Fire was everywhere I looked. Ponyville was burning and the blades of grass and the trees were as black as coal. I was running down the street trying to look away from the body parts and blood that littered the streets, it looked a lot like Armageddon had arrived. I continued to run down the street to Twilight's house, but as I arrived I noticed the Library was burning as well. In front of the tree which used to be the library, were seven corpses, each one belonging to my friends; Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike and Twilight. I looked at the corpses with pain and horror and I heard a noise come from the Library. I looked at the burning remains to see something walk out of the flames, it was another human but this one wore the same clothes as I did and wore the hood over his head, his left hand was ablaze with fire, and his right arm was covered in sickly green splotches that made him look ill. He looked bony, like he hadn't eaten anything for a while. I stood there frozen in place, then he extended the skeletal wings attached to his back and he lifted his right arm and pulled the hood off his head. I watched as the hood fell from the creature's head allowing me to see his face. I stared at him in horror as he looked exactly like me except, the right side of his face showed his skull ablaze with fire and blood leaked from his right eye, his teeth where sharp, long and serrated.

"No, it can't be! I was rid of you! how are you here?!" I shouted at the creature. It didn't respond, but walked toward me. I walked backward staring at it, "Why do you have to constantly destroy everything I care about? These ponies haven't done anything to you. Why did you do this?" I shouted at him again, but again the creature didn't answer. "What do you want?" This got a reaction out of him, he was an inch in front of me, in an instant I recoiled in surprise and landed on my back. My double stood above me and I stared into his eyes filled with murder and fury. He grabbed my shirt with his left hand and as soon as he grabbed the front of my shirt he lifted me off the ground. He held me above him and summoned a dagger out of thin air and brought me close to his face.

"Blood," he whispered, as he split my face with the dagger.

I woke up panting, cold sweat dripped from my body and drenched my new blue summer pyjamas. I sat upright and looked at my surroundings I was in my room in Twilight's house. I looked at the nest sitting on the window still, the one that Rarity helped me build for Dust. I could see the black bird still asleep, I breathed out a sigh of relief and placed my head back on the pillows.

" It was only a dream but why did he have to show up ," I thought.

All of a sudden a bright light appeared in the centre of the room. I looked away from the light and held up my hand, the light began to dim. When I turned to the source of the light to see Princess Luna, I got out of bed and kneeled to the Princess of the night.

"Please rise sir Ash Blade," Luna said formally

"Your majesty, it is a pleasure to see you again. But why are you here?" I asked as I stood.

"Thou nightmare," she said in a sad tone.

"Wait, you saw that? How?" I asked.

"We forgot to mention that we guard other ponies dreams from nightmares. But when we saw thou dream, we tried to rid you of thee nightmare. However, it felt alive and we want to know what thou meant when thou said you met the creature in your dream before. When was it?" Luna asked.

"He first appeared when I was ready to take the life of the man who killed my family. He wanted blood and revenge and he has been there ever since. One day he just stopped. But now he's back, he's the voice that hides in the darkness of my head, he keeps whispering thoughts and feelings when something happens. He is 13 years of pain, hate and anger that have been bottled up inside me," I said.

"Just like Nightmare Moon," Luna said looking at the floor.

"I guess so, only he is my double," I replied.

We stood there in silence looking at the floor for a couple of minutes.

"Um Princess, if I may ask, why do you speak with we instead of I? Are you referring to both you and Nightmare Moon? Because if you are, you don't need to because the elements destroyed her right?" I said.

"We thank thee for thou concern, but Nightmare Moon still lives. The elements can't kill anypony or anything, but we don't feel her anymore. We can only hope she is banished someplace where she won't harm anyone again. As for our way of speaking, it has always been tradition to speak using the royal we," Luna said.

"I see, I just thought I might ask because some ponies might find it a bit strange if you speak in the old language because I have never herd Celestia speak like that, that's all," I said.

"Yes, we have noticed that Celestia speech is rather different. We are curious about this new style of speaking. Perhaps thou could teach us?" Luna asked.

"Well I'm not really a teacher for that sorry, but I'm sure there are others that could help you. Also, right now is not really the time because I think I should be in bed," I said rubbing the back of my head.

"We understand. We apologize for keeping thee from thou slumber, but we shall ask sister if she can help us with our speech," Luna said.

"Don't worry about it Princess and I wish you good luck in your speech lessons," I said.

"Goodnight Ash Blade. Thank thee for thou concern for us" Luna said kissing my cheek.

"N...No problem your highness, sleep well," I said as I felt my cheeks heat up as Luna disappeared in a flash of light.

I looked at the spot where Luna stood, I placed a hand on my still burning cheeks and touched the spot where Luna kissed me. I smiled before I climbed back into bed to sleep.

Twilight finished her breakfast when Spike walked in with bags under his eyes

"Morning Twi," Spike said letting out a yawn

"Morning Sleepy, stayed up too late again, huh?" Twilight asked.

"No, its Ash, I heard a lot of movement last night coming from his room," Spike said rubbing his eyes.

"I'll check on him. You take the day off and get some rest," Twilight said placing her dishes in the sink.

"Thanks Twilight," Spike said walking upstairs to his room to rest.

"Now to find out what's going on with Ash," Twilight said.

She walked upstairs to my room and knocked on the door, but like last time there was no answer. She opened the door and looked inside to see if I was asleep but to her surprise the bed was abandoned and the window was open, Dust was gone as well. She looked at the desk and found a brown book which was open with a pencil and eraser next to it. She walked over to the desk and looked at the page of the opened book. It was a picture of an 12th century ship beautifully drawn.

Twilight was too stunned by the picture to see the bathroom door open.

"Twilight what are you doing in here?" I asked.

Twilight almost jumped out of her fur when she heard my voice and spun around to look at me. When she did, she blushed and gasped in shock. I looked at what she was staring at and saw she was staring at my exposed torso completely littered with scars. Luckily I was wearing blue jeans, I looked back at Twilight and rolled my eyes.

"See something you like?" I said placing my hands on my hips.

Twilight's face got as red as Big Macintosh's, she ran out of the room without a word and slammed the door behind her. I smiled and looked at my sketchbook closing it before I went over to the closet and picked out a leaf green shirt, I quickly placed it on and some white socks and my shoes and with that I opened the door. I walked down the stairs to the kitchen and served myself up some cornflakes, then Twilight walked in her face had a few water droplets on it.

" she must of splashed some water on her face to stop the blushing ," I thought.

"Sorry about that," Twilight said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. What did you think of the drawing I drew yesterday?" I asked.

"I...I have no idea what you’re talking about," Twilight stuttered

"Twi you can hide a lie as well as Applejack and I know you can't resist looking at an opened book. Come on spill," I said.

"*sigh*" Alright, you caught me. That picture is by far the most well-crafted drawing I have ever seen. How did you learn to draw like that," Twilight asked.

"A lot and a lot of practice," I replied.

"What is the drawing of?" Twilight asked.

"A 12th century sailing ship. I'll tell you more about them if I find a book about them," I said.

"Alright, and Ash?" Twilight said.

"Yeah Twi," I said.

"Why were you making all that noise last night? It kept Spike up," Twilight asked.

"Oh sorry, bad dream that's all," I said looking at my almost empty bowl.

"About what?" Twilight asked.

"I think its best you don't know because of two things. First, it's kind of personal info that I don't like to share and second, it will give you nightmares for a month," I said as I took my bowl over to the sink to wash it.

"Alright, I won’t pry about that, but what about the scars on your chest?" Twilight asked.

"13 years of fighting for survival in a large city," I said as I placed a hand on my chest.

"I see. I was going to meet the girls today at sugar cube corner want to come?" Twilight asked standing at the doorway that leads to the library.

"I was actually planning on going for a walk around Ponyville," I said.

"Well have fun," Twilight said as she walked out of the now repaired front door.

Twilight walked through Ponyville towards sugar cube corner. As she stepped inside she saw the other 5 girls sitting in a booth waving her over.

"Hi girls," Twilight said as she sat at the table with the others.

"Howdy Twi, how've ya been?" Applejack asked.

"Good thanks, but Spike and Ash didn't sleep well last night," Twilight said.

"Why hasn't Spikey Wikey and Ash slept well?" Rarity asked.

"Spike couldn't sleep because Ash was moving around too much. Ash said he was restless because of a nightmare," Twilight said.

"He had a nightmare? What about?" Pinkie asked.

"He said it's personal and it would give me nightmares for a month if he told me," Twilight said.

"Pfft, can't be that bad," Rainbow Dash said waving her hand dismissively.

"I don't know Rainbow, he had a bit of fear in his eyes when I asked about it. I wonder if it has something to do with the scars on his chest?" Twilight said.

"Wait, his chest? You caught him without his top on. How did he look?" Rarity said with a mischievous smile.

"And what's this about scars on him, like how many?" Rainbow asked.

"Well he actually caught me looking at his sketch book in his room, when I went to wake him up and ask about the noise during the night. His entire chest was covered in scars big and small and burn marks from when he lost his arm. The scars from the fire covered part of his neck and side of his chest.

Rainbow was startled by the news and could just imagine the scars that covered Ash's body.

"But his build was something else, it looked like his muscles where as big as Mac himself," Twilight said causing the girls to look at Twilight in surprise. Most of them had red face's while Applejack was very surprised by the news. It took Mac years of apple bucking and hauling apples to get that fit.

"Well next time I see him I want to find out what that nightmare is all about," Rainbow said with determination.

"Agreed, I want to find out about that dream of his as well," Twilight said.

"Twilight darling, you said you were looking at his sketch book, correct? Did he draw anything by any chance?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah he drew a picture of something called a sailing ship, it was beautiful. It had to be one of the best drawing's I have ever seen. After we're done today why don't we ask Ash if he can show us?" Twilight suggested.

"It appears that Ash Blade is just full of surprises. He is as fit as Big Macintosh, he is an amazing artist, his arm can play music an...," Rarity was cut off by Twilight as she grabbed Rarity's shoulders.

"His arm can do what?" Twilight asked.

"It can play music, didn't I tell you?" Rarity asked.

"How'd you find that out Rarity?" Pinkie asked.

"He had some device in his arm called an IPod that plays music. It was a gift from the family for saving their son from the fire. I saw him use it when he was waiting for his new clothes in Canterlot," Rarity said

"Humans are incredible! How they can make such things is amazing! I have got to get a better look at his arm and the books he keeps on getting from Princess Celestia," Twilight said, as she released Rarity's shoulders and summoned a notepad and quill to take notes about Ash.

"Say where Ash is anyway?" Rainbow asked.

"He said he was going to take a walk around Ponyville," Twilight said

I was walking through Ponyville calmly enjoying the sunshine. I received a few waves from some ponies and others a bit of a look of fear with a bit of disgust, others ignored me and I was okay with it. I walked along the dirt road and came to what looked like a school. I saw children playing on the play equipment and with some toys. Watching the kids run around and play brought a smile to my face. I watched the kids for a while, then I saw a white and brown colt with a dark brown mane and tail wearing kaki pants and a blue shirt. He walked towards the tree and grabbed hold of it, he started to climb, but fell onto his back.

"Are you alright?" I asked, as I walked up to the colt.

"Hey! You’re the guy that got knighted last week right?" the colt asked in a British accent.

"Yep that's me, my name's Ash Blade, what about you?" I asked.

"Pipsqueak at your service Ash blade," he said proudly.

"If I may ask, why were you trying to climb this tree?" I asked.

"My kite got caught in the branches and I'm trying to get it down," Pip said.

"I'll get it. I don't want to get hurt if you fall," I said

"ASH BLADE!"

I turned around to see three small fillies run up to me.

"Well if it ain't the cutie mark crusaders. Got your cutie marks yet?" I asked looking at the smiling girls.

"Not yet, but we ain't given up!" Scootaloo said.

"So why are you here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I'm about to get Pip's kite out of the tree, care to watch?" I asked.

My response was met with smiles and nods from all three fillies. I turned towards the tree and grabbed a hold of a low thick branch and pulled myself up ward with ease. I climbed around inside the tree and found the kite, it was shaped like a dragon. I gently removed the kite from the branches, and I looked down to see the cutie mark crusaders and Pipsqueak talking with two other fillies one wore a tiara and wore a yellow jacket with a black top and white skirt. The other wore a pair of glasses and a purple top and pink dress. I climbed down the tree so I could listen to the conversation.

"What do you guys want?" Scootaloo asked glaring at the two fillies

"Nothing. What are you blank flanks doing, trying to get your cutie marks by tree watching? That is so lame," the one with the tiara said.

"Actually, we're waiting for a friend of ours to get Pip's kite out of the tree," Sweetie Belle said.

"Oh and who is this friend of yours? Another blank flank like you four? If so, that pony must be lame," the pony with the glasses said.

"He actually isn't a pony at all," Apple Bloom said.

"Then he must be a freak," the pony with the glasses said.

"Hey leave him alone. Ash Blade has more heart than the two of you put together," Pipsqueak said in anger.

"Ash Blade, the sixth knight of Equestria? Please! Why would someone so important hang out with a no good blank flank orphan like you?" the tiara wearing pony said.

Pipsqueak started to cry as the cutie mark crusaders comforted him. I watch the entire situation in the tree and when I heard the words, "no good blank flank orphan," my anger skyrocketed. I jumped out of the tree and landed in between the cutie mark crusaders ,Pip and the two ponies. I looked at the two fillies in anger and anypony could see they were scared out of their mind.

"Beat it," I said in a dark tone.

The two fillies nodded franticly before they ran off leaving a cloud of dust in their shape where they once stood. I turned back to the four foals behind me, they stared at me in awe.

"You are so cool, like Rainbow Dash cool," Scootaloo said with a large smile.

"Yeah, you jumped out of that tree and scared off both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, just by glaring at them," Sweetie Belle said.

"Pfft, I've jumped from higher places than a tree," I said.

"Really? Where?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I fell from Canterlot Waterfall," I said.

"CANTERLOT WATERFALL!" all four yelled in surprise.

"Whoa! Not even Rainbow would do that!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Yeah, but where did you learn to climb like that?" Pipsqueak asked.

"I trained for a very long time until I could climb buildings and cliffs and do tricks as well. We call this technique parkor"

"Parkor?" they said in union.

"Can you show us some parkor?" Apple Bloom asked.

All of a sudden the bell rang and the filly's and colts started to go back inside.

"Maybe some other time you guys. If those two cause trouble again, let me know ok?" I said.

We said our goodbyes and I handed Pip back his kite and we went our separate ways. I walked back into Ponyville and decided to listen to some tunes. I scrolled through my list of songs until I found something to listen to. I placed the ear phones in my ears and hit play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKOlBZJ7Izs

I bounced my head in time with the beat, as I turned a corner I ran into a white fur mare with two toned electric blue mane and tail. She had white fur and a horn, she wore a white jacket with a musical note on the right pocket, purple pants and shades that hid her eyes and light blue fingerless gloves that reached her elbows.

"Sorry about that, I should have been paying more attention to where I was going," I said as I picked myself up and reached out to help out the mare.

"No trouble," the mare said as she accepted my hand so I could pull her up.

I took my earphones out of my ears and placed them back in my arm slot and hit the pause button on my IPod. The mare looked at my arm in wonder and confusion.

"What where those and that thing in your arm," she asked.

"Just my earphones and IPod. I use them so I can listen to music on the go" I said.

"No bucking way!" she said as she grabbed my metal arm and looked at every inch of it "This is so awesome! I have been trying to find out how do something like this for like, ever!" she said as she glided her hand over the IPod screen

"VINYL!"

I looked around for the source of the noise to see a familiar grey furred and raven black mane and tail mare. She wore a dark grey skirt with a lavender treble clef on it and a white button up shirt and matching grey vest with the pink bow on the collar.

"What do you think you’re doing just grabbing somepony by the arm like that," the grey mare scowled at the white mare.

"Tavi, you have to see this device in this guy’s arm. It can play music on the go, it's incredible!" the white mare said.

"That does sound amazing. But you are being incredibly rude to the gentlestallion here," the grey mare said.

She grabbed the white mare’s tail and pulled her away from me.

"I'm sorry about my marefriend, she can be like that when she discovers something new about music," the grey mare said.

"It's no trouble. By the way, didn't we meet at the Gala?" I asked.

"That night wasn't my best I'm afraid. My career was ruined by a pink hyperactive pony asking me to play the pony pokey," she said glumly.

I face palmed and dragged my hand downward “Pinkie what did you do?” I muttered under my breath.

"Pardon me, what did you say?" the grey mare asked.

"I know the pink mare you are talking about. I'm sorry she messed up your career," I said.

"I see. Well it’s not your fault and actually I'm happy. I don't need to play for anymore nobles, they were always criticizing my work," she said with a smile.

"I'm happy to hear that miss uh..." I said, lost for her name.

"Oh how rude of me. My name is Octavia Melody and the white unicorn here is Vinyl Scratch," she said gesturing to herself and her marefreind.

"Sup?" Vinyl said.

"Nice to meet you Vinyl and it’s nice to finally get your name at last Miss Octavia. We never got to introduce ourselves after I saved your cello from getting crushed from that stampede," I said smiling.

"That was you? You’re the wolf that saved my precious cello?" she asked in shock.

"Yep that was me, name's Ash Blade, but just call me Ash for short," I said as I extended my hand to Octavia for her to shake.

"Wait, Ash Blade as in The Ash Blade? The one who took on both Nightmare Moon and Discord and was knighted with the title knight of freedom? The only human seen In a thousand years," Vinyl asked gobsmacked.

"Took you long enough to figure out I'm human," I said with a smirk.

"Whoa dude! My mind is completely blown!" Vinyl said making gestures with her hands of her mind exploding.

I chuckled at the action before I turned my head to the sun to see its position.

"Well it was fun meeting you both, but I must be on my way, so take care," I said as I walked around them and continued down the road.

"Hey, if you can stop by our music store in town I would like to listen to some music you humans play," Vinyl called after me.

"Will do," I yelled as I waved back towards them as I continued down the street.

I continued to walk down the street until I walked into the market area. I could hear a banging noise coming from somewhere nearby, I decided to investigate the sound. I changed my direction and walked toward the sound & continued to follow until I saw a forge. Curious, I went inside and saw a tan earth pony with a chestnut brown mane and tail. He wore a brown shirt with a red vest with three blue horseshoes and blue jeans and a brown apron to protect his clothing from sparks. He was hammering at a piece of metal. I walked closer into view to see what he was creating. It was a sword, suddenly the sword broke in half.

"Damn it!" the stallion cried as he threw the sword into a scrap pile with other broken blades. He then walked over to his desk sat on the stool and buried his face in his hands.

"Everything alright pal?" I asked.

"No, I have an order of swords for the royal guards to fill by end of the day because the Canterlot blacksmith has closed. Yet I can't even make one!" he yelled as he dropped his head on the table.

I looked at the broken sword and walked over to it. I picked it up and tapped my hand against the blade which caused the blade to let out a dull ring.

"It would help if you used a stronger metal than this stuff," I said.

"What do you mean?" the stallion asked.

"Well the metal you’re using is far too weak for a blade. If you went to slice somepony with this thing it will break on contact," I said as I broke the blade further with ease.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? I normally use that metal to either create horseshoe's or jewellery but it still won't matter, I need to make 20 swords by the end of today, there’s not enough time," he said.

"Hey, maybe I can help you. I know how to operate a forge from both reading and experience," I said.

"That would be very kind of you. My name's Caramel," he said smiling.

"Ash Blade," I said.

"Ash Blade you’re the human that was knighted a week ago, right?" he said.

"That's me. Now let’s get to it shall we? First thing's first, do you have an extra set of tools, an apron to protect myself and stronger metal than that stuff?" I asked.

"All in the back," Caramel said pointing to a wooden door.

I walked inside and found everything I needed. The apron was hanging on a coat rack, the tools where wrapped in a cloth and the metal sat in a pile of neatly stacked ingots. I put on the protective apron and picked up the tools and loaded some ingots into a trolley and pulled it into the forge.

"Right, let’s get started," I said as I placed down the tools.

Time went by quickly as we worked. Caramel and I made a great team. I finished sharpening the last sword and placed it on the sword rack and looked at the clock, it read 2:00 in the afternoon. I looked at an exhausted Caramel and smiled.

"Hey thanks, I thought we weren't going to make it," he panted.

"No trouble Caramel. So when are you supposed to deliver these?" I asked.

A chariot will come down to pick these up, so don't worry about it" Caramel said.

And at that moment, a gold wagon landed outside and the two Pegasus guards pulling it walked in.

"Mr Caramel, were here for the blades we ordered," one of the guards said.

"Of course, there right over here," Caramel said walking over to the rack with the blades, with me standing beside it.

"Sir Ash Blade we weren't aware you were here sir," the other guard said as he noticed me causing both of them to salute to me.

"At ease boys, I was just helping Caramel with his order," I said as both stallions lowered their hands.

One of the guards walked over to the rack and examined one of the blades he swung it a few times to test it before he smiled.

"This weapon has to be one of the best I have ever seen and held, you certainly have a talent for this," the guard said as he looked at Caramel.

"Thanks, but it was Ash Blade who forged that one and helped me complete the order on time," Caramel said gesturing to me.

"Well either way, these swords are the best built so far, I will have to show Princess Celestia this craftsmanship and see if we can see about a new shipment of both weapons and armour from you," the guard said.

"Here let me help you both get these on the chariot," I said.

"Oh don't trouble yourself, we can manage," the other guard said.

"I insist," I said as I grabbed a couple of blades and carried them towards the wagon.

We finished stacking the blades and the guards handed Caramel a large brown bag and said farewell.

Caramel walked back inside and poured the contents of the bag onto the table to reveal gold coins. He counted out the coins and divided them into two piles. He placed one pile into a different bag and the other into the one it was previously in.

"For your help," Caramel said handing the bag to me.

"No I couldn't do that," I said holding up my hands in protest.

"Ash I would never have been able to do this without you. Plus, I could use a guy with your talents around here if you like, I can give you a job here," Caramel said grabbing my hand placing the bag of coins in it.

I placed a hand on my chin and thought about the offer.

"Sounds like a plan, I don't have a job here yet so I accept your offer," I said.

"Great, I'll swing by your place to let you know if I need your help with an orders. Where do you live anyway?" Caramel asked.

"I'm staying at Twilights library until a place for me can be built," I said.

"Great. Oh and if you can stop by the bucking bronco later today at 3, there are some friend's I'd like you to meet," Caramel said.

"Sounds like fun, I'll see if I can make it. You don't mind if I bring some friends of mine as well do you?" I asked.

"Heck no," Caramel said.

"Great see you later," I said as I exited the forge.

"I continued through the market place and looked up at the cloudless sky. All of a sudden, I was tackled from behind and landed face first in the dirt. At first I thought I was being attacked. But when I looked at the pony who tackled me I saw Rainbow Dash.

"Dash what are you doing?" I asked pushing the cyan blue Pegasus off of me.

"Oops sorry Ash. I was trying out a new trick but lost control," Rainbow said with a small sheepish smile.

"You’re lucky I'm made of stronger stuff. But if you hit anyone else or an object, you could severely injured somepony," I said as I picked myself up and dusted myself off.

"Are you ok Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked, walking over followed by Twilight and Pinkie Pie.

"I'm fine, I actually managed to land into Ash," Rainbow said gesturing to me.

"What are you all up to?" I asked.

"Looking for you," Pinkie said bouncing around me in a circle.

"Why me and, where is Applejack and Rarity?" I asked.

"Their picking up their sisters and Scootaloo for me. Um Ash, I was wondering about this nightmare you had last night," Rainbow said.

When Rainbow said nightmare last night, I shot Twilight a glare that could frighten off a hydra.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. If you want my advice you won't pry deeper into the matter, am I clear?" I asked in a cold tone.

"G...got it," Rainbow said shuddering.

"Howdy ya'll!"

I turned my attention to the orange farmer and white fashionista and waved them over. Behind them where the cutie mark crusaders and Pipsqueak.

"Hi you lot," I said hiding my previous anger as best as I could.

"Hello darling," Rarity said.

"Hi Ash, thanks for sticking up for us today against those two bullies," Pip said smiling at me.

This got everypony's attention and they all looked at me.

"Bullies? Was it Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon again?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah, but Ash was there. He jumped out of a tree after he got Pip's kite, and boy did he scare both of them off good," Apple Bloom said smiling at me.

"You didn't hurt them did you Ash?" Fluttershy asked hiding behind her mane.

"Of course not Fluttershy, I never harm kids," I said in a calming tone.

"Hey Ash, can you show us some of that parkor you were talking about earlier?" Scootaloo asked with excitement.

"Parkor?" the main six said in union as they looked at me.

"Sure you guys are going to like this," I said.

I looked at the surrounding buildings until I saw a pair of two storey houses standing side by side of each other, with a large gap between both of them. I smiled, then turned my attention back to the group.

"You guys see those two building's over there?" I said pointing to the buildings in question "I bet I could ninja jump to the top of one of them in 8 seconds flat."

"What's a ninja jump?" Rainbow looked at me confused.

"Watch and learn RD," I said before I ran at the buildings and started counting.

I jumped onto the first wall and kicked off it and onto the next wall and continued my way upward until I did a backflip and landed on the roof as soon as I counted to 8 I looked at the ground to see 10 jaw dropped faces.

"Told ya, 8 second's flat," I said with a smug grin before I walked over to a water chute and slid downward and walked over to the still surprised faces.

"That was so awesome," Rainbow said as I reached them.

"How did you do that sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"A lot and a lot of practice. I started off with running then, tree running, then finally started climbing building scaffolding and construction yards. It is something that I enjoy and I just feel free when I do it," I said.

"Totally cool! Hey, maybe all four of us can get our cutie marks in parkor," Sweetie Belle said.

"Wait, four? Am I a crusader as well?" Pip asked.

"Yeah, your one of us now. We'll have a ceremony for you later, but right now..." Apple Bloom said

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS PARKOR! YAY!" The cutie mark crusaders and Pip yelled in union before they ran off.

I shook my head and smiled at their enthusiasm.

"Those four are going to get along just fine, I can see it," I said.

"No doubt over here. But I still worry about Apple Bloom she is still just a filly," Applejack said, watching the direction the four ran off in.

"Yeah but not forever, you just got to give her some space to let her do her own thing, and if she needs you, all you need to do is make sure you'll always be there for her, ok?" I said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks Ash," Applejack said.

I smiled and nodded to her then I looked at the time on my IPod and saw it was 2:30pm.

"Hey girls, I'm heading to the bucking bronco at 3:00 to meet my new employer Caramel and his friends. I was wondering if any of you would like to join me?" I asked.

"Wait, you got a job? Where?" Twilight asked.

"At the forge. Carramel was having some trouble with an order, so I decided to give him a hand he paid me with these. He gave me a job there," I said showing them the bag of coins.

"Nice haul of bits for your first day Ash," Pinkie said.

"Bits?" I said with a confused tilt of my head.

"It’s what the coins in the bag are called Ash," Twilight said.

"Got it," I said.

"Y'know I think I might go with ya Ash. I haven't been to the Bronco in a long time," Applejack said.

"Cool, what about you guys?" I asked.

Each mare responded with a nod.

"Great see you all there at 3:00," I said as I walked back to the library.

I walked down the street following the directions Twilight gave me and arrived at the bucking bronco. It looked like one of those wooden medieval taverns. It was two storeys high and had a wooden mug as a sign with the words, "Bucking Bronco," carved into it. I saw all six girls standing out front waving to me. I smiled and waved back at them and picked up my speed.

"Hey everypony," I said as I joined them.

"Hi Ash," they said in union.

"I can't wait to down a good mug of apple cider," Rainbow said drooling.

"Ok, but first let's go inside," I said opening the door.

As soon as we entered I looked around at the inside of the tavern. It looked like one out of the lord of the ring's movies, with wooden floors, stools by the bar and a stone fire place in the centre. Booths ran around the edge and musicians played old tavern music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm7SgPxEKWA&list=PL7B142CA3894EC38F&index=1

There were other ponies in the tavern either eating, drinking, singing, talking or dancing. All of them enjoying themselves. I looked around the tavern and spied Caramel sitting in a booth with Big Mac and three other stallions. I pointed the booth out to the girls and we walked over.

"Hello Caramel, hey Big Mac," I said as we approached.

The two stallions turned their head towards me when they heard their names. As soon as they saw me, they climbed out of the booth and walked over to me and the girls. We shook hands and patted each other on the back before Caramel noticed the girls behind me.

"And who are your friends?" Caramel asked pointing to the girls.

"Caramel I would like you to meet Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and finally Applejack I said while pointing toward each mare.

"Pleasure to meet you all, come on, I'll introduce you all to the guys," Caramel said placing an arm on my shoulder and pulled me towards the booth "Ash Blade, I'd like you to meet Comet tail," he said as he pointed to a light yellow furred and purple mane and tail unicorn with blue jeans and yellow top with a white long sleave underneath.

"Pokey Pierce," he said as he pointed to another unicorn with dark blue fur and white and baby blue mane and tail. He wore dark grey pants, a nice shirt and dark grey vest with a safety pin on it.

"And last but not least, Thunderlane," he said while pointing to a dark furred Pegasus with a white Mohawk wearing a black jumper with a white shirt underneath. He wore green combat pants and black combat boots.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Ash Blade. He's going to be working with me at the forge. Also, Ash brought some friends with him so why don't you introduce yourselves" Caramel said.

When the introductions were over, I found out that Comet tail runs the Ponyville observatory and Pierce, like his name, does piercings. Thunderlane is a member of the weather team. As our time in the tavern continued everypony had a smile on their face and was laughing and having a good time, then another song started playing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtDMBtjyq9A

I taped my foot in time with the beat until Pinkie pulled Pierce out of his seat and dragged him on to the area for people to dance. They spun around and danced while we watched and laughed. I started clapping my hands in time with the beat, everyone in the tavern started to join in the clapping and watched. I saw a smile on both their face's as they danced, I then turned my attention back to the group of friends and saw Fluttershy leaning on Mac's arm and Mac's fur getting darker because he was blushing. I decided to not say anything and went back to watching the dancing Pinkie and Pierce. The music ended and the two dancers walked back over to us and sat down. Pinkie still had that large smile on her face but Pierce looked exhausted.

"Wow, you can dance really well," Pinkie said leaning on Pierce's shoulder.

"Thanks, but I have no chance keeping up with you," Pierce said while panting.

"Glad to see everypony is having fun. I'll get us some drinks in fact, first round of cider is on me," I said as I got out of my chair.

"Dude you rule!" Rainbow said raising her arm in praise.

"You don't need to do that for us man," Comet said.

"I know, but I want to," I said as I left and walked over to the bar.

I ordered 11 drinks the barkeeper asked for 22 bits. I handed the bits to him and waited for the barkeeper to return with our drinks. The barkeeper returned and placed the drinks on a tray so I could carry them. I walked back over to our booth with the drinks in hand and handed a mug to everypony. I brought my drink to my mouth and tilted the mug allowing the taste of apples to run down my throat I emptied the mug and placed it on the table.

"Tastes pretty good," I said wiping my mouth with my hand.

"Yeah, but us Apples make the best cider in Equestria," Applejack said proudly

"True that," Pinkie said.

All of a sudden, a brown fur with a black mane and tail Pegasus, with a bigger build than both Mac or I, stumbled over to our group along with his six friends. He wore a white singlet and black gym pants.

"Hey baby, don't you want to hang out with a real stallion instead of these losers?" the stallion said looking at Rarity, his breath reeking of alcohol.

"Thanks, but I'm happy here with my friends," Rarity said in a polite tone.

"Aw c'mon, I promise I'll be gentle," he said grabbing Rarity's arm.

When I saw him grab Rarity's arm I grabbed his arm and pried him from Rarity and pushed him into his friends.

"Hey, stay out of this freak!" the stallion said as he and his friends glared at me in anger.

"The lady said leave her be asshole, so you can either walk away and clean up your act, or have some manners beaten into you," I said as his friends circled me.

"Tear him apart!" the stallion cried.

The band sensing a fight was about to happen started to play music appropriate for this situation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HE4OFoezVg

Two stallions went for either side of me trying to punch me in the head. I grabbed the stallion on my left and pulled him in between me and the charging stallion on my right, using him as a shield, resulting in the charging stallion knocking out his buddy. I dropped the unconscious stallion and punched the other stallion in his chest knocking the wind out of him. I raised my fist and brought it down on the stallion knocking him out. Another stallion tried to hit me from behind with a chair but, I grabbed his face and pushed him, knocking him off his feet. Then, I pushed him into the ground with full force, breaking the wood beneath him. I turned around to see another stallion draw a folding knife and try and slice my chest open with it. I dodged backward and grabbed the chair the previous stallion dropped and used it as a shield against the stallion with a knife. When he made an attempt to thrust at me with the knife, the blade went through the seat and got stuck. As the stallion tried to yank it out, I used this as an opportunity to lock the legs of the chair around the stallions arm and twist it, forcing his arm to twist in an awkward direction, I heard a cracking noise come from stallion's arm. He let out an ear piercing cry of pain. I released the chair and let it and him fall to the ground. As he gripped his broken arm with his still good one, I looked at the last three stallions and saw they were looking at me with surprise.

"What are you two waiting for? Get him!" the Pegasus shouted at the two stallions.

The stallions circled me for a bit, then one of them charged at me. I grabbed hold of the stallion and then saw the other stallion out of the corner of my eye begin charge at me. I threw the stallion in my grasp at the charging stallion's feet, causing him to trip and land on his back. I stomped on the stallion's head knocking him out and turned my head to see the stallion I threw start to stand up. I kicked this stallion in the side of his head knocking him out. I then turned around to see the Pegasus start to charge at me, so I charged as well. He made an attempt to hit me in the face but I sidestepped him and banged my hands over his ears stunning him. I then grabbed the back of his head and pulled him downward like he was bowing and I swung my left hand upward and gave him a firm uppercut to his jaw, sending him a few feet into the air and knocking out a tooth before he fell to the ground with a crash. I looked down at the unconscious stallions around me and walked over to the barkeeper and pulled out my bag of bits.

"I'm terribly sorry about that, how much do I owe you for the damages?" I said as I reached into my bag only to be stopped by the barkeeper.

"You don't owe me a thing son, you took care of those thugs for me. They have been becoming a problem for this place for a while now. I'll collect the damage payment from them," he said smiling.

I gave a smile and a nod and put my bag of bits away and turned back to my friends. The looks on their faces was hilarious. I couldn't help but laugh at them.

"Th...Th...The looks on your faces is just priceless," I said as I struggled to keep my balance from laughing.

"Where in the name of Tartarus did you learn how to fight like that?" Thunderlane asked in shock.

"Yeah partner, I've never seen anypony fight like that before," Applejack said in awe.

"I had to fight for my survival when your living on the streets. It was either fight or die," I said.

"Um Ash, not that I'm ungrateful, but why did you stand up for me like that?" Rarity asked.

"Are you kidding me Rarity? No one messes with my friends, not while I'm around," I said.

"Well thank you Ash," Rarity said

"It was scary when that one used that knife on you," Fluttershy said in a shaky tone.

"Isn't the first time someone pulled a knife on me," I said pulling the collar of my shirt to the side to reveal a medium length jagged scar on my shoulder. "I got this from the last guy who pulled a knife on me. The blade went right through my shoulder. Luckily I took care of the problem before it got any worse," I said as I released my grip on my collar letting it fall back into place.

"Whoa! Tough life you lived," Comet said.

"Buddy you have no idea," I said calmly.

"I have never seen anypony take on so many people like that not since...Gilda," Rainbow said with a frown.

"Who's Gilda?" I asked.

"Someone I once called my friend," Rainbow replied.

I thought it best to not ask anything more because I didn't want to bring up any painful memories. I looked at the clock on the wall to see it was 6:30pm.

"Well I think its best we head home," I said as I rose from my seat.

"Yeah, Mac and I have chores to do tomorrow and we need to be up at the break of dawn," Applejack said.

With that we said our goodbyes and left for home.

I walked into the library along with Twilight and we were greeted by Spike, Dust and Owlicious.

"Hey guys, how was it at the Bucking Bronco?" Spike asked.

"It was alright Ash got into a fight with 7 stallions, one bigger than him but the rest great," Twilight said as she walked past the dragon.

"Really, how did it start? Did you win?" Spike asked me as I walked towards the staircase.

"A Pegasus tried to make Rarity do something she didn't want to do, so I beat him and his friends up and came out on top," I said as I started to climb the stairs to my room.

"Is she alright?" Spike asked with worry.

"Don't worry she's fine it's the stallions you should be worried about, and Spike, you have a crush on Rarity don't you?" I asked.

"You know I have a crush on her?" Spike asked.

"It's kind of obvious," I said.

"Yeah, but she didn't return my feelings when I told her," Spike said.

"I'm sorry about that, but you shouldn't give up. You'll find someone, ok pal?" I said.

"Really?" Spike said with a smile.

"Guarantee it," I said smiling.

"Thanks Ash, I needed that," Spike said.

"Don't worry about it *yawns* well, I'm off to bed come on Dust," I said and Dust flew over and landed on my shoulder.

"Aren't you going to have dinner?" Spike asked.

"Nah, lost my appetite. Night Spike," I said as I walked upstairs.

"Good night Ash," Spike called after me.