(Ace's POV)

Interesting thing about timberwolves: they have tree sap for blood. I suppose that's to be expected, but still. Kaze no Ran'na glowed cyan again before shrinking, gaining weight once more as it returned to Core Strike. I don't know why this doesn't freak me out, but it doesn't. I was distracted from my thoughts by a rough, boyish-but-still-feminine voice squealing.

"So awesome!"

I whipped around, eyes falling on the five mares and the drake. I absently started twirling Core Strike in my right hand and put my left in my pocket, smiling at them. Rainbow and Applejack fell into fighting stances, Twilight's horn lighting up despite her neutral expression. Spike merely sighed, shoulders slumping, and Rarity pinched the bridge of her snout between her thumb and fore finger. Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie, by which I mean she was instantly smiling, stood by my left side (thankfully away from the sword) and greeting me.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, and I've never met you before! Spike says you're a human, but you look like a bald Earth Pony to Applejack - despite your mane, I mean. I don't care what you are, though, because now I can throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and a 'Thanks for Saving our Lives' party!" she said, not a single breath being taken during. I just smiled, Core Strike still spinning.

"Ace, I do believe that the constant twirling of a deadly weapon in the immediate vicinity of the pink one is making the others nervous." Core Strike said. The others all jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. I guess he decided not to hide.
"Right, I should probably stop that." I replied, catching the sword in a reverse-hand grip and thrusting it into the ground. "You don't mind being in the dirt, right?" I asked.
"Not at all, Ace." he replied.

The incredulous looks I received told me that they were not expecting the sword to be talking. Neither was I, girls, neither was I. I just shrugged and waved before speaking.
"To anyone who hasn't met me yet," I began. "Hi. My name's Ace. The sword's name is Core Strike right now, but when it transforms it's name changes to Kaze no Ran'na."

Twilight's horn lost it's glow the minute I put the sword down, and Applejack came out of her stance. Rainbow Dash, however, still looked ready to charge me despite her previous declaration of my awesomeness. Twilight stepped forward and cleared her throat.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, most recent Princess of Equestria. These are my friends Rainbow Dash," The prismatic Pegasus grunted in response.
"Applejack,"
"Howdy." The orange mare replied, tipping her Stetson.
"Pinkie Pie."
"Hi!" The pink mare waved enthusiastically.
"And I believe you've already met Spike and Rarity."

"Now," Twilight began, smoothing down her lilac cardigan. "The matter at hand is: what do you intend to do now?"
I blinked once. I blinked again. "Say again?"
"What do you intend to do? If what Spike says is true, then it is clear that you are not from any world that I know of."
"Ah, right. Of course. Well, I suppose the first thing to do would be..." I paused, looking up to see the sun still high in the sky. "...contact Celestia, let her know who and what I am. Maybe ask for a licence of whatever if I'm gonna be keeping Core Strike."
"Excellent idea, Ace. We don't want the Princess' thinking you're a threat, do we?"
"No, we don't. "

When I looked up from our impromptu convo, Spike was already belching green flames on a rolled up parchment. Nobody else seemed phased by it, but I was honestly scared of the drake right now. For some reason, I could see thousands upon thousands of screaming souls in the flame. The sounds seemed to resonate within me, echoing around my head, getting louder and louDER AND LOUDER AS IT WENT!!!!!!!!!!!

"OH DEAR GOD MAKE IT STOP!!" I screamed, clutching at my ears in pain. The others looked at me in shock, but I didn't care at this point. The sound was still deafening, but I could tell it was beginning to die down. Core Strike's voice cut through, - I know that's a terrible pun, shut up - silencing the screams as he spoke.
"Ace, it's okay. I can hear them too."
"What is that!?"
"That is Spike showing us his Element." the sword explained, extending his psychic range to once again include the mares and drake.
"Element?" Twilight asked, head tilting to the side in curiosity. "What element? We gave the Elements of Harmony back to the Tree, and Spike wasn't even a bearer!"
"Not the Elements of Harmony, the Ten Elements."
"The whosit?" Applejack asked.
Core Strike sighed. "The Ten Elements are the ethereal powers upon which this world is based. There are ten of them, each of which can be channelled by the creatures of this world. Some creatures can control certain Elements easier than others. For example, all Pegasi can channel the Air Element, which grants them their abilities to fly and manipulate weather, even if they don't realise it."
"So which of these 'Elements' did I show you, Ace?" Spike asked. "What made you freak out so much?"
"I-I don't know! It was like... in your fire! There were voices! Screaming voices!"

Everyone present, even a few other ponies who had come out of their homes, looked at me as though I had grown a second head. A young, orange Pegasus filly with a messy purple mane - who I remembered to be Scootaloo - leaned over to a white Unicorn filly with a two-tone pink and purple mane, stage-whispering to her: "Someone has issues!"

Spike looked somewhere between intrigued and disgusted by my description.
"So what Element does that fall into?" the drake asked.
"Undead."

Wait a minute... if two of the Elements are Undead and Air... that's it! I knew something was familiar!
"Say, Twilight. Does the term 'Skylands' mean anything to you?" I asked, looking to the sky. I have a feeling the Princesses will be here soon...
"It sounds familiar, but... ah! I might have a book about it in the castle library!"
"Then that's where we'll go. Where'd you tell the Princesses we'd be?"
"In the castle."
"All the more reason to go then! Onwards!"

And with that, and a quick flourish of Core Strike, I left for Twilight's castle with Twilight and Spike. The other girls all excused themselves for one reason or another, though I think Rarity said something about adding a scabbard to my 'shopping list'.

Wow. Gotta say, I didn't expect the castle to be so... shiny! I mean, I know it's crystal and all, but still...

Twilight walked ahead, pausing in the foyer before turning left. Spike cleared his throat, coming to a stop beside me and pointing to the right. Twilight smiled sheepishly and turned, walking down a hallway to the right. Spike rolled his eyes at me.
"Three weeks." he said, leading the way to what I assume is the library. "She had Canterlot Castle memorised in an hour, but it's taken her this long just to remember where her bedroom is."
"Well, it's a big adjustment, I'd imagine." I replied, letting out a small chuckle.

We walked in silence for a time, Spike occasionally having to redirect Twilight. Eventually we reached the library, the only room so far that had wooden floors. Twilight walked in and lit her horn again, causing dozens of books to start floating around her. Spike spread his wings and flew to the second floor, searching through those shelves. I examined the signs labelling each section.
Magical Theory. Might look at that later, but I doubt it's in there.
Equestrian History. Promising, but considering the track record of the show, I'll leave that for later.
Fiction. Bingo.

I strolled down the Fiction aisles, organised into alphabetical order - thank you Twilight - until I found the "S"es. Fingers tracing the spines, I perused the shelves until Twilight walked around the corner.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, eyeing the book that my hand had stopped on. "I thought you were looking for a book on 'Skylands'."

I merely pulled the book out and showed her the cover. She promptly facepalmed.

"'The Skylanders - Protectors of Skylands'" I read, smiling smugly. Twilight turned and walked back into the centre, sitting at a table that I hadn't noticed before, and I followed her. Spike hopped down to sit with us, a comic book under his arm. He sat in a seat opposite me and began reading his comic, which I noticed was a bit more gruesome than the one in the Power Ponies episode. Oh well. Twilight levitated a book on long-range teleportation in front of her. Shrugging, I leaned back and began reading.

Long before Celestia and Luna's reign, before the foundation of Equestria, before ponies even lived, the world was much different to what we see today. The land was not connected - rather, it was a series of floating islands across a vast ocean of clouds. Many a fantastic creature lived in these lands in the sky, from Snarglebums to Gustoquicks.

I burst out laughing, falling off of my chair as I did so. Twilight looked up, rolled her eyes and leaned over, scanning the book until she reached my slayer.
"'Snarglebums'?" she asked, giggling slightly. "'Gustoquicks'? What in the name of Celestia are those?" She looked to Spike for an answer.

Spike had joined me on the floor, howling with laughter.

Twilight shook her head, still smiling. "Boys."

Pulling myself together, I picked up the book again and resumed reading.

The most common sentient race of this land were the Mabu, who closely resembled the modern-day Ferret in appearance. One day, the various Mabu royal families realised something at a council - they had yet to name the land! And so, King Rizzo the First put forth the suggestion of 'Skylands'!

Why am I not surprised that one of the annoying Mabu characters was royalty. I skipped ahead a bit, reaching a chapter titled The Skylanders.

Skylands, despite it's peaceful appearance, was constantly plagued by evil forces hoping to take over. To combat this, the lone tribe of Portal Masters that called Skylands home decided to put together elite groups of heroes. They called these groups the Skylanders!

Out of these groups, the best of the best were lead by Master Eon. This force was lead by the ancestors of all Dragonkin: the drake of Darkness, Tenebris, and the dragoness of Light, Lux. These Dragons lead the first elite team of Skylanders - the Giants!

Over the years, forces of evil continued to threaten Skylands, and the Skylanders were always there to uphold the peace.

I stopped reading there, flipping through until I found more on the Elements.

There are ten Elements from which a Skylander's power comes from. Legend has it that, when the last Skylanders sacrificed their very existence to combine the islands of Skylands, effectively creating Equus as we know it, the Elements - that previously only the Skylanders could wield - were imbued into the world itself. From that day onward, all creatures born had a minute connection to the Ten Elements - some races having a higher connection to a certain Element than others.

The Elements have always had a direct connection with the survival of the world, and are as follows: Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Life, Undead, Magic, Tech, Light, and Dark.

Contrary to popular belief, not all creatures are direct iterations of their Element. For example, you don't have to be undead to bear the Undead Element. An example of this would be Cynder, one of the last noble Purple Dragons alongside her lover Spyro. Rumour has it that they had an egg before giving their lives to form Skylands, though it is unknown what happened to the egg if it did exist.

I looked up at Spike. You know, his colours did seem to be darker than in the show. His spines were longer too, curled and sharp rather than domed and blunt. Is it possible that he's a descendant of Spyro and Cynder?

"So what'd you find?" Twilight asked, making me jump. Spike looked up too, placing a bookmark in his comic.
"Well, apparently Equus wasn't always whole." I proceeded to tell them everything I'd learned from the book, as well as my suspicions about Spike. The drake in question looked surprised at this, as though he had never expected to have come from such a heroic lineage.
"Wow." Spike said, scratching the back of his neck. "Guess the whole Element thing isn't so weird after all."

At that moment, Twilight's horn flashed purple. Twilight shot up, rushing out of the room. I looked to Spike for answers.
"Magic doorbell." he said.
"Ah."

And that was when shit went down.