinked sleep dust from his eyes. The light from the window seemed incredibly bright, so he shut his eyes. His head felt like it had been stepped on until it was flat.

"Celestia, what is it with me and head pain?" Scourge thought. "First the desert. Then Rarity's couch. Now- wait, where exactly am I?"

Scourge's eyes opened quickly as he took in his surroundings. He was in a pink bed in a very pink room. Said room was a disaster. Liquor bottles and party supplies littered the room and covered every surface.

"Looks like I still know how to party." Scourge thought.

Scourge could remember eating all of the cake and then a little more dancing. Then he remembered being offered a drink, which he accepted. That's when thing started to get blurry. He vaguely remembered dancing on the snack table and a kazoo possibly could have made it's way into the party. Pinkie Pie might have even dumped a bag of flour on herself at some point.

He continued examining the damage he assumed he had done to the room until he spotted his silver, black diamond studded crest sitting on the bedside table.

"NO!" Scourge's mind screamed.

Scourge's crest had been adopted as a signal a long time ago. If Scourge wasn't wearing it, he had gotten lucky. If he was, all would be right in the land of Equestria.

Scourge looked down at his neck. No crest.

"Of course no crest, I'm and idiot." Scourge thought angrily.

Scourge's crest was a signal that he had come up with after his eighteenth birthday, when his friends had taken him to The Knife and Apple gentlecolt's club. Needless to say, he had adapted the crest to help him tell if he had gotten lucky or not. He had always worn a crest, call it a personal preference.

"It could've just fallen off." Scourge thought optimistically.

No, that was impossible. It was locked and the only way to open it was a spell. A spell only himself and his former employer and co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Luna could perform. The crest had been a gift from her, their two year anniversary present, she had called it.

"This crest is beautiful, it is a symbol of you power, but it has a magical essence as well. Not just the unlock spell, you will discover it's true purpose when you are ready. I can only hope you do not uncover it before you are ready." She had said.

Scourge had tried time and time again, but had never discovered it's powers. It seemed the bloody thing wasn't going to reveal itself until it was ready.

Scourge then realized that he had no idea who he had just slept with.

Scourge's eyes widened incredibly as he slowly turned his head to the side.

The pink bushy mane of the other side of the bed almost gave him a heart attack. If he had died at that exact moment, it would have been alright with him.

"Buck." He thought

"You bucking idiot." He scolded himself.

"You stupid-" Then an idea sprang to life in his mind.

If it hadn't been for the crest he wouldn't have known what he had done. Therefore, Pinkie probably wouldn't either. So, if he left without a trace, Pinkie would most likely assume that he had just stumbled home in the middle of the night.

"Yes, that could work." Scourge thought.

He slowly got out of bed, slipped his crest back on and muttered the locking spell as quietly as he could. After he took the first step he noticed how dizzy he was. It would be a miracle to make it down the stairs without falling and breaking his neck, or rousing Pinkie.

Fortunately, Celestia's light must have been shining on him, because he made it out the door and into the streets. As he limped/stumbled back to Carousel Boutique several ponies asked him if he was alright.

"Yes, I'm fine." He always replied.

Eventually, Scourge arrived at Rarity's place of work. He let out a sigh of relief as he slowly pushed through the front door.

Carrousel Boutique looked just as it always had, except for one key difference. A fancy couch now rested in the first room. Atop said couch sat a very angry looking Rarity.

"Oh, uh, hello Rarity." He said weakly.

"Wow Scourge, there must have been a lot of cake left." She said sarcastically.

Scourge wondered why she was staring at his neck until he realized that she was staring at his crest. He looked down at it to find that it was slightly crooked. Trust Rarity, the fashion designer, to notice these things. He quickly straightened it.

Rarity's eyes widened in realization. "You didn't!" She said.

"W-Well, f-funny story-" Scourge stammered

"YOU DID!" She screamed, before burying her head in the couch.

"Think fast!" Scourge's mind commanded him.

"She doesn't know!" He blurted.

Rarity lifted her head from the couch. "What?" She asked.

Scourge decided to work from there. "Yeah...Yeah, I mean, I can't remember a thing. So she probably can't either." He said.

"Are you sure?" Rarity asked doubtfully.

"Positive." Scourge replied with utmost certainty.

"Nopony else can know about this because-" Rarity started before the bell rang and Applejack entered.

"Know about what?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, nothing." Rarity replied, she was obviously very startled.

"Well, uh, alright then. ah'm lookin' fer a feller who goes by the name ah Scourge." She said.

"That would be me." Scourge replied. He really liked that accent.

"Well Scourge, ahm mighty sorry ah wasn't at yer welcome party last night." She said.

"Oh, that's no problem, really." Scourge consoled. She had such beautiful eyes.

"But ah wanted to invite y'all ta Sweet Apple Acres fer cider so that the Apples could get ta know ya!" Applejack said.

"Sure, why not." Scourge said. She looked very fit, it was obvious she did a lot of farm work.

"Great!"

"I'll be there after lunch." Scourge said.

"Our cider's the best in equestria!" She called as she left.

"Dont. Even. Think about it." Rarity  warned.

"How could you even suspect that I would do something like that?!" Scourge asked.

"What a beautiful mare." Scourge thought.

Sweet Apple Acres was on the edge of Ponyville. Scourge, not having wings, had to walk. It was a long road.

"At least I'll be able to see the sights." Scourge said to himself.

Besides the mountain, there really wasn't much to see. All of the building, except the shops, all looked the same. The ponies themselves weren't doing much except for the filly riding a scooter and a green unicorn sitting in the most awkward fashion.

He was admiring a mare balancing a cake on her head when something, or somepony, crashed into him. Scourge's hangover had almost subsided, but the blow he received seemed to revive it.

"Ouch, damit!" He swore.

"You okay mister?" Asked a slightly simple sounding voice.

All Scourge could manage was a groan, his head had hit the ground pretty hard.

"I just don't know what went wrong." The voice continued. Somepony held out a hoof. Scourge grasped it and it pulled him up with considerable strength.

He blinked and shook his head once more to help bring his now blurry vision back into focus. A gray pegasus with a shaggy blond mane stood before him. Her most distinguishing feature was her crossed eyes and from where Scourge was standing, her cutie mar appeared to be bubbles. Scourge had no idea why a mare would have bubbles for a cutie mark.

"You should watch where you're flying." Scourge growled.

"I'm Derpy Hooves, the local mailpony!" She said, ignoring the insult.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Scourge." He answered gruffly.

"Nice ta meet ya!"

"Hold on, I think I might have a package for you!" She said as she rooted through her mailbag, throwing out several letters, packages, and Scourge was pretty sure a couple muffins on the ground. She kept looking until she found a letter in a black envelope and handed it to him. Scourge opened it to find it was a letter, from Princess Luna herself!

It read: Dear Scourge,

I know you are in Ponyville although I don't exactly know why. I'm sure you have good reasons, but your services are needed in Canterlot. I need you to return to me as soon as possible. On a different note, I need detailed reports on the elementals, as you are the only one who has seen them.

Sincerely Princess Luna

Scourge's jaw dropped. He had expected to be fired for sure!

"You okay mister?" Derpy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.." Scourge answered, still dumbstruck.

"Okay. I should be on my way!" She said as she took off down the road, knocking several ponies to the ground as she went.

"Idiot." Scourge muttered as he continued walking.

Scourge now had questions and he hated things being kept from him. How did the Princess know he was in Ponyville? Why did she use the mail to send him the letter when she could have just teleported it to him. Why did she need information on the Elementals.

Questions. So many questions.

"Aw well, everything will be answered in due time." He told himself.

The rest of the walk to Applejack's farm was rather uneventful.

Sweet Apple Acres was nothing like the huge industrial plantations Scourge had seen in Canterlot. It was a nice, quiet place, although it had an impressive amount of apple trees.

He trotted up to the building he presumed to be the living quarters and knocked on the door.

"Come on in!" Applejack called.

Scourge opened the door and looked around. The living room wasn't too big, but it was very decorated. Medals, horseshoes, but most of all family photos covered the walls.

"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!" She said happily as she walked in.

"Take a seat!" She said as she sat down at a table with three glasses of what Scourge presumed to be Apple Cider sitting on it.

Scourge was about to sit down when a little yellow filly with red hair and a huge bow tugged at his tail.

"Can I help you?" Scourge asked, amused.

"What's your cutie mark mean?" She asked.

Scourge looked down at the three slashes that made up his presumed cutie mark.

Scourge sighed. "That's not a cutie mark." He said sadly.

She looked confused. "Then what is it?" She asked.

"It's a scar." He said sadly."When I was about your age, a stallion attacked me and my family. He clawed me with something, it left this scar. I never got a cutie mark."

Her eyes got misty."That's terrible." She squeaked.

"Alright Applebloom, that's enough." Applejack said as she pushed Applebloom out of the room.

She looked back at Scourge, who was now sitting down at the table. His glass was empty.

"Ah'm terribly sorry about her."  Applejack apologized.

"That's no problem." He said, masking his sorrow.

"I'll be right back." She said.

"Take you're time." He called. Then, against his will, his thoughts flew back to the past.

"C'mon!" His mother called.

"I'm Comin' mom!" He called back.

"What do you think my cutie mark will be mom?" He asked excitedly.

"I don't know. But I'm sure it will be very sp-"

"Hand over your purse and nopony gets hurt." Called the form that stepped out of the shadows.

"Get behind me." His mother ordered him.

Scourge disobeyed. "Leave us alone!" He shouted to the cloaked figure.

"You little twerp, get lost." The stranger said, unsheathing something that glinted in the moonlight.

"You're nothing. A loser!" Scourge called.

Then the stranger rushed foreword. Scourge felt three hot streaks across his flank.

He looked town and saw his blood on the sidewalk. He screamed in agony, then collapsed.

His mother rushed to him. "Scourge, please say something!" She whimpered, tears streaming down her face.

The stranger growled and he walked away, leaving his mother clutching him.

"Scourge, you alright?" Applejack's voice snapped him out of his flashback.

"Fine." Scourge said as he turned around. Applejack was standing beside a larger red stallion.

"Mac, is that you?" Scourge asked excitedly.

Big Macintosh broke out into a huge smile. "Eeyup." He replied.

Scourge rushed to Big Mac and gave him a hug. Then, they both started laughing uncontrollably.

"You-You're still wearing that thing around you're neck, eh Mac?" Scourge asked, his face still flushed with laughter.

"Eeyup!" Mac replied in his usual fashion.

By this time AJ's jaw was halfway to the earth's core.

"H-how do you know mah brother?" She asked, a little creeped out.

"Well, we went to w-" Scourge started, but he was cut off by Big Mac clamping a hoof over his mouth.

"S'cuse us." Big mac said as he carried Scourge to the next room.

"What?!" Scourge asked angrily.

Mac appeared to think for a second before saying "She doesn't know."

Scourge felt bad for Mac, his difficulties speaking were very frustrating.

"You mean she doesn't know-" Scourge leaned in closer."About the war." He whispered.

"Eeyup." Mac replied.

"Oh, sorry."

"Are you going to tell her?" Scourge asked.

Big Mac appeared to debate this for a few seconds before saying "Eeyup."

Big Macintosh was Scourge's best friend in Ponyville, so he felt relatively comfortable saying what he did next.

"First, I have to say that I think you sister is smokin' hot." Scourge said as he looked through the window at Applejack.

"I mean, damn!" He continued.

Big Mac snarled.

Scourge ignored him."She has to be at least a nine, probably a te-" He began, but before he could finish, Mac grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against a wall.

"Not that- Ack! I would be- hhff, Interested." He choked, his face turning red.

"That's what I thought." Big Mac said as he dropped Scourge.

Scourge rubbed his throat "She's not my type." He lied.

They walked back into the front room. Applejack took one look at Scourge, then looked down at the floor. It didn't take a genius to be able to tell that she was blushing furiously. She had obviously overheard most of Mac and Scourge's conversation.

"Uh, Applejack?" Scourge asked.

"Yeah?" She answered.

"There's something Mac and I should have told you a long time ago." Scourge said.

Applejack looked up, her blush receding, her eyes narrowed.

"You remember how Mac went away for a couple of months?" Scourge asked delicately.

"Yes?" She asked suspiciously.

Scourge proceeded to tell the story the he had told the other five, but with evaluations on what Mac had done. Mac himself didn't say much, he just encouraged the major ideas.

It took half an hour to tell the story. By the end of it, all of the cider was gone and Applejack was a much wiser pony.

The story would have gone quicker but Scourge had lost his place more than once. Not because he didn't remember the story. No, it was burned into his brain. He had lost himself in Applejack's beautiful green eyes. Each time this happened, Big Macintosh brought Scourge back down to earth by delivering a sharp kick to Scourge's thigh.

Big Macintosh didn't usually meddle in his sister's relationships, but this time he had a very good reason to be against it. Mac knew almost everything about Scourge, especially that he was very smooth with mares. It was a skill he had developed with female officers during the war. Mac also knew that Scourge's relationships never lasted very long. Another important fact was that they never ended well for the mare, and Scourge almost always came out unscathed. Rarity was the exception however, Mac didn't know this. He had always thought that Scourge broke off his relationship with Rarity when they first left.

To Big Mac, it seemed that mares ended up heartbroken after a relationship with Scourge. So he decided he would die before he let Scourge ruin his sister.

Mac also didn't know that Scourge had more or less developed a sympathetic side, thanks to Rarity and Princess Luna. Who had mostly weaned him of his marekilling ways. Mostly.

"Let's go fer a walk." Mac said to Scourge.

"Fine." Scourge answered. He wasn't stupid. He knew the red stallion was going to wring him out for his comments about Applejack.

"Okay, you know what? I am stupid. I am a huge freaking idiot." Scourge thought.

"We need to discuss some things." Scourge told Applejack.

"Sure thing! Nice meeting y'all." She called as they exited, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

The walk back was incredibly awkward. Both stallions just stared straight ahead until Scourge decided to break the silence.

"So I'm guessing that you don't want to talk about the weather. Right?" Scourge asked, a bit annoyed.

"Nnope." Big mac replied.

"This is about your sister isn't it?" Scourge asked.

"Eeyup."

Scourge stopped walking."Look. I know you think I'm this evil marekiller who just gets mares so that he can break them. But I've changed. Princess Luna herself helped me change." Scourge told the red stallion.

Big Mac pondered this for a few seconds before giving Scourge a look that said "How can I believe you?"

"Good question. Why don't ask Rare?" Scourge suggested.

"Good idea." Big mac said

"Can you promise me this? If you believe that I have changed, you'll give me my shot with Applejack and you won't interfere." Scourge said.

"We'll see" Big Mac replied.

"Great." Scourge thought. Now his best friend was just another obstacle in his life. And it was an obstacle that he was going to do everything in his power to go around, not over.

He said goodbye to Mac as he went inside Rarity's workplace.

"How did it go?" She asked, looking up from her sewing machine.

"It could've gone better. But Applejack's great." He said dreamily.

This comment earned him a hard stare. Scourge proceeded to look around and spotted five dresses sitting on mannequins.

"What're these for?" He asked.

"They're the dresses for the dance tonight and now they're... done!" She said triumphantly.

"Dance?" Scourge asked.

"Yes, a dance." Rarity replied.

"I think I'll stay back."

"Yes you will."

"Hey, do you have anything to drink? I need to wash the taste of cider from my mouth." He asked.

"There's wine in the cellar." she said.

"I hate wine." He scowled.

"I know." She smirked.

Scourge growled as he walked up the stairs to Rarity's design room. Once there, he grabbed a charcoal stick and some paper.

"I haven't drawn anything in a long time." He said. Drawing had been one of his hobbies when he was a colt.

At first he just doodled, but soon found himself drawing Elementals.

Just as he finished drawing a pony made out of nothing but fire he leaned in and examined it closely.

"Where are you and what do you want from me?" He asked the drawing. He knew these things weren't finished with him.

The mission wasn't over. Not yet.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's note: I am incredibly sorry for the long delay. You can blame: My parents for confiscating my laptop, my laziness, and my so called friends. I will promise you right now that you will never have to wait this long for a chapter again.