I open my eyes and survey the small chamber I slept in. With a groan and a few cracks from my stiff back I get up. Sleeping sitting down with your back against a stone wall isn't the best way to do it. Not that my usual 'mattress' is much better. Something's off though and I notice it right away. There's a smell, something I'm not used to. It smells like someone's cooking food and I have a feeling I know where it's coming from.

I make my way into the room where Twilight step, carefully peeking around the corner to see what's going on. Twilight's there. She's cooking eggs on some kind of portable grill thing. Which doesn't make sense because I don't own a portable grill thing. Nor were there any eggs here when I went to bed. I look behind Twilight, out one of the huge windows to see that the sun's high in the sky so it's already the afternoon, at the least. Damn it! I never sleep in this late.

I finally make my presence known. I clear my throat as I walk in and Twilight turns towards me with a cheery smile. "What the hell!?" I'm not yelling, but I'm close. "Where did this grill come from?"

"Oh, I woke up really early. You said Ponyville was a short walk to the North-East so I headed there and picked some food up. This thing too. I only got back about a half hour ago. I figured I could cook something for you, to thank you for yesterday."

Okay...That makes sense until I notice the large amount of bags behind Twilight. I narrow my eyes and look directly into hers. "So you're expecting me to believe a small girl like you carried this" I make a head gesture towards the new appliance "and all those bags with injured le-" I have to cut myself short because that's when I notice that whatever scrapes and bruises she had yesterday are gone. "What the hell!?" I repeat

Twilight stops her cooking and looks down at her feet with a sheepish expression before muttering out "I might be better with magic then I first let on..."

"Clearly." is the only reply I can think of. It's obvious from my tone that I'm not amused. I don't like being lied to. Makes it awfully hard to trust people. "I think you owe me an explanation."

"Can we eat first? The eggs are almost done..." She looks like she feels bad about this whole thing, so I grant her this one favour.

"Fine."

She separated the eggs onto two plastic plates and handed one to me along with a fork. Save for the sounds of chewing and swallowing we ate in silence and barely even glanced at each other. It was actually nice to get some kind of hot food in me. I'm used to stocking up on foods that don't really expire, or things I intend to eat right away. Eggs never make the list.

When we finished we tossed our plates aside and stood there in silence a little while longer. I stared at Twilight, waiting for her to finally explain herself. She stared right back and swallowed. I could tell she's nervous. The way she's fidgeting with her fingers, and the foot tapping were dead give-aways.

Finally I can't stand the silence any more. "Some time today, would be nice."

"Right, sorry." She takes a deep breath. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm Princess Celestia's student."

I raised an eyebrow. "Princess Celestia's student? I know I live in the middle of nowhere but I have a feeling even I would've heard if something like that had happened."

"It would be impossible for you to have learned about it." Her fists tighten and turn white.

"How convenient." I reply sarcastically. "Why is that?"

"Because it hasn't happened yet." she immediately turns away and looks down at the ground.

I consider everything she's just said and form what I think is an appropriate response.

"I'm sorry, what?"

She sighed and wouldn't even lift her head to look at me. If she's implying what I think she is then she must think I'm really stupid.

"It hasn't happened yet. I'm from the future."

For at least a couple seconds I don't know what to say. So I don't say anything as I try and make sense of all this. I mean, you tell a guy you're from the future you gotta at least give him a couple minutes to recover. In all fairness she does. She just sits there and watches me, waiting for my reaction.

For some reason there's only one thing that I can think of. Way back in the day when I was still a part of civilization my classmates played a very mean practical joke on me. They were all in on it and everyone had a good laugh once it was all over. Except me of course but whatever. As the details come rushing back to me my eyes narrow because this has got to be something like that. Some kind of practical joke and I refuse to be made fun of.

"You have to go." My voice is harsh, commanding. I'm not looking for her to question me. This obviously isn't the answer she was looking for though because she stands up with, just, this complete look of shock on her face.

"What!?" she yells at me, dumbfounded.

"You heard me. This game of yours is over. I'm going to escort you to Ponyville and then you can head out on your own." I stand up, getting ready to leave. I fully expect her to follow me.

"No, they'll kill me!" she's yelling again.

I roll my eyes before responding. "Yeah, right. They're probably in on this joke too."

She whines desperately. She must be really invested in this joke.

"Sora, please..."

I freeze. She sounds so desperate, so needy. As if she really needs my help. What makes me hesitate most of all is that she knows my name. I know for a fact that I never told her and I decide right there this joke has gone too far.

"We're leaving."

**

Nothing ever goes right for me. This entire trip Twilight's been trying to convince me that she is, in fact, from the future. The problem is with each thing she says I believe it more and more.

"I came back for you, Sora." Again she's screaming. Gettin' really sick of all the yelling.

I spun around instantly. "Oh, now I know you're lying! I don't know anyone who would want to come back to help me. Besides, what do I need help with?"

"The future is a very different place, Sora. Every- Watch out!" She cries out at the end and I'm confused.

Then I feel the hit. It's hard enough to send me tumbling to the ground. I'm so disoriented I don't know which way is up anymore. When I finally finish rolling it only takes me a few seconds to regain my senses and I jump to my feet. It's one of those clowns who attacked Twilight yesterday. In the few seconds I've been on the ground he's been busy trying to drag Twilight away. She's smacking him with her tiny fist over and over again with no success. I wonder why she doesn't use magic but I don't really have time to worry about it. All I can see is that she needs help. Again. So being the good Samaritan that I am I rush forward with the full intention to help.

Using all my strength, which is quite a bit, I bash my shoulder into the side of the guy. The force send shim tumbling backwards this time but he gets up almost right away. It doesn't make sense. That should have knocked him out cold. I turn the Twilight who's standing there beside me glaring towards her assailant. She doesn't seem like the type to be scared so I don't see why she panics every time he gets near her.

The guy got up but he's just standing there, he's not rushing me and I don't understand why.

"He won't hurt you. They're under strict orders not to harm you. It could severely mess things up for the future ruler of Equestria."

I frown and look over my shoulder towards her. "What the hell does any of that have to do with me?"

Twilight squeaks and I instinctively know that the guy rushed me again. He sent his fist towards me but I ducked under it; dodging a couple more blows afterwards before finally landing one of my own. An uppercut right to his jaw which actually lifts him off the ground. He lands on his back with a loud exhale and I sigh in relief. No one could get up after a punch like that.

Apparently I'm getting weaker or something because he does get up. "He's like you!" Twilight calls out and finally it makes sense. It's too bad. I thought I'd be happy knowing that there were others like me out there. I don't know why we're different or what we're called but...I kind of always hoped that if there were others like me they weren't complete scumbags. That's just another thing that'll have to be thought about later.

Normal people are easy to deal with. One hard blow from me and they're literally dealt with. Someone who can take the abuse though? Well, I've never been in an actual fight. Luckily we're going to be even, I think. If he can't kill me that means the most he can do is incapacitate me. Which means he has to be careful.

Without any warning I rush forward directly into him. I place my forearm over his throat and keep on running, pinning him to a tree with enough force to crack it. Then I do what comes instinctively. I start wailing on him punching every part of him I can reach. He's trying to block with his arms to no avail. I think I'm doing well until he lifts his knee and slams it into my stomach, hard. I stumble back, I'm winded. He clenches both his hands together and brings them down over my head and I hit the ground, my vision going blurry. I must pass out for a few seconds because next thing I know I hear Twilight scream.

Why is he so much stronger than me? I don't understand...If he's the same at me I should have at least had a chance. Instead I got my ass handed to me. She screams again and it gets a reaction out of me damn it. I care about what happens to that stupid girl. Despite her wild story, which doesn't seem that wild anymore, she's one of the only people to have ever treated me normally. I quickly scan the ground and pick up a thick branch, stepping on it to break in in the middle. I flip it in my hands an clutch it tightly before taking a running start towards the behemoth. I'm not even thinking about what I do next. I jump and send the stick through the back of our assailant's skull. Trust me, he felt that one. The blood sprays back and gets all over me. It's disgusting actually. The attacker falls to his knees, then the ground. Everything is silent except for the sickening sound of the blood dripping from the man's skull.

Twilight's looking at me in complete disbelief and horror. I'm looking down at my hands, not even paying attention to Twilight, which are soaked in blood. I feel uneasy for a few moments and then unable to contain myself I puke.

I then feel Twilight's arm around me. She's talking but I can barely hear her but it sounds like she's saying things are going to be okay.

Celestia, I hope she's right.

**

Back at the ruins I finally got most, if not all, of the blood off of me. I smell disgusting and I don't know how Twilight can even stand to be beside me. I always thought killing someone would be easy, especially after the hell I've endured. Instead I feel terrible. I took someone's life and who am I to decide who lives and who dies? Then, of course, I remember that he was trying to abduct Twilight and gave me quite a beating and a little bit of the guilt subsides. Only a little though.

I haven't spoken a word to Twilight since I got all stab-happy back in the forest and she hasn't said anything either. She must think I've gone crazy or something. Or maybe she's just worried I'll stab her through the head too. Not like the thought hasn't crossed my mind in the last twenty-four hours. I'm sick of the silence though so I feel the need to say something.

"So, the future has more people like me, huh?" I'm surprised at how weak I sound but I let it go for now.

Twilight's surprised, she must not have been expecting me to be ready to talk quite yet. "Uh, yeah." she replies quickly "There's people like you everywhere. Unfortunately that's not a good thing." her voice turns bitter at the end.

"Tell me about it." It's a request. I don't even know if she'll be able to grant it. Maybe telling me will alter the future. I don't know how time travel works.

"A few years from now someone like you is going to start an organization for people like you. It was innocent, at first. It was a place for people like you to feel accepted. Eventually society came to accept you as well. It was nice, you 'advanced' people didn't have to live in fear anymore."

Even I smiled at that thought. Only a little though. Then I let Twilight continue.

"Not everyone was okay with this though. Most of it was just fear. After all, you guys were superior to us in almost every way so it was only a matter of time before somebody did something crazy. Unfortunately that person was a member of the Royal Guard. He murdered one of you. That made Princess Celestia look guilty and the leader of the Chimera, as you chose to call yourselves, wouldn't stand for it. He started spewing things, saying that if it were a normal person the culprit would have been dealt with." Twilight took a breath and sighed. "Then all hell broke lose and it became an all out war. You guys took over and now the future is ruled by people like you. The leader declared himself king of Equestria and he rules harshly. Chimera are treated well, unfortunately normal folk aren't."

"That must mean there were a lot of us then?" I asked, my curiosity peaked despite the depressing story.

"Thousands." Twilight's answer stunned me. Thousands of people like me! That's crazy.

"Where do I fit into all this, why come back for me? Why don't you just go stop the Royal Guard from murdering whoever he killed. Or why didn't you go back and stop us from forming as a collective?"

"Because...You're my best friend." She whispered this last part out.

For a second I actually thought this was a joke again. I have a best friend? She knows what I am and accepts me? A friend who went back in time for the sole purpose of saving me? That's a lot to handle for someone who thought they would always be alone. Is this why I feel such an odd connection to Twilight? Is it even possible for a bond to cross time? I don't think so because that sounds pretty hokey. I then realize throughout all my thinking I haven't responded to what Twilight has said. She's waiting, watching me expectantly.

"I see." it's lame but it's all I can think of to say. What can I say? I just met my best friend who I haven't even met yet. "Am I a murderer in the future too?" I don't know where that came from...The words just came to me.

Twilight's eyes widened and she came over to me. She put a hand on my shoulder and rubbed comfortingly. "No." She whispered, as thought I might break. "No, you're not a monster...But you were killed by one. I don't want to have to see that happen again. That's why I'm here. I'm going to help you, Sora."

I believe her. I believe what she's saying, as crazy as it sounds. Still in my state of disbelief I ask something stupid. "How'd you get me to tell you my name?"

"Believe it or not I guessed it. My nickname for you turned out to be your real name." She smiled fondly, probably at a memory.

"How'd you come up with the nickname?" I asked.

"The color of your eyes, silly." She giggled softly.

It made sense. My eyes had always been such a unique shade of blue. Kind of like the ocean. One of the few things I liked about myself.

I sighed and let everything I had learned wash over me.

Author's Note

Here it is, folks! Chapter 2! At least we have a name now. I know it's not a stereotypical name but I like the name Sora. It's a nice name and anyone who disagrees can bite me! Nah, I'm just kidding I respect your opinion. Hopefully you enjoyed this, and hopefully more will be on the way soon.

Here's hoping that everyone is having a lovely day.

~Kaii