My little Escapade

by LazyPone

First published 12th of February, 2015

A human in the future has a life-changing experiment done on him, if that wasn't enough he gets sent to Equestria via malfunctioning teleportation thing. Silliness ensues.

You all know that one guy everyone thinks is a complete badass(in a good way)? That one guy who can be scary when he wants to be, that one guy who always has that blank face and seems to know what to do in any situation. That. One. Guy? Well, if you don't, you really need to get out more. 'Cause this story tells a tale based on a question that wouldn't leave my brain; How would someone like that react when faced with a new world filled with creatures of myth and fantasy, especially brightly colored pastel ponies?

Chapter 1: Introduction

They've called me many things; Freak, monster, the devil. My most favorite is Angel of Darkness. ‘Cause that’s pretty much what I look like. You know those people who study and work with genetics? Well, I became their guinea pig a while back, one of the first ones. They said they developed the tech to spice me with other animal’s DNA, what they didn’t tell me is that it was just nanomites injected into my system, to alter my physical appearance. “It would give me special attributes.” They said, they didn’t lie about that, I was given sharper vision, quicker movements, and inhuman strength. They gave me the choice of which animal to combine DNA with. And I chose a Great Grey Owl. I had the idea that that experiment would give me wings, one’s made for silent flight. It did that, but it also gave me grayscale feathers around my body, talons for feet, and a fucking brownish beak, basically an avian furry. It has always been a dream of mine to soar atop the clouds,and to blend in during nighttime flight, and now I finally have it. Too bad I was made an outcast by society, people weren’t ready to accept something like me, fucking xenophobia. I wasn’t the only one to suffer at least, there were others, some chose to be dogs, cats, bats, lizards, you name it. More and more people were ‘tested’ on. I don't even know where they take them. They drugged me during the whole experiment. The number of transformations made it so there were an even amount of us versus people. I have to thank the egg-heads at the labs for not making us a minority.

At that point I thought it was all over, I would go about my business and that’d be it. I was wrong, if you can imagine that. Me, some people and other ‘Anthros’, as we’ve been dubbed, were randomly selected for a new experiment. ‘Project Remodulesh’ they called it, I received a brochure that explained what was going to happen. It said some type of teleportation using artificial wormholes. And I had no choice but to comply. They would send me to prison if I didn’t. And they pretty much abduct you from house and home without warning. Once again I was drugged to make me pass out, I woke up strapped to metal table, which was fucking cold, in a pure white room. As a side note, with all the feathers covering my body, I have no need for clothes, imagine how awkward it was the first few days… Anyway, I’m facing a large mirror.

“Test subject is awake, begin test procedures.” A one-way mirror apparently.

“What the fuck is going on!?” I’m more pissed off that scared at that point.

“We are going to find out whether our teleportation will take you somewhere or not.” That sounded very reassuring.

“And what if something goes wrong?” The answer is a little bit obvious in my opinion.

“Just sit still and stay quiet.” A loud whirring sound started emanating as large metal arms came from the ceiling and floor. Each carrying a different machine with electricity dancing across the surface.

*I’m fucked.* The machines get closer as a light blue field forms around me. I would like to try and break free and possibly escape, the nanomites I mentioned earlier gave me more than just a new look. They gave me enhanced senses and inhuman strength. But the thought of touching that field and possibly getting electrocuted kept me in place. My heart was pounding the field got closer to me. Just then I heard a very annoying beeping sound.

“What’s going on!?” they either forgot to shut off their mics. Or they don’t turn off.

“The fields destabilizing!”

“Well SHUT IT OFF!!”

“I can’t! It‘s unresponsive!!”

“I hope you all fucking die with me!!” I yell as a light as bright as the sun covers my vision. What happens next is something I don’t, nor will I ever, understand. The white light fades away to reveal an endless void, but instead of pure black. It literally looks like a river of the rainbow. Every possible color in strips, flowing all around me. Then a tingling sensation grips me. The sensations get stronger, as well as really painful, to the point where I pass out…

I don’t know how long I was out, but I don’t care. My vision coming back, meaning I might be still alive. My other senses return to me too, I can feel something like grass on my back. It also feels like I’m being dragged by my talon. How my wings are not hurting are not broken are beyond me. I try to look around, I can make out that I’m in some kind of grassy field, surrounded by a forest of some kind. I crane my neck to see who, or what, is dragging me along the ground. A fucking purple pony!? My brain froze as I continue to gaze at this creature. It’s not even touching me and it’s dragging me! Is it using some kind of gravity manipulation? All I see is a pink mist around my foot. Suddenly a blue blur rockets to my face, I just barely put my arms up to block it. Fucking hell that hurt.

“It’s awake!!” I peek through my arms. A blue pony is hovering above me, a pegasus? Where the fuck am I? “Knock it back out!” The force on my talon was diminished so I got up and moved out of the way as fast as possible. Just fast enough to avoid being hit by the blue one again. “You’re messin’ with the wrong pony!!” It wings flare and make one big flap. Rapidly propelling it towards me. I norrowly avoid it headnutting me in the chest. “How is it so fast!?” I grin.

“Cybernetics. What I don’t understand is why you conti-” I’m interrupted by it wizing by my head. “Continue to attack me when-” I jump to the side, avoiding another headbut. “I haven’t attacked you.” It’s a fair distance away, it’s using the distance between us to gain speed. This time I brace for impact. *I think I can stop it like this.* I think as it hits me, my talons dig into the ground as I’m pushed back from the impact. *Man she has a strong head.* “At all.” I push it back before it can land a hit on me. “Why do you continue to attack me!?”

“Because, you’re a monster!”

“If I was a monster, then why haven’t I hurt you, or your friends. I could kill you right now if I wanted to.” It’s nostrils flare and it’s digs a hoof into the ground.

“STOOOP!!” A delicate, yet loud, voice echoes through the field. Making the blue one freeze. I look to where the voice came from. The group of pastel ponies, which were watching the blue one attack me, are looking at the yellow one. Apparently it’s uncommon for it to shout like that. With a look of determination, it walks--or is it trot?-- up to me. I can see fear in her eyes. But there’s also a strong sense of determination, and kindness? Wow, you can read these things so well. “Um… I-im sorry for my friend. She can be a little, um… brash.”

“I can tell...” She chuckles in that soft voice of… hers. I think it’s a female.

“Um… Also, are you a monster.” I give her, it, my ‘are you shitting me?’ face. She smiles nervously and chuckles again. “Right.”

“Fluttershy! Get away from it, he’s MINE!!” Blue tries to get a hit on me again. It’s all in vain really, I think it’s tiring out. It’s breathing heavily.

“Can you please stop? If not attacking your friend here is not enough proof, I don’t know what is...”

“That’s enough Rainbow Dash.” A high, regal voice chimes. I look back to the group and a white one stepped forward. “I’m terribly sorry darling, like Fluttershy said, Rainbow can be a hoof-full a lot of the time.” She sighs.

*Hoof wha..?*

“But but, but!” ‘Rainbow’ stutters. At least I’m learning names. Don’t ask me how we’re speaking the same language. I never cared enough to find out.

“That’s enough Dash!” A southern-like voice pipes up. I turn back to the shrinking group to see an orange one walking to sit beside me. “I was studdyn’ this feller. And I didn’t ketch a single lie non ‘im.”

“Thanks?” I really don’t know what the fuck’s going on. I’m just glad, Rainbow's, not trying to hit me anymore.

“Anytime partner! Name’s Applejack by the way!” She hold out a hoof to me. I look at for a second before realization dawns on me.

“Nice to meet you. Names Ember.” All the, ponies, look at me.

“Ember?” They all ask in unison. Yeah, I know that’s a weird name, even by human standards.

“Yes, that’s my name. Excuse me for being born on a different PLANET again!” They flinch.

“Well, it’s not that we think it’s a bad name. It’s just... different. Right girls.” The ‘girls’ nod as the white one looks at them. Blue, or Rainbow, still hasn't moved, nor spoke.

“Whatever you all say. Anyway, I have a few questions; Where am I? Who are you? And what will happen to me now?” The purple one answers me.

“You are in the land of Equestria. My name is Twilight, these are Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and- Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Just them I’m tackled from my side by a pink blur. I tumble along the ground with the pink blob. It ends with me on my back, and a pink pony-thing sitting on my stomach.

“Let me guess, you’re Pinkie?” She nods enthusiastically.

“Hi! I am Pinkie pie!” She giggles. “Ember huh?” I nod. “That’s a funny name!” She bursts out into a intense giggle fit. Making Pinkie, fucking weird names, fall off me, and allowing me to get up and walk back to the group. Twilight having a face of slight embarrassment.

“Sorry about that. She can be...”

“Excitable?” She nods.

“Yes, that.” She clears her throat. “As for what happens to you… I’m guessing you don’t have a home?” I shake my head. “Hmm… Well, you can stay at one of our homes, if you want.” The others look straight to her.

“There’s no way I’m letting him stay with ME!” I can already tell me and Rainbow aren’t going to get along anytime soon. The others murmur in agreement with her, except for Fluttershy, I swear to fuck god these names are weird, she’s been silent this whole.

“Um… You can stay with me, if you want to...” I put a hand to my chin.

“Do you have enough space to where you and me can live comfortably?” She nods.

“I think so...”

“Are there any others living with you at the moment?”

“Well… I have all my animal friends...”

*Animal lover, cool.* “How many?” She puts a hoof to her chin.

“Um… About a hundred and twenty?” At that my eyes widen.

“Sorry, but I don’t do well with large groups of animals. But hey, thanks for the offer.” I try to sound grateful. I think she’s a bit sensitive… I motion for her to come closer, when she’s close enough I kneel down. “At least you offered. That means a lot to me.” I whisper to her ear. I stand back up and smile at her, she smiles back.

‘Thank you.’ She mouths, she then walks back to the group. I look back to Twilight.

“I guess that means I get to stay with you then.” Her face light’s up.

“Perfect! Lets go get you settled in!” She runs off at a slightly slow pace. I stay put and look back to the others.

“Don’t worry about it sugarcube, Twi gets all excited like that when stuff like this happens.” Applejack, I think that’s her name. Walks in the same direction Twilight ran off to, followed by the other ponies. I start to walk with them, but Rainbow gets a little too close to my face.

“I’m watching you! You hurt one of my friends and I’ll buck you so hard you’ll wish you weren’t born!” I don’t know how her ‘friends’ heard her threaten me like that. I just stay calm and still while we stare off. After a while I finally said.

“Good luck trying.” I step around her and follow her friends.

Me and these ponies have been walking in this forest for a while now. In silence, not awkward silence, just silence. It being frequently broken by the rustling of trees or slight wind. I couldn’t take it anymore so I spoke out.

“Where are going?”

“We’re on our way to Ponyville.”

“Ponyville?”

“It’s where we live!” Pinkie’s bouncing, instead of walking like a normal pony. For human standards any, I don’t know about this fucking place.

“Oh, are there other places close by?”

“The nearest place to Ponyville is Canterlot. Which is still quite the distance from here. By the way we’re here already.” I look ahead and see what looks like a small market place through the foliage.

“Oh, look at that. Looks pretty nice. Are you, girls, going to introduce me right now?” Twilight has a face of worry.

“Well, the towns ponies are still a little xenophobic after the whole ‘Zecora’ incident.”

*They have that word here? Interesting...* “Ah, I see...”

“But don’t worry! With us by your side EVERYPONY will like you!” Pinkie’s really good reassuring people. I like her!

“Y’know what Pinkie! I like you and your friends already!” I look to Rainbow. “‘Cept you.”

“Why me!?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. Oh! It’s for attacking me at FIRST SIGHT!!“ They flinch again.

“Whatever...”

“Anyways, so how do you plan to introduce to the… Towns ponies?” Twilight contemplates puts on a ‘thinking face’.

“Well, we can go the ‘Pinkie Pie rout’, or we can hide you until we get twin hall set up.”

“The ‘Pinkie Pie rout’?”

“It’s where I introduce you to the entire town right now!”

“Hmm… Does she do stuff like this all the time? And the whole town is used to it?” They all nod. “Alright lets do that then.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” She continues to bounce along with us. I’m just assuming these are females until I see more of these ponies. Or at least if they call each other any specific gender. We continue to walk along the path and as we reach to edge of, Ponyville. I think the names here are just fucking puns. When we get inside this place it’s busy with ponies milling about. Most of them look like the ones I’m with with few different looking ones. Different because one has thicker limbs, square muzzles, and different hair, or is it mane? Styles. I think there are males and females.

“So, you’re all girls?” They nod. “Ah, ok.” *So i was right all along!* One pony from the market place notices me, she’s pink with yellow hair and what looks like a lilac on her but. *Wait, they got tattoos on their asses?* I look at the girl’s backsides, they all have one. A star for Twilight, balloons for Pinkie, apples for Applejack, three… Diamonds for Rarity, a trio of pink butterflies for Fluttershy, and a cloud with a three-colored lightning bolt for Rainbow. *I need to come up with nicknames for these ponies, their names are really fucking weird.*

“MONSTER!!” The pink one shouts. The rest of the ponies freeze, look her, then me. And all hell broke loose after one solid second. Ponies started screaming and running in all directions. Things were knocked and crashing sounds could be heard.

“Does this happen often?” I ask while pointing at them panicking ponies. Twilight face… hoove’s? I think that’s the appropriate term…

“Yes… A little too often if you ask me.”

“You know how to stop them?” She nods.

“Cover your ears.” At that I go to high alert, spreading my wings and taking to the sky. The transformation also came with sensitive ears. Owls have that so I gotta be careful. I fly just high enough to when Twilight screams.

“QUIEEET!!”

*Still heard that through my hands! How did she do that!?* The group covers their ears with their hooves when Twilight screamed. It also did make the other ponies stop screaming and running amuck. I hoer back down to the ground. “Sorry about doing that without warning, sensitive ear and stuff.” They nod in understanding.

“So… ya got delicate hearin’?” Applejack asks. I nod. “Oh...” I look back to Twilight.

“How did you do that?”

“What?”

“Your voice was amplified tenfold. How did you do that?”

“Oh! I just cast an amplifying spell!”

“‘Amplifying spell’? Like, magic?” She nods. “You have magic here?” I ask a bit skeptically. She nods. “Really?”

“Why do not believe me?”

“There is no such thing as magic accept for tricks where I come from.” At that the girls gasp.

“W-what?”

“We don’t magic like your kind where I come from.”

“H-how!? Nothing can live without magic. How do your species live without magic!?” I smirk.

“Technology. You ponies may have advanced magic or whatever. But my kind have advanced technology that aid us with life.” They all have faces of astonishment.

“Wh-” Twilight was about to ask something, but a pony came up to her and tapped her on the side. “What?” It’s the same pink pony from before.

“T-twilight? W-what’s th-that?” She points a hoof to me, and she’s trembling harshly.

“Oh! That’s our new friend and resident; Ember!” Twilight introduces me to this pony.

“E-ember?” I nod.

“Nice to meet you.” I say slowly, would want another freak now would we?

Chapter 2: Let the Fun Begin...

The pinkish pony flinches when I speak. But after a second she looks at me curiously, even though there’s still fear in her eyes.

“Uhh… H-hi...” I don’t know why she’s still scared to death of me. But at this point I’m determined to get on their good side.

“What’s you’re name.” Fuck it’s like talking to a five-year-old.

“I-it’s L-lilac.”

*These ponies and their fucking weird names.* “Lilac?” She nods shakily. “Well, nice to meetcha Lilac.” I slowly hold out my hand, she steps back, then looks to Twilight, then back to me. Then to my hand, I think realization hit her, as she put her hoof to my hand and we shake.

“I-it’s nice to m-meet you too, E-ember.” She smiles sheepishly. I smile the most disarming smile I could muster. “And sorry about… Freaking out and… calling you a monster.”

“Eh… It’s alright. To be honest, my people would do the same thing.”

“Really?”

“Eeyup.” I do actually say yes like that. Out of the corner of my vision I saw Applejack give me a weird look.

“Ember?” I look to Twilight. “I think you should go introduce yourself.” I was about to ask her why. But I saw that there was a large group of ponies staring in our direction. More specifically me.

“Alright, just stay by my side.”

“Why?”

“For reassurance? I don’t know, something like that.” Sarcasm can be a fun tool to use. Twilight’s cheeks tint a light pink, but it quickly goes away.

“Right... Girls?” They all look to Twilight. “Follow me and Ember.” I can hear Rainbow grumble something.

“I still wanna buck you right in the head.” The others didn’t hear, so I just gave her the over-the-shoulder-look.

“What am I supposed to say when we get there?” I ask Twilight.

“Just introduce yourself and reassure them that you won’t hurt any of us.”

“Ok.” I say just as we get to the front of the crowd. I look at all the ponies before me. Some cowering while others look at me with curiosity. The occasional, ‘What’s that thing?’ from a little… foal? Yeah, I think they call the babies, foals. “Greetings ponies of Ponyville,” They all jump at my voice, and it’s kinda hard to come up with what to say at the moment. I never spoke in front of a crowd before. “My name is Ember and I mean you no harm. I am a human hybrid from the planet Earth.” When those words leave my mouth a light green pony jumps up and shouts.

“A HUMAN!?” The pony rushes to the front, knocking other ponies out of the way. When she gets to the front she screams like a fangirl. “I KNEW IT! I bucking knew it! You all said I was wrong! But look! Humans DO EXIST!” I was brought down to my knees, covering my ears from all her yelling and squealing. My hearing’s as sensitive as an owls! Have you seen how they react to high pitched noises!?

“Oh no! Ember!” Fluttershy quickly comes to my side. “What’s wrong? Are you hurting?” I didn’t respond, I couldn’t. My ears were having needles driven through them.

“Lyra!” I hear another voice from the crowd. I hear movement as another pony comes up front. I didn’t look up, I just wanted the loud noise to stop. “Lyra! Stop! Look at what you’re doing to the poor thing!” The squealing stops and I hear a gasp.

“Is it over?”

“Yes, sorry about Lyra, she gets like this when anything about ‘Huomans’ come up.” I look up. I bet it’s a pathetic sight; me on the floor, tears in my eyes, all because I couldn’t stand that high pitched screaming. The two ponies in front of me are… unique to say the least. The light green- mint green pony has light green with white striped hair and tail, golden yellow eyes, and from my viewing angle what looks like a small harp on her butt. The yellow pony has pink and dark purple curled hair and tail, clear blue eyes, and three candy-looking things on her butt. I get and wipe the liquid from my eyes. The crowd’s looking at me wide-eyed. “It’s okay. I’m fine now.” I look at the two ponies in front of me. The green one, Lyra I think, has a face of shock, then downcast.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, she looks up to me. “I’m sorry, I was just excited to finally see proof of humans...”

“It’s alright, Lyra. You didn’t know that would hurt me. And really, there’s no real harm done.” I smile brightly, she smiles back.

“Thank you.” She’s about to walk off, but a look of excitement takes her face.

“Oh! Almost forgot. You are a human, right? You kinda don’t look like one...”

“Technically, yes.”

“‘Technically’?” I nod.

“Back on my world my physical form was altered, that’s why I look like this.”

“Can’t you change back by stopping the spell?”

“Eehe… That’s the thing. We don’t have magic where I come from. It was our advanced technology that changed how I look. And it’s irreversible.”

“Really?” I nod. “That’s so awesome!”

“Anyway!” Twilight decided to interrupt. “That’ll be enough for now. As Ember here needs to get settled in to here. You all can ask more questions tomo-” I put a hand over Twilight’s mouth.

“I’m not doing a Q n’ A with over a hundred ponies.” I remove my hand from her mouth.

“Ehe… Right. That’ll be all everypony! Go back to… Whatever it was you were doing!” And they all just do that. Without even giving a second look.

“That sure was something...” I remark.

“I have to agree with you on that Ember.” Rarity chimes in.

“Are you sure you’re ok sugarcube?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now.” I notice that Rainbow’s smirking. My wings flare as I jump in front of her. “I could tear your throat out if I wanted to right now. You absolutly NO idea who you're messing with.” Her eyes shrink when I threaten her, but she quickly recovers and scowls. I had a bit of a fighting reputation back on earth.

“As if you could touch me! I bet I could buck you in the fa-” I grab her neck before she finishes.

“I’ve dealt with people like you, and you’re no different, fucking bigot. So how about we try to get along before I do something-” My hand tightens around her neck. “I’ll eventually regret. Does that sound better?” She nods rapidly. “Good.” I let go of her neck and walk off. “C’mon Twilight, I need a place to sleep.” Kinda glad the others didn’t see.

“In the middle of the day?” I stop.

“Do you have owls here?” She nods. “I’m a hybrid between an owl and a human.” I let her connect the dots.

“Oh! You’re tired?” I nod.

“Yeah, I’m fucking tired right now. And I need a dark place to sleep in. You have a room like that where you live?” She nods.

“I have a basement, I just need to move some equipment and put a bed in there.”

“Perfect. You mind showing the way?”

“Oh! Of course not! Follow me!” Twi walks on ahead with me in tow…

We got to Twilight’s place, I think. With my drowsiness, I’m barely paying any attention to my surroundings. I just kept concentration on Twilight while she lead me through the town.

“Here we are!” If it weren’t for her speaking out loud like that, I probably would’ve tripped over her. I look ahead her, and my eyes widen.

“You live in a tree?” She nods. “Awesome.” She blushes for some reason.

“Anway, lets go inside.” She hastily opens the door and walk in, I follow her in suit. I kinda had to crawl through the opening. But once inside I was astonished, it looked bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. I peak back outside to see this true. Twilight giggles. “No you’re not going insane, there’s a dimensional displacement spell placed on my home.”

“Huh, to think I thought magic was fake here...” She chuckles at my remark, I yawn. “Anyway, you said you have a basement?”

“Oh! right! I just need to rearrange some things in there and put a bed in there.”

“Is there anything I can do to help out?” She shakes her head.

“No, you just stay right there, and I’ll come back everything’s ready.”

“Okkaay...” I say as she walks to the stairs that I didn’t notice before. She then, walks behind it? From my angle, it looked like she disappeared behind the staircase. I straf to the side and see that there’s a second staircase, heading down. *Ah, that must be the basement.* I hear the clip-clop of hooves from the hallway. I step back as Twilight comes back up.

“Alright! Now to get the bed. It should be able to fit your, impressive, stature!” She has an appraising look on her face as she walks up the stairs.

“Um… Thanks, I think...” *That wasn’t fucking weird at all...* I just continue to stand in place, contemplating how to take that little remark she made as a compliment, or something else… Just then she comes back down. Followed by a huge mattress floating after her, covered in a pinkish mist. “So that’s what magic looks like...” I mutter under my breath.

“What?”

“Nothing, just never thought magic would look like… That...”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you see the pink mist surrounding the mattress?” She looks to the thing, then back to me.

“No.”

“Oh… then I must be-”

“Oh! I know what you mean, you can see magical auras! That's impressive for a species who hasn't used magic themselves.” She says as she walks back down stairs. I decided to follow her this time, luckily the hallway was just high enough to allow me to stand upright.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something about that.”

“What is it?”

“If I’m in a place where magic does exist, does that mean I get to use magic like you?” That made her stop.

“I… actually don’t know. Maybe? I never really did any research about that particular subject...” We walk by each other in silence. we got to the bottom of the stair and Twilight opened the door. And I didn’t expect to see what I saw. A bunch of comically old machines were pushed up against a wall, and shelves the held beakers of varying shapes containing liquids. There’s even a table the held more science equipment.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to see this. Is this like, your laboratory?” She nods.

“Yes it is!”

“Huh. Another scientist.”

“Thank you for not calling me a ‘mad scientist’.” She looks at me sharply. “What do you mean by ‘Another scientist’?” Oh yeah, that...

“Oh! Right, well, when I was younger, I used to be quite the scientist. I experimented on elements, acids, bases. I would even create little robots to help me.”

“Roobaughts? What’s that?”

*Should’ve known...* “Imagine a pony completely made metal and circuits. Then add as much intelligence as an average pony.”

“A machine that’s as capable as a pony!? Or, human?” I nod. A feather, paper, and a small little ink bottle, float in out of nowhere. The feather’s tip dips into the ink in rapidly scribbles across the paper. She looks at it with extreme interest.

*How is she doing that and levitating a bed? Multitask? Ugh…* “You can multitask with magic?” She looks to me and nods.

“Why, yes I can! Magic is my talent after all.” She says as we head down, the bed setting down on the basement floor.

“Well, as much as I would love to continue talking, *yawn* I need to get some sleep. See you back at midnight. If you can stay up that long that is.“

“Oh don’t worry, I can stay up longer than that.” I chuckle as I walk up to the bed and lay in it.

*I wonder why she’s doing all of this for me… There’s no way in hell she’s doing just because, there has to be some reason...* I think right before I enter dream land…

I’m in some kind of void, inky blackness as far as the eye can see. This isn’t the first first time I end up here when I clock out. It just means I’m lucid! I snap my fingers and the place is filled with stars, galaxies, star clusters. You get the picture. And one particular galaxy comes up front; the Milky Way. We’ve already started to populate on other Earth-like planets here, the most recent one was the M-17 mission to OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb. Yes, that’s real planet we discovered. Anyway, I was just looking at the stars and galaxies when a voice spoke out.

“Ah, so this is the new present I felt earlier.” I quickly look around and spot a dark blue figure, it gets closer to and it’s another pony. But it looks dramatically different than the ones I’ve seen. It’s, or her if the feminine voice belongs to it, its hair and tail seem to be made up of twinkling stars of the night. With a light blue, and see-through, border. The eyes a teal blue, and it looks like she’s wearing a collar, crown, and what look like shoes, for a pony. All a light blue. “Greetings, new creature. I am Princess Luna.” I’m gonna go ahead and say that most of these ponies are female.

“Ah, you must be one of the princesses Twilight was talking about?” Her eyes widen, I guess she didn’t expect me to respond with Twilight.

“You have already met our subjects?”

*She’s speaking old english, great…* “In a way, yes.”

“And Twilight has already spoken of us to you?” I nod, she chuckles a little. She stops and clears her throat, apparently remembering something. “*ahem* Well, creature,”

“My name’s Ember.”

“I see. Well, Ember, Allow me to be the first to greet to our great country.” She lowers her front half in some kind of bow.

“Um… Thanks?” At this point things are really getting fucking weird. “How do I even know that you’re not a part of my imagination, or a dream?”

“Hasn’t Twilight told you of our ability to enter one’s dreams?” I smack myself in the forehead.

“I really need to start asking questions about this place…” She chuckles a little.

“It seems so.” Just then I remember something.

“Oh! I just remembered! Is it true that you control the rising and setting of the moon and your sister” does the same with the sun?” She nods. “I still have a hard time believing that...”

“Why dous thou not beleive us?” She asks a bit sharply.

“I’m sorry, but I’m from a world where magic like yours does not exist. I come from a world where we have such advanced technology that we can alter our physical form, travel to nearby planets, solar system, make us stronger, smarter, even increase our lifespan if we had the money to do so. You’ll have to excuse me for being a little skeptical about magic in general.” My little rant caught her off guard, if her awed face contributes to that.

“You… Wha… How? A world without magic?” She apparently changed to present english, wierd… “How is that possible?”

“Like I said, we have advanced technology far beyond what you currently have, you make up for by having magic. That’s another thing I’ll have to get used to.” *That’s going to suck, alot...*

“This is… Astounding, to say the least, we will need to go into your species and your, technology, when we meet again.”

“Why can’t you just ask now?”

“I would, but you’re waking up.”

“Huh?

“Until next time, Ember.” She fades away and my vision goes black, I open my eyes and see that Twilight’s right in front of me. Looking at a clipboard, failing to notice me awaken.

*This might be due to her being a scientist, but this is ridiculous.* “Twilight! The fuck are you doing?” That made her jump, nearly four feet to the air. The clipboard drops and she looks to me.

“E-ember! Didn’t expect for you wake up so early!” I scowl at her. “Eehehe..” Her ears fold back and the same light pink tint appears on her cheeks.

“What. Were. You. Doing?” I repeat.

“I… Was just studying you while you slept!” My eyes narrow, I bet that looks a bit terrifying; yellow eyes peering at you in the darkness.

“Is that all?” She nods rapidly, I continue to scowl at her. “I somehow can’t believe you.” I say a little sarcastically. The floor became the object of her affection.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to know everything about you and your species. I guess I got a little too excited.” I get up from the bed and stretch, my flaring and nearly touching each edge of the room. A few popping sounds emanating from my back.

“Isn’t that the understatement of the century...”

“I’m really sorry. I invaded your personal space, and I had not right to.” I look to her, she’s downcast. And I get a certain feeling I haven’t felt in a long time; compassion.

“Hey, it’s ok. As far as I know, you didn't do anything besides look at me, still a weird thing to do, but whatever. No harm done, right?” I look to her expectantly.

“Yes! All I did was… study you, closely...”

“Good! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go outside.”

“Why?” I look at her with a ‘are you shitting me?’ face as I flare my wings.

“Need to exercise my wings, if I don’t they get cramped up, plus I just want to be outdoors.” Kinda had make up the former, doesn't matter if I do that or not. I just want to see what it's like outside.

“Oh! Ok then, I need to go to bed anyway. Goodnight Ember.” She says with a yawn. She walks up the stairs with me following her.

*Thank you for having a tall enough hallway…* I think as I make my way outside. Twilight heads upstairs, we both wave to eachother as I open the door and crawl outside. I close the door and look up, the night sky was filled with stars, more than what you see on Earth, I was left awestruck. “I wasn’t expecting this, but… Wow… this is amazing.” It is! I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s like looking at an image the Hubble Space Telescope took. Accept from the ground and not from a screen. My wings flare as I crouch and jump. My wings flapping effortlessly as I ascend. *This is gonna be an amazing sight!*

Author's Notes:

Note: If you down voted this fic. P Lease tell me why. I do not appreciate those who just down vote it for no reason. So please, just tell me why you did! If you did...

Chapter 3: Nighttime Fun and Frights

*If it’s like this every night, I wouldn’t mind staying here.* It was a sight to behold, all the stars and distant gas clouds. I almost mistook it for a giant painting. I usually enjoyed stargazing back home, but Earth has nothing on this place. I spent the next half hour or so flying around the little town. Watching as some building had lights on. Sometimes I took a closer look to see what they were doing. Other times I would look back up to the sky. It’s kinda hard not to look, I kinda lost track of where I was going. I didn’t notice I wasn’t in Ponyville until I nearly hit a tree. I grind to a halt and look around. I’m in the middle of some forest. Well, more like above it, the trees make it look like a giant canopy. Very few spots to land or take off. In the distance I can see the tallest building of Ponyville. I was about to fly back when I heard a scream.

“HEEELP!” I turn to the general direction I heard it from and rush towards it. I think I’m right where I heard the scream from. “AHHHHH!!” Yep... i’m close. I spot a hole in the tree canopy and land. It’s fucking dark here. *Thank the nanites for night vision.* I think as my eyes adjust to the darkness, well, more like slight darkness now. I hear more screams, I make a mad dash towards the screaming. I clear a shrub and-

A little yellow pony with red hair and tail, surrounded by wolf-like entities, about six of them. They look like they’re made of gnarled wood, some spots covered in leaves, glowing yellow eyes watch the little pony intently. One of those things looks like it’s going to pounce soon.

*What the fuck are you waiting for!? SAVE THE PONY!!* A little voice said. At that point I went feral. I let a screech as I attack the entities; the one closest to me briefly meets with My talon-foot. Probably lobing its head off. I feel this surge of energy flow through me as I take out each one of them. One of them kept their concentration on the little yellow pony. My internal rage skyrocketed. A red tint covers the edges of my vision and my hands feel really warm. I look down and see the my hands are covered a dark grey mist. *Kill it!* I rush and tackle the thing, quickly punching with all my might. It only took one shot to the head to kill it. The yellow from it’s eyes disappear and the body falls to pieces. I look around, and the other thing are staying back. I direct my attention to the little pony. My mind catching up with me.

“Hey, you ok?” The little one flinches, but nods slowly. “Good, lets get you home.” I was just about to go over and pick her up, but on of the bastards pounced me from behind. It dug its teeth into the base of one of my wings, I yelp and throw the thing off. The mist returns and I beat the hell out of it. The sounds of branches snapping fills the air as the thing dies. When I realize it’s I look to the others. They’re cowering from my little display. “Get the fuck out of here!!” They all turn tail and book it. I look back to the little one and calm back down. “Let get you back home before anything else happens.” I walk over to the little one, who is now looking at me with pure fear. “Hey, don’t worry. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“O…ok...” From what I can tell it’s a little girl pony. I need to find out what they call their kin here. She slowly gets up and walks over to me.

“Where do you live anyway?”

“Ah live at mah sisters farm in Ponyville.”

“Alright, wanna fly back there?” *I don’t think asking her what made her come out here is a good idea at the moment...* She looks at me, thinks for a second, and nods. “Alright, c’mere.” I carefully pick her up and hold her like a baby. I was about to take off, but left wing felt like it was on fire, making me grunt in pain. “Guess not.” I forgot, my wing’s limp the whole time. I gently set the little pony back, she has a look of slight disappointment. “Gonna have to get that fixed,” I look around. “I remember Ponyville being that way… I think.” *Might as well go that way.* “C’mon… uh, what’s your name?”

“It’s Applebloom.”

“Nice to meetch’a Applebloom, name’s Ember.”

“Ember?”

“Yeah, I know, I’m not from this place, or this world for that matter.”

“Whaddya mean by that?” I smile as I tell her about where I’m from…

We’ve been walking in the same direction for what feels like forever. At least we’ve been talking up a storm to help pass time. I think that was the only thing keeping her awake. And about Applebloom, she told me a lot about her and her family. She’s apparently Applejack’s And Big Mac’s little sister. She told me who Big Mac was, explained her great grandmother Granny Smith, her extended family. Her little group called ‘The Cutie Mark Crusaders.’ I asked about that and she told me that her and her best friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, haven’t gotten their cutie marks yet. And that they created this, ‘Secret Society’, to help each other get their cutie mark. It also took me a while to get used to those new names and words. I, in turn, told her of my species, technology, and stuff like that. With us talking it made the trip feel shorter. I was explaining how hands work when she shouted.

“Hey! Look!” She points a hoof to something ahead of us. I look and see that there’s an orange light, and that we’re near the edge of the forest.

“Finally! My wing’s killing me!” Cybernetics can only do much, I do have somewhat of a healing factor at least, this whole time the little bots in my body were mending the torn tissue, doesn’t help that it would keep tearing as I walked. I look behind me and see that my wing’s still limp. *Must be just a torn ligament.* I hopped anyway. It hasn’t swollen up and turned purple and green, so it must be that. *I just hope Twilight has something within her, ‘magical capabilities’ that can help heal it.* I’m still having a hard time adjusting to the whole concept of magic. Applebloom makes a mad dash towards the light, I would, but the pain in my wing kept me at a walking pace. I didn’t see or feel any other presence around us so I let her run on ahead. She stops at the edge and notices me still in the forest.

“C’mon Ember! You need tah get outs there!”

“I would be faster if my damn wing wasn’t hurting like a motherfucker.” I went a little quiet at that last part. I pick my pace a little and make it to the light of the outside of the forest. “Huh I was right.” We somehow ended up coming out almost right in front the town. We came out right next to a cottage. It was as bright as fuck, I noticed. I noticed that the sun hasn't risen yet. *!
Dawn, perfect.* I was starting to feel a little sleepy.

“We’re at Fluttershy’s! She’ll be able tah help you with your wing!”

“Fluttershy’s?” She nods happily. “And she can help me with my wing?”

“Yeah! She’s good with help an’ healin’ animals!”

“Perfect then!” We both walk up to the front of the little cozy-looking hovel. Applebloom knocks on the door, he bottom half, and backs up. I loud ‘EEP!’ came from inside and a crashing sound emanated. Then the sound of hooves on woods come from within and get louder. The whole door opened to reveal Fluttershy.

“Oh! It’s only you two...” She breathes a sigh of relief. Applebloom was about to speak, probably about my wing, but the yellow pegasus notices. “Ember! Your wing!”

“Yeah, I know.” I look back to it and notice all the dried up blood coating the base and part of my back. “How come I didn’t notice that before?”

“I was jus’ gonna say that...”

“Hurry Ember! Come inside, I’ll take care of that!” She hovers and gently pushes me inside, into what looks like a living room. She flies off to another room, and returns with a stool. She instructs me to sit on it, which I do while she goes off again. Applebloom took a seat on a couch and just… watched.

“Is that normal in this house?” I assumed Fluttershy lives here, Applebloom nods.

“Yeah, its pretty normal ‘round here.” I nod in understanding, just then Fluttershy comes back, holding what looks like a med kit. She sets it on the nearest table and opens it, pulling out some rags, a bottle, a needle with thread., and some bandages. If there was any skin exposed on my face it’s be fucking pale.

“Ok, I need to clean the wound and stitch it up.” I tried to remain as calm as possible. But a fucking hate needles. Ones the inject you something, and ones like the Fluttershy is holding, medical needles. I would be sweating bullets, if I still could. I just go silent and nod. She flutters over to my back to look at the damage. “Oh my, what happened?”

“I saved Appleboom from a pack of wolf-things in the forest and one of them managed to bite me there.” At that she gasps.

“You fought off a pack of Timberwolves!?” I nod. "Oh, my."

"What?"

"It's just, I've never heard, or seen, anypony take on a pack of timber wolves, and live."

"Oh... Huh... They're called Timberwolves?" I look to Applebloom and she nods. "Why? Are they made of wood or something?" She nods. "That explains why they were easy to kill..."

"You killed them!?" The yellow pegasus shrieked.

"It was more like, I killed about three or four of them and the rest backed off."

"Why did you do that?" I turn my head a hundred and eighty degrees, directly facing her from behind.

"It was either doing what I did, or letting them get to her." I point to Applebloom, and turn my head back around. I think she understood, she just went silent and continued to clean off the dried blood. When she finished that she grabbed the bottle, how do I know this? I fealty some liquid on the wound and a stinging pain. At least it wasn't as bad as I thought.

"Sorry."

"It's alright Fluttershy, it was going to hurt either way." I hear breath another sigh of relieve and go back to the box. I heard some clatter, probably the needle. “That won’t be necessary Fluttershy.”

“Oh! But I need to-” I turn my head around and face her.

“Listen, remember when Rainbow attacked me, and asked how I was faster than her, and I responded with ‘Cybernetics’?” She gulps nervously, but nods. “Well, that means I have small little robots, machines, in my body. And they're healing up the wound, and I just need you to bandage my wing up so they can do their job. After that it’ll take a day or two when it’s fully healed up.”

“R-really?” I nod.

“I don’t mean to scare, Fluttershy. I just needed to tell you that.” I turn back around. I don’t feel or hear anything from behind. “Um, Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes?”

“I think you were going to bandage-up my wing...”

“Oh! Yes! You’re right.” She very gently grasps my wing. “Please say anything if you feel any pain.”

“Got it.” She picks it up, and, very gently, folds it back into place. I felt a little pain. But she did fold it to my back like its supposed to.

“Did I do it right?” She asks in that delicate voice.

“Yes.”

“Ok, good. Umm, Applebloom?” She looks to Fluttershy. “Can you hoof me that roll?” The little one nods and gets off the couch, she walks over the table and gives the roll to Fluttershy. With one hoof holding my wing in place, she grabs the roll with the other. And, probably using her teeth, grabs the end of the fabric. “Um, could you gently hold his wing in place, Applebloom?”

“Alright.” She places a hoof on my back, keeping the end of the fabric in pace, and probably standing on her hind legs, and places her other hoof right where Fluttershy’s was.

“Ok, Ember? Could you hold your arms up?” I do so, She then proceeds to wrap the fabric around my torso. Effectively binding my wing in place. “There, that should be it.” I get up and stretch.

“Thanks FLuttershy, I owe you one. Now as for you.” I turn my attention to Applebloom. “Lets get you back home.” Her eyes widen a little, but she still nods. “I’ll be seein’ ya later Fluttershy.”

“By Ember, Applebloom.” We wave to each other as we leave the little cottage. And follow the path back to Ponyville. We got to the marketplace when realization hit me.

“Applebloom, where do you live?”

We made it to the entrance of the farm where Applebloom, or Ap as she told me to call her, and holy shit there’s a fuck-ton of trees. Apple trees to be exact. The red apple loke enticing… I love apples.

“So, this is it?”

“Yeah...” I see that her ears are folded back and she’s looking down. I decide not to question what’s wrong with her, I have an idea that tells me I shouldn’t. We both walk along the path the apparently lead to her home. The house itself looks like a barn, the iron when there’s an actual barn right next to it. Ap was just about to walk up and go inside when I get an idea.

“Hey Ap,” She looks back to me. “I got an idea, c’mere.” She walks over to me.

“What is it?”

“Lets make a little fun.” I hoist her up and put her atop my head, making her yelp in surprise.

“What the hay!?”

“Hold on to my head.” She wraps her forelegs around my head, and wraps her hind legs around my neck. “I would like to breath...” I croak out.

“Heh... Sorry.” Her hind legs soften their grip on my throat, allowing me to breath easier. “Hey, it’s cool up here!” She giggles in glee. I chuckle and walk up the front door of the house, and knock.

*I wonder how I didn’t hit my head on the porch…* The sound of hooves on wood fills the air as someone, or pony in this case, and every case from here on out, comes to the door. The door opens to reveal a disgruntled looking Applejack, her hat’s missing, hair’s a mess, there are bags under her eyes. She’s a wreck.

“Oh hey Ember, how’d you find out where the farm is?” Apparently she failed to notice Ap on my head.

“Oh I don’t know… Why don’t you ask her?” I point to the little one atop my head. Applejack does so, it takes a minute, but she recognizes who’s on my head. “Applebloom? APPLEBLOOM!!” That hurt. I quickly set Ap down, Applejack sweeps her up in a big hug, Two other ponies peer out from the door, presumably Big Mac and Granny Smith, look to Applejack and Applebloom. Both grin widely, then they notice me…

“Who in the hay are you?” Big Mac, I think, shoots me a scrutinizing glare. I was about to speak but Ap saves my ass.

“He’s Ember, and he saved me from a pack of timberwolves.” At that every… pony, gape at Ap, then me, then back at her. It goes on for a few seconds until Applejack speaks up.

“Ya saved Applebloom a pack o’ timber wolves?” I nodded. “Ah… ah... don’t know what tah say...”

“A simple ‘Thank you’ would do just fine.” Instead she slams her body at me, hugging me as tightly as she cloud, which is nice and all. If her strength was threatening to crush more than my lungs, plus my wing… Yeah… “HHHH!!” I desperately try to pry her off me, it’s no use. “Apple *wheez* Jack, wing *ack*...” I wonder how I’m still standing. The orange pony realizes what she’s doing and lets go, I drop to my knees, coughing, wheezing, and trying to grab my wing. She didn’t move it out of place, some bones were nearly crushed though. “Ow… *cough*”

“Hehe… Sorry Ember, got a little emotional there...”

“It’s… alright… Fuck you’re strong...” She chuckles a bit nervously.

“So you’re the new feller everypony’s been talkin’ ’bout?” By now I’ve already recovered, for the most part.

“Yeah, I’m the new guy in town.”

“Well nice to meetcha then sonny!” The old green mare holds of hoof out, I finally figured out what they call each gender during our walk to this place. I grab and shake her hoof.

“Nice to meet you too, Granny Smith right?” She nods.

“Just call me Granny.”

“Alright, Granny.” She chuckle a bit. I notice that this whole time Big Mac’s been silent.

“Thank you for savin’ my little sis, Ember.” Until now. “Nice ta meet you too.”

“Anytime, Big Mac right?” He nods. “Yeah, Applebloom’s been telling me about your family.” I think Applejack finally noticed the bandages I’m sporting.

“Ember! What in the hay happened to ya!?” She points to them.

“Oh that, I thought I fought those things off, but one of the little bastards manage to bite me at the base of my wing. Probably got a torn muscle...” At that they gasp. “But don’t worry about it, I’ll be flyin’ in not time.”

“You sure yer gonna be able ta fly again?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” Big Mac answers for her.

“Last time somethin’ like this happened, poor fella was never able ta fly again.” That was a little unsettling, to say the least.

“Oh...” I shake my head. “Applejack, remember when Rainbow attacked me yesterday, and that I said ‘cybernetics’ when she got frustrated?” She nodded. “That means I have tiny little machines in my body, you know what I mean by machines, right?”

“Ah think ah do, they’re like… Robots, right? I heard somethin’ like that from Twilight once.”

“Perfect, imagine a tiny versions in my body, healing my wing up.” That got them to gape, again. They stay like that for a few minutes. I decide to wave a hand in front of Applejack’s face. It doesn’t work, I think I broke them… *Fuck...* “I guess I’ll, just… go.” I walk off without another word. “They’ll eventually recover. I hope...” I leave the farm and make my way back to Twilight’s place…

I’m still getting looks from the ponies of this town, not any scrutinizing glares and angry glares, just curious glances. I guess this town works with quite acceptance. I even heard a few foals ask what I am, and their respective parents would give them reasonable answers. From what I’ve heard, like, “I don’t know,” and “Why don’t you go ask him, I’ve heard he’s really nice.” I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but I just take as a compliment. This particular moment, a little foal decided to come up to me, probably to ask me something like that. I didn’t notice the little one until it tapped my leg, as I was walking…

“Hm?” I turn to my side and see the little colt, he has a white coat with brown spots, one spot right over his eye. Brown mane and tail with a lighter brown streak through it. “What is it?” I ask as nicely as I can. He seems surprised, probably didn’t expect me to respond like that.

“Uh… Sorry for bothering you, I just wanted to ask you something.” I smile inwardly and squat down.

*I know nothing of this… foal, but I like him already.* “What question would that be then?”

“Um… What, are you? I’ve never seen anything like you...” I crack a smile.

“I am a human, well, what’s left of one anyway...”

“What do you mean with that?” I’ve always envied children with their thirst for knowledge.

“Well, I was a full human. But I had my look changed, permanently.”

“How?”

“Ever heard of robots?”

“Yes.”

“Well, someone put tiny versions of them in me to change how I look, and now look like this.” I wave a hand over myself, his eye go wide, a huge smile taking his face.

“Really!?” He’s practically jumping in place. Kinda like Pinkie…

“Really.” I say with a smile. He runs off back to his parents, I stand back up and continue walking…

I make it to Twilight’s place in no time. I knock on the door and almost immediately the door swings open, nearly hitting me. A little disgruntled purple and green dragon looks up to me, which soon turns to fear.

“T-t-t. TWILIGHT!!” That hurt, a little. I hear Twilight running within the house, quickly appearing at the little drake’s side.

“What is it Spike?” She looks like she hasn’t slept in days. “Ember! You’re back!” She pulls me in with her… magic… Making me bend backwards, hitting my chest, neck, and chin on the door frame. To say that stars were in my vision for a second was a blessing. It was another that my neck didn’t snap. As soon as the pink mist dissipates I grab my everything.

“God fucking dammit! That fucking hurt!” I say while laying on the ground.

“What?” Twilight was blissfully unaware of how much she hurt me. All it took was a hard glare from me and she realized what she did. “Ohmigosh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to!” It seems some external force, or whatever deity watching, likes to see me in pain a lot.

“Whatever Twilight, just try not to do that again, ever.” I get back up, rubbing my sore chest and chin. “Why did you even do that? And why do you look like you haven’t sleep for days?”

“I was worried, you didn’t come back at dawn, and I thought you got lost, or something terrible-” She notices my bandages. “What in Tartarus happened to you!?”

“I got bit while saving Applebloom from a pack of timber wolves. You know who she is right?”

“Yes I know who she is! And you fought off a pack of timber wolves!?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“And you’re wing! What happened!?”

“One of them managed to bite the base of my wing, don’t worry about it though. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

“Really?” She has a look suggesting skepticism.

“Did I tell you about the robots yet?”

“What do robots have to do with you?”

“Yes, I am wondering that as well.” A new voice pipes up from behind.

Author's Notes:

Why do my words lose their meaning..?

Chapter 4: The Grand Tour

I spin in place and I get to be face-to-face with the tallest pony I’ve seen so far. All I see are two magenta eyes, fur white as snow, and the bottom of some head garment poking in from above.

“Ah, you must be Princess Celestia. Am I correct?” She stays still. I back up to give both of us breathing space.

“Yes. And you must be Ember. It’s a pleasure to finally see you in person.”

*Shouldn’t it be ‘in pony’?* “I can say the same, you are more breathtaking than Twilight has described you.” It’s true, we were just about eye level, mayb me a little taller. She had both wings and horn, a cascading mane and tail. Which looked to be caught in an eternal wind. The mane and tail themselves are colored pink, lime green, and light blue. But with four streaks. At my little remark, Celestia blushes, I can barely see little ovals of the lightest pink I’ve ever seen. I think I only noticed though…

“Thank you.” She clears her throat. “I am surprised by your appearance as well. Twilight hadn’t given an as accurate description in her letter.”

“Letter?” I look to Twilight questionably, she’s smiling sheepishly.

“When you didn’t come back at dawn, I sent a letter to Princess Celestia.” She would’ve continued, but I held up a hand, she didn’t need to.

“I get the gist Twilight. Although… I don’t get why you’re so worried about my well-being, I barely know you, and you barely know me.”

“Well, it’s because I consider you my friend!” She gives me a warm smile, as you can imagine, I didn’t understand.

“What?”

“I said I consider you my friend!” She’s says with a big smile. I don’t know why, but that felt… weird. It felt warm, something I haven’t felt in a while.

*Why would she call me a friend? We barely know each other…* I feel something wet on my eyes, and it feels like a void in my very being is beginning to fill up.

“Ember? Are you ok?” Fuck, I must be tearing up.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wipe the liquid from my eyes. “Just fine now.” My little moment is interrupted by a growling noise, coming from my gut. “Oh yeah! I haven’t eaten at all yet...” *I wonder how it didn’t dawn on me sooner…*

“Oh! That’s right, I could get Spike to-” A knock on the front door cut Twilight off. “Who could that be?” She walks over to the door and opens it. Revealing Applejack. “Applejack?”

“Hey Twi, I was jus’ wonderin where Ember is. Oh there ya are! Mind if we come in Twi?”

“Not at all Applejack.” Twilight responds, she backs up to let Applejack in, she’s followed by Ap, Granny, and lastly, Big Mac. And he’s pulling a cart filled with food with him, as soon as I see that I almost made a beeline toward it. I’m fucking hungry.

“Greetings Applejack and family.” I wonder why Celestia’s been quiet this whole time.

“Princess Celestia!?” All four of them shout, then quickly bow.

“There’s no need to be formal with me right now, my little ponies.” They all get back up.

“Ok Princess. What are you doing here?” Twilight answers.

“I sent her a letter because I thought Ember went missing.” She says rather sheepishly.

“Oh. Did he tell yah that-” Twilight interrupts the orange mare.

“Yes, he told me. He saved Applebloom from a pack of timberwolves.”

“That is a remarkable feat, for a being like yourself.” Celestia chimes in, I can’t tell whether to take that as a compliment, or an insult.

“Thank you.” *Since she’s one of the ruling diarch of this… whatever this place is called, might as well give her my upmost respect…*

“Anyway,” Applejack continues, I wonder if she has a nickname everyone uses… “We wanted tah thank yah for savin’ Applebloom, so we brought yah our homemade apple smorgusbaord!” She waves a hoof over the apple-based goods.

“Really?” My mouth starts to water. “I can have all of this?” She nods.

“Yep, all your-” I let out a happy screech as I rush to the cart, I immediately start to inhale the different foods and pastries on it. And holy fucking SHIT it was beyond delicious! I’ve never had any baked goods that tasted as good as these. Combine that with the fact that I fucking love apples and I was in gastronomical heaven. After what only felt like seconds, I ate all of it. I stepped back and patted my distended belly.

“That, had to be the best meal I’ve ever had. Thank you.”

“Ah didn’t expect you would eat all of it, you have quite the appetite sugarcube.”

“Heh…” I yawn. “Yeah, sorry if that was a bit disgusting...”

“It’s ok Ember, you said yourself you haven’t eaten in a while.”

“It’s quite understandable, Ember.” Celestia chimes in. I yawn again.

“Thank you, now if you’ll excuse me, I need a friggin’ nap.” I head to Twi’s basement to rest for the next four hours…

I wake up and somehow Twi’s not in my personal space this time. Another blessing, I can barely hear some conversation from upstairs. Being the eavesdropping prick that I am, I listen in.

“I just don’t understand, why would he have dark magic, and our magic? It just doesn't make sense!” Twi’s talking with someone.

“This is why you must never tell him what dark powers he holds, for it could dire consequences, only teach him our magic. Can I trust you with this Twilight?”

“You can count on me Princess, as your most faithful friend and student.”

*Dark magic? Your magic? What the fuck are you two talking about, and why the fuck haven’t I moved away yet? Oh right, I need to find a job here, or something. I need to get out of here ASAP.* Just then a light bulb goes off in my head. *I can live in the trees! of the other forest, I think they call it… White Tail Woods… something like that… I could make a home there. I could live in a fcuking tree!* I have done this before, I had to hide in a tree from two months, hiding from a group of people, hell bent on killing me. They were a humanist group that despised people like me. Even though I really had no choice about it. Anyway! I get up from my sudo room, which is near pitch-black, and make my way to the main floor. As I near the top of the staircase I hear hushed whispers that go away as I get onto the main floor. “Well, I see that I wasn’t out for long.”

“Yes, you were only in there for five hours.” Twi retorts.

“That’s actually pretty normal, I learned a trick a while back that allows me to have little sleep, but be fully functional.” *Chronic insomnia.* I look around and notice it’s only Twi and Celestia. “What I’m wondering is; how have you two managed to talk for five fucking hours.” *No swears in front of royalty!!*

“Oh, we were just talking about, you know; girl stuff.” Twi smile widely. I look to Celestia, who only gives me the most blank face I’ve ever seen. I look back to Twi, who’s failing horribly to hide that thing about magics.

“You ponies, except for Celestia, are horrible at hiding secrets. I dont even know what you’re hiding. Yet I want to know.”

“Hey!” Celestia chuckles.

“And what makes you better at hiding secrets than my loyal subjects?” Celestia asks, I need to make a nickname for her too...

“At least I know how to keep a straight face. And back on my planet I was known for being a liar.” This is fucking true…

“Oh? Well prove it then.” I think she meant me making up a lie.

*Time for some fun, with a princess! Fuck that sounded wrong…* “I eat meat and vegetables. Sometimes animals if I feel mad enough.” That made both of them widen their eyes. I made the last part up, they look at me, trying to find any fault on my face. Twi was the first to give in.

“I can’t tell whether you made that up or not.”

“I have to agree with you Twilight, neither can I.” I snicker.

“I wasn't lying about the first bit, I am omnivore. I was lying about the last bit, I don't eat live food.” I can only imagine how creepy that sounds, especially when I think that they’re herbivores. And the two ponies in front of me have faces of pure horror. “What!? It’s not like I’m going to eat ponies! I’m not that heartless. I just said that.” I don’t think that helped. “Listen; I will not hurt anypony unless I’m provoked. There is no reason for to lie about this, and I will die before I hurt another single individual for no, good, reason.” I think that reassured them, somewhat…

“I see that you're telling the truth Ember, I trust that will not harm my loyal subjects.” Celestia has calmed down a bit, she stand up and walks over to me. “Because if you do, I will not hesitate to send you to the moon.” My eyes widen, then I smirk.

“Heh, think I had the idea you were a pushover. To see that you radiate power, and ear yet gentle, it both scares and amazes me. I have a feeling we’ll get along juuust fine.” Me and her smile to each other.

“I agree.” We both chuckle.

“Um… What are you two talking about?” Twilight’s inquisitive it seems.

“Celestia was just saying if I hurt you, or anypony, she’ll send me to the moon.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“It is nothing you need to worry about Twilight.” She walks to the front door. “I’m afraid I have to tend to royal duties.” Hah! Duty, duuuuty. It’s a funny word. “I will see you another time Twilight, and Ember. I look forward to the next time we meet.” She gives me a look before she steps outside, and promptly flies off to… wherever the fuck she goes to for royal duties. Heh, duty…

“That was nothing short of unexpected.”

“You have that right Ember.” Twilight said. We stand there in silence until I clap my hands.

“Whelp I think I might as get used to this place, since it may as well be my new home. Mind giving me the grand tour?” She nods eagerly.

“Perfect! I just happen to have spare time today.” Her expression darkens. “But, I will find a way to get you back home.”

“Eh… Don’t worry about Twilight, to be honest; I’d rather spend the rest of my life here.”

“What? Why?”

“For a number of reason; One: I get a new start. Two: I’m already starting to be accepted by the locals-” Twi looks like she about to speak, but refrained from it. “Three, which probably is my favorite: I get to be myself, something I wasn’t able to do ever since… this.” I gesture to my body with a hand.

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you were to compare my society to yours, you’d probably find that humans aren’t really accepting, as a group anyway...”

“Really?” I nod.

“But that’s why I like it here so far! yesterday I was walking back here and a little colt came up to me and asked what I was. But not out of fear, out of curiosity.” Twi adopts a look saying ‘Please go on!’.

“What did look like?”

“He had a white coat with brown spots-”

“Oh! That’s Pipsqueak! He’s always been so inquisitive.” She says with a look of fondness.

“Pipsqueak?” *What is up with these ponies and their names?* Twi nods slowly. “Huh… Anyway, I think we got off track enough, I really want to see this town.” Twi regains her look of excitement.

“Oh course lets get to it then!” And with that, she leads me through the town known as Ponyville…

It’s more like a big village… The only reason they get to call it a town is the big town hall in the center of the whole place. Other than that, I like it! Even though the architecture is greatly primitive compared to humans,But I just have this...feeling throughout my very being, saying I should stay here, that I might like it here. By now Twi’s taken me to every part of this town, lecturing me about it’s history. The housing, the market, their government type. And even though it’s a diarchy, it works a lot like a democracy.Pretty fucking weird, I thought Celestia and Luna were just symbols of this country, until Twi told me that they actually take charge like two queens. But they highest rank here is princess. This is all sounding like a kids cartoon… Adventure Time maybe? The princesses there are similar to Celestia and Luna. I was broken out of my train of thought when Twi spoke up.

“So… what do... you think... Ember?” Oh yeah… I had to every so often to let Twi catch her breath. With their high barley to the top of my stomach with her horn, it’s not surprising my pace is much faster than theirs.

“About the town right?” She nods. “It’s very… Quaint. Yeah, that’s it.”

“Qu… quaynt?”

“Quaint: An attraction to unusual or old-fashions things.” Twi adopts a defensive look.

“‘Old-fashioned’? These buildings have been erected with the most current form of architecture!” I wonder how she recovered that quickly.

*HA! Erection…* Unintentional innuendos… How funny it is… “I’m sorry, you must remember that I’m from a world where builds are hundreds of stories high, housing is much more efficient, and technology far beyond your comprehension!”As I spoke, my tone slowly turned a little threatening. Twi’s ear fold back and her cheeks turn a light pink as I spouted my little rant. “You keep forgetting that Twilight. You simply need to remember that.”

“Sorry.”

“Eh… Don’t worry about it. If I met a new sapient species that had for superior tech, but had no proof to it, I’d forget a lot too. That, I’m kinda forgetful.” Twi looks up to me, a small smile on her face.

“You know? You’re more forgiving than I thought Ember. Ever since that whole fight with Rainbow, and that little talk you had with her. I had the impression you weren’t very nice.”

“Ah, you saw that. I only do that to people that really piss me off. And your friend just happen to do that when you were dragging along the ground. Speaking of which, why were you dragging me along the ground?” Twi looks down, the dirt ground becoming her object of affection.

“I was planning to take you to my home and study you, then question you...”

“Aren’t you doing that already?”

“Well, yes… But-”

“Then you got nothing to be ashamed of, accept that you were taking me, unconscious by the the way, to some building I’ve never been in before. Just to study and question me. Doesn’t sound weird at all!” I laugh a little at her expense. “And even thought that was the worst first impression to date, I still like it there.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I just gave my reasons...” She scowls.

“What other reasons do you have?”

“Ok. I like how every… pony, knows each other, how everypony’s friendly to each other.” *Although I’m pretty sure there are some bad apples here… and it’s all some kind of ruse...* I get close to Twi. ”Plus, all the ponies here are cute looking.” I whisper into her ear. I stand back watch as her face turns light pink and her ears fold back. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

“W-what?”

“Yeah, cute. Not, ‘Hey come with me and fuck’ cute, more like, ‘new born puppy cute’. Especially you.” I wonder how none of these ponies have overheard that part. We’re kinda in a busy part of the town. Twi was about to say something, but she looks at something behind me. I turn around and see that four… mares, are walking towards us.Two of them being that green mare and yellow mare. The other two are new, one has a white coat with electric blue and light blue striped mane and tail, peuple lensed-black rimmed glasses resting her muzzle. The other’s a dull grey coat with a slightly black mane and tail. I collar with a bow tie at the base of her neck. Man Ap really helped me out with naming parts of their bodies. The white mare looks like she parties all the time, her head bobbing to some beat as she walks. The mare to her side looks to be the total opposite. She has a refined, high-class air around her. A neutral look on her face. My brain goes to overdrive, going to fight-or-flight mode. They stop a few feet in front of me.

“See? I told you! Humans do exist!” The light green mare pipes up.

“Lyra...” The yellow mare has a tired look. The other two look at me curiously, well, the grey mare does. Can’t really tell what the white one’s thinking. Those glasses cover almost half her face.

“You were right this time Lyra, but this doesn’t look like the, ‘humans’ you described.” I decided to insert myself into the conversation.

“I am a human.” When I spoke the white and grey mares jump.

“Woah you can talk!? Awesome!” The white mare has a giddy look.

“I…I didn’t expect you to respond...”

“Bet you didn’t think I was intelligent like you, right?” A small blush forms on her cheeks. I snort. “But don’t worry about it though, I’m expecting to get that a lot.” I glance back at Twi, she puts on a strained smile. “Anyway, why are you all here? Besides the obvious.” I look pointedly at Lyra. It’s amazing how I learn these weird names so quickly…

“I said I was sorry...” She droops.

“And I accepted your apology. Anyway, name’s Ember.”

“I’m Sweetie Drops, but everypony, calls me Bon Bon.” The yellow mare spoke first. She held out her hoof. Taking the hint, I shook it. Next was the grey mare.

“I am Octavia Melody. Pleased to meet you.”

“Likewise.” I never liked snooty-types, but she seems to mean well. Well, for a mare that hangs out with ponies like these- Why am I comparing human stereotypes to ponies? Odd… Anyway, the white mare’s last.

“Name’s Vinyl Scratch, or my stage name Dj-p0n3.” That was fucking weird, I heard the correct pronunciation of it, but In my head I read Dj-p0n3. Not Dj-pony. This place just keeps getting weirder by the fucking hour.

“Nice to meetcha! You’re a dj?” Obviously stupid question I know.

“Yeah! I make my own music too.”

“Really? What kind?”

“Mostly electronic. Y’know, all the wubs.” She then makes ‘wub wub’ sounds. I think she’s trying to impersonate a speaker… Weird...

“Awesome! Maybe I should come to your next gig. I love that kinda music.” I smile widely as Vinyl nods happily while still making those sounds. I look back to Octavia, I can barely see it, slight disgust with wanting to say something. “You look like you want to say something? What is it?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

“I am a musician too.” She looks to Vinyle. “But not, that, kind.”

*Fucking knew it.* “What instrument do you play?” She puts on a small smile.

“I play the cello.”

“Ah, a fine instrument. Do you play solo, or with a group.” By now she has a soft smile on her face.

“It varies. Most of the time I play alone. And more often than not, I receive requests to play in an orchestra.”

“Interesting, maybe I should go see you play some time.” Her eyes widen.

“Really?” I nod.

“I may not seem like it, but I do enjoy a fair bit of refined music every once in a while.”

“That is… surprising...” I smirk a little.

“Yeah, I get that a lot. But I’m afraid I have to go, later!” I turn around walk off, waving to the mare behind me. Twi’s just standing there, mouth wide open. “Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies like that.” Her mouth closes with a click.

“How...?”

“What?”

“How are you able to do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“You changed from very... dynamic, to very proper.”

“Oh! Well, have you ever met a pony, or sapient being, that had a medical condition causing them to have mood swings?” She shakes her head.

“I can’t say I have.”

“You’re looking at the first one then.” At that her pupils shrink.

“Reall? You have this… medical condition?” I nod. “Then how are you able to control it from what I saw?”

“Cyber- robots Twilight. They help me with more than just healing my body.” She stay frozen as I look around. “You want to continue our little tour? I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen this whole town yet...”

Chapter 5: A new Friend

Twi did eventually break from her stunned stupor and continued the tour. She lead me to the what’s left to show; the restaurant area. And while they have some high-end establishments. But one in particular caught my eyes. It looked like a giant gingerbread house, topped with a giant cupcake. As soon as I saw the saw the place I had to hold myself back from taking a bite out of it.

“THat right there is Sugarcube Corner, and it’s a bakery. I should also add that Pinkie works here as a backer” I see her giving me a look from the corner of my vision. “You want to try it?”

“YES!” Goddammit, I’m feeling a kid, I love and hate it. Twi snickers and takes me inside the bakery. Once inside the smell of freshly baked cookies, cakes, and other pastries fill my senses, and I get a few looks from the other ponies. “Alright, if I spend the rest of life on this planet, I officially wouldn't mind it.” Twi smiles. She instructed me to take a seat while she got… whatever she’s gonna get at the back counter. Then it hits me. *Why the fuck is she so nice!? Or ANY of these... ponies, for that matter. They keep the feeling of… general friendship, yet they act so much like my own kind. I need to get the bottom of this…* I can hear Twi talking to whoever was behind the counter. *There must some reason they’re like this to me…* I failed to notice Twi coming towards me as I was caught up in my thoughts. I was broken out of my train of thought when she cleared her throat. “Huh?” I look from wherever I was looking to Twi. She’s holding two delicious-looking bright pink cupcakes in her magical grasp. Me, deciding to act stupid… “What is that?” I’m a little ashamed for asking that.

“These, are Pinkie Pie’s special cupcakes.”

“What are they special for? Having too much frosting?” She giggles.

“That, and too much sugar.” Quickly snatch one cupcake from the purple mist. Much to Twi’s surprise.

“How did you do that!?” The whole place goes quiet and everypony looks at our table. “Hehe… Sorry.” Some ponies snort, and everypony goes back to whatever they were doing.

“Do you yell a lot?”

“No I don’t!” Everypony looks back to us. She clams up.

“Yes, you do. Anyway, I have no idea how I did… whatever I did.”

“You grabbed that cupcake from my magical hold.”

“You make it sound like it’s impossible.”

“It is, nopony’s ever been able to do that. Ever.”

“Then it must mean that I have some kind of… magical resistance?”

“That’s right actually...” I shrug.

“Eh… At this point, I know just as much as you when it comes to my… ‘magic’.” *Exceptt that time with the timberwolves, I have no idea what that was…* “And I think I can use magic.” I take an experimental bite out of the cupcake. My eyes widen. It was the most delicious cupcake I have eaten, ever. Mouth felt like a fuking party at full swing. My brain went blank and I adopted a blank look. I couldn’t think, move, or react at how amazing it was, except stuff the rest of thing down my throat. When I’m done I lick my fingers clean. “Ok, before we continue; I’ve had many backed god and things like that, but I have never, ever, eaten a cupcake that good before. EVER. Does Pinkie make ‘em?”

“Yes she does.”

“I am definitely coming here a lot when I get a job, and money.” Look to Twi. “Ok, continue.”

“Ok… You said you think you can use magic. Care to elaborate?” I nod.

“When I first woke up here, and was… ‘playing’ with Rainbow, I felt something flow through my body. I felt powerful. I still do, but not as much as before. That’s why.” Twi puts a hoof to her chin.

“Hm… just what princess Celestia said.” She mutters to herself, I don’t think I was supposed to hear that. But I did, at least I’m slowly getting more clues as to what they’re going to do with me. “Um… Ember, I need to… make a request.” I raise a brow, or feather at this point.

“What is it?”

“I need you to come with me so I can conduct a few test on your magic.” I chuckle.

“Yea- no.” Her eye twitches.

“And why not?” I give my ‘are you shitting me?’ look.

“This morning.”

“What?” I continue to look at her, it takes Twi a minute, but remembers that little event. Her cheeks turn a light pink and she looks down. “Oh...”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.” She picks her head back up.

“But it won’t be awkward this time. I promise!” She nearly shouts.

“I think we should take this outside before you get us thrown out for yelling a lot.” She shoots me a look of annoyance.

“Fine.” WE both get up and walk outside. “Like I said, it won’t be awkward this time. It’ll be different.”

“What will be different this time? Besides me being awake?”

“We’ll ask each other questions about any subject. And we’ll stop any time it gets uncomfortable.”

“And what tests will, ‘we’, be doing?” I’m still having issues with this.

“Just some experiments to find out if you can use magic, and for what area of magic you can do.”

“.... Alright, fine.” Do I really have a choice? I can tell she would bother the fuck out of me if I decline, and I’m living with her at the moment. I really don’t. When I agreed with her she grinned widely and a squeaking noise came from nowhere.

“Perfect! Come on!” She grabs me with her magic and drags me to her house.

“Knew I should’ve said no...” I mutter under my own breath…

Twi lead me to her house, and down the stairs into the basement, where I currently sleep. When I asked why we were down here she said, “I have most of equipment here.” and I chalked it up as ‘Equipment to study shit’. She turned on some of the machines and they whirred to life. It all just reminds me of all those Youtube videos and movies that made fun of old tech. I’m gonna miss all that tech we had… By now Twi’s levitating a clipboard in front of her, and I’m sitting on my bed.

“Alright, I’m going to start with a simple scanning spell.”

“Scanning what?”

“It’s a spell that lets me look at your anatomy and magic reserves, if you have any.”

“Just get it over with.” I can tell she’s getting a little annoyed at my attitude, but I can care less. She’s the one who made the bad first impression, not me. Next thing I know I’m surrounded by a purple mist, and I feel something flow through me, just like before, and I wanted more of it. It stayed so I decided to look around the room again, only this time I saw an outline, making a rectangular shape, and it looked, and felt, like something was inside, whatever it was, it was drawing me to it. Just then the mist quickly went away. Twi’s expression went from annoyed, to surprised, then cautious. This whole I was watching her, and she failed to notice that. “What?” She jumps.

“What?”

“Is there something wrong with me? The faes you were making weren’t… Pleasant.”

“Oh! That! Um… You seem to have a lot of magic inside of you. More than the average unicorn.”

“More than the average unicorn? That’s weird, if it’s supposed to mean that I’m really powerful.”

“You… kind of are. The amounts of magic within your body rivals my own.”

“Cool!” Now I’m getting a little excited, I just want to see what I can do with this new magic of mine. “I want to see what I can do with this magic, anything in here I can test one?” I look around the room. Twi snorts and she levitates a beaker from a shelf.

“One basic magic ability is levitation. Try levitating this glass beaker, and try not to drop it.” She set the beaker on the floor. “Oh, and try to use a part of your body to channel the magic through, it allows you use it to full effect.” She taps her horn.

“I get it, but… How do even concentrate on my magic in the first place?” *How the fuck are you expecting me to know how to ‘channel magic’ when I’ve never ucking used it?*

“Just imagine the beaker in your head, and when you feel the magic flowing through you, focus it on some part of your body, try your hands first.”

“Got it.” I do just that, I close my eyes, create a mental image of the entire room, and focus on the beaker. I feel the magic flow like Twi and focused it to my hands. I can feel it going to my hands as the beaker floats. My eyes open to reveal the beaker floating in mid-air, covered by the same grey mist from the timber wolf incident. Just not as strong. “I’m doing it. Holy shit. I’m using magic.” At that point I’m bound excited, awestruck is more like it. I shale to collect my thoughts. And I saw that I was holding my hand out. I turn it so the palm was facing up, and I curled my fingers up, bringing the beaker closer to me. “Just in the fucking movies!” I’m basically filled with childlike amazement. To say I was elated is an understatement. I gently put the beaker back to the floor with one, smooth, motion of my hand. As soon as the grey mist disappears a purple mist covers it, as it goes back to its rightful place on a shelf.

“Good, good… Now… try teleportation.”

“You can teleport with magic?” Still having a hard time believing, and accepting, all of this.

“Yes,” Twi nods “just think of where you want to go, and focus your magic like before. Try teleporting to the main room upstairs.”

“Yes ma’am.” I say in a mock tone. I do what she said, created an image of the room, felt and focused the magic flow. All-of-a sudden, I felt my stomach lurch as my surrounding changed. I also felt a burning sensation at my backside. I look back and down and saw that my tail feathers were on fire. “Whoa shit!” I quickly grab them and pat the fire out. “Now It have burnt feathers...” Just then the black disappears as the burnt feathers regrow to their original size. “Thank you Twilight. I needed all that extra sugar.” I then hear a combination of hoof-steps with foot steps. Hoof-steps from downstairs, and footsteps from upstairs.

“Twilight? Is that you?” A small, boyish came from upstairs. The thumping gets louder as the same little dragon from before comes into view, it looked like he was resting, or something. We lock eyes and he freezes. We stay like that for a few seconds. “Hey, you’re that… thing, from before.”

“Yeah, and it Ember, not-” Twi comes up from the hall downstairs.

“Oh hey Spike! You’re back!” We both look at her.

“Thank you misses obvious.” We say at the same time. “That was weird.” We did it again. “We did it again!” And again.

“But seriously, who, and what, are you?” The newly named dragon asks.

“Name’s Ember, and I’m a human.”

“Oh! So YOU’RE the new guy everypony’s been talking about!”

“I’m what everybody’s talking about? What have they been saying.” My tones turns a little flat, and serious.

“Not much, just that you’re a new creature. And some say that you’re a monster, and others say you’re really nice. OH! I just remembered.” He rushes down the rest of the stairs. Surprisingly not falling down. “It it true you saved Appleboom from a pack of timber wolves?” I nod.

“Yeah, it is. That’s where I got that things from.” I gesture to the bandages.

“Really? What happened?”

“One of those little bas- buggers managed to bite me at the base of my wing, tearing the muscle. I’m probably mostly healed up by now.”

“That awesome!”

“Yeah-” Twi cuts in.

“That’s enough you two, Spike needs his sleep. It’s getting late.” I look outside a window, it shows the sun resting over the horizon, and it’s getting lower.

*How is the sun visibly getting lower!?*

“Twilight, I think we really need to do that question thing.”

“Tomorrow Ember, I’m pretty sleepy myself.” She lets out a big yawn, trying and failing to over it with a hoof. “Night Ember.”

“Night Twilight.” I head back to my temporary room, the basement. *Perfect.* I make my way downstairs to the basement. Leaving the lights on, I go to the thinly lined out rectangle in the wall. *Now to find out what this is… Maybe I can push it?* I walk over to it and do so, and surprisingly, it gives, making rock grinding against rock sounds. I hear a click and the birck move on its own, it sinks into the wall deeper. I can barely see it moving it to the side and something slide forward, a glint showing through the darkness. I step back A little as a little platform. Just out of the wall. It reveal a small grey and red medallion. At least, that’s what it looks like. It’s triangular in shape a union at the top-middle, wings flared on each side. An actual triangle acting as the base for the unicorn with wings, and the red gem inserted in the middle. *So this is what was drawing me to it…* I get closer to the little platform and slowly grab the medallion. As soon as I make contact, I feel raw power run through my very being. I jump back out of shock. I look at my hand, then the medallion, and back to my hand.

*Don’t know what that was, but it felt… Good…* I grab the medallion and examine it. And again I feel a massive amount of power flowing. *Does this really hold that much magical power?* I suddenly get this feeling, like what you feel after someone says yes after a really serious question. *I guess that means yes. I wonder if I should put it on…* And it may also have some form of sentience. Maybe… The thing happens to have a metal chain acting as a necklace. I put it on, as soon as it rests on my chest it sinks into me. A red glow emanates from my chest as warmth encases my entire body. It feels like I’m laying on clouds, and I’m loving it.. The feeling lasts for a few seconds, even my vision tints red a little. “That felt… awesome.” I give my body a look over. “I wonder if anything changed.” I check out every part of my body, nothing. “Looks like nothing, maybe my face… I need a mirror.” I feel a surge as a full body mirror appears in front of me, encased in a red mist for a second. “And it looks like this medallion’s gonna help me out big time.” I look at the mirror, more specifically my eyes. They changed from a bright yellow to a semi-bright red. “Hm… I wonder if anypony’s gonna notice that… Or if I can change it back to their original color...” A surge of magic later and my eyes are back to their original color. “Thanks.”

I snap my fingers and the mirror disappears. “Wow. I fucking love this thing.” I look down. “Just wonder why it sunk into my body. Probably to hide itself, but why hide in the first place... Meh...” *I just want to have fun with my new powers!* I feel a pulse of excitement. *Looks like I’m not the only one. Lets go! To the Everfree!* I snap my fingers and my stomach lurches again, though not as bad as the first time. “Gonna have to get used to that.” I feel another surge and magic flows to my mid-section. “Or not, man I really love this thing.” I look around, I’m in some clearing within the forest. By now the sun’s complete gone, letting the moon fill the sky with its brilliant night. “Dammit, I wish my wing wasn’t fucking damaged.” Warmth flowed from… somewhere, and into my wings. They feel powerful. I stretch them and the one covered in bandages breaks free, the sounds of fabric ripping fills the air. The tattered bandages fall to the floor and I take a look at my wings. “Holy shit!” *They got a muscle upgrade! I fucking love this thing!! I wonder if it can that to my whole body...* No surge, no warmth… What the fuck? I shrug. *Must only apply to damaged body parts… That’ll be useful!* A wave of happiness washes over me. *And I’m really going to get along with this thing.* I think excitedly. A roar sounds out from my right.

“The hell was that?” Another roar sounds out, it may have been my morbid sense of curiosity, but I decided to go see what was happening. It took me a minute, but I managed to quietly get through the foliage. Even though I still made a shit-ton of noise. Whatever was attacking something didn’t hear, thank the universe. When I made it to where the noises were coming from, I stumbled across a particularly weird and sad sight, I’m really fucking thankful for night vision. A huge lion-looking thing was looming over the cowering form of some kind of pony-

*What the fuck are those things!?* The big lion-thing was wings, and a scorpion tail. I have no fucking clue what that is. The little foal-looking thing looks like a bug and a pony bumped uglies, and that was what came out. Looks like a bug pony; black, shiny skin. Weird, grey eyes, a big grey stop on its back. It even has both wings and a horn, but the horn is all gnarled, it is this time that I notice that it has holes in its legs. *How is it not bleeding out?* I put that thought aside, right now I have to do something, I think… Yeah, the big fuckers gonna kill it.

“Heeelp mmeee!” The bug-thing buzzes out. Just like how a bee would talk, if they can. That little shout was enough to get me feral again, this time with the help of the medallion. It covered my hands in a thick, red mist. Shaping it to look like massive claws.

*Just in case…* I let out another primal screech as I burst from the foliage and slam myself into the lion thing, sending the thing sprawling across the ground. It then slammed into a tree, it quickly got up and looked in my direction. When we locked eyes it roared again, then charged at me. I sidestepped and barely dodged it, while at the same time letting my new claws rake across the big thing’s side, it howled in pain as it stopped and fell to its side. I think I sliced one of wings off when I did that. Yeah, I did, didn’t mean to do that. I look at the big lion-thing; it’s side has four large cuts bleeding profusely. Any human being would vomit at this sight. Not me, or anyone who’s a world war three veteran for that matter. We were too young for that shit…

Anyway! Moving on! I saw that the mountain of orange-red fur wasn't going anywhere. So I went over to the now terrified bug-pony… thing. When it sees me looking at it, it freezes. The magic claws go away and I return back to normal.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I take a step closer to it, it stands up and steps back. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” I adopt a soft tone. I kneel down to look less intimidating, I didn’t plan this far ahead. “Are you ok?” It continues to stand there, trembling with fear. After what feels like an eternity if registered what I said and nods.

“Y… yes. I’m okay.” It sounds like its voice has a buzzy quality to it.. Or like how bees talk in movies.

“Good, what’s your name?” I have no idea what to do at this point besides talk softly and make no sudden moves.

“I… I don’t have one.” What?

“What?”

“I don’t have a name.”

“Why not?”

“My mother never gave me one.”

“‘Your mother?’” It nods.

“Queen Metamorphosis.”

“Queen Metamorphosis, you mother’s a queen?” The bug-pony nods, that made my brain freeze for a solid ten seconds. “What… are you?”

“You don’t know what I am?”

“I’ve never seen, or heard of, anything like you and you’ve never seen anything like me. I think it’s fair we ask each other who we are.” The thing… ‘sat on it haunches’, as Twi and Ap have told me, and huffs.

“Good point. I’m a changeling.”

“Wha-” A loud roar cuts our conversation short. I whip back around to see the big fucker standing where he once lay. Blood coating half of its face. “Enough of this…” I held my hand out, I feel the same power from before, but it all flows to my hand as large spike shoot out. Impaling the beast my times over. It roars in pain and falls back to its side. A single, dying breath sounded out before it passed. I take a few calming breaths before looking back to the… changeling. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay...” It says slowly.

“Good, how about we get out of here before anything else comes by?” I didn’t care what this bug was, or what it was doing here. I just wanted to get the fuck out of this god forsaken forest. The bug nodded slowly and began to follow me, I had to tell it to wait there so I could fly above the canopy of trees to see where Ponyville was. As I was looking around I heard buzzing noise as the changeling flew up next to me. “That makes getting back easier.” The changeling doesn’t respond. I shrug and look about the forest. The moon was starting to set down down on the horizon. It’s brilliant light swallowed by the approaching sun. There was just enough light to spot the town, the town hall poking out over the treeline. “That way, we should get there before sunrise.” I fly off towards the town, I look behind me and see the changeling having a bit of trouble following me. *Guess they’re not fast fliers…* I slow down a little to let the little thing catch up and stay at this pace. I decided to talk.

“Do you want a name?” The changeling looks at me confused.

“What?”

“Do you want a name?” I ask again, slower than last time. The changeling… I can't tell whether it’s thinking or not. Those grey luminescent eyes make it impossible.

“Yes.” It says after a minute.

“Ok, what gender are you?”

“I’m a girl, why?”

“Where I come from, we have gender-specific names… How does ‘Chrysanthemum’ sound?”

Chapter 6: Bitter Memories

“I Like that. Chrysanthemum.” The newly named changeling says after what felt like an hour. She kept chanting her new name over and over, and over. Luckily we got to Ponyville before it got really annoying.

“Here we are.” The chanting stops as Chrysanthemum, Chrysi’s her nickname now, looks at the town.

“This... is it?”

“Yeah, I the same reaction when I saw this place. You expected more huh?” Chrysi nods.

“Yes. I was.”

“Heh, well… be prepared how the ponies will react to you. But don't worry about it too much. They thought I was a monster, until I explained myself, and had help from some of them. So with me by your side, it’ll be better than my first exposure.”

“That's splendid!” She say a little giddy. I led her to Twi’s place, and took her inside the basement.

“I’m pretty sure Twilight won’t have a problem with you staying here… Are you sleepy yet?” She shakes her head. “Neat. Do you mind if… I ask you a few questions?” She raises a brow, if she had one.

“What for?”

“I want to know as much as I can about you and your kind.” We just got down to the basement, I got settled on my temporary bed, and Chrysi just sat on her haunches, looking around the room. At my question she put a wholed hoof to her chin.

“As long as I get to ask you some questions.”

“Fair enough. Do you want to start, or should I?”

“You just went first.” I think the buzzing will eventually get annoying… Probably not.

“I can tell we’re going to get along just fine.” Chrysi smiles. “Now that I’ve already asked a question, you go ahead.”

“Ok. What exactly are you?”

“I am a human.”

“A human?” I nod. “So they are real...”

“What?”

“Mother would warn us about humans in the past. She said they used to be all around this place. Some even living with uz. But they just disappeared. Zhe never stopped telling us about human.” She grumbles out the last part.

*We were here at one point?* “Interesting. And about your mother, can you tell me more about her?”

“I would appreciate it if we didn’t.” She gives me a sharp look.

“I can respect that, then your own kind maybe? What are changelings like?”

“Changelings, like me, are special. There is only one queen for each hive.”

*Just like bees…*

“And I, would have next in line.”

“‘Would have?’” She nods. “Why?”

“We were having problems with finding food. I decided to got find more for the hive. Of course my mother never sent any of her drones with me, that’s when that thing cornered me. I would’ve been killed if it wasn't for you. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Came my natural response. “I actually thought you were another pony.”

“Really?” She asks a bit skeptically.

“Yeah, with it being dark, and I concentrated more on the big animal more than you, it was only when I got a good look a realized you’re something else. No offence if I caused any.”

“You didn’t.” A quiet rumbling comes from Chrysi. She looks down as her cheeks turn grey.

*How can changelings blush if they have a charapiece as skin?*

“Sorry, I haven’t eaten in a while.”

“I can tell, I could go get something from the kitchen for you, if you want.”

“That won't be necessary.”

“Why?” *I’m not liking this.*

“I feed off of love.” That… statement stopped my brain from functioning for the second time in a row, making me freeze for minute, or ten.. The cranks in there slowly, but surely, began to turn again.

“What?”

“Changelings feed off of love. It’s hard to come by nowadays.”

“How..? How is love a food source?” She does the pony equivalent of a shrug.

“I don’t know, we just do.”

“I... don’t, know how to react to that.” I’ve seen a lot of weird things in the world, but this takes the whole fucking cake. “Are you feeding now?” Chrysi shakes her head.

“I can only feed with the host’s consent. Will you let me feed?” At this point I’m feeling really uncomfortable.

“I’m not comfortable with this… Will it hurt?”

“I can promise that no harm will come to you.”

“And what exactly do you do to feed on?”

“I just draw the love from another being and… it just goes into me.” I could make a sex joke here, but the current situation is preventing me from doing that.

“Well… as long as it get to feed...” *No! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?* “And as long as nothing happens…” *Don’t you fucking do it…* I kept screaming at myself to say no, but it felt like as if something was forcing to say yes. *It must be her magic… FIGHT IT!!* I can feel my eyes twitching.

“Are you ok?”

“Get… the fuck… away… from me!!” I manage to croak out. “What… are you… doing to me!?” Her eye widen in alarm.

“Oh! Sorry!” Her horn flashes a dull grey and I’m back to normal.

“What, was that?” I ask sharply.

“That was my magic controlling you. I forgot I had it active.”

“Likely fucking story.”

“I really did forget! I’m sorry!” This time I can tell that is telling the truth. I don’t know how I’m able to all of a sudden. I pulse of power runs through my body.

*You continue to amaze me.* I really fucking love this medallion. “Alright, I can tell you're telling the truth… You… can feed...” I said a bit regrettably. Chrysi smiles thankfully.

“Thank you.” She says before her eyes close, and her gnarled horn is covered in the same grey mist. I then saw that something was coming out of my body. A bright pink mist.

*Does everything have a fucking physical form?* After a few seconds the grey mist around her horn disappears.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime, just don’t do any funny stuff.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Good night.” My tone went a little harsh. I use my magic to turn the lights off, and lay in the bed.

“Um… I don’t-” I snap my fingers and a mattress materializes. “Oh, thank you.”

“No problem.” *Can you make a shield?* A shield manifests itself around me. *Thanks.* I then close my eyes,the blissful feeling of sleep embracing me…

I’m walking down a sidewalk. To where, I don’t know. What I do know is that I’m getting scornful looks from everybody. So are the other anthros. But most are directed at me. To say I was uncomfortable is an understatement. The next thing to happen was… unexpected. I rock was thrown to me, hitting me in the back of the head.

“Fuck you! You freak!” That set everyone else off. They all started to yell and throw things at me. Bottles, rocks, glass, and things I couldn’t make out, were flung me. The only I could do was fall to the ground and curls up into a ball. My wings tried to futally cover my body. The glass bottles shattered when they hit me, blood to pouring from the cuts the shards make.

“Go back to hell!”

“Go back to your filthy planet!”

“That voice.” I look up and see Twilight, and her friends, staring at me with absolute disgust. Rainbow smiling madly.

“I knew you were a monster! I WAS RIGHT!!”

“ENOUGH!!” The entire world literally shatters like glass around me. The shards falling into an infinite abyss. I’m left lying in total blackness, my body healed, like nothing happened. “We will not be tolerating that.” A new voice speaks out. I get back up and look at the source of the voice.

“Princess luna?”

“Tiss I Ember!”

“What are you doing here?” I really had no idea what was going on at this point.

“Ceasing that wretched nightmare you were experiencing.”

“Oh… another one...”

“You have had many like before?” I nod.

“Yeah… this isn’t the first one, just a different setting.” She pauses for a second, thinking about something. The blackness around was filled with millions of stars, galaxies, gas clouds, nebula. I never get tired of naming celestial objects.

“If I may ask. What started all of this?”

“Ever since I’ve been turned into… this...” I flare my wings half-heartedly. “When I got this new form, nobody accepted it. I was insulted, beaten, had shit thrown at me. My own kind shunned me for what I looked like. There were others like me, and like them, my life was turned into a living hell. Sometimes I’d end up in the hospital for broken bones, fractures, lacerations, stabbings, etcetera.” I chuckle darkly. “Shows how much people can fucking accept new changes.” This whole time Luna was silent. And slightly horrified by the looks of it.

“Tis a lie! Surely you are fabricating all of this...” I shake my head.

“Why would I need to lie about my past. I really was treated like that.” Her gaze hardens as she looks at me sharply.

“Let us make sure of that.” She disappears, and reappears, right in front of me. She touches the tip of her horn to my head. Next thing I know I’m thrown back into complete darkness. A few minutes pass, I think, before vision returns to me. I’m still within my own dreamworld.

“I will never understand how magic works.” I see that Luna is lying on some floor, her breathing loud and fast. “Luna? You ok?” Her eyes shoot open and she quickly gets up.

“Stay away from me!” She shrieks.

“Luna? It’s me, Ember.” A blue mist covers her horn, but dies as soon as it appeared. Her breathing still ragged and fast. “Are you ok?”

“Yes… Ember. *ahem* We are fine.”

“What happened?”

“We cast a spell that allowed us to see your memories.” She pauses. “We didn’t expect... what we witnessed.”

“Now you believe me?” She slowly nods.

“Yes, we do. But We just have one question.”

“What?“

“Why would your own people send under-aged children to war!?”

“Mortality rates were skyrocketing.” At that she pales a little.

“Why? Why are your kind so war-like?” I chuckle a little.

“At first we fought for land, then to expand religions, then to ‘Cure the world of the virus’. Before I arrived here it was for power.” I know I’m making it seem like the human race is nothing but brutish people who will do anything to gain power. But there are some silver streaks in the clouds. “Are you sure you received all of my memories? I would absolutely hate it If my personal life was invaded. And you would’ve seen that under the covers. My people are really divers, most of them anyway...” I shake my head. “Anyway, I would like it if we would move on. Besides I think I’m about to wake up.” The pseudo-universe around us is getting blurry.

“Alright, Ember.Fare Thee Well.” The stars and galaxies fade away. My eyes opening once again to see Twilight at the top of the stairs, gaping at me.

“Morning Twilight. Back for more studying?” I asks jokingly.

“Why is there a changeling in my house!?”

“I saved her from a fucking big… lion-thing.”

“A what!?”

“A big lion-thing that had wings and a scorpion tail.”

“A Manticore!?” I was getting up from bed, but I bumped my head against the fucking shield.

*You cheeky little jokester.* “Whatever you call those thing. I saved her from it, and her name is Chrysanthemum.” The shield breaks down, dissolving into the air.

“Whatever. WHY IS SHE IN MY HOME!?” Now Chrysi wakes up. I teleport right in front of Twi.

“Because I brought her here.” I think me acting cal over all of this is creeping her out a little.

“Why would bring a changeling into Ponyville!?”

“I have little to no knowledge of this place. Remember?” She hits herself in the face with a hoof.

“Right...”

“Besides, she’s not leaving. Before you ask why. I can keep her in check if she tries anything. She saw me kill that thing with my bare hands.”

“You killed a MANTICORE!?” I wonder how my ears weren’t bleeding out.

“It’d be really nice if you stop fucking yelling and calm down.” *Since when does that work at all?*

“How can be calm when there’s a changeling in MY house!?”

“Because I clearly haven’t done anything.” She finally chimes in.

“I was about to say that.” I smile at her, she got up from her bed and calmly walked over to us, Twi tensing up and giving her a sharp look.

“What he is saying is true, I saw him effortlessly kill that thing. I wouldn’t dare provoke him in any way.”

“See Twilight? What do you have against changelings anyway?” That set her off.

“They bucking invaded and ruined my brother’s wedding, trapped me and my sister-in-law in a bucking crystal cavern, defeated Princess Celestia in a magical stand-off, and hypnotised everypony at the bucking wedding!”

“Oh. Well how am I supposed to know about that, huh?” *And I think she said the pony equivalent to fuck.*

“I wasn’t apart of that.” Twi looks from me to Chrysi.

“What?”

“That was a different hive.”

“A different hive?”

“Yes, and the queen was Chrysalis, wasn’t it?”

“Yes… Why?”

“I knew it. She was known as a tyrant amongst other hives. Nobody liked her, or her ideas. What she did at your brother’s wedding was a shameful act of desperation.” It is at this point I decide to interject.

“I think that clears it up. Do you think so?” Twi mulls it over for a second.

“I suppose… As long as she stays in-line. But if you-”

“I have it taken care of Twilight.” I say really slowly. “Don’t worry about it.” I wave to her. “No if you’ll excuse us please?” Twi huffs and walks back up the stairs. Giving one last look to Chrysi. I speak when I hear the door close. “That could’ve gone better...”

“I agree.”

“Anyway!” I clap my hands. “Lets get back to questioning, shall we?” She nods and we both walk back to the main part of the room, where are beds are. Chrysie sits in hers while I sit on mine legs crossed. “Ok, I think I ask the last question last night, so go ahead.” She nods.

“How is it that you know nothing of us changelings, or of this place?”

“Well… I’m actually from another world.”

“Really?” I nod. “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“I’m a completely new being here, even to these fucking ponies, and from what I know of this place, which is minimal at best, is that there are no other being that can walk on two legs and fly, except for dragons.”

“That’s a long explanation for a simple question.”

“How else do you expect me to reassure you I’m not lying?”

“Good point.” I smirk a little.

“Besides feeding off of love, what else is unique about changelings?” How else was I supposed to phrase that?

“We changeling changes our physical form.”

“What?”

“Let me show you.” She quickly is swallowed by grey flames, it dies as quickly as it came. Twilight taking Chrysi’s place. “This is what I mean.”

“Twilight?” This really left me confused. Twilight’s engulfed in grey fire again. They die again and Chrysi’s back.

“It’s still me.” That’s when the circuits in my head connect.

“Ooooh! Ok, I get it.”

“My turn, you’ve been asking me about changeling… What are humans like?” Shit.

“Eh… Let me start with this, at first glance, humans seem to be predator and war like. A vicious species.” She blanches a little. “But that’s not the case. We’re an extremely diverse group. We kind, gentle, y’know generally nice. Even though there are people who are… negative.”

“Negative?” Fuck…

“Yeah… Some of my own kind hate us. Humans and anthros, and there ones who will do anything to gain power, money, anything they want. Would it be ok if I stop talking about my own kind?” She nods.

“Fair enough.” Silence fills the room.

“I hate silence, I’m gonna go upstairs. Wanna come with?” She nods.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Alright.” We both walk to the door, I open it… and Twi’s right on the other side. She’s standing there, wide eyed. “I really need to get my own place.” I mutter, I walk past Twi, Chrysi closely following. “At least I could get privacy with my own fucking house.”

“Does she do that a lot?”

“Apparently so...” Just then I remember something. “Hey Twilight!” She comes up.

“What?”

“Stop doing that, it’s fucking creepy, and where can I find something to do around this place?” Twi puts a hoof to her chin.

“Well… Applejack can always use help bucking appletrees.”

“Bucking… appletrees.” I deapan.

“Yes… what?”

“That makes no sense whatsoever. What exactly is bucking appletrees?”

“Applejack and her brother kick trees on their farm and collect the apples that fall from them.” Silence befalls this room for a solid minute.

“I’m not even going to question this one, and just go with it. I’ll see you later if I get a job. Where is this farm?”

“Go to the market and keep heading in that direction. You’ll be there in no time.”

“Would it be better if you take me there?” She face… hooves.

“You’re right. Come on.” She was about to head out the door, but… “Oh, and...”

“Chrysanthemum.” Chrysi states.

“Right, Chrysanthemum. I suggest you change into a pony.” Chrysi nods as she’s engulfed in grey fire for the third time. The flames die once again, leaving a pony with dark green mane and tail, a pristine white coat, and two bright green eyes, with a horn on her forehead. “Better, now lets go.” She’s very short with us. Anyone can tell she a thing against changelings.

Author's Notes:

Updates will not be as often as before.

Chapter 7: Applebucking

Twi lead us through the town, the market specifically, me getting more than enough gazes from the ponies milling about. I think that’ll last maybe… the rest of my life? Just a guess…

Anyway, we all eventually got the entrance of, Sweet Apple Acres, as Twi told us. After that she left us there. Telling us to follow the path, then we would see the Apple’s house. I swear to fucking god with these fucking names. We did eventually see a house as we crested over a hill. Unsurprisingly, it looked like a farm. The classic red walled, white roofed, pentagon farm. I gingerly walk up to the door and knock, I had to duck with the porch being a little low. Hooves sound out from inside, the door opens and Applejack standing in the doorway.

“Ember, whaddya doin’ here? And who’s the mare?”

“Hey Applejack, this is Chrysanthemum. And I was told I could come here to find something to do. And I think I make it a job.”

“And what would that be?”

“Applebucking.” I never thought I’d be saying made-up words, but this world, I’m guessing, has a shit-ton of ‘em.

“Oh! Perfect timin’! We were just gettin’ back to buckin’ the trees.”

*Are you kidding me? The sun’s barely out. Well… it looks almost noon… Nevermind…* Sometimes I can think stupid thoughts, I hate that… “Perfect I guess. Mind showing me how you buck these trees?”

“Not at all, jus’ follow me.” I wonder why Chrysi’s been silent this whole time. We both follow Applejack and see her walk up to a tree. She turns around, backside facing the tree. She then kicks the tree, like how a horse on my world would buck. The tree shakes violently as apples fall from it. Into conveniently placed baskets.

“Wow.” Me and Chrysi say. Applejack snorts.

“Alright Ember! Now you give it a try.”

“Fine, I don’t even know if I can do that...”

Why would Ember bring a bucking Changeling into MY house!? Even though he saved from a manticore.

You can use her to study changeling behavior and understand how they work…

I suppose… But still! Ember barely has any knowledge of Equestria, so I can excuse him this time… I should tell him to stop flying around the Everfree Forest.

“Twilight!” Spike? I turn around and see Spike running down the stairs.

“Spike! What did I tell you about running down the stairs!?”

“But… *huff* there’s a… *huff* letter for you… from the princess.” He holds out a letter with Princess Celestia’s seal.

“Oh! Perfect!” I cast a levitation spell and bring the letter to me, it opens as it floats over to me. “*incoherent mumbling*...”

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am pleased to tell you that my sister has collected most of Embers memories. And from what she has shown me… Dragons would rather perish than experience what he has experienced.

“WHAT!?” What does she mean?

“What Twilight, is something wrong?” Spike came from the kitchen, he loves to cook…

“Nothing Spike, I’m just going to our room, to read this letter, in private.” He shrugs.

“Ok.” I walk upstairs and into our room while Spike makes us lunch. When I close the door I lay down on my bed. The scroll still in my aura.

*Alright… Back to this...*

From what my sister has collected…It’s a wonder how he is still walking around. As a young adult, he was sent into what his kind calls ‘World War Three’, as a ‘foot soldier’. What this means is he was sent to the front lines of war. During that time he has seen his own comrades die, suffered… ‘gun shot wounds’. He has even seen his own kind blown to pieces. This is all I can tell you about this war. If you want to know more, you need to ask him.

His torment didn’t even end there.

As Luna has described it. His… people developed technology eons beyond ours, and he was subject to ‘an experiment’ that would change his physical appearance. What surprised me is how his own kind reacted to his… ‘new look’. He was treated as an animal. They shunned him for his appearance. He had things thrown at him, beaten, and sent to the hospital many times.

I apologize for writing this short letter, I need to attend day court.

Sincerly,

Princess Celestia

P.S. Please be nice to him, after seeing what he’s capable of, it is best you keep him as calm as possible.

The letter softly drops on top of my bed.

“Spike!” Loud, fast thumps sound out and Spike bursts into the room.

“What!?”

“Go and tell the girls to meet here. I have something important to show them, and don’t tell Ember to come.” He salutes.

“Yes ma’am!”

Spike did as he was told, first finding Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner, next was Rarity at her boutique, third was Rainbow Dash, who just happen to be laying on a cloud above. Forth was Fluttershy at her cottage at the edge of town. Lastly was Applejack, he asked where she was, and ran off after her when Granny Smith said she was bucking in the west field. He finally saw her bucking trees with Ember and Chrysanthemum.

“Ember? Who is-” He nearly speaks aloud. He quickly covers his mouth and run up to Applejack. “Applejack.” Said orange pony turns around.

“Hey Spike, something up?”

“Twilight needs you at the library, something important. Don’t bring Ember. Or her.” He runs off without another word.

“Well it sure seems important. Hey Ember! Chrysanthemum!” Ember and Chrysi turn to her, painfully oblivious to Spike’s departure.

“What?” Ember asks

“Ah need to go check on somethin’ you jus’ keep buckin’. Alright?” Ember nods.

“You got it Aj.” He turns back around and scissor-kicks the tree. Aj gallops off towards Twi’s house…

Most of the mane six have arrived, Fluttershy and Applejack begin the last to show up, when they do, Twi ushers them to gather at the table situated in the middle of the main room. After that the room falls silent for a solid ten seconds. With Rainbow breaking the awkward silence.

“Okay, I’ll bite, why did you get us all here for?” Twilight levitates a scroll to her.

“For this. I need you all to read it.”

“Why?” Rainbow asks.

“Just, read it.” Rainbow huffs, grabs the scroll, and reads it, her face turning from bored to horrified, then angry, then downcast. Rainbow stays quiet as she set the scroll down.

“I wanna read it next!” Pinkie shouts and she happily sweeps up the scroll to read. As she reads it her smile disappears, turning into a frown. Even her mane deflates a little. Her whole form slouches a bit and she drops the scroll.

“Pinkie dear, are you alright?” Rarity asks. She looks at the scroll. “What is in that letter..?” She levitates it over to where she was, the scroll covered in a bright blue aura. As Rarity reads it her eyes widen, then droope. The scroll drops to the table as Rarity stays silent.

“What in tarnation is in that letter?” Applejack quickly picks the up with a hoof and reads. Like her friends, the more she reads, her eyes grow wider, she then has a sorrowful look. “Poor fella...” She sets the scroll down. Last to read it was Fluttershy, who now stares at it with trepidation.

“Come on Fluttershy, I need you to read it too.” Twilight says. Fluttershy just squeaks in response. The scroll is covered in a purple aura and it floats over the yellow pegasus. She shakily grasps it in her delicate hooves. As she reads the fur around her face pales, she drops the scroll before she can even read the P.S. The scroll flutters to the table, revealing her light yellow, teary-eyed face. Silence befalls the room, nopony moving, twitching or saying a single word, only broken by Fluttershy’s sniffling. Rarity spoke after what felt like and eternity.

“I… never expected him to have… this kind of past.”

“None of us did Rarity, none of us did.” Twilight says.

“Tah think he’s been through so much… And be like him...” Rainbow was about to speak, but the front door flies open. A tall figure standing in front of the surprised ponies, a massive pair of wings flared.

Applebucking is much more simple, and easy than I first thought. I just had to develope my own way of kicking. I developed a few ways: a spinning kick, kinda like a roundhouse kick for trees coming out at a angle, my talons allowing for good grip. Then there’s a scissor kick, admittingly the weakest, for thinner trees. Then there’s the running two-legged flying kick. The most powerful for really thick and deep rooted trees.

Me, Applejack, and her big brother Big Mac started Bucking the trees after I got used to kicking the trees. We spend at least half an hour of applebucking before I get stopped by Applejack.

“Ember?” I kick a tree and turn to face her.

“What?”

“You feelin’ tired?”

“No, why?”

“You just cleared two an’ half acres in an hour.” I shrug.

“And?”

“It would me an’ Mac a couple a hours tah clear that much.”

“Then you’re not as efficient as me. You saw how I was silent and focused? And you two were talking up a storm?” She nods. “That makes the difference.”

“But that’s still impressive.” Big mac says. He’s pretty quiet, the strong, silent type. Kinda fitting for a male his size.

“Thank you.” But then I realize something. “Does that mean you were taking a break or something?” The both look down, clearly I’m right. “Eh… just wondering... Does this mean that we’re done for the day..?”

“Not at all! It’s barely past twelve! We still got the whole day ahead of us.”

“Fair enough.” We all make a silent agreement and get back to bucking the trees. *I wonder how I’m working so well with them… Maybe due to the work I’ve done? They’re hard workers themselves, from what I’ve seen.* It’s only been a few minutes when I hear a voice.

“Applejack.” Boyish, maybe Spike? I take a quick glance behind me. *Yup, it’s Spike. Wonder what he wants.*

“Hey Spike, somethin’ up?”

“Twilight needs you at the library, something important. Don’t bring Ember.” I don’t look back, but I hear the little dragon run off.

“It sure seems important. Hey Ember!” I turn around.

“What?”

“Ah need to go check on somethin’ you jus’ keep buckin’. Alright?” I nod.

“You got it Aj.” I turn back around and scissor-kick a tree. Aj gallops off to somewhere, with me following close behind…

Apparently Twilight requested the others to meet at her home. Once Applejack walked in I looked through a window, thankfully they weren’t looking in my direction. I quickly back away from the window and get close to the door. I can hear them talking.

“Okay, I’ll bite, why did you get us all here for?”

“For this. I need you all to read it.” Read what?

“Why?” Rainbow asks.

“Just, read it.” I hear Rainbow huff. A bit of silence and I can hear more talking.

“I wanna read it next!” Pinkie shouts. Some weird scratching and it goes silent again.

“Pinkie dear, are you alright?” Rarity asks. “What it is in that letter..?” I hear some sparkle-shit and it lasts for a minute. Silence takes back its place.

“What in tarnation is in that letter?” Applejack says with that classic southern drawl, it’s surprisingly likeable though… Some more weird scratching and silence once again takes the room they occupy. Minutes go by and I hear more sparkling shit.

“Come on Fluttershy, I need you to read it too.” I hear squeaks and it all goes quiet a fifth time. This time it lasts a few minutes.

“I… never expected him to have… this kind of past.” Rarity breaks the silence.

“None of us did Rarity, none of us did.” Twilight says.

“Tah think he’s been through so much… And be like him...” Applejack mutters. At this point I’m both upset and confused. Upset because this might mean they somehow know of my past without me telling them. And confused because that might not be it.

Leaning towards the ladder.

Using my magic, I make the door swing open and teleport inside. Once inside I flare my wings. All the ponies stare at me wide eyed, Fluttershy cowering under the table. I pang of guilt stabs my chest. After knowing her for a minute, she’s quite the… scared one to say the least.

But that didn’t matter, what mattered is figuring out what they were reading and talking about. And a paper sat in the center of the table. I use my magic to bring it to me.

“Ember! You don’t need to read that!” Twilight shouts out. I just look at her with a glare that says, ‘I will fucking kill you’, not that I would, I just did that to keep her from taking it from me. I read the paper; apparently a letter from Princess Celestia. Saying how Luna shared some of my memories. My. Fucking. Memories.

To say I was pissed is a bit of an understatement.

I especially like the little bit about keeping me calm. Fucking humorous. It actually made me chuckle.

“So, you all know about me know, my general life anyway. Am I right?” They all slowly nod. I even struck fear into Rainbow! Bonus! Despite the asinine request from Celestia is offencive enough, I crack a smile. “You know what, I’ not even mad.”

“Really?” Twilight asks. I nod and smile widely.

“Yes, really. I’m not mad. I. Am. Furious.” They all flinch. “You couldn't just fucking ask me?” They all look down dejectedly. “I guess not, why? Why can’t you just ask me about me?”

“I was too afraid too...” Twilight finally answers.

“And that makes it ok to go through such lengths, using one of you own diarchs!?” She looks down, too embarrassed to look up. “Thought so.” I pause for a minute. “Now that I think about, it’s kinda understandable; If I meet a new species that were three times my size, I’d be a little intimidated too. Probably downright terrified depending on how siad species looked. And I could put this all behind me…” Surprised look all around. “On one condition.”

“And what is that?” Rainbow immediately goes on the defensive.

“You, all you, will never speak of this again. Unless if I allow it. Is this understood?” Fluttershy has come out from under the table, a little calm. They all nod vigorously. At that I smile normally. “Good!” I walk over to Pinkie, who happen to be sitting next to eachother. I stand in between them and kneel to their eye level. Without saying a word, I reach up with both of my hands and scratch the two ponie behind their ears. Something I learned from Applebloom a while back. Their reactions where just like hers, their bodies would stiffen at first, then slouch a little. Then their eyes would roll up and… Pinkie’s tongue hung out, Fluttershy just kept a cute, puppy-face. And predictably, the others are shocked. A few minutes are spent in silence again, broken by Pinkie’s sighs or Fluttershy’s humming.

“Where did ya learn to do that?” Rainbow asks. I smirk.

“Applebloom, she saw that I have hands and asked me to do the same I’m doing right now. I don’t know how she found this out, but she did.” I stop scratching and stand back up.

“Aww… I want more scritchy scratchy!” Pinkie is back to… whoever the fuck she is. Same goes for Fluttershy, a small, delicate smile curving her lips. I smile back at her before I turn my attention to the whole group.

“Later Pinkie. Right now, I would like to find a fucking place to live in, it’s getting pretty old having to wake up every late morning and something weird happening.” I glance quickly at Twi, making her blush and chuckle nervously. “Since you apparently have some connections in whatever kind of government runs this country, do you think you can find a way to get me a house Twilight? Preferably one with a basement?” Twi shakes her head, probably to get rid of those awkward moments.

“Well… There is a council of ambassadors. They meet once a year to discuss about unknown matters, or to negotiate...”

“And what does this have to do with me?”

“Since you are a new species on this planet, and being the only human in recorded history,”

“That makes me feel really fucking welcome, thanks for the reminder.” I say blandly, everypony’s ears fold back. Twi’s out of embarrassment.

“Sorry…”

“Just go on...”

“Ok… *ahem* as I was saying, you can act as the ambassador for your own kind.”

"And how does that help me get my own place?”

“By being part of this council, you receive a thick paycheck. And I think I can get you a grant from Princess Celestia so you can buy you own house.” At that word, ‘paycheck’ she had my full attention. I like, no… love money. Who doesn’t? I’m not like one of those stereotypical rich fucks if you’re thinking that. I just like to have money, not enough to corrupt me. I should stop digging this hole I’ll get out of.

“I’m interested. How soon can you do that?”

“Right now actually. Spike!” Said little dragon comes down the stairs.

“What is it Twilight?”

“Take a letter...”

It only took Twi two minutes for Spike to write down what Twi has said, some shit about me becoming a diplomat or something. I wasn’t paying attention, Chrysi came back from doing whatever the hell changelings do, she thankfully kept her disguise on for the other ponies. I, however, returned to scratching Pinkie begin the ears. And from the look of it, she was in heaven. She was laying on the ground, a leg twitching ever now and again. While the others were talking with Chrysi. She managed to have made up a story where she’s from Fillydelphia. These ponies and their fucking punny names. One particular second Spike doubled over, like he was about to vomit, instead a large burst of green fire erupted with a loud burp. Apparently this happens every single time Celestia sends a letter to Twi. That’s not the weird part, the weird part was that to send a letter to Celestia, Spike breaths fire and burns the rolled up letter, turning it to sparkling purple ashes, then it would fly out a random window and head to… Canterlot. At this point I’ve learned to put names, magic, and all their abnormal shit under the ‘Shit I Will Never Understand’ folder. And never question anything, just fucking label it as ‘magic’. That’s the answer they keep responding with…

Anyway! The green fire spins into a ball until A scroll with a sun seal on it pops into existence. It’s covered in a purple mist as it floats over to Twi, it unrolls and she reads it. Her eyes progressively widening, she looks to me.

“What?”

Chapter 8: Diplomatic Imunity

“What?”

“I… You...”

“What is it Twilight?” Rarity asks.

“C’mon sugarcube, spit it out.” Applejack chimes in.

“Ember is now officially the ambassador of the human race.” That surprised everybody, even me.

“She did it that quickly?” *These ponies definitely have some crazy-ass magic or something…* Twi shakes her head.

“The letter says the Princess has already made preparations for this situation.”

“Wow. Ok… Does she have some kind of power to see the future or something? And can she do that?” I felt that it was a legitimate inquiry.

“Of course not! Princess Celestia just prepares for any situation. And she’s the princess of the Sun, she can do whatever she wants.”

*That… actually makes sense for a princess… Considering what Twi has told me of past events… and shit...* “So… That’s it?” Twi looks at the paper again.

“No… In order for it to be official, you need to go to Canterlot and sign a document recognizing you as an accredited diplomat.”

“Makes sense. By when do I need sign this thing?” I don’t know much about politics, but since I’m technically a bran-fucking-new species on this planet, it makes sense, to me, that I would need to sign something to be recognized as an important person. With, y’know, me being the only one of my kind here. I’m just gonna go along with this shit if it gets me a house and money.

“As soon as possible.” She says. “The princess has already sent a carriage here. It says it should be here by now.” As if on cue, there’s loud clattering outside, along with some horse noises.

*They’re as intelligent as humans, and yet they still make those noises?* “I’m guessing that’s my ride?”

“I would assume so darling.” Rarity finally spoke.

“Yes, but I’m coming with you.” That sounded weird in so many different ways. I would of asked why Twi would want to come with me. But then I remembered that I would probably get lost, being in a new setting, and a new world on top of that. The others spout out how they will come along, I think they’re all just making excuses to go to this city, apparently it’s like one of those rich-people cities in Manhattan, Chrysi didn’t want to go, I would’ve asked why, but then I remembered the whole ‘invasion’ thing. They probably have shit to find if she’s a changeling or not. Anyway, we all go outside, me being first, and I see the thing I’m supposed to ride in. Purple and dark pink dominate the… carriage. While what looks like gold outline the edges, along with swirls and curvy lines dance across each side of it. Basically it looks a golden tentacle monster attached itself to the carriage. With two males pulling the thing, they’re covered in what looks like golden armor

“I am not getting in that thing.” Five ponies gasp, Rainbow just snorts and Chrysi giggles.

“Why? Afraid of heights?” I look at her pointedly while I flare my wings.

“I’ve been thirty-thousand feet in the air, I have no fear of heights. And I don’t think I would fit in there comfortably.” Flaring my wings got her to shut up. “You all can ride on that thing, I’ll fly beside you guys.” The six ponies murmur to each other, then nod. Twi speaks up.

“Alright, if you want to.”

“But I’m flying with you!” Rainbow flies up in my face.

“What, still don’t trust me?” She stays silent, her nose inches away from mine. “If you actually payed attention to that paper from earlier, you’d step back.” She scowls at me, but hovers back to the ground, a few feet away from me. “Should we go now, I think we’re starting to annoy our ride...” I glance at the two ponies hulling the carriage, they have faces that suggest mild annoyance.

“Right, lets go.” Twi leads the four other ponies onto the carriage. Once on it takes off, closely followed by me and Rainbow…

It would’ve been nice if the whole trip was quiet, I prefer it that way. But no, Rainbow doesn’t like silence apparently.

“So...” She’s been saying for the past five minutes, it’s gotten pretty fucking annoying.

“What?” I finally say, it was either that or plummet to the ground.

“So...” I feel my eye twitch. “Is all that stuff that was on that letter true?”

“Yes.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Really? Are you fucking kidding me?

“That letter was sent to Twilight by your princess, why would she, and me, need to fabricate my fucking past? I have literally been through hell and back. I shouldn’t even be alive right now. And yet, here I am.” If that didn’t get my point though, I don’t know what will. She went quiet. “Is that enough for you? Can you stop pestering me with these stupid questions?” It was really getting on my nerves. You try dealing with that for three days and see if you don’t explode.

“Hey! I’m not stupid!” She yells back.

“I wasn’t calling you stupid, I’m calling your questions stupid. There’s a difference.”

“Whatever...” We both snort, her like a horse and me like a fucking human, I look ahead and see a giant castle-looking city, hanging in the side of a mountain. The way it looked reminds me of Lord of the Rings for some reason.

“Is that… Canterlot?” *I have to get used to these names. If not I’ll go insane…*

“Yeah, it is. Kinda awesome isn’t it?”

“From what I’ve been told about it, yeah. Just one thing, why is it hanging off the side of a mountain?”

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Twilight about that.” The carriage began to descend.

“Guess we’re about to land.” I take a guess of where it’s going to land and head for it. A small patch of solid ground in front of some kind of building. Kinda looks like one of those checkpoints for border patrol. I speed up and nearly hit the ground. I instead swing my legs to the side and lose all my speed, softly touching the ground, kinda like how you see parkour pros jump over tall walls. To my right was probably the most hilarious thing I’ve seen to date. Rainbow tried to do the same thing. She failed, badly. All I heard was a loud ‘woah!’ and saw her tumbling tumbling across the ground past me. I promptly laughed my ass off. My laughing lasted a good minute before something impacted my stomach. My eyes open and look down to see Rainbow, her right hoof slammed into my stomach. I chuckle a little at her awed face. “I would stop that if I were you, you don’t know if the one you punched can punch back harder.” Her pupils shrink for a split second and she backs away. “It’s always fun to mess with you. Nice jabb by the way.”

“Shut up.” Just then the carriage stops next to us. The two ponies pulling it nay and paw at the air.

*Shouldn’t that be really demeaning?* Once it’s come to a full stop the rest of the other five ponies step off of the carriage. Twi’s the first one to get off.

“Thank you.” The two ponies snort in appreciation. Twi walks over to us while the rest come out. “Well, here we are!” I look to the building, now I see the full picture; a building about two stories high, attached to it on each side is a abnormally tall golden yellow fence. Beyond the building and fence is what just might the most spectacular sight I’ve ever seen. Ivory-white building litter what little land there is on this mountain side. Beautiful architecture, although seemingly impossible. It looks like there’s an actual with and purple castle further ahead. I am truly at a loss for words at this point. I’ve only seen places like this in movies. And even those special effects pale in comparison to the real thing.

“Ember darling, are you alright?” I guess I looked stunned.

“Yeah... I’m fine. Just never seen any place like in person.”

“What do you mean by that?” Twilight, the ever-so-inquisitive one, asks.

“I’ve only seen places like this in movies.”

“Move-ies?”

“They’re moving pictures on a digital screen.”

“Digital?”

“I don’t to play twenty questions, lets just do this. I’ll just follow you girls.” Twi nods and leads the entire group. First obstacle: The ponies guarding the gate, next to the building. Of course they didn’t bat an eye at the ponies passing but ‘stop the monster calmly following them!’, fucking fantastic.

“You! Halt!” One of them orders. I do so to not antagonize myself.

“I’m with them.” His eyes widen, I love it when they don't expect me to respond. But he quickly recomposed himself, Twi comes in before he can speak again.

“Yes, he is with us. He needs to meet with Princess Celestia.”

“May I ask why?”

“I’m the ambassador of the human race. And I am the only known human in this planet, and I need to speak to your highness. That is why, good sir.” I can understand why he would question me going to see Celestia, with me being a new being he hasn’t seen before. But the way he asked that question, it was very, smug.

“Tck, yeah, sure.” He looks to the six ponies. “Why is he really with you?” Jackass.

“It’s true. He really is the Ambassador of the Human race.” At Twi’s words his jaw drops. I would’ve loved to burst out laughing, but I do have to represent my species, it’s become a thing apparently. Not that I mind, kinda do, but I suspect I’m gonna have to start doing this shit. The pony guarding the gate eventually recomposed himself and nodded at a random window on the building. I loud clang and the gates slowly, and dramatically, swing open. Letting us go on our way. I look to the pony as we enter and nod to him, he nods back.

“So, am I gonna have to deal with more ponies like him, or what?” I say once we’re far enough.

“Well… There are the ponies that live here darling...” Rarity answers.

“That didn’t sound too pleasant.” Rainbow gave me the blunt version.

“She means nobles live here and they’re not gonna like you.”

“Thank you for the blunt answer.” *Whatever you do DON’T strangle her.* I think I already made it obvious we don’t like each other, one can only imagine what she’s thinking…

It’s just as Rainbow said, we had to make our way to the biggest castle towards the back of the city. The six ponies beside me my tour guide now. As they decided to tell of this place. The, ‘nobles’, all gave me weird and dirty looks. If it weren’t for Fluttershy, or any of the six ponies here. There’d probably be blood everywhere.

Ok, that may have been an extreme exaggeration. But these fucking high-class snobs! They even wear clothing, kinda struck me as odd compared to the mares with me. Rarity later told me that clothing is mandatory here, shows how much wealth each pony has. I just had to tell her that it’s like that on my world. SHe immediately became fascinated and plead me to talk about our kinds of clothing. ANd that’s where we are now.

“Would you mind telling me about human fashion?” I had to contemplate that for a minute.

*It’ll help pass the time… Eh…* “Eh, why not? Whataya want to know?” At that her eyes gleam and sparkle.

“Everything darling.” Fuck…

“Um...”

*I wonder how Ember’s been taking all of this… He’s barely shown any reaction toward anything, I’m beginning to wonder if what he said about liking it here is true* But he did say that he can control his emotions. Maybe that correlates with his lack of expressions, and how he’s able to stay calm in certain situations. *That may be it, but… I need to ask him about this. The way he was with us when he read the letter,*

“Um… Where do I begin? We’re not limited by culture if that’s what you mean. There are hundreds of types of clothing styles where I come from.”

*I knew Rarity would eventually ask him about human fashion. I didn’t even know humans where clothes. Why do they wear clothes all the time?*

“*gasp* You musttell me all about it!”

*I can already tell he’s regretting that.*

“Uh, Twilight?”

“Yes Applejack?”

“You alright there?”

“Yes, why?”

“‘Cause we’re here.”

“Oh, that was quick.”

I was in the middle of explaining the different types of clothing we have when I noticed that we were in front of another gate. This being a little smaller, and surrounding the suddenly magnificent castle I saw from afar. Pure white towers topped with purple and yellow pointed roofs. The place is small from an angle, but when you get up close it’s actually pretty big…

The pony guard nodded toward the six ponies as they walked through the gate. OF course they stop me, even thought I was right behind them.

“You! Hault!”

*God fucking dammit*

“What is your business here?”

“I am here to see Princess Celestia.”

“For what reason?”

“I need to talk to Princess Celestia. I need to decide where I’m going to reside here.”

“Why is that?” Very inquisitive I see.

“I am a new citizen here and I am the ambassador of the human race.” This guy is better at keeping a straight face. He looks at Twilight, then back to me.

“Enter.” Ok… that was something.

“Thank you.” I say as politely as possible. I catch up with the six ponies. “What the hell was that Twi? You know him or something?”

“Yes, I used to live here before.”

“And I’m guessing you know a lot of ponies in the castle?”

“I was Princess Celestia’s student for a few years before I moved to Ponyville. I know almost everypony that work in the castle.”

*How long was she here for?* “Cool.” the area around us goes quiet as I’m lead through the complete maze-like hallways of the place. I don’t know how they don’t get lost in this place. We all spend a few good minutes walking down corridors, up a few flights of stairs. Some lefts, some rights. And we eventually walked into a corridor worth noting. On each side were stain-glass windows depicting different events. I was taking glances at them when one with the strangest creature I’ve ever seen was on it. The what looked the six ponies I’m walking with shooting… something at it. I look at the strange creature and words comes to mind. *Chaos. I need to ask Twilight about this.* I look forward and two giant wooden doors are at the other side of the hall. Two ponies holding tall spears with red cloaks stand at each side of the massive door. The cloaks they're wearing block their faces, but small movements and gestures are noticeable if you take a really good look at them. Both of their heads tilt upward a tiny bit and the doors are covered in a grey and white mist. The double-doors open with loud creaking, really loud creaking. Fucking loud creaking. Once open a little scene is revealed.

“But Aunty!” A full grown white-furred, blond haired male is groveling at the bottom of what I assume is Celestia’s and Luna’s throne. Luna sitting in her throne, a bored expression on her face.

“I’ve already said no Blueblood. And no, means no.” Anyone can tell she’s a little irritated. While we were watching this Luna looked to me. Her expression turning from bored to pleading. As if asking ‘end this shit, please.’. A wicked idea pops into my head.

“Stay here, I have an idea.” I whisper to them. All of them but Twilight smirk.

“What are you doing?” Twi nearly shouts.

“Shh!” I hiss at her and make my way to stand right behind this… Blueblood. Thank the universe I can walk without making a single sound. Celestia quickly glances at me when I’m a few feet behind the still whining pony. She looks to Luna, and both of them smile.

“What are you smiling about aunty?”

“Me.” I say in my deepest tone. The pony nearly jumps to the ceiling and spins around.

“Who-!” The words he were about to spew, along with his breath, stop at the back of his mouth. His legs tremble a little and his body shakes. That lasted for a second before he quickly recomposed himself. “W-what are you!?”

“A human. And I believe your aunty has had enough with your whining.”

“Who do you think you are, ape?! I am Prince Blueblood!” My amused smile twisted into a frown. How did he make such a connection with humans to apes?

“I am the ambassador of the human race. And I come from a different planet, millions of lightyears away.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Wow, this one’s a little dull. That, or they have idea what a lightyear is...

“It means I can give less than a shit whether you’re a prince or not. From what I just saw you’re nothing but a whining brat.”

“Why you-!”

“Blueblood, Ember. That is enough.” Celestia’s voice has taken an ice cold tone, kinda surprised me. Blueblood went wide-eyed and clammed up.

“Alright Celestia.”

“That’s, ‘Princess Celestia’ to you Ember.” Twilight chimes in.

“Do you honestly think I care Twilight?”

“Obviously not, but it would be nice if you would show some respect to the princess.”

“It’s alright Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia speaks up. “Blueblood, you can go know.” He grumbles and mutters something under his breath. The whole chamber stays quiet until Blueblood leaves the place. “I apologize, he always comes to day court to ask for more bits. Even though he already has enough as it is.”

*Bits? Is that their type of currency?* “Eh. Don’t worry about it, it was pretty funny when he jumped, and his reaction towards me.”

“Yes, ‘twas quite humorous.” Luna finally spoke up, I wonder why she waited so long to finally talk. “Blueblood can be quite… irritating.”

“I can tell. Anyway, you wanted me to sign a paper?”

“Ah! Yes!” Celestia’s horn is shrouded in a golden yellow mist and a paper and quill poof into existence. “Sign on the bottom line when you have finished reading.”

“Ok...” I try to read the text, but it’s all symbols and pictures. *They speak english, yet this is their form of text?* “I can’t read this.”

“What?”

“I can’t read this, whatever this is. It’s nothing like I’ve ever seen or read...”

“That can’t be possible! How can you speak our language, but not read it?”

“Different planets, remember? There are going to be some differences.” Just then a certain memory pops into my head. “Luna?”

“Yes?”

“Remember when I shared my memories with you?”

“Yes… Why do you ask this?”

“Then you saw how humans write, am I correct?” Her eyes go wide.

“Yes! Of course! ‘Tis is true Twilight Sparkle.” An idea form in my head.

“Ok, hold on. Hold on… If you have some of my memories...” I still don’t know how I’m ok with that. “Then shouldn't it be possible for you to give me a copy of your language?” Luna puts a hoof to her chin.

“Yes! Of course!” She stands from her throne. “Thou stayith there while we cast our spell!” She hurries down the stairs. Her horn lighting a light blue as it touches my forehead when she’s close enough. As soon as her horn touches my forehead my vision goes white, then black. After who-knows-how much time has past, I open my eyes and see that the ponies have gathered around me, and I’m laying on the floor, and I’ve been knocked out..

“What the hell happened?” I asked in my classic monotone… tone. Fuck I need to get creative with analogies.

Author's Notes:

Kinda took a while to write this one, with me hardly knowing anything about politics and shit like that. Like and comment like usual!

Chapter 9: A New Home and Friends

After he left the chamber, he made his way out to city, his destination a bit peculiar.

*Who does that ape think he is? Interrupting me while asking Aunty for more bits, then emarasses me. IN FRONT OF EVERYPONY!! I’ll show him, I’ll put him in his place; a bucking ape!* He can be seen in the city, walking to someplace, and giving anypony within his sight a fowl scowl. He eventually made it the edge of the massive city, stopping at an old, dilapidated building with a sign saying ‘Special Services’. With that kind of name, everypony else thought it was some kind of whore house. It is, but there’s a little known fact about this place; they also hire ponies to take others out of the picture… Only for a few hundred bits, which is actually pretty cheap!

“What the hell happened?” I ask.

“I… I don’t know...” If the surprised faces from the other five ponies mean anything, it probably means shits going down if Twi doesn’t know what happened.

“That was bigger than I anticipated.” Celestia spoke out. Her head poking into my vision. I tried to move. But every single muscle in my body screamed in protest.

“Can’t, move...” I grunt out. I kinda surprised myself, by not screaming bloody murder.

“Oh my! Ember!” Fluttershy quickly gets closer to me, looking for anything wrong with my body. She tentatively grabs ahold of my arm. Making me grunt in pain. “Oh! I’m so sorry!”

“Heh, it’s alright.” I croak out. “Can anyone tell me what the fuck happened?” Celestia decided to answer.

“When my sister touched her horn to your forehead it created a small explosion. Luna was unharmed, the same cannot be said for you I assume?” She puts on a small smirk. I chuckle weakly.

“Hehe, I guess so. Also, anyone mind taking me to whatever kind of medical ward you have? I’m going to pass out again, and probably vomit.” And that just happens as my vision goes black again…

After spending who knows how much time in total and complete darkness. My eyes finally open to reveal the ceiling of some room, and a beeping sound fill my ears. And that I’m laying in probably the most plush and comfortable bed I’ve ever laid in. With a pillow that feels like clouds to boot.

“For once I’m thankful of these ponies.” I’d never thought I’d say that, ever.

“Glad to see you awake, Ember.” Celestia’s voice sounds out. The muscles in my neck strain as I pull my head up. I’m apparently in a medical room. Every single thing in here is white, save for the green curtains that cover a window to my left. Directly in front of me, everybody is standing at the edge of the bed I’m laying on, relieved faces all around. Accept for Rainbow.

“I’m glad just to be alive at this point.” I sit up in my bed, took a little bit of effort to do that. “What happened while I was out? Specifically what did that explosion do to me?” Twi answers.

“The doctors said that every bone in your body suffered fracturing, though nothing actually broke.” Okaayyy…

“That it?” She nods. “Didn’t think it would that bad.” I mutter under my breath. “Then how did I heal so quickly?”

“Well, Doctor Stable said your magic helped with the healing process while they were applying healing magic.” I sit there for who knows how long. Contemplating on what to do at this point.

“Well… What happens now?” *I have a feeling I’m gonna be asking that question a lot…*

“I would like to speak privately with Ember.” The ponies in the room look to Celestia seriously, then, one-by-one, they all walk out of the room. The door shuts with a golden glow as Luna is the last to leave. Then the whole room is briefly covered in the same golden glow.

*This can’t be good…* “If I can ask, what are you doing?” Celestia, who has never taken her eyes off of me, gives me an angry look.

“Why do you have the Alicorn Amulet?” The whole room feels like a blizzard is blowing through. Her voice even gain an icy tone.

“Amulet..?” Then it hits me. “Oh! That red medallion thing?” She slowly nods. “It actually drew me to it.”

“What do you mean?” Damn… Her voice. This is another side of her that I’m guessing no living being has seen.

“One night I was sleeping in Twi’s basement, I almost fell asleep, but I felt something. Drawing me to it. I didn’t know what it meant so I went to where the source was. And the amulet itself was on a shelf hidden in the wall. I opened it, the amulet popped out. Then it went… into my chest. Sounds weird I know.” That last part made her eyes go wide. Her horn light a golden yellow and the same mist covered my chest.

“That, can’t be...” She muttered.

“What?”

“The amulet. It’s… part of you.”

“What?”

“From what I saw, it is where your heart would be.”

“Is that a bad thing, and does that mean it’s replaced my heart?”

“Yes! The Alicorn Amulet corrupt the soul and turn any who use it evil! And it may have taken place of your heart.” I stare at her blankly.

“If that’s true, then why haven’t I tried to kill you? And why has this thing replaced my heart?” She says nothing. “I think it’s because I am a completely new species to this entire planet. But then again, I know nothing of this place.” I say with a little bit of sarcasm.

“You may not be that wrong, Ember. With the amulet as your heart now… that means it should be extremely difficult to...” She looks like she’s contemplating something. Also the room got significantly warmer. She stays like that for a minute. “Have you felt anything about your or your body change?”

“Besides my eyes changing red, that’s pretty much it.” She raises a brow. *Mind making my eyes flash red for a second?* A series of three magical pulses flow through my body, ending at my eyes. The second and last pulse turned Celestia’s eyes to saucers. “I just have one question; Why would I want to become a villain? This place is paradise compared to where I used to live. You should know that.” Her cheeks briefly tint the faintest pink at that statement.

“Yes, I do know. I… just suspected that of you. The Alicorn Amulet does not have a bright history.”

“You don’t have to worry about me reeking havoc on your kingdom, Princess Celestia. I can promise you that I will never harm your ponies, unless it’s out of self-defense.” I put as much honesty as I could into that sentence. She smiles gratefully. “And don’t you mean to say difficult to kill?”

“Yes, but here it would be barbaric to… end your life due to the Amulet...” She clears her throat. “But, thank you Ember.”

“Anytime... Moving on to a lighter subject, where is that document? I want to see if I can read it now.” There was a slight giddiness in my voice. Celestia just smirks.

“Lets find out.” Her horn lights again in a golden glow, and the same document appears before me. But now I can fucking read it!

"Yes! I can read!" I skim the paper. Its some legal jargon and some rules about me abusing my power. And recognizing me as a diplomat. *That was a bit anti-climactic…* I skim to the bottom and see where I’m supposed to sign. “Am I to sign in your written language?”

“Yes. And this is surprising to say the least. I didn’t expect what my sister did to work.” A quill poofs in out of nowhere.

“Well, I am from another world after all, I’m willing to bet that a lot of new things are going to come about, anyway...” *Lets see if can write my name* I grasp the quill, and guide it to the dotted line. *Here goes nothing...* As I started writing A felt something in my eyes and head. It didn’t hurt, it just felt… weird. Next thing I know I’m writing my name in whatever they call this writing style. The quill poofs away as soon as I finished my name. “Well, that came out better than I expected.”

“I agree, I was expecting much worse.” I look at her blankly. I would of said something out of spite. But I realized that I just learned a completely new language or calligraphy, finally I remember that word, so it makes sense that she would’ve expected worst.

“Thank you.” The paper rolls up and poofs out of existence, or to wherever they keep their documents, and the whole room flashes yellow again. “I, apologize, for how I acted toward you, I just need to protect my little ponies from any threat, also I have to attend day court.” She was about to walk away but she remembered something. “Oh! I almost forgot, you will receive your weekly salary starting this week. The first should be enough for you to buy your own house and furniture.”

“Heh, something tells me that it’s going to be a long day for you. And thanks for the money.” Celestia snickers.

“It’s like this everyday...” I don’t think she meant for me to hear that. As soon the door closes behind it reopens as the rest of the ponies come in. Twilights hurries to the side of my bed.

“What did you two talk about?”

“How much my salary will be.” I assumed Celestia didn't want them to know of the amulet that replaced my heart. I have no idea how I haven’t flipped the fuck out yet. “She said my first payment should be enough to get me a house and some furniture.” Then a thought pops into my head. “I need one with a basement.”

“Why?”

“Assuming every single available house in Ponyville is made to fit pony standards...” Twi’s cheeks tint a light pink. “I need a basement like the one you have.” *I wonder if they have the same laws humans have when it comes to citizenship…* At this point I’ve stopped feeling sore all over the place.

“Can we go back to Ponyville now? This place is boring...” Rainbow complains.

“For once, I agree with you.” Everyone chuckles at that. I get up from the bed, take off the little thing attached to my wrist and stretch as they all head out the door, loud satisfying pops come from my back as I stretch. I then walk out the door and see that I’m in some really long and kinda small hallway, my head almost touches the ceiling. The side opposite to the door I came out of is lined with windows. Letting me see the beautiful plants that cover the dirt floor outside.

“This is where we part, Twilight, Ember and friends. Farewell!” Luna walks away while the ponies wave to her.

*Why the fuck did she say my name like that? Oh yeah, I’m not exactly friends with these ponies...* We all then make our way back to wherever then fucking entrance is for this place. I still don’t understand who Twilight leads back to the entrance of this castle…

We eventually made it of the maze these ponies call a castle. It was still pretty fucking boring having to walk up and down a few flights of stairs and long hallways. When we finally made it outside the first thing I noticed was that there was the same garden I saw from before. Yeah, the same, exact, garden. I’ll let that thought sink in for a bit.

Anyway, we left the front doors of the castle and just got past the gates. The ponies, minus Rainbow, were about to get in when a masculine voice rang out.

“Twilight! Watch out!” I would of turned to see who shouted that. But something hit me the side, hard, very fucking hard. Felt like an anvil slamming into my side. A bit of an exaggeration, but I felt the hard impact either way. Which made me tumble across the ground a few feet. I immediately stood up and shook my head.

*How come I didn’t feel pain from that?* All the spells that have been done on me have resulted in an explosion. Whether I was the one hurt or the caster of the spell hurt. For some reason not this time… I look in the general direction of where the blast came from. And there, standing about ten yards in front of me, was a white coat blue mane and tail male unicorn. He adopted a very aggressive stance. Almost like a dog ready to pounce. Behind him was a pink female unicorn with yellow, pink, and purple striped mane. “Another idiot. Should’ve expected that.” I remarked. Both pony’s eyes grew wide when I spoke.

“It can talk?” The male spoke.

“Yes I can talk. What I’m wondering is,” I teleport to stand right in front of him. Easily towering over both of them, the female also has wings. “why the hell did you attack me?”

“Well… I… Uh… I, thought, you. Were... a monster.” A snicker and glance at Rainbow. Who scowls back at me.

“Why is it that all these ponies think of me like that.” I mutter under my breath. I ponder what I should do, then an idea takes form. *An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.* I devilish smirk curves my lips. “Instant payback.”

“Wha-” Before the male could finish that word. I make a direct uppercut right at his jaw. I didn’t feel any bone break so I knew I punched not too hard. Still sent him flying though, funny. He lasted good second in the air before he kissed the ground a few yards away. Leaving the pink mare terrified.

“It’s pretty insulting to be called a monster, especially when I haven't committed any crime.” I look to the female. Who flinches under my gaze. “I just wanted to get a little payback for him blasting me with whatever that was.”

“You mean the beam of magic?” The look of terror turned to curios as she spoke. Her voice was smooth and elegant, kinda like Celestia’s, but with a higher pitch.

“Yeah, that.” She snickers.

“You must be Ember, right?”

*How did she guess that?* “Yes. How did you guess?”

“Just a lucky guess.” Her look says everything.

“You heard about some weird new creature that appeared in Ponyville, huh?”

“Brother!” Oh yeah, back to the outside world. That was Twi’s voice.

“Brother?” I look over and she’s currently helping her supposed ‘brother’ get up.

“Ugh, I’m ok Twily.”

*So they’re siblings. Didn’t see that coming.* Twilight looks to me with scorn written across her face.

“Why did you punch my BBBFF?”

“BBBFF?” I repeat.

“Big brother, best friend forever.” The pink mare answers.

“Thank you.” She smiles. “As for your question Twilight. He hit me first.” That sounded a bit childish, it was the truth anyway.

“That doesn’t mean you get to hurt him badly!”

“I didn’t hurt him badly. The worst he got is probably a bruise and a sore jaw.” Twi was about to talk back, but her brother cut in.

“He’s right Twily, besides feeling a bit sore, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Really?” She looks to him and he nods. “Ok. Still wasn’t right to hit him.” I hear her mutter.

“That was a nice hit though.” He remarks. “How can move like that? You’re bucking tall.”

“Thanks, it took a couple of months’ gymnastics training for me to be that fast.” Twi clears her throat as she looks at her brother. He walks closer to me with a blank face.

“My name is Shining Armor. Captain of the royal guard.” The pink mare move to stand next to the newly named Shining Armor.

*Captain?*

“And I’m Mi Amore Cadenza. Or Princess Cadence.”

*Princess?*

“And we both rule the crystal empire.” They say in unison.

*Crystal Empire!?* I put that aside and bow for Cadence. Then I salute Shining. “A pleasure to meet you both.” I say in my classic army tone. They both put on confused faces. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Shining seems to understand what I did.

“At ease soldier.” I put my hand down and stand normally. “Who knew you were a soldier?” He said appraisingly.

“Barely anyone, sir.” Even though I’m on another planet in some other part of the universe, some old habits never die. At least Cadence understood what was going on now.

“If a mare may ask, what exactly made you sign up for your… Country's, military?”

“I was actually drafted because a huge world war started on my planet.” The two ponies in front of me gasp.

“Really?” Cadence asks.

“Yeah.”

“Can you tell me more?” Shining asks, there was a little glimmer in his eyes. Must be a big war buff. Before I could tell them more about world war three, Twi cut in.

“Actually we need to get going. Ember needs to do things back in Ponyville.” She looks to me with a strained smile. “Right?”

“Yeah...”

“Then we’ll come with you! The only reason we’re here is because of you.” Shining says, I was a little glad he didn’t refer to me as an animal. Twi lets out a sigh of exasperation. She really doesn't want to tell them about the war… Or, at least I think so…

“Ok. Come one girls.” She waves to the others, who were talking amongst themselves. All but Rainbow got into the carriage. Cadence and Shining being the last to get in the carriage. Cadence pokes her head out the door.

“Aren’t you two coming with us?”

“Yes, I’m just gonna fly by you guys. I don’t about her though.” I point a thumb to Rainbow. “I think you should go with your friends this time.” *Please work please work
please work!!* Just then Twi pops her head out. *YES!*

“Yes Rainbow! You should sit with us. We need to talk.” Said blue bitch snorts in annoyance. But complies and walks inside the carriage. When the doors closes the two ponies hauling it niegh and take off with it.

*They need to talk huh?* With one flap I’m in the air, catching up with the flying carriage and listening in on what they were talking about.

“I have the letter Princess Celestia sent me.”

“Well, can we read it? You’re not really telling us much about Ember. Let alone let him tell us.”

“Yes, here.” Sometimes I fucknig love having super-human hearing sometimes. I hear nothing for what I think is four minutes. Every once in a while I would hear some muffled mumbling. Finally I hear something.

“Buck, that just made me respect him a whole lot more.” Shining said.

*It’s the same damn letter…*

“He really went through that much?” I hear Cadence, her voice had a sorrowful tone to it. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her staring at me through one of the windows of the carriage. A sad expression on her face.

“The Princesses don’t lie apparently.” Rainbow scoffs. A loud whacking sound greets my ears, one of them smacked Rainbow. “OW!”

“Stop it Rainbow!” Aj shouts. I turn my head towards the window, feigning to be oblivious to what happened earlier. When I turned to the window all the ponies who were staring out of it turn away. I shrug my shoulders and look back ahead. Pretending to not know what happened. “Ah hope he didn’t hear what we’re saying.” I would’ve chuckled. But that would give it away.

“I hope so too, we’re almost there.” Twi said. “And I don’t think you should ask him...” I look down and see that we’re getting a little close to Ponyville. I nose dive and head straight for Twi’s place, gaining speed. Landing right front of the front door, landing the same way I did back at Canterlot. And the same way that Rainbow failed to land. A minute later and the carriage comes to a stop a few yards away from the tree house, and everybody climbs off the thing. “Thank you.” Twi said to the two ponies pulling the carriage. They snort in appreciation and take off.

“Whelp, what happens now?”

“While you wait for your payment to arrive, how about we go look for a house for you?” Twi asks.

“And we want to ask you more questions.” Shining said. By now the others mares, fuck I need to remember gender names here, took off to do their own thing.

“Eh, why not. It’s not like I have anything to do at the moment.” *Besides going to sleep...*

Whelp, barely three hours have passed and I’ve already got my own fucking house with a basement, my payment were delivered by a grey coated blond pegasus who had a lazy eye, the mare nearly crashed into me. Her name’s Derpy Hooves, gave me the duffle bag full of the ‘bits’ as they call these coins. Which I later found out to be tokens of pure, fucking, gold. And the mare flew off, apparently she delivers the mail around here, I wonder how she does it having a lazy eye... Shining and Cadence were asking me questions about me overall while I asked question about them, I found out that besides them ruling an empire made entirely of fucking crystals. That they're actually married, what’s really surprising is that Cadence was Twilight's ‘foal’ sitter when they were younger, and that she’s the princess of love. Classic Disney movie anyone? Anyway, the whole thing felt like an hour had past at best. Chrysi somehow found out where I was and caught up with us when we made it to town hall, I explained how me and Chrysi met and the two ponies were surprised yet again. Twi went inside the town hall to go talk with the mayor. Leaving us to talk with each other.

“So let me get this straight, your… people have somehow developed the technology needed to go to your planet’s moon and back?” Me and Shining have been talking back-and-forth with Cadence asking a question or putting her thought on a subject every once in a while, Chrysi was content on just listening.

“That, and to travel to other planets.” The subject changed from me to human tech in general. I’m surprised he hasn’t asked about our weapons yet, he looks like he’d be interested in that.

"Awesome." He said. That made me little proud of my people, kinda.

"And your people have screens the make pictures from thousands of little lights?" Cadence spoke up.

"Yup." *I just wish I could show them. I don't like being thought as a liar. I know they think I'm lying. Their faces give it away. Either that, or I'm a little paranoid. That may be it... Then again I'm on another planet… I still want to show them my people's tech! No matter how much of asshole that makes me look like!

“You humans are an interesting race.” Chrysi finally said something, she’s been quiet the whole time Shining, Cadence and me were talking.

“You mean that in a cultural way right?” She nods. “Good.” I may not be a total fan of the human race as a whole, but I still take offense when someone, in this case something, acts like a bigot.

“Your own kind are just so… so...”

“Diverse?” Cadence said, helping the little changeling. Oh yeah! She kept her disguise from earlier, I neglected to mention that…

“Yes, diverse. I’ve never heard of a single race of living beings that can have so many cultural differences.”

“Well, it makes sense when there’s about seven point two billion humans back on earth.” *Even I think that’s a shit-ton of people on one planet.* That made all of their jaws drop, almost literally, and their eyes bug out. They stay like that as Twi finally walks out of town hall.

“Well Ember, you have your own house now!” She failed to notice the three frozen ponies even as she stands next to me.

“That’s good and all, but I think we should be more concerned about these three.” I point a thumb to the three frozen ponies. Twi looks at them and gasps.

“What did you do!?”

“I didn’t do shit!”

“Would stop saying those words!?”

“What words?”

“You know,” Her voice lowers a bit. “shit and fuck.”

“Why the fuck would you want me to stop saying those fucking words?”

“Because it’s not right to say them! We have rules against that!”

“Fine.” I clear my throat. “Anyway, back to the task at hand.”

“Wait, don’t you mean ‘at hoof’?” I give her a blank look, then hold up my hands. Her cheeks quickly turn pink. “Oh, heh, right...”

“Hold on, I think I know how to bring them back to the real world.” An evil smirk curves my lips.

“What are going to do?”

“Don’t worry Twi. Just wait. Right. There.” I say as I step towards Chrysi and crouch. I hold up a hand to her forehead and flick it. Instantly snapping her out of her trance.

“Ow! What was that for?” I point to the other two.

“You were like that.”

“Oh.”

“Now, let’s get these two back to normal.” Next is Cadence. I flick her in the forehead. She just snorts as her eyes return to normal.

“Huh? What happened?”

“I told you how many of us populate Earth and you, along with Shining and Chrysanthemum, froze up.”

“Oh.”

“And now I’m gonna break him from his trance.” I step over to Shining and flick him on the forehead, only he doesn’t respond. “What?” I flick him again a little harder. Still no response. “Hard head.” I abandon flicking him and switch to smack him, right on the side of his face. That got him to snap out of it.

“Buck that hurt!”

“Shining!” Both Cadence and Twilight shout. “Language!”

“Why did you smack me?”

“You were stuck in a trance so I decided to take you out of it.” I stand back up. “I don’t know about about you guys, but I’m going home. Then I remember something. I need to get a motherfucking bed. "Hey Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“You know where I can get a bed. My size?”

“Yes I do! If you will follow me please.”

Author's Notes:

I'm posting this from my phone so please excuse any errors. It's good to be back.

Chapter 10: Late Night Activities

Author's Notes:

Apologies if the chapter title is a bit misleading.

Twilight lead me with Cadence, Shining and Chrysi in tow to the marketplace, to a store the specialized in custom furniture. The place kind looked like old century blacksmith, except for wood furnishings. The wood-brown unicorn who ran the place seemed to be a little too happy to make me a bed, that smile he maintained was a bit too wide. His name was Carpenter, yes, Carpenter, that is his name. He said to call him Carp for short. All this town needs is a bookstore named Barnes N’ Noble with two ponies running the place named Barnes and Noble.

Anyway, now here we are, the five of us, well, the four of them while I just listen, are talking up a storm while carp does his thing. I was a bit preoccupied with watching Carp perform a number of tasks to make my custom bed from behind the counter. Twi said she can use an enlarging spell for the mattress back at her place so I can have it, it was a bit small when I slept in it...

“Ember?”

“Hmm?” I turn to the ponies.

“Umm... Cadence would like to know if she can ask you something.” Twi said. I turn to the pink winged unicorn.

“What is it?”

“I want to know what it was like when this… war, you talked about, was like.” She said carefully. “I’m curious.”

*As if you ponies need to worry about me talking about the biggest, bloodiest war in human history.* “Alright, I’ll tell you. But on one condition.” All four ponies lean in. “You have to swear on your lives that not another soul is told of what I’m about to tell you. Go it?” They all nod. “Good.” I lean closer to them. “‘Cause if ya don’t.” I let my eyes turn red. “You’ll wish you never did.” I turn my eyes back to their original yellow color as I watch a shiver run down their forms.

“Now. How it felt like being a soldier in the bloodiest war of human history. How can I put it... Ah!” I lower my voice so only Twilight, Cadence, Chrysi and Shining can hear. “Imagine lying in a muddy ditch a forest in the ground for months on end while thousands of rounds of lead and a couple missiles fly above you. Only to get out during momentary cease-fire and likely be shot dead before you can manage a few feet ahead.” I pause. “But then you and a few of your comrades managed to get into a ditch a few meters closer to the enemy while carrying fifty pounds of clothing and weapons. Only suffering a few grazes and non-fatal gunshot wounds. And then realizing over half of your squad was shot dead, blown to bits by land mines, gunfire or worse.” All four of them pale. “Then one of your own comrades get bold and stupid enough to run out of the ditch to try and get a few shots at the enemy. Only for you and the others to watch in horror as you see him literally ripped apart as bullets tear through the poor soul. And all of that lasting for three, fucking, years.” Twilight looks ready to vomit. The others just adopt a mixture of green and white faces. “I’ll tell you more later if ya want. You all look ready to vomit or pass out.” I look back to Carp.

“Looks like he’s finished with my bed!” I try to lighten the mood. It seemed to have worked. I saw that Carp was putting the finishing touches on the bed frame.

“I sure am! Come take a look!” Carp shouts out. I all walk over to him and look at my brand fucking new bed frame. It looks big enough to fit my height.

“I like it. Looks like it’ll hold my size.”

“I guarantee that it’ll be perfect! I’ve even made sturdy enough to take whatever you can throw at it!”

“I’ll take your word for it. How much do ya want for it?” I then proceed to grab the duffel bag full of golden bits off my back. He waves a hoof dismissively.

“First time customers is always free.”

“Really?” He nods. “Awesome.” I grab the bed frame with my magic. “I’ll be back tomorrow to ask for some more stuff. Right now I’m going home.” It was getting pretty late, even for me. *I wonder how they managed to stay up this long.*

“Alright see ya tomorrow then!” I wave to him behind me.

“Hey Twilight, is it possible to teleport with this?”

“Yes, but it takes,” a massive yawn escapes her lips. “a lot of magic.”

“Good. See ya tomorrow.” I then teleport me and my bed to my new home. *The mattress…* I forgot to ask twi about the mattress. *Eh, I’ll do a couple teleports and get the damn thing.* I teleport to Twilight’s basement, grab the bed nonchalantly in my magic, and teleport back home. *Is it possible if I can enlarge it myself?* The amulet responds with a positive pulse. *Perfect, but how do it?* The amulet didn’t respond so I think up of ways to make this mattress larger. Then I get an idea, I set the mattress on the bed frame, grab a corner of the mattress, and pull. And to my surprise, the fucking thing got bigger. It was just as easy expanding a picture on a fucking tablet! I immediately jump onto the bed and pass out, I have one final thought before my eyes close. *I could’ve spawned this shit in...*

I loud crash comes from above as it wakes me the fuck up. Me being the guy that I am, I jump out of bed and quietly make my way up stairs, hand-claws at the ready and listening for more noises. I assume Chrysi already got here a while ago, if she chose to live with me.

“Remember what we’re for: Find this thing and kill it. Spread out.” I hear a male voice whisper.

“Got it.” Another responds. A few seconds of silence and a light shines in from under my door. I quickly hid under my bed as the door opened. The light was fucking bright, but my eyes quickly adjusted and I can make out a pony behind the light. It’s a unicorn. The magic claws dissipate from my hands.

*They have a light-source?*

“That’s a big bed.” The pony remarks. I teleport so that I’m standing right behind the fucker. Before I say anything I let my eyes turn red.

*Can you make my eyes glow red too?* I feel a rush of magic flow to my eyes and the pony’s back tints the faintest of reds. *Awesome.* “Yup pretty big.” I scare the living shit out this pony, making him jump to my height and turn around.

“Who-!” His breath stops at his throat and the light emanating from his horn dies as his eyes stare at my crotch. It was fukcing awkward.

“Up here.” He slowly looks up, his face grows more horrified and his irises shrink to pinpricks when he locks eyes with mine. “The hell are you doing in my house?” He shakes his head and his eye return to normal. His horn glows a light yellow. Taking the sign I make a quick step back. I watch as a knife flies out of the pony’s side, and shoots directly at me. Seeing as my life is in danger. I create a shield around me just in time to block the knife from stabbing. As it clanged to the ground I the shield goes down and I make quick work of the pony. Landing a direct punch to the top of his head, avoiding the horn. Which made him hit his head on the hard floor. Knocking him out. Without a light it’s fucking dark here. *I love night-vision.* I carefully and quietly make my way upstairs.

“Ahh! Help!” A loud crash comes from the main bedroom.

*Chrysi?* Some more crashes and muffled screams sound out. I run to the room as fast as I could and burst in through the door. And see Chrysi in her real form struggling to break free from a grey stallion’s grip, he doesn’t have any wings or a horn. With all the noise they’re making they didn’t notice me come in. I think of what to do and I come up with an idea. *Time for some magic!* I get way too excited to use my magic.

I spot the stallion’s tail and grab it with my magic, with them still unaware of my presence Iift him into the air and fling him into the wall with a single motion of my hand. Almost hard enough to make a pony-shaped hole in it. The resulting body went limp on the ground, I walk over to it and nudge it with a talon. He’s not moving, but still breathing.

“Fucking burglars.” I turn to Chrysi. “You ok?” She weakly nods.

“Yes, I’m ok.” I decide not to question her about why she decided to live here. She has no other place so...

“Good.” I turn to the barely conscious pony. “‘Cause when they wake up, they’re gonna have to answer some questions .”

“They?”

“Another one attacked me in my room.”

“Oh.” I pick up the barely conscious pony and take him to my room.

“Come on if you want to interrogate them with me.”

“Ok.” She steps into pace with me as we make our way to my room. I put the stallion next to the other and turn on the only lightbulb in this room.

“Hey Chrysi.”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when I gave you that bed?” She nods. “I think I may have created it there.”

“What?”

“I think I created that bed out of thin air.” Her eyes turn into grey saucers. That look only lasted a second before she recomposed herself.

“What makes you think that?”

“I didn’t teleport it from some other place.” At that her eyes widen again, but it lasts much longer until she shakes her head.

“Where are you going with this?” She looks to me curiously, I smile widely.

“If I can spawn a bed out of thin air, then that means I can spawn in whatever I want!” I feel a negative pulse run through me. “Maybe.” *Can you create two chairs and some rope? With one chair my size and one her size?* I get two chairs and a pile of rope as a response. *I know I’ve already said this, but I fucking love you and magic!* “Perfect.” I set the two chairs next to each other so they face the two knocked-out ponies. “Take a seat please.” I motion for Chrysi t take one, she does so while I use my magic to prop up the two ponies, I then grab the rope and tie it around them. I make sure to tie it so that their front limbs are tied up too. I spot the knife nearby on the floor and pick it up, it looks more like a curved dagger now that I have a good look at it.

“What’s that?”

“I think it’s a dagger.”

“Dagger?”

“It’s like a small sword.” She gasps. “And this fucker tried to kill me with this.”

“Mmmmugh…”

“And I think they’re waking up.” I walk to a far edge of the room where the light doesn’t reach me. Kinda hard to do since I can see in the dark.

“What are you doing?”

“This is for intimidation. They really haven’t seen me yet so it would scare them a little when I walk into view.” She looks at me with a raised eyebrow, if she has any as a changeling.

“Kind of makes sense.” She turns back the two ponies as they wake up. “You should probably put something on his horn so he can’t use magic.”

“Like what?”

“An iron ring should do it.” A second later and a ring appears at the base of the brown one’s horn.

“Ugh. Where am I?” The brown one tries to move.”Why am I tied up?” His face scrunches up in concentration. “And why can’t I use my magic.”

“Probably because you’re stupid.” The grey one spoke up. “Or probably because we got knocked out.”

“Would you two shut up?” Chrysi demanded. The two stallions look to the changeling.

“A changeling!? We were supposed to kill that thing!?”

“No you idiot. It’s not it.”

“Can you stop calling me thing or it? I do have a gender! I’m a girl!”

“Shut up! We don’t listen to changelings.” Brownie shouts, Chrysi jumps off her chair and goes right up to the brown one.

“Shut the buck up!” The brown flinches in disgust.

“You don’t scare us.” The grey one nods in agreement. I tap a claw on the floor, the clicking sound echoed shortly within the room.

“What was that?” Grey asks. Chrysi walks back to her chair, smiling at me.

“It’s not me you have to be scared of.” She says once she sits down again. “It’s him.” Browny’s eyes widen.

“Who’s ‘him’?”

“My name is Ember.” The tied up ponies freeze as I walk out of the shadows, with my hands behind me, and take my seat, while carrying the dagger. “And from what you said earlier, you were supposed to have killed me.” I toss the dagger in the air. “Amazing how the tables can turn so quickly, isn’t it?” Grey goes into a wide-eyed stupor while Brown recomposes himself.

“What are you?” He asks while having a mystified look.

“What I am is not important. Right now I want some answers from you two.” Brown gets really defensive.

“We won’t tell you anything!”

“Oh, you will. ‘Cause if ya don’t,” With my magic, the dagger shoots at Brown, stopping right in front of his nose. “the floor will be covered in your blood.” He gulps loudly.

“R-really?” I get up from my chair and walk to him, I squat down and take the dagger back in my hand.

“Do I look like I’m jooking?” I ask as I slowly glide the dagger across the left side of him face. Letting a trail of crimson blood drip off his face. He flinches as the blade glides across his face. I then turn it towards his eye and he nearly panicked. I look over to the grey one and he just sairs in shock.

“Alright! Alright, we’ll talk.” I take the blade off of his face.

“Good.” I stand back up and walk back to my chair. Chrysi stairs at me in shock.

“I didn’t think you were going to that...” I give her a look saying, ‘Are you shitting me?’, her cheeks tinted red for a second and looked down. “Sorry. Forgot about what you’ve done...” I reach a hand over and scratch her behind an ear. A smile quickly forms on her face.

“Don’t worry about it.” I remove my hand and look back to dumb and dumber. “Now back to you two. Who sent you?”

“We were hired by a stallion.”

“What’s his name?” *I swear to fucking god if it’s that prick Blueblood…*

“He never told us his name.”

“What did he look like?”

“He’s a unicorn with blue eyes and a white coat and has a dirty blond mane and tail. He has a star cutie mark.” I can feel my whole body heat up.

*I knew it. I FUCKNG knew it!* “Blueblood...”

“Is it me, or is it getting a little warm in here?” Chrysi asks no one in particular.

“Nevermind that.” The rope binding the two ponies dissipates as I get up from my chair. “You two go back to wherever you came from. You’re no use to me now.”

“But we don’t get or pay unless we kill you.” I look to them with a scowl.

*Give them a bar of gold each.* Two bars of gold appear in front of them. “There.” Then I remember something. “Hold it.” They both freeze in their tracks. “I still need you two.”

“And why is that?” Brown asks.

“You two are my evidence to prove Blueblood wants me dead. Therefore I need you two to come with me to Canterlot. And no you’re not gonna get arrested or anything like that.”

“Why are you not having them arrested!?” Chrysi shouts.

“They don’t want me dead just for the fuck of it. They were paid to kill me. Which means Blueblood wants me dead just for the fuck of it. Or maybe because I embarrassed him in front of Celestia.”

“Really?” All three ask at the same time.

“Yes, really. Anyway,” I look to Chrysi. “I need you stay here and tell anyone that I’m at Canterlot to speak with Celestia. Ok?” The bug-pony does the pony equivalent of a soldier's salute. “Good. Lets go.” I wave a hand at the two ponies as I grab the duffel bag full of gold coins and walk up the stairs and out my house. The sun is just above the horizon. *It’s too early for this shit. I’m so taking a nap when I get back home.*

“So… with all of… that behind us, what are you?” Grey spoke up.

“I’m a physically altered human.”

“‘Physically altered’?”

“Back on my planet humans have highly-advanced technology that allows us to change our appearance.” I contemplate how we’re gonna get to Canterlot. *Is it possible to teleport more than one living being at a time?* The amulet responds with a positive pulse. I have no clue how I can tell how it responds the way it does, I can just tell the differences. *Good.* “Have any of you ever teleported before?” They both shake their heads. “Well today’s your lucky day.” I close my eyes and recreate the image of Celestia’s and Luna’s throne room, while I cover the two ponies in my magic. When I hear a loud popping sound I open my eyes.

“Ember?” It worked, it fucking worked. I successfully teleported me, Grey and Brown to The princess's’ throne room, right at the bottom of her throne no less!. “What are you doing here? And who are these two?” Oh yeah, she asked me a question.

“Well, to answer your questions. I’ve reason to believe that Blueblood has hired these two to assassinate me.” She raises and eyebrow and looks to them.

“Is this true? Did my nephew pay you two assassinate Ember here?” Brown decided to speak first. After waiting for what felt like forever.

“Yes, your highness. It’s true.”

“Hmm… Guards!” Two ponies clad on golden-yellow armor show up out of nowhere. “Tell Prince Blueblood to come to me as soon as possible.” They both solute and walk off. “As for you two.” She directs her attention back to the two ponies. “What do you think should happen to them?” She looks straight to me.

“Let them go.” The two ponies beside me turn to me with a surprised expression.

“Really!?” I look to them.

“It’s not you that I have problems with. It’s who hired you that I’m after.” I put a hand to my chin. “If fact, you two are the most innocent out of all of this. I’m not even sure what you do is even legal. Is it?” I ask Celestia.

“Yes, but only under certain circumstances.”

“Like?”

“If I see somepony as a threat to my loyal subjects, or if my little ponies,”

*There’s that fucking phrase again! Why does it sound familiar?*

“See them as a menace to our society, then either I or my subjects can perform such an act.” I go quiet for a second.

“Makes sense.” Just then I hear the huge doors behind me open loudly.

“What is it Aunty Celestia?” The royal prick made it, I wonder what Celestia’s going to do. I turn and watch as the fucker freeze in place as his eyes grow in size.

“Good morning to you too nephew.” Celestia steps off her throne and stops next to me. “I’ve received word that you may be responsible in hiring these two,” She points her head to the two ponies next to me. “to assassinate Ember. Isn’t that silly?” I’m loving how she’s dealing with this, as the smile on her faces suggest she’s enjoying this. I know I am. “So I called you here so I can be sure that this is all a lie. Care to clear your name?” Blueblood stood there as all of what Celestia said sinks into that thick skull of his.

“Uh… O-of course it is!” He clears his throat. “I-i’ve never seen those two in my life!” He’s almost dancing in place. Celestia and I look at each other unamused, she also lowers her head.

“You may leave Ember, I need to have a little ‘talk’ with my nephew.” Blueblood’s eyes turn to saucers. I can tell some shit’s going down so I leave as soon as possible.

“I bid you two good day.” I say and teleport the fuck outa’ there. Thankfully I’m back in my room of my house and it seems like nothing has happened since I left. “Chrysi!?” I hear some… ‘hoof’ steps from upstairs and the door to my room opens. Revealing Chrysi in her changeling form.

“Hey Ember! When did you get back?”

“Just got back. Did anything happen while I wasn’t here?” I assume nothing happened to her. She nods at my question.

“Yeah, Pinkie came by and told me to tell you to go by Sugarcube Corner as soon as you came back.”

“That it?” She nods again. “Hmm… Kinda weird she would ask me to go there. Does she work there or something? I remember seeing the place from a distance and she said something to that effect...” Chrysi just shrugs. I stand there and think for a minute. “Eh… It’s not like I got anything else better to do, so might as well go.” I walk up the stairs as Chrysi steps out of the way. “Wanna come with?” She nods.

“Why not?” With a flash of grey fire she changes into the same mare from when we were talking with Shining and Cadence. No matter how many times I see her do that I’ll never get used to that. At my blank look she snickers. “Come on.” She gives me a knowing look. What it’s supposed to mean, I have no idea.

“Ok...” I decided to not question her about that, I have a suspicion that there’s a literal surprise waiting for me at this place. *I think it’s a bakery? Yeah, I think Pinkie said something like that last time I spoke with her…* At this point I can only hope for the worst not to happen…

Anyway, I follow Chrysi as she leads me through this town, which is surprisingly empty. This place is usually full of ponies walking around at this time. I put that in the back of my mind for later. Chrysi eventually lead me to this bakery. From what I saw the place looked like a giant gingerbread house, it even looks like I can take a bite out of the side of it. As enticing as it is, I refrain from taking a bite, and walk inside with Chrysi. She somehow disappears into the darkness when she walks inside.

*Wait, darkness? How the fuck am I not able to see inside?* It was barely afternoon, there is clearly enough light to see inside the place through the windows. I guess I was right about being suspicious earlier. I pause look at the windows for a second, and I just resolve to walk inside. As soon as I walk inside the inside becomes semi-lit. I can see it looks like a brightly colored bakery: display cases across the back of the room, a long menu hanging above the cases. And the rest of the room filled with tables and chairs. I stop a few feet ahead of the main doors and look around.

“SURPRISE!!”

Chapter 11: Meeting old Freinds

“SURPRISE!!” Ponies appear out from behind tables, chairs, and the display cases. All wearing party hats, some even have those blow streamers. Confetti blasts from somewhere and rains down, balloons and streamers dot the ceiling. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow all stand in the center of whatever this is. Rainbow looks like she’d rather kill herself.

*What the fuck!?.. Oh, I see... They threw a surprise party for me… Do they think it’s my birthday or something?* “Um… what is this?” At this point, I don’t know what to do or say. Pinkie answered my question.

“I finally threw your ‘Welcome to Ponyville ’ party! Was it a surprise? Huh? Was it?!” She threw her front legs on my stomach and did her best to try to close the spaces between our faces. Her eyes bigger than normal, if there’s any kind of ‘normal’ in this world.

“It was… A big surprise. I just have one question though.”

“What?”

“Why? Why would you go through the trouble of throwing me a party just to welcome me?” Pinkie just giggles.

“You’re my friend! And I always throw a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ whenever somepony moves in!” She removes her hooves from me. “Come on! Lets PARTY!” The music gets louder and faster and the ponies start dancing. I’m just left standing, stunned.

*She considers me her friend? I barely know her, or anybody around here. Why would she of all of these ponies call me a friend?*

“Ember? Are you alright?” I didn’t notice Rarity coming up to me. I shake my head head and face her.

“Yeah… I’m fine. I just… I just never...”

“Never what darling?”

“Why would Pinkie call me her friend. We barely know each other...”

“Everypony’s her friend.” She waves a hoof dismissively. “She just loves making friends.” The other girls decided to gather behind Rarity as she spoke.

“Why?”

“It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. Besides,” Her face softens a bit. “if she considers you her friend, then I do too.” I look at the rest behind her.

“Why, you’re practically family to us.” Aj spoke up.

“You’re my friend, if that’s okay with you… If you want...” Fluttershy squeaked.

“You’re a good friend to me.” Twi nods firmly. I look at Rainbow and instantly I know I can care less about her, she wasn’t even paying attention to us. Aj smacks her behind the head.

“Ow! What was that for!?” Aj points a hoof at me.

“Don’t bother Aj. I can care less whether she thinks of me as her friend or not.” That set her off.

“Why you-!” She leaps at me. It feels like time slowed as soon as she was airborne. The girls looked shocked, should they be at this point? While Rainbow puts on a face of pure anger. Time returns to normal speed as I simply sidestep and let the blue bitch smack face first into the glass double doors. She somehow stuck to the glass and slid down until her body met the wood floor with a thump. Her wings just hung limp at her sides, making the occasional twitch. I step over to her and crouch down.

“I would stop doing that if I were you. It’d be better if you save whatever brain cells you have left.” I’m sure Rainbow can be a good friend, but until I see that side of her. I’m just gonna let her stay angry at me for no reason. “And I think you should try and get along with me.” She groans in response as I stand back up. “Now with that out of the way,” I face the remaining five ponies. “Lets party.” The girls cheer and run off the center of the room. Somehow some of these ponies cleared it to make some dance space. I was about to join them but I got an idea, again. *Is it possible if you can give me my phone?* It was a bit of a stretch, but this thing conjured two beds out of thin air. Kinda hard to determine its limits. The amulet responds by… I guess poofing?.. My phone in my hand, I turn it on and it is my phone! I have a Sly Cooper wallpaper. “I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again. I fucking love the amulet.” I open my music and go to one of my playlists. “I just hope Vinyle will let me do it.” I say to myself as I walk over to the Dj’s setup.

“Hey Ember! Nice party huh?” She takes her shades with her magic and sets them atop her horn.

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.”

“Hey, what’s that?” She points at my phone.

“It’s my phone.”

“A what?” I thought she would know what it was. She’s using Turntables for fucks sake. IT would make sense if they had this kind of tech here. Then again, I’ve hardly seen any tech comparable to human tech.

“It’s basically a device that allows you to talk to other people anywhere.”

"That's awesome."

"Thanks."

"So, watcha want?"

"Well, I was hoping I could make a request."

"Sure, you’re the guest of honor after all." She motions me to stand with her, behind the table.

*Oookaay...* I step behind the thing next to her.

"So can that thing play music or somethin'?"

"What? How did you-"

"You said you were from another planet right?" I nod. “Then you don’t know anything about music here, right?”

“Riiiiiiiiight.” *She’s good.* She snorts in amusement.

“Come on, lets see if I can get that thing plugged in.” I hand her the device and she takes it in her magic.

“This may be a bit redundant, but do you have anything like my phone.” She nods.

“Yeah, kinda. ‘Cept it’s called the Mp1.”

“Really?” She nods.

“Mhm. Though it only plays music. Can’t really talk to anypony anywhere with it.”

*Well I’ll be damned. Didn’t see that coming.* A black wire floats up from behind the table, looks just like an aux cable. It even has the same jack to connect to my phone.

“Looks like it’ll fit.” Hearing that made my mind go right down the gutter.

*Fuck you perverted brain.* With an audible ‘click’ the cable plugs perfectly into the jack.

“It does fit! Awsome!”

*That’s what she said.* “Cool.” She hands me back my phone.

“Go ahead and pick the song you want me to play.” I go back to me music and do just that. I pick my song and it starts to play from the giant speakers right next to us. I place my phone next to one of the turntables and walk to the center. Predictably everypony, I’m starting to use their lingo, cool. Anyway, when they saw me walking to the center of the dance floor they backed up, giving me more than enough space.

*Party rockers in the house toniiiiiiight.* I sing along in my head. *We gonna make you lose your mind…* The rest of that night was spent with me dancing to whatever song happen to play. A lot of the ponies eventually got the groove and starting dancing. In their own, four legged way.

I have no idea what the time it is, maybe two, three in the morning? It doesn’t matter, I’m still having fun, even though I was dancing most of the time I was really enjoying myself. I’ve stopped dancing and now I’m just talking with the girls plus Chrysi at a table, A while back I got us all punch from a punch bowl and Vinyl gave me back my phone.

“Ah’ve gotta say Ember, you sure know how ta dance.” And they apparently liked my dancing, the rest, minus Rainbow, nod in agreement. “Where'd you even learn to do that?”

“I took a couple of dance classes when I was younger.”

“You seem to have done a lot of things when you were younger. Is that true?” Twi inquired, I nod. “Why?”

*Fucking shit.* I let out a sigh before I answer. “My parents wanted me to be their ‘ideal child’, to have me so talented there was no way I couldn’t find a high-paying job, and they put me in a shit-ton of extra curricular classes: Music, marksmanship, advanced math, advanced tech, you name it. And with them being the rich fucks they were, there was no such thing as ‘a class I couldn’t take’.”

“You say it as if it wasn’t a good thing.” Rarity added. “Was it really that bad?”

“Not really. I just didn’t like the thing where it took most of my childhood away from me, and I don’t like talking about it much.” She gives me a confused look. “With all the classes I took back then it took up most of the day to keep up with all of them. If it weren’t for that. I probably would’ve liked it.” Rarity looks to have understood. I look around and notice that almost all the ponies have left, it was getting pretty late.

“So you’re an egghead too?” Rainbow remarked with a sneer.

“If I was, then I wouldn’t of taken all those punches you threw at me how I did. And I wouldn’t be able to punch you back harder..” *Hopefully that shut her up.* The six ponies I’m sitting with tense up at my statement. Fluttershy was the first to recover.

“You don’t really mean that. Do you?” I shake my head.

“Of course not.” I place a hand on her head and scratch her behind her ears, quickly calming her down. I then stare directly at Rainbow. “Unless you want me to prove it. Do you?” Her eyes shrink.

“N-no.” She shakes her head.

“Alright.” I chuckle, removing my hand from Fluttershy’s head. *They have really soft hair. “It’s pretty funny how I can scare you so easily Rainbow.” She shoots me a scornful look.

“Bucking flankhole.” I hear her mutter. I just smile back at her. Y’know how hilarious it is when they curse in their own way here? Imagine Applejack screaming ‘ponyfeathers’ when she hits the sensitive part of one of her shins really hard. Looks like she tries really hard to censor herself all the time.

“Whelp,” I yawn escapes Aj’s lips. “ah gotta head home. Gotta wake early enough to start applebuckin'." I smile inwardly.

“Maybe I can come by to help?” She nods.

“The more the merrier. ‘Night everypony.” They all exchange goodnight’s as Aj heads out.

“I have to head home too.” Twi yawns out. “It’s getting pretty late.” And just like that, the rest of the ponies attending the party leave while saying goodnight to each other. Me and Chrysi were the last to leave.

“That was some party wasn’t it?” Chrysi asked as we left the place.

“Yeah, it was. Hey where were you? I never saw you around.” She looks down a little sadly.

“I don’t know how to dance.”

“And that lead you to hide?” She shakes her head.

“I wasn’t hiding, I was just in the background.”

“You were a little shy?” She nods. “Why? If you did anything you didn’t want to do you could’ve changed your look right?” She nods again. “Then why didn’t ‘cha do that?” As I spoke I tried to not talk like an asshole.

“I couldn’t because I didn’t have enough magic to do that earlier.”

“You need to feed again?” She nods. Twi told me a couple of days earlier that changelings are literally powered by love: the more love they have, the more powerful they are. Apparently love has a physical form here.

“Do you mind if I feed off of you again?” She cautiously asks.

“Sure, as long as you don’t go too far.” Twi also told me that if they feed for too long in one session it could become fatal for the host. I may be from another planet, but the last thing I want to do is kill myself by making a stupid mistake. “Can you do it while walking?” She nods again. “Go for it.” As we walk down the path that leads to my home I can feel something leaving my body. Just like the first time she fed from me. A few seconds of silence go by and the feeling stops, a soft sigh of satisfaction leaves the changeling and she’s briefly engulfed in grey fire. Turning herself back to her true form.

*I have to go ask Twi if she has books about magic and its abilities.* All this magic stuff makes me think what my magic is capable of. Right now I only know that, with the amulet, I can create certain objects, I think no bigger than a bed. Without the amulet I can teleport and create the clawed gauntlets.

“Ember?”

“Huh?” I shake my head and look at Chrysi. “What?”

“What are you thinking about?” I guess she doesn’t like the silence.

“I was just wondering what my magic is truly capable of.”

“Oh...” Silence falls over us again. And it just got awkward.

“Oh! I’ve been meaning to ask. Can you only change form with your magic?” *Might as well strike up a conversation if she’s trying to.* Sometimes I question my own logic, but then again I am talking to a dog-sized bug-pony.

“It depends on the situation, and what kind of changeling you're talking about.”

“Care to give me an example?” She nods.

“Drones can only use their magic to change their look, while servants and informants can teleport short distances and cast low level spells. And a queen can be just as powerful as an alicorn.”

“Alicorn?”

“You know, a pony with both wings and a horn.”

“Oh.”

“And that’s pretty much it.”

“Really?” She nods again. “Interesting.” It kinda fascinating to learn about a another sapient race. I would’ve ask how their society is like but we arrived at my house. When we walk in Chrysi walks off to her room and I head to my room. It’s kinda weird how ponies make the basement of a house three times as big as any room within the actual house. I put that thought, along with every other thought occupying my mind, and settle into my bed and let sleep take over…

I stand in the middle of a never-ending white plane. No features dot the white landscape. In the distance four figures appear. One a little shorter than the rest. As they get closer I see that two of them are human, and the short one looks like a pony with grey fur, grey and red striped mane.

“Who the fuck are you? Where the fuck am I?” I say when they’re close enough to hear me.

“We are in your mind.” I feminine voice sounds out. “And we are you.” One the figures point to the smaller one. “Except for him.” I walk a bit closer to them and the image finally clears to reveal… Me. Three different versions of me. One looks like a woman, the other looks like me but covered in fire, and the other one looks like a perfect reflection of me. “To be more specific, I am your feminine side.” The woman, or my feminine side I suppose, says.

“I’m your anger.” The one covered in fire blankly states.

“And I am your subconscious!” The mirror image of me shouts. “And we are all part of you!” He points to the grey pony. “Except for him.”

“Then who are you?” I finally say. I know I’ve just met different parts of myself, as brain-splitting as that was, I’m currently more concerned about the pony with them.

“I am the Alicorn Amulet.” He speaks in a smooth voice. “And I’ve been responding to your questions.”

“Oh.” I pause. “OH! That reminds me. Is it possible for you to actually speak instead of those pulses?”

“I suppose. I would need to find out for myself.” He puts a hoof to his chin. “If I do find a way I’ll let you know.”

“Good.” I look back at the other me’s. “Now with that out of the way, why is it now that I meet you three? And shouldn’t there be other parts of me?” The female version of me answers.

“You basically make up the rest of yourself.” I think I understood that. “As for why we’re here. We really have no idea. Amulet said this was the only way he could talk to you.”

“And what was he going to say?”

“He was gonna congratulate you for not using your amplified magic for ‘evil’ purposes.” I glance back at the newly named Amulet and see that he’s far too into his train of thought. “Anyway,” I look back to the only female here. They really need names. “it’s been one hell of a trip so far huh? Now especially with all this new magic shit?”

“Yup. You’ve been enjoying the show I presume?” She nods. “And the same can be said for you two?” My subconscious and fire ball nod. “Cool. Hey, uhh...”

“You can call me Embris.”

“Perfect. As I was saying, why is it that I want to fuck you when you’re literally a part of my brain?” She smirks.

“I could’ve made myself look unapealing, but I chose to look like this just so I can hear you say that.”

“I was a bit surprised when she first admitted that.” The mirror-me spoke. “And you can call me Sub.” He smiles. “Get it? ‘Cause i’m you subconscious!” He laughs. I chuckle turn to the me covered in fire.

“Emby.” He states.

“He likes that nickname Pinkie gave you.” Embris clarifies.

“Cool.” Before anything could done or said, the ground we stood upon started to shake violently and rumble. Almost knocking all of us to the ground. “What the fuck is happening!?”

“We’re being moved in your sleep!” Sub shouts out.

“Who-!” The ground suddenly stops and goes still once again. “Woah. Ok. That just happened.”

“Yeah, the fuck do you think happened out there?” Embris asks. Before anyone could answer everything started to get fuzzy. “I guess we’re about to find out.” I’m apparently waking up.

“See you later maybe?” All four of them nod.

“I’ll try and bring them with me so..!” Amulet shouts as I return to reality.

I open my eyes and immediately shut them tight. There was light shining right on my face.

*It’s too early for this shit. Wait… Light in my face!?* I bolt up from where I was laying and look around. *What..? I’m… in my apartment.* I can hear people and cars from outside. “I’m… back home?” I get up from my bed and walk up to the window and poke my head. “No fucking way…” I am back home. Back in Boston, the same old shtick with cars and people milling about bellow. “Why am I back home? Could’ve all of it been a dream?” I retract my head back inside and look around my bedroom. “No, it couldn’t be. It was all too vivid.” I hurriedly make my way to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. My eyes are yellow. *Mind turning my eyes back to red?* I had to know whether or not-

~Can do!~ My eyes turn red. *To be honest, I didn’t think I was staying.* A huge sigh of relieve leaves my lips.

“Oh good you’re still there. What about the others?”

-I don’t know how he did it, but, he did it. We’re all with ya Ember. Except Sub, he needed to stay behind to keep track of your mind.- Embris spoke out.

“What about Emby?”

=Here.=

“Good, now. What to do... And why the fuck am I back home?” I honestly think magic is keeping me from having a mental breakdown from all of this.

~If I may suggest, you could go out and find out how time has past here. Plus I want to see what your world is like first-hoof.~

“Fair enough.” Deciding to head out, I grab my hat I got from when I was in the army. It has all my info on it, reason being I use it to get free alcohol sometimes. Anyway, after that I make my way outside by jumping out the window and taking to the air. I then decided to head to the bar I used to go to: J. J.’s. It doesn’t take me long to land at the front and walk in. The barkeep was the first to see me.

“Heeey Ember! Long time no see! Whatcha been up to?” I take a seat at the counter works. This place is nearly empty, weird.

“Besides getting kidnapped, strapped to a table and got sucked into some kind of wormhole to another planet and befriended an alien race. I’m just peachy, Joe.” Joe laughs.

“Always the kidder with you. You want the usual?” I nod.

“Yeah.”

“Alright.” Joey hands me a bottle of unmarked alcohol. It’s amazing how many legal loops he has to jump through to do that. “You were kidding about all that stuff you said earlier, right?” I look to him blankly.

“Do I look like a man that would joke around like that?” He shakes his head.

“Can you at least prove it?” I nod and take a drink from the bottle. I hold it the air and let it go, the bottle is immediately covered in my red magic aura. Seeing that Joey’s eyes widen.

“Proof enough?” He nods as he regains his composure.

“Yup.” I grab the bottle and take another swig.

"You mind if spend the rest of the day here?" He.

“Sure, as long you don’t get too drunk.” He chuckles. I huff out a laugh.

“You know I ain't’ no lightweight.” I laugh out. “Thanks anyway.”

“No problem.” Joe walks off to go tend to another one of his customers.

“Oh fucking hell.” I he says as I hear the front doors open. I pay no attention and just watch the epic game of football going on from the tv mounted on the wall. “Hey Ember.” I look over to him.

“Yeah?” He points to the front door and I follow his finger. A group of about six dog anthros wearing clothes have walked in. “Oh for fucks sake, he has his gang now?” Joe nods.

“Ever since your last ‘meet up’ with him, he’s been hanging with those guys. They ain’t nothing but trouble, so watch out. And try not to break anything if you start fighting again.” He pauses. “He’s coming over here.”

“Thanks for the heads up. And no promises.” *Turn my eyes red again.*

~Gotcha. What’s going on?~ Amulet asks and I can feel my eyes changing color.

-Ember has some, ‘history’, with this guy. He’ll tell you more later.- I turn around on my chair and face the apparent leader of this group.

“Corey, long time no see fuck face.” I say with a shit eating smirk. Corey keeps a straight face, though I saw him flinch for a split second. “What’s this? These your new fuck boys?” I wave a hand at the other dog anthros behind him. All of them having neutral faces.

“Shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of here. This is my territory.” He pulls a pistol out and points it at my forehead. I just chuckle in response.

“Funny,” I say as I get up. Now he points the gun at my chest. “‘cause if I remember correctly, I believe I kicked the shit out of you last time.” He face contorts into anger and his arm holding the gun shakes. The smirk on my face grows into a wide smile.

~He looks really mad.~

=You have no idea.=

“Get… The fuck out… Before I… I blow your head off.” Corey starts to breath heavily. My smile quickly fades.

“Not without a fight.” In one split second, I knock the gun off his hand sending it flying into the air. I reach out and grab it before anyone else could and point right at Corey’s face. “Unless the fight’s already over.” His little gang pulled out various types of guns: An AK47, Assault rifle, a Twelve Gauge Double Barrel shotgun, Micro SMG, Desert Eagle, and forty four Magnum. I look calmly at all of them. *Can you teleport my Winchester Model twenty one in my hands?*

~What’s that?~ Embris quickly explains what it is. ~Oh, yeah, just give me a sec…~ I can only assume that he has to search my memories to find where I store such a gun and teleport it to me. With him doing that I calmly hand Corey back his gun. He takes it back with a triumphant smirk and points it back at my face.

“Good boy. Now leave, and never, ever come back!”

~Alright, here it comes.~ I grin slightly.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said-!” His sentence dies in his throat when my Winchester appeares in my hands. I cock my gun and point at them.

“Drop your weapons.” They don’t budge. “The shell loaded in this gun is spread shot. I can take you all down with just one sho-” I’m interrupted as a loud gunshot sounds out and a bullet rips through my left shoulder, followed by a hailstorm of lead. I grunt in pain but still managed to hold my gun at them. “Shield, now!” A thick red transparent shield forms in front of me, effectively blocking all their bullets from tearing me to shreds. Luckily there wasn’t any other person standing behind the group in front of me, so I had no problem pulling the trigger. “You asked for it motherfuckers.” A deafening boom emanates from my Winchester and they all fall to the floor, crying out in pain. I cock the gun again and let amulet teleport back to my apartment. I then walk over to them examine the damage when the shield dissipates. They’re all screaming and writhing in pain. None of them dead surprisingly. I turn to Joey who has a mortified look on his face.

“Joe, call an ambulance.” He nods quickly and grabs the phone off the counter. *Mind healing my shoulder? It’s getting kinda sore.*

~Already on it.~ He says and I felt a rush of magic run to my shoulder and it immediately felt better. I look down at Corey and crouch down to get a better look at him. He looks back me with the angriest expression I’ve ever seen him give.

“Ya done fucked up.”

“Fuck you… How did you take all of that?” He asks me with scorn.

“I was in the military, remember? I’ve also survived World War Three. Don’t you remember me telling you that before fuckboy?” He doesn’t respond, his eyes are closed and his body’s limp. He’s still breathing despite the amount of blood leaking out of his body. “Hey Joey? How long it’ll be before an ambulance gets here?”

“Sh-shouldn’t be another few minutes.” I nod.

“Good. I need to go home and wash the blood off. See ya later.” I wave as I take my leave and head home.

Author's Notes:

I can't help but feeling his chapter was a bit fast pasted.... Eh, as long you guys keep liking it. Also! It would be very much aleaciated if any of you can poiny out flaws in my story. That'll be all!

Chapter 12: The Big Showdown

After getting home and washing the blood off my shoulder. I decided to spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch and watching T.V. I was relieved when I found out today was a Saturday, I don’t work on Saturdays.

~You mind telling me what that was all about now?~

“A year or two ago I was at that bar when he came along and got drunk off his ass. In his drunken stupor he decided to try and flirt with a woman there. She declined, he didn’t like that, and started to get physical with her. I stepped in and told him to ‘get the fuck out’, Corey thought that was a challenge and swung a fist at my face. Long story short I beat the shit out of him and from then on hates my guts.”

~Oh… Hmm…~

“What?”

~Nothing, it’s just that you don’t look like somepony who would fight, from what I’ve seen earlier. You look more like a… a…~

“Gentle giant?”

~Yes, something like that.~

-Yeah, he used to get that a lot.-

“Fuck you Embris.”

-Nah, I’m good.- Amulet goes quiet and so does Embris, leaving me to watch more T.V. There’s a football game going on and it just went to commercial.

[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ul29X69UJA]

“No fucking way…”

~What?~

-We just got the last piece of the puzzle.-

=Yup.=

“I fucking knew that was familiar. An old friend online told me about this. About this cartoon called My little Pony. I knew they were all familiar.” I get up from my couch and head over to my room, opening my laptop and quickly search for whatever I can find about the show…

It’s late afternoon, and I’ve gathered all the information I needed to know about My Little Pony; the music, the fandom, the art, the ‘bronies’, everything. I called my friend earlier over Skype and told him about my latest… adventures? I think I can call it that.

“And now I’m here. I don’t know how I got back home. But I did.” Rick Lets out a long whistle.

“That’s some story. I just have thing, how do I you’re not fucking with me?”

“Switch to video chat.” I levitate the remote from the living and have it float next to me. As soon as he the remote covered in my magic aura floating next me, he goes wide eyed. “You believe me now?”

“I… wha… how… You can use magic!?” I nod. “How!? That’s not fucking possible! What happened to you!?”

“Like I said. I was sucked into some kind of wormhole and sent to fucking Equestria. And I recently found out that I can use the magic there. I don’t know how I’m using magic right now though.”

“That’s-!”

“Daddy?” I heard a little girls voice from his end of the call.

“Who’s that?”

“That’s my daughter. Hey Emily, what’s up?” He turns away from the call.

“Why were you yelling? Who’s that?”

“Don’t worry about it honey, and it’s just an old friend.”

“Oh. Ok!” I can hear Emily skip away as Rick turns back to me.

“Finally had one huh?” He nods with a smile. “Congrats. Anyway,” A yawn escapes my lips. “I gotta get some sleep. Later.”

“Later.” I end the call, close my laptop, and head walk to my bedroom. Choosing the flop onto my bed face first. And let sleep take over...

Today, I decided to walk around my neighborhood, after taking care of breakfast, taking a much needed shower and preening the feathers on my wings. Since I have absolutely nothing better to do. And I already came to the conclusion that, by some means, I was sent back home from Equestria, that's what the calls that place, and never be able to return. And I just came accept that. Even with all these new powers I still have a hard time believing in everything that happened to me over the past few days.

~Where are we going?~

"I don't know. I don't have any set destination in mind."

~Oh. Ok.~ With that being the last thing Amulet says my mind goes silent as I look around.

"Ember!" Around me I can see people freeze in their tracks and stare at something behind me.

*Oh for fucks sake.* I turn around and Corey, with his little gang, covered in bloodstained bandages. "How'd you all not end up in prison?"

"A buddy of mine picked us up before the police got to us." He says with a cocky smirk.

"Then why were looking for me?" He and his buddies grin widely.

"You didn't think this is over, did you?" He says in a malicious tone.

“I figured not. You wanna fight with guns again?”

“No.” He and his friends raise their fists. “Fistacuffs.” Corey breaks out into a full sprint at me. Followed by the others with him. The people around us either watch, or run in terror.

“Now that isn’t fair.” I say as the gauntlets appear on my hands. As Corey got closer I raised my hands and put them together. When he’s close enough I bring them down and perform the perfect haymaker. I barely made contact when the world around me changed. My closed fists slam into what looks like marble. Making a small crater. The gauntlets fade away as I frantically look around. *Marble floor, tall windows, huge fucking room, four ponies. Wait.* “Twilight, Luna, Celestia, And Cadence? The fuck!?”

“Ember! Where were you!?” Twilight nearly pounced me when she saw.

“I was back home on Earth, why? What’s going on?”

“A great evil has come upon us, Ember.” Celetia answers with a sour expression. “And we need all the magic we can get.”

“What?”

“Twilight will be given all our magic before Tirek gets here.”

*So that’s where they are in the story line.* Remember when I said I did a little research? Yeah, I did most of that on the villains of the show. “Who?” I had to play dumb to not raise any suspicion.

“We do not have time for explanation. Twilight, are you ready?” Luna says.

“Wait, she’s taking my magic too!?” I started to back away slowly.

~Don’t worry, I can just ‘recharge’ as you would call it.~

“It’s either her taking to defend Equestria, or Tirek takes yours to rule us.” I quickly calm down.

“Oh… Um… How am I going to give Twilight my magic?” Celestia smiles.

“You let me worry about that.”

“Ok… Lets get this thing started then.” *Please for fuck sakes do not let this hurt.* I think to myself as we gather around Twilight. Celestia, Luna and Cadence close their eyes in concentration. Their brows also furrowing as liquid light leaks from their horns. All gathering above Twilight into a mass of multi colored light. As that happened I get the sudden feeling of something coming up my throat. Nearly making me gag until I the same light leaks from my mouth and joins the ball of light. The light coming from me has a slight black tint to it, but not dark enough to notice at a distance, the tint disappears midway as my magic goes into the ball of pure magic. It doesn’t last long as the feeling goes away as quick as it started. Leaving a bit of a spicy aftertaste. *So that’s what raw magic looks like.* I think to myself as the ball of light literally pours into Twilight. Her body is briefly covered in the blinding light. I shield my eyes from the brightness. The light fades away and full absorbs into Twilight. Her mane and tail flowing in an eternal wind, like Celestia and Luna, for a second. The only evidence of what just happened came in the form of electric sparks that dance across her body. I look to the other… what was it? Ah! Yes. Alicorns. Celestia’s and Luna’s mane and tail freeze and go limp. And all three of their cutie marks are missing. They all look weak, looks like they’re trying their hardest to hold their heads up.

“Go Twilight. Tirek will be here any minute.” Celestia urges Twilight.

“Are you sure you’ll be ok?” She puts on a face of concern. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence smile weakly.

“Do not worry about us, Twilight Sparkle.” The ground began to shake. “Now go!” Twilight nodded, and ran out a side door. The ground continued to shake more violently as Tirek got closer.

“What do I do?” *Hopefully I can do something.*

“You just stand there. And let them do the talking.” Cadence ordered.

“Screw that!” I take to the air and hide in the rafters of the extremely high ceiling. Just in time as the giant wooden double doors burst open. And the big centaur named Tirek walks in, he’s easily two or three times my size. *Just like in the show…* I shake my head. *Hopefully this works.* Tirek was about halfway towards the three alicorns I spring into action. The gauntlets form on my hands and I nose dive towards the giant, quickly gaining speed. *This is either a good plan. or the worst idea ever.* I think to myself as I get closer. The ground rapidly growing until I suddenly stop, I can’t move, and my body is covered in this weird orange glow.

“What do we have here?” The giant speaks as he turns around to face me, his voice even reverberates through the air, almost like a souped up car stereo. His eyes widen a tiny bit we look at eachother. “And what the hell are you?” I look up and see that he has huge fucking demonic horns, both pointing upwards. In between them is a large ball of… fire? It looks like fire.

“Fuck you.” I try to break free from his grip. It was futile to say the least. I couldn't move at all. He just smirks and turns back around to face the three alicorns.

“Leave him alone!” Luna shouts.

“Or what?” He responds, luna goes silent. he huffs out a laugh and walks closer to them. Everything goes quiet as he gets up close to Celestia. From my viewpoint I he opens his maw, thinking he’s going to take their magic. And nothing happens, except for Celestia flinching a bit.

“What?” He goes over to Luna and does the same thing, then to Cadence when nothing happens for the second time. I’m just stuck in his grasp as I watch everything happen. “Where is all your magic? Where is it!?” She shouts.

“We are not telling you Tirek.” Celestia calmly states. Tirek growls in frustration. He looks to me again, he smiles maniacally and roughly moves me in front of them into a standing position.

“You will tell. Because if you don’t. I will

tear this thing’s wing off! You have five seconds.”

*No… he wouldn’t…*

“You wouldn’t.”

“Five.” All of our eyes widen. Theirs looking like saucers.

*No… NononononononononoNO!* redouble my efforts to break free. It’s still no use, I can’t move a single muscle in my entire body, I can’t even use my magic to teleport. I look pleadingly at Celestia. She just gives me a helpless look.

“Four.”

-Are we seriously going to lose our wings!? This is bullshit!-

“Three.”

=This is not happening this is not happening this not happening!= Embris and Emby start to panic. =Amulet! DO SOMETHING!=

~I can't! He's blocking me from doing anything!~

“Two.” At this point I just gave up. There was nothing I could do. And I was just about to lose my most precious limbs. I’ve always treated as if they were my own children, you could say they were my children.

“One.” And I’m going to lose them, forever. “Time’s up.” I felt a pulling force on my wings and it just got stronger. It slowly built up after it started to hurt. He was making painfully slow. I started to scream out in pain as the joints pop out of place. I think even a bone or two broke too. It felt like my wings were on fire. The pain just continued to get worst as the skin and muscle started to tear at a slow pace. Loud squelching and slurping sounds came from behind me as all the tissue holding my wings to my body tore. Tears began to to blur my vision, the pain was overwhelming, and my vision started to turn black at the edges. And at last, the pain dulled a bit.

And I can’t feel my wings. I only felt a stinging sensation where my wings connected to my back. Tirek released me from his grip and I just flopped onto the floor. I felt weak, like all the energy in me just left. My vision almost faded to black. But I could feel A rush of magic throughout my body. And I felt strength returning to my limbs. Once I have enough I shakily get up on my talents.

*FWOOSH* I turn around and look in horror as my wings are set ablaze. They quickly turn to ashes and fall to the ground. I can only stand there in shock and horror.

“If you won’t me who has your magic. I’ll go get it myself!” He teleport to god knows where. I just sink to my knees in front of the ashes that used to be my wings. I fall silent too, my mind going blank. I sit here for who knows how long until I hear a couple sets of hoofsteps from behind, then my back is covered in white and blue feathers. Cadence sat in front of and spoke.

"I'm so sorry Ember. We all are. I just wish there was another way." As she spoke I felt something inside snap. My face goes blank and I stand up. "Ember?"

"Everypony back away!" Celestia shouted and stepped away, closely followed by the others. I continued to stand still as my body began to warm up.

I know what this feeling is, i've only felt something close to this a few years ago. You how angry you get when you've been investing hours of gameplay into a single game, and you're one stage away from facing the facing the final boss. Then all of a sudden some bug or glitch that keeps you from reaching the final boss. And you realize that all of those precious hours you spent leveling up your character, all wasted, yeah, just like that. But now, it feels like an inferno of pure, unrestricted rage. Just begging to be released.

And I couldn't be any more happy to let it run wild.

I couldn't help but grin like a psychopath and double over, the heat building in my chest was starting to hurt. I closed my eyes in pain.

"Ember, are thou alright?" Luna asked, I heard a single hoofstep.

"Don't get close to him sister." Celestia said. I couldn't care less. The heat was getting to be unbearable. Then, I felt nothing, it was as if I lost all feeling in my nerves. The world faded away, and there only existed me, and the fire in my chest. The immense heat then spread throughout my entire being and I immediately knew everything. I stood back up and held my arms out in a position just like Goku when he ascended to super saiyan four. I feel that powerful. Reality came back and I quickly looked at body.

My body, which is normally composed of feathers, skin, bone and muscle. Is now white fire with bright blue edges, accompanied by a miniscule black tint. The tint being hardly noticeable. The fire makes a nice crackling sound and there’s a faint smell of burnt feathers.

“What the hell?” I turn to the three ponies in front of me, all wearing faces of pure shock. “What the hell happened to me?” Celestia was the first to recompose herself with a cough.

“*Ahem* Well, it seems your… anger, has taken physical form.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that. Losing my wings is a breaking point for me, I guess.” An image forms in my mind. Twi and Tirek are talking at this moment, at the outskirts. And I missed the epic explosion. “Now you’ll excuse me. I gotta go kick some ass.” I was about to teleport but Celestia held a hoof up.

“Please be careful not hurt my loyal subjects. And don’t be afraid to restrain yourself.” She adds a wink and smile. I grin back at her.

“Can do!” I salute before teleporting to Twi and Tirek.

“So what do you say, Twilight Sparkle? Your magic for your friends?” Tirek somehow grew to be seven or so stories high.

“Don’t do it Twilight!” And Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and some weird dragon looking thing are encased in bubbles floating near him. I teleported quite aways from them, the ground turned to glass as I made contact. But my hearing has gotten even more sensitive. Either that or it’s magic helping me out.

Without another thought I create a sword of pure fire and bolt straight for the hulking beast. As I got closer Tirek saw me approaching and tried to stop me with his magic. But I only felt a small tug on my legs, then, nothing.

“I’m a fucking juggernaut.” I mutter. Now I’m only a hundred yards away, and closing in fast. I keeping feeling small tugging sensation all over my body. But nothing held. nothing can stop me from killing him. The world once again fades away as I put all of my concentration directly at Tirek. *You like ripping people apart right? Well lets see how you feel when you lose your horns…* I angle myself perfectly when I’m just meters away. And make one, single, slash. And the most satisfying ‘ching’ noise sounded out. I stop in my tracks and turn around. Tirke’s horns lie on the ground at either side of him. “Perfect.” He spins around and looks me directly in the eye with a face that says, ‘I’m going to fucking MURDER you!’.

“You will PAY for this!” The sword in my hands disappears and the gauntlets take form.

“Bring it on then.” I smirk and he reals a fist as back as he could and sends it at me with all of his strength. I do the same and hit the middle knuckle of his giant fist. A shock wave is produced and racks through the air. Tirek draws his hand back and shakes it. A look of surprise plastered across his face. There’s a black smudge where I punched his knuckle. “My turn.” I bolt straight for his face, punching him right between the eyes. Sending the giant centaur into the air. I keep speed with him and land a multitude of punches across his torso. Kinda like Luffy when he uses gatling gun. I land a downward hailmaker and he hit the ground. Hard. Looks like a meteor crashed into the earth.

Instead of giant space rock, the limp form of a grey, black and red centaur took it’s place. I then nose dive right at him, I decided to go for a killing move: Kamikazi right at his chest, where his heart is. Or where I think it is anyway. But he managed to backhand me at the last second. Sending me through for a second before I recovered. He got up and tried to use his magic. But all that resulted were a few reddish-orange sparks that danced around his cut horns. Making me snicker. His hands then glowed a violent orange.

*Shit.* I bolt towards him at unimaginable speeds. Seeing this he put up an orange tinted shield. I help up my arms in a defensive position and break through the shield like paper.

“Impossi-” I cut him off with a jab dead center in the chest. Forcing him to stumble back. I then proceeded to land as many punches I can manage while flying around his body. Ending with a bang by me flying right into him, using my body as an unstoppable object. Tirek held up his arms just before I can make a hole in his lower torso. With all my might I push him as far as my power will allow. What resulted was that I practically forced him back a few yards. I heard his hooves dig into the ground. I teleport and slam myself to the side of his head.

With how fast I was going I’m surprised I didn’t knock his head clean of his shoulders. But it did knock him out, or kill. He flopped onto the ground with a loud ‘thud’ and didn’t move, his body then began to slowly shrink at a snail’s pace. I let a mad grin curve my lips and I dove right at him. Aiming for the head.

“Ember!” I froze in my decent and looked to where the voice came from. The girls, and the same dragon thing from before, Discord if I remember correctly. Where all standing at the edge of the crater. My enhanced vision allowed me to see that they all are wearing looks of concern and worry. Even Rainbow. The grin I had faded away and I calmly flew over to them. They backed away as I touched the ground, which turned to glass under the immense heat. “Ember?” Fluttershy spoke up and took a step closer. She felt the heat hit her and took a step back. Still wearing a worried look. I felt myself begin to calm down. I even saw that the fire making up my body began to turn yellow.

“It’s me, Ember.”

“What happened to you?” Twi asked. The fire took on a yellow color now. I can feel the energy leaving me.

“Celestia said I’m like this because my rage took on a physical form.” My legs feel weak, shaky even.

“Are you alright there sugarcube?” I weakly nod.

“In a way, yes. But you’ll why I’m not entirely fine at the moment.” I huff out before I fall face-first into eternal darkness.

"Emby!" I heard Pinkie shout before I fell unconscious.

"I think I'm floating in between life and death." I said to no one. That's what it feels like at the moment. I'm floating in some kind of void. I can't define up or down. And it feels like I'm fading away. Kinda like those few seconds before you fall asleep when you're really fucking sleepy. Except this feeling is lasting much longer than that, and I don't feel tired.

"Yup, we sure are." Embris stated, then she floated into view.

"If this is it, it was nice bein' part of ya." Emby says out of nowhere and he floats into view,the fire making up him noticeably dim.

"Something's telling me we're not dead yet." Sub floats into view, both eyes squinting at something.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, from what I see through your eyes, we seem to be taken care of by some ponies." Just as he says that the fading sensation went away.

"And barely any time has passed too." I remark, it feels like it's only been three mother fucking minutes.

"Trust me, a lot of time has passed." Then something started to tug at me. "And it looks like you're waking up." A bright lit up and started to take up my vision. "It's too bad you likely won't remember any of this after you wake up. Later." We wave to each other and the bright light take up my vision.

My eyes flutter open and everything swims into view. From what I can see I'm laying in a bed in a hospital. Everything's white like last time. There's also a beeping noise of a heart monitor to my right. I try to pick up my head, but all I get is a weak nudge.

"Too weak to even pick up my own fucking head. Better than being dead though." I'm fortunate enough that u can use my magic to prop myself up to a sitting position.

~About time you wake up. It was starting to get really boring.~

"Hey Amulet."

~And about my name. I finally came up with a proper name for me. ~

"Let me hear it then."

~Ruby.~ I think for a minute.

"Not bad. Kinda fits. The gem was red right?"

~Yes.~

"Right. Good name." Just the door opens and a white coated, pink mane and tail unicorn walks in. Her mane done up in a bun and a hat with a red cross sits atop her head.

"A good! You're awake!" She walks to the side of my bed. Are you feeling ok? And how are you sitting up?"

"Beside feeling really weak I'm fine. And I used my magic to prop myself up." Her brows raise in surprise.

"Well, your friends will be happy to know your awake. Especially Fluttershy." She smiles l sweetly. I return the smile.

"Well what are you waiting for?" I ask in a playful tone. She giggles and walks out of the room.

"Your friends will be here in a minute." She says and she closes the door behind her. A few minutes of silence, broken by the beeping of the heart monitor, go by and the door opens again. This time the six girls and Discord walk in. Followed by the same nurse from before and another pony with a caramel coat and a brown mane, wearing a white lab coat. Fluttershy leaps upon me and hugs me a bit tightly. Making me wheeze out in slight pain from the impact.

"Oh thank goodness you're ok!" She buries her head in my chest and wraps her forelegs around my neck. She stays there for a few seconds then stands back up, leaving a wet spot on my chest. Being mindful of my body she steps off the bed and rubs her eyes. “How are you feeling?” I smile and chuckle. I can already feel strength returning to me.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

“Well that’s good to hear.” Twi walks closer. “We all thought you would never wake up.”

“How long was out then?” She goes silent for a second, then looks back to the group in front of the door, Discord took a seat away from everybody. Twi then looks back to me.

“About a month and a half, give or take.”

“Oh…”

-Didn’t see that coming.-

Author's Notes:

I don't think my phone is letting me link videos for some reason...

Chapter 13: Home

“Really? I’ve been out for that long?” She nods. “Did anything else happen to me while I was out?” At the she grimaces.

“Well… Um… How do I say this.” She pauses, trying to think of a way to tell me whatever she’s going to tell me. “Tirek may have impaled you on a magic spike while we were taking you to the hospital. On the chest.” She says with as much care as she could us. I strain a little to look down and see that my stomach is covered in bandages.

“Well that explains the slight pain from when Fluttershy hugged me.” Said yellow pegasus winces and looks down.

“I’m sorry...” She whimpers. With strength slowly returning to me it took a little effort to reach over and scratch her in between her ears. A soft smile appears on her face as I scratch her.

“It’s alright Flutters. You didn’t know that would hurt me..” I stroke her mane once and flop back onto the bed. “So…” I look the nurse and, who I assume is Doc Tender Care. “How long do I have stay here?” The orange brown pony scratches his chin.

“It shouldn’t be more than another week. By then you should be as bright as rein.” He says with a smile. I nod in response.

“Cool.” The Doc and nurse walk out of the room. Leaving me with the six girls and Discord. He looks to be bored out of his mind. “Discord, is it?” He picks up his head.

“Yes.”

“How do you his name?” Twi, the ever inquisitive one asks.

“Lets just say I know a lot of things, and I don’t know how I know, I just do.” She nods, contemplating who knows what. I turn my attention back to the… draconequus… I think that’s how it’s pronounced. “So you are the god of chaos?” He nods with a proud smile.

“The one and only.” Discord proudly states. He stands up and bows. Holding a top hat that appeared out of thin air.

“And am I correct to assume you’re friends with these girls?”

“Well mostly with Fluttershy. Other than her, they’re more like… acquaintances.” He says with a smirk. Rarity, Aj and Rainbow scowl at him.

“Ah think you better get on outta here Discord.”

“Oh! That reminds me. I must go tend to Fluttershy’s animal friends. Ta ta Fluttershy.” Discord states a little too effeminately. A puffy pink cloud forms around him and quickly dissipates, leaving empty space where he stood. I look back to the group of friends.

“Something tells me you three don't quite get along with him.” I say with a knowing smirk. “Moving on to a different subject. You girls mind catching me up with what happened while I was out?”

“Actually, ah gotta get back to apple buckin’. Later guys!” Aj waves to us and we wave back as she leaves the room.

“Anyone else leaving?” They rest shake their heads. “Alright. Lay it on me then.” I say as I stretch my a-

“Emby! Your wings! They're different!” Pinkie shouted.

“What?” I turn around and see that I have wings again. But they’re different like Pinkie said. Instead of feathered wings. I now sport bat-like wings, even draconic looking. “What? How?” *Draconic wings? How the fuck!?* The spot where my normal wings met my back, now two slightly long arms jut out, webbing in between each finger, they even look more muscled than my regular arms. And the hands, they would be normal, except the fingers are about two feet long between each knuckle, and each thumb is left normal. Grey scales dot the palm and back part of each hand, complemented with the skin colored a dull grey like my feathers. “How did these grow? I shouldn’t even have wings anymore!”

“Whaddya mean by that?” Rainbow asked. I look to all of them seriously.

“You all saw me as a ball of fire fueled by rage right?” They nod slowly. “I turned into that because the fucking prick Tirek tore my wings off!” They all blanch. “Yeah, he tore my fucking wings off in the most painful way possible. I’ve never felt that much pain in my life.” I cross my arms. My new wings stay flared, they flap once in agitation.

“Did he really do that?” There was a slight tremor in Rainbows voice. I nod with affirmation. “Wow, that’s bucked up. Even for Tirek.”

“He used me try and coax the Princesses to giving him their magic. You can pretty much guess what happened next.” Fluttershy, Twilight and Rainbow wince sharply.

“That would explain why you ascended into that, flame form.” Twi muttered. Fluttershy, who stayed quiet the whole time. Got up, wiped her eyes again, calmly walked over to me, and gave me another hug. But this one was soft, it was an embrace, I felt warm. Happy even, I’ve never been that happy ever since childhood. It was like mom giving me a good old bear hug. Filled with love, compassion, friendship. At that moment I felt truly overjoyed. I closed my eyes and hugged her back. We stay like that for a minute, then a second set of hooves hugged me. I open my eyes, and Rainbow decided to hug me. Followed by Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie.

*They really do care for me... *

-No doubt.-

=Mmhmm.= The group hug lasts for another minute or two, I then feel a rush of warmth shoot through my body, it left me feeling at top physical condition, at least, that's how I feel. Then they take a step back.

“Thanks, I needed that.” I look to Rainbow. “So what? You finally stopped thinking of me as a monster?” She blushes a little, and she nods a little. “Was it because of what you saw me do?” Her face brightens up.

“Yeah! That was so, awesome!” She takes to the air. “We saw everything! Dude, that had the most awesomest thing I’ve ever seen!.” She holds her hoof out to me. Taking the hint I bump my fist to it.

“Wait, you all saw everything?” They all nod.

“We already put the last key in the box, so we were just waiting for the Tree of Harmony to grow, and it gave us our ‘Rainbow Power’ forms.”

“Ahh, I see. What’s the Tree of harmony?” I can’t let them I know more about their than they think I do now can I? Of course I had to play dumb.

“It’s basically a crystal tree that keeps harmony and chaos in balance.” Twi explains.

“Oh… Is that some of what I missed?”

“Not really. What you really missed is all the black vines from Discords seeds of chaos growing from the ground and terrorising Ponyville and Discord betraying us.” Rainbow finished with a scowl.

“He betrayed you guys?” Rainbow nods. “Huh… And now I’m guessing he’s reformed or something?”

“I guess...” She says with a grunt.

“She means yes Ember, Discord does mean well. We think.” Twi said.

“Oh.” I mull that over for a second. “Well, moving on, is that all I missed?”

“Not exactly. Tirek, destroyed my house...” Twi said with a frown. Rarity tried to comfort her.

“But now you have that beautiful castle darling! Isn’t that better than your old home?” Rarity draped a foreleg over Twi’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Then Fluttershy put her two cents in. While I just sit there, confused as ever.

“And you saved Spike and Owlicious.” That got Twilight to better spirits. I can pretty much guess who Owlicious is.

“You’re right.” She says with a small smile.

“Wait, castle?” I didn’t do that much research when I was back on my home planet, I may have forgotten a thing or two, or ten.

“Oh yeah! When Twi put the last key in the magic box it went into the ground this giant crystal castle grew out of the ground! It. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow nearly shouted.

“Is that all?”

"No, remember what Rainbow said about my new castle?" I nod. "Well, in the throne room we discovered, when we all sat down at our respective thrones, a table that displays a map of Equestria grew out of the ground. And it showed us a particular area that it wants us to go to."

"Did it just tell you that before you got here?" Twi nods. "Then why are you still here?"

"Pinkie wants you to come along to-"

"So you can our body guard!" Pinkie interupted, throwing her forelegs in the air.

"Body guard?"

"You know! Just in case we might need your help!"

"I don't think we'll need his help Pinkie. As long as you got me!" Rainbow boasted. Pinkie just stares at her. It's kinda creepy.

"But didn't you see what he did to Tirek?" That shut the blue boasting bimbo up. Pinkie turns back to me with a bright smile. "So will you come along with us? Huh huh huh!?" She gets into my personal space a little. I think about for a minute, then shrug.

"Eh, why not? Got nothing better to do, so, yeah." That set the pink hyperactive pony off. She cheers loudly and bolts out of the room, doing whatever it is she does. "She's a bit quirky isn't she?" Twi sighs.

"That's just Pinkie being Pinkie."

"I see." I stretch again, loud popping sounds emanate from my shoulders and arms, all four of them, should I even call my appendages arms? "Wow I feel a lot better. I wonder if I can stand up." I shifted in the bed I'm resting in to stand up.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Remember what Doctor tender Care said!" Twi frantically fails her forelegs as I stand the fuck up. My legs pop a little am I almost hit my head against the ceiling. "Or not." She sighs again.

"Well then, shall we get going? After I check out of this place?"

"I guess so..."

"Let me get this straight, you somehow went back to your homeworld, and you think Princess Celestia had something to do with it?" I nod.

"Pretty much. And I think Celestia had something to do with it." After checking myself out of 'Ponyville General Hospital' as the ponies call it, much to the surprise of all the staff there. Rainbow went to go get Aj while the rest of us waited by the train station this town apparently has, I stopped by my house and caught Chrysi up about everything. She was glad to see me again, and all better too, apparently she couldn’t go to the hospital because she ran the risk a getting caught, even if she changed into a pony. And the train itself is called 'The Friendship Express', it should be named 'The so Fucking small I can Barely fit Express'. We all got in and rode it to the small town Twi was talking about earlier, and she filled me in about they plan to do when they get there. I can feel the train slowing down. "I need to speak with her about that when I can."

"We're here!" Pinkie shouted. The train came to a stop and we all stepped off it. As soon as Fluttershy stepped off the conductor put the train into reverse, quite hastily too.

"Strange." I silently remarked and I fall into step behind the girls. We traveled across a deserted landscape until we reached a small cliff that looks over the town we're supposed to be at. It's fucking small. Looks like there's barely twelve houses. They start talking amongst themselves and I just keep an eye on Pinkie. She’s somehow crawling under rocks. And a big one just crushed her. It confuses the fuck out of me that she managed to carry the boulder a few feet and climbed on top of it.

"This is were the wants us to go?" Rainbow griped.

“This is where the map says.” Twi pulled out a map from somewhere. I don’t know where they store shit like that.

“Well it can certainly afford some... architectural flourishing.” Rarity commented.

“Are ya sure this is where the map wanted us to go?” Aj asked.

“Yes, I am sure.”

“Well I don’t know about all of you, but I’m going to find out if they have a spa.” Rarity began to walk towards to small village.

“Hold on Rarity.” Twi blocked. “We don’t know what could be down there, besides those ponies.”

“You think a monster could be somehow controlling them?” Rainbow almost got too close to Twi when she asked that.

“What makes you think that Rainbow?”

“It just makes it sound much cooler.” I roll my eyes.

“Lets just go.” I say and walk ahead of them. They fall into step at either side of me when we reach the town. We get a ton of looks from the residents. And they start a really creepy welcome committee. All while smiling creepily.

*If this is part of the show, I didn’t see this episode.* My knowledge of the show only goes as far as season four, I think. No that does not make me a ‘brony’ or whatever you call those people into the show, I only did that for research purposes. The girl’s and I were eventually lead to a table by some mare, said mare left and came back with a plate full of muffins. I chose to sit with my legs crossed on the floor. I continued to look around and watch the residents go about their business. Nothing is normal from whatever they’re doing, even for ponies.

-Well this place is fucking creepy-

=It strangely reminds me of “The World’s End”. The way they smile and stare, a little unnerving to say the least.=

~Agreed.~

“Ember?” I get a poke at my shoulder.

“Huh?”

“You comin’ with us?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah.” I get up and follow the girls, lead by the ponies of this village. There is apparently some cave the ponies of this place have where they store their cutie marks. I kid you not, there is actually a way to get rid of a cutie mark. I later found out that some communist whore brainwashed these ponies to forsaking their cutie marks to become equal. But I found a small flaw; There are pegasi, unicorns and regular ponies. I’ll let that sink in for a minute.

“Here it is!” A white stallion cheered. Me and the girls gwak a little at the massive walls of taken cutie marks. Silence befalls us as we continue stare.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” A feminine voice comes from behind. We all turn and see that a pink unicorn mare with dark purple and turquoise mane and tail walks in front of us. Her words fall dead on my ears and I nudge Twi.

“What?”

“I don’t like her. Something’s off about her.”

“You’re getting that too?” Rainbow whispered. By now the mare, walked up to the wall of cutie marks and picked up a stick with a fork at one end. I manage a straight face as I analyze her. Looking for anything that might set her away from the town’s ponies. God their lingo is getting to me.

“With the Sanity rod,” I had to hold back a snort. “everypony here is made equal.” She walks dangerously closer to us, and the others surround us, smiling widely, almost evilly.

“It’s a trap!” Twi takes to the air and charges her horn. The pink mare pointed the stick at Twilight and a beam of turquoise magic shoots out. I, acting before thinking, jump in front of Twi and take the full blow of the magic beam. And like before, it had disastrous effects. The resulting explosion sent me flying at a wall of the cave. Luckily, my wings flared and cushioned the impact, without taking damage to boot. I land back on the floor and take a defencive stance. Wings still flared and gauntlets at the ready.

*Nice.* I look ahead of me, and the pink mare has already cast whatever spell she has on the girls. Looks like they’re hurting pretty bad.

~Get in front of the magic again!~

“What?”

~I Can absorb it and convert it to your magic!~

“Got it.” I make a beeline at the beam of magic and step in front of the pink mare holding it. *This better work.* I make contact and the beam absorbs itself into my body.

“No! What are you doing!?” The pink bitch screams.

“Keeping you from making everypony equal.” I can feel the power within me rising.

~Oh no...~

*What?*

~I didn’t anticipate this much magic! Move!~ I try to but all I get are some twitches. I can feel something build within my being. And something is lighting up the cave, it was me. The light was coming from me.

*The fuck is going on?!* My vision is starting to turn white.

“Ember!” I heard the girls call out, then my vision completely turns white. Then pitch black.

*What happened? And why do I feel tired..?* I tried to call out to anybody. But my mouth didn’t move. I couldn’t move any part of my body at all. *Hello!? Anyone there!? No response. *Did I get knocked unconscious again or something?*

“You really need to stop doing shit that’ll knock us out.” I whip my head around and Embris appeared.

*So I am unconscious, ok.*

“I actually don't know whether we passed out or not. For all we know we could be dead.”

*Oh.*

“You know you can talk right?”

*Tried that earlier, I can’t move at all. Hey, where’s Emby?*

“He’s around. And that could mean you’re tied up.”

*You really think that?* She shrugs.

“Always a possibility. And considering what happened before you got here...”

*Riiiiiiight. Makes sense. That pink bitch probably has me tied up.* The background starts to turn white.

“Looks like we’re about to find out.” She fades away and everything turns white.

“About time you wake up.” I pick my head up and open my eyes. I’m in some room with no windows, probably a basement, and the pink mare from earlier is sitting a few feet away. I try to move, but it seems that I am tied up, rope covers my torso and legs. “It was getting pretty boring here.”

~About time you woke up.~

“Where are the girls?” She chuckles. I move against the rope and I found out that I can rip them up. *Wow this shit is weak.* The pink mare chuckles.

“Don’t worry, they’re safe.” She stands up and walks closer to me.

“The fuck are you doing?” She smirks.

“You seem to be immune to my spell, seeing that you don't have a cutie mark.” When she's just a few inches away from me she sits back down. “But I can still turn you into one of us.”

“And how are you going to do that?” She smiles and a blush appears on her cheeks.

“By turning you into my slave.”

*Oh HELL NO!!!* I break the rope holding my arms and slam my fist to her face, making her slide across the floor. I quickly untie the rope around my legs and stand up. She stood back and crouched down.

“A fighter huh? You’re not going to make it out of here alive if you keep doing that.” I smile widely and flex my wings, my eyes change red again. She loses her smile at that.

“You stupid cunt. You actually think you can break me? You think you can turn me into your fucking mindless slave?” I teleport and appear right in front of her. “Bitch you got another thing coming.” I managed to teleport away before she shot me with a beam of magic. I ready my gauntlets and take a defensive stance. When she does nothing I leap to land a solid hit at her side. She shot another beam of magic at me, knocking me into a wall.

*Can you cast a shield around me? That’s getting pretty fucking annoying.* A red shield forms around me, acting like another layer of skin.

~Like that?~

“Perfect.” I rush the mare again. She shoots another beam of magic, this time it bounces off the shield and digs into the wall. *I am in a basement.* This time I landed a good kick on her side, sending her sprawling across the floor. That seemed to knock her out, she’s got moving, but I can see her chest rising and falling. I slowly walk over to her and nudge her side. A nasty looking bruise is starting to form. She twitches and groans, but stays still otherwise. *Out like a light bulb.*

=Nice=

-So what now?-

“Now we get the fuck outa here.” I grasp the mare in my magic and head upstairs with her in tow. The room leading to the basement looked like an average bedroom. I pay no attention to that and head outside. As soon as I step outside I’m greeted by the residents of this lovely village, all looking at me and the girls, who are also out here, their bodies tinted a dark grey. And their cutie marks, I’m gonna call them c-marks from now on, all replaced with equal signs, but Fluttershy is missing.

“Hey! It’s you again!” A white stallion shouts. “Has our mayor shown you the errors of your ways?” He walks close and stops just a feet feet away.

“More like the other way around.” I set the unconscious mare between me and him. He goes wide eyed.

“What did-!”

“Now Fluttershy!” Twi yelled out. Next thing I know I’m drenched in water. So is the mare and the stallion, the pink one wakes up when the water hit her.

“Huh? What?”

“You see!? Your mayor has lying to you all this time!” I guess Twi had this planned out or something. The residents all gaps when they lay eyes on the drenched mare.

“You lied to us?” The white stallion asked, clearly hurt, emotionally. I briskly walk over to the girls.

“So you planned this?” Twi nods.

“Yes. Except for you coming in like that. What happened to her anyway?”

“Me and her had a little stand off. By the way what’s her name?”

“Starlight glimmer, why?”

“Just asking. Also, is what she was doing here illegal? It kinda is on my planet.”

“What, spreading communism? Yes that’s illegal. It’s considered a crime against equinity!”

“Good.” I turn back to the crowd. “And we might need to go after her.”

“Why?”

“She’s running off with a cart.”

“What!?” All the girls shout. I take to the air, a little shakily because of the new wings, and chase Starlight. Along with the ponies of this village.

“Fuck, she knows how to run.” Starlight managed to stay ahead of us while running up to the top of a snow covered mountain. "And I really practice with these new wings." She even caused a mini-avalanche and destroyed and fucking bridge. I cleared the snow and some pony created a bridge out of balloons, don’t ask me how he did that, he just did. The chase eventually ended at the mouth of an ominous cave. *It’s also weird how my wings didn’t ice up. Eh… magic.* Right now Twi and Starlight are in the middle of a stand off. I can’t hear what they’re saying, all the snow blowing about and I kept distance between me and Starlight. She’s a good shot. The girls got their c-marks and now all the ponies are gathering around Starlight.

“I won’t let you take me!” I heard that. The pink communist mare created a bubble around and it expanded until it eventually exploded to a flash of bright light. When that died she was gone. But there were tracks leading into the cave. I land next to Twi.

“She’s getting away!” She makes a move to go into the cave, but a blue hoof holds her back.

“We can look for later.” A blue stallion spoke. “Right now we want to experience true friendship. Come on!” The stallions walks away and me and Twi look at each other.

“Weird.” We both say, we both chuckle a little.

“You can join the others, I’ll go after her.”

“You sure? It looks pretty scary in there.” I look at her pointedly.

“Do I look like a wimp to you?”

“No...” She shakes her head.

“Then I’ll see you later.” I say with a smile. She smiles catches up with the rest and I walk into the cave.

Author's Notes:

I hope you liked the update! (P.S. Writing has gone back to full speed ahead since I got my computer back!)

Chapter 14: Time Well Spent

*Kinda dark in here. At least I can still see…*

~At least you can see well in the dark, right?~

*Yeah, but it still takes a minute for my eyes to adjust.*

~Well allow me to help you with that.~ I rush of magic later the whole place looks to be dimly lit.

*Thanks* Some stones fall over, at least, it sounded like that. “Stop trying to spook me, I know you’re fucking here.” I cast a shield around me and my gauntlets materialize.

“My my, such vulgar language.” Starlight walks into view from behind a boulder. She may not showing fear, but anyone can see the fear in her eyes. “Pray tell, how did you know that was me?”

“Where I come from creating ambiance, like how you just did, is an old cliche’.”

“Hmm… Where do you come from?”

“A planet on the other side of the galaxy we live in.”

“How can you prove it.”

“Besides saying that I’m a new species on this planet, and that I got sucked into a wormhole that spit me out in this place. I can’t.” As we talked, I used my magic to levitate a small rock and carefully held it above her head a couple yards.

“So, you’re an alien?”

-She’s trying to mess with your head, wow. Just wow.- Embris says in an unamused tone.

“Yeah, pretty much. Also, I see that you’re trying to get into my mind.” I chuckle and lay the rock back down onto the floor. “And it’s a little amusing. A pony trying to pry into an aliens head.” I step closer to Starlight. “I also find it extremely agitating.” I say with a mean frown. “You’ve absolutely no idea how many times my mind has been broken, put back together, and broken again. It’s both cute and sickening.” She backs up a little. “Mostly sickening, you know why? Of course you don’t, so let me tell why I hate mind games like the one you tried to start.” I kept walking towards her, and backed her up to a wall. “I’ve been manipulated enough as it was back on my planet. It’s made me who I am today, although I don't mind that part, I like who I am. Anyway, it’s how people used me as their scapegoat, it was until after what I’ve done hit me. I’ve done many things I regret to this day. And my first thought when appearing in this world was ‘Maybe I can leave all of that behind’, I guess not.” I take another step towards her, and crouch down to eye level. “At least, not until you’re out of the picture.” I hold my hand out and a giant clawed glove appears, then it goes away. “On second thought,” I stand back up. “Instead of killing you, I’ll just turn you in to whatever authority you have in this country. I’m sure they’ll a nice dungeon or something for you.” At that her eyes widen.

“I’m not going to prison!” She stands back on all fours and blasts me with another beam of magic. Luckily a shield forms before it could touch me, the beam bounces off and slams into the cave wall. A loud rumble sounds out and a stalactite falls to the floor.

“Look what you did, the cave’s caving in.” I grab her by the tail and keep her still. I snap my fingers and an iron ring appears on her horn. *Since when did I know how to do that?* Then it clicks.

-Remember when we got that feeling of knowing everything?-

*No fucking way! I have more control over my magic because of that!?*

~It’s apparently a side effect of that.~

*Amazing…* A large rock falls and breaks apart right over me. *This thing can stand the weight of a few tons of rock right?*

~Yes.~

*Good, cause I want to see her d-* I look over to where Starlight is, or was, standing. A large boulder already crushed her. Her pink legs stick out from under the rock, one of them even twitch. “Fuck I missed it... Eh, at least I don't have to worry about her anymore.” I close my eyes and teleport to the small village.

“Ember Darling! When did you get here?”

“I actually just teleported here.”

“Hey Ember! Since when did ja get here?”

“I teleported here.”

“Emby! You’re back!” Something small hit me from behind, two pink hooves drape over my shoulders and another two wrapped around my waist. I twist my head around and meet nose to muzzle with Pinkie.

“Hey Pinkie.”

“Woah dude, that’s creepy.” I look at Rainbow, a little confused.

“What?”

“That, ‘neck’ thing. Looks like your neck snapped.” I shrug and turn around. Pinkie is still latched onto me.

“Pinkie, you mind?”

“Nope!” She happily jumps off my back and bounces off to somewhere. Twi walks up to me.

“Where’s Starlight?”

“She got crushed by a boulder.” She blanches a little. “Yeah, she shot one of those beams of magic at me and it hit the cave wall, cave collapsed, I managed to get out. Same can’t be said for her.” She looks a little sick. “Changing the subject, you guys threw a party right?” She nods. “Then lets party.” I scratch behind her ears a little and join the partying ponies.

“So you actually saw a giant rock crush her?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Wow.” When I got home Chrysi was happy to see me once again, she asked what happened and I basically recapped the day's event to her. “How can you watch that happen right in front of you, and not vomit?”

“Humans in general have strong stomachs, although I think some might throw up at that particular sight. Anyway, I’ve seen worse, remember.” Her ears fold back.

“Oh… Yeah...”

“Hey,” I reach over and put an arm around her shoulders. “what’s in the past, is in the past. I don’t like to dwell on the past. It just makes you weaker. Besides, I’m still breathing, so don’t worry about that, alright?” I reach up and scratch her behind her ears. It’s a little weird, scratching soft chitin, it’s almost like scratching rough ballistic gelatin. The changeling sighs and a smile forms on her face. “Better?” She nods lazily.

“Yeah, thanks.” I remove my hand. “What are doing down here anyway? I never see you come out unless somepony needs you or something.”

“I’m just trying to build something.”

“Like what?”

“A computer.”

“A what?”

“A computer, a device that can store millions of books worth of knowledge, all into one little hard drive.” At that her jaw drops. “Close your mouth, unless you like the taste of fly-guts.” Her mouth closes with a click.

“Is a, ‘computer’, one of those things that you talked about with Shining and Cadence the other day?”

“Yeah."

“Then why are you building one, do you even know how to build one?”

“I want to build one and give it as a gift, to Twilight, and yes. And I’m technically putting one together, all these parts make up the thing.”

“Cool.” She says in awe. “Where did you get these anyway?” I smirk and snap my fingers, a monitor blinks into existence. “I found out the other day that I have more control over my magic. And now I can create shields, various weapons out of magic, and a very limited version of creation.”

“‘Creation’? And what do you mean by 'more control'?”

“I can make anything out of nothing. But it seems that goes as far as parts for large machines and furniture no bigger than a bed. I can’t actually create a full-blown gun, or a coffee machine. Also I figured that I have loads of magic, and I sometimes use out of reflex. I just gotta learn to control it."

“Oh... Wait, can’t you ask Twilight to help you out with that stuff?”

“I was actually thinking of doing that today.”

“Well why don’t you go then!? I’ve been wanting to get out of this house.”

“Why? What have you been doing these past days?” She looks down and a blush forms on her face.

“Stuff...” She mutters.

“Nevermind, lets go.” She instantly stands back and flies out my room. “Oh yeah, wings.” I get up and follow after her…

“Great! Lets get started!” We arrived at Twi’s Castle, the ‘The Friendship Castle’ as all the ponies say. Chrysi changed her look back to the mare. I told Twi about my wanting to learn more magic, and she lit up like fire fueled by gasoline.

"Alright, what's first?"

“First, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Sure.”

“Alright. Follow me please.” She walks off, with me and Chrysi in tow, towards some room within the castle, it held all the equipment from the library's basement. All the equipment Twi moved out of the way is back in place, all of it alive, beeping and hums fill the air.

“Wow, you were waiting for this moment, weren’t you?” She gives me a sheepish smile, making me chuckle. “You do know how to set things up fast huh?”

“Actually, I’ve had this all up and running a few days now.”

“Really? For what?”

“You never know when you’re going to need to study something new.”

“I assume that happens often.”

“A little too often if you ask me.”

“I see. Continue with your questions please.”

“Thank you.” She pauses. “Who have you been getting used to Equestrian magic?”

“Well I just discovered the other day that I have more control over my magic.”

“How so?” I snap my fingers and a CPU appears out of thin air and drops to the floor.

“I have some kind of limited creation.” I hold my hand out and a see-through red sword appears. “And besides the gauntlets, I can form various types of melee weapons.” The red swords turns into a ball of magic, and stretches to form a war hammer. “This one being my favorite.” I let the grip the handle and let the head smash to the floor. Making the ground vibrate a little. I let go of the hammer and it disappears, leaving a little divot where the head smacked the ground. I look at Twi and Chrysi, both of them got next to each other, and they’re staring at the hole the hammer left. “What?”

“H… how are you able to lift something that heavy!?”

“Well… It wasn’t that heavy to me.”

“Really? Hmm… Bring it back, please.” I nod and the hammer. She motions with a hoof to give it to her. “Only I can hold this, as soon as I let go it dissipates.”

“Oh. Hold it still please.” I do so and the hammer tints a darker shade of red. It only lasts for a second. “Interesting… Hit the ground again, please.” I quirk an eyebrow, then shrug and let the head the ground again. The hammer is once again a darker shade of red. “Wow...”

“What?”

“It’s weight increased. Lift it up.” I do so. “It got lighter! Amazing!”

“What?”

“It appears that the weight of the hammer responds to what you are doing with it. I’ve only read about weapons like the one you’re wielding in old tombs.”

“Well that’s cool. Does that mean I’m some ancient race or some shit?”

“You could be...”

“It was a joke, Twi.”

“Oh...” Her cheeks tint pink and she looks down. She immediately looks back up, wearing a face that says ‘nothing happened’.

“Next question.”

*Wow she’s good.*

“Do-”

“Twilight!”

“Rainbow?” Twi ask no one as she walks to the table room, me and Chrysi behind her. As Twi opens the door leading to the room, we’re greeted with an almost frantic-looking Rainbow and a smiling Pinkie.

“Hi Emby! Hi Twilight! Hi Chrysi!” She chirps.

“Twilight, my cutie mark is doing that… flashing thing again!” Twi looks to her flank, flank sounds better than ass. And her c-mark is glowing and flashing. Just then Rarity, Fluttershy and Aj walk in. They all look to each other and nod. Apparently in some unsaid agreement, with that they sit in their respective chairs around the table. As soon as Twi takes her seat a three-d image appears on the table. When I take a closer look it looks like a map of this planet. At least, the majority of it. Two lights from and shape into Rainbow’s and Pinkie’s c-marks. They hover over and spin around an old looking tree on atop a thin mountain. Twi looks at the map with wide eyes.

“The map wants you and Pinkie to visit the Gryphon Kingdom?” Her face goes from surprised to excited. And the others just leave. Not even saying a word. Me being confused, I decided to follow the rest out.

“So the thing just calls all of you here, even though you’re not what it wants?” I ask Aj.

“Ah don’t know. We just got the feelin’ that we were needed.”

“So you didn’t need to come?” She nods.

“Yeah.”

“Alright.”

“So what do we do now?” Chrysi asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m going back home.”

“Oh. Ok.” With Chrysi in tow, I make my way back to my house. And spend the rest of the day tinkering away.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about this chapter being short, I'm currently very lazy and working with people doing.... stuff. I apologize again, I'm just one lazy fuck.

Chapter 15: A new Arrival

“Ember, my I ask why you wanted us to come visit you?” Rarity asked.

“I just want to show something possibly awesome.”

“What do ya mean by ‘possibly awesome’?” Aj quirks a brow at me.

“I mean whether it’s awesome or not depends on whether ponies already have what I’m about to show you.” After I asked Chrysi to go tell Aj, Rainbow and Rarity to meet up at my house, I went to go get Twi, Fluttershy, and Pinkie. We all met at the edge of town, and I lead the group from then on.

“You know what he’s up to Chrysanthemum?”

“Nope.” She shakes her head.

“Are you going to tell us what it is you’re going to show us darling?”

“Nope.” Rarity huffs in annoyance. I lead them into my house and to my room. In the center stands a lone table, a clocked object sits on top of the table. The lights turn on as soon as I walk in.

“Ooooh what’s that?” Pinkie points to the table. She would’ve gone over and take a closer look, and maybe take off the cover. But she saw the small smirk I had on my face. She just smiled at me when she saw me.

*Thaaank you Pinkie!*

“You’re welcome!” Said pink pony shouts. We all look at her weirdly, and she just continues to smile innocently. The rest of us look at each other, and shrug it off.

-Thank fucking christ we know who Pinkie is.-

~Agreed, the pink one is quite strange.~

“Uh, Ember? Ya’mind tellin’ us what’s under that thing?”

“Not at all.” I walk over to the table. “Now, if you will please.” I snap my fingers and seven chairs materialize. The mares blink for a second and take their seats. With the only light illuminating the room is focused on the table.

“Ladies, let me present to you; a piece of human technology.” That got all of their attention, especially Twilight. Who’s eye literally bug out when I said ‘human technology’. I grin widely and pull the cover off, revealing a brand-fucking-new computer. Which starts up as soon the cover came off. The ponies and changeling stare at the thing as the desktop appears on the screen. Don’t ask me how it has icons. Magic is really fucking weird that way.

“Umm… What is that?” Twilight asks.

=It’s kinda surprising that they don’t have computers here. With how much tech we’ve seen here.=

*Yes it is. Yes, it, is.*

“To put is simply, this, is a computer.”

“What does it do?” Twi went into full scientist mode.

“It’s basically a device that stores data.” They all raise a brow at me. “This thing basically has enough storage to hold millions of books worth of information.” At that Twi’s eyes widen to resemble dinner plates. They go back to normal and an excited smile takes her face.

“What does it do? What’s its power source? What-”

“Twilight.” She clams up and looks to me. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I need to calm down before we play twenty questions.” She give me a weird look, then nods. “As for its source of power...” I reach over and pick up a large crystal that was sitting behind the machine, a wire connect from it to the desktop. Twi’s eyes widen again.

“That’s why you asked me about crystals the other day.”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow raises a brow.

“The other day I asked Twi if crystals can store magic, and if said magic can be converted to energy, in this case electrical energy.” She gives me an ‘are you serious’ look. “Crystal makes computer run.”

“Ooooooh… What?”

“Never mind.” I turn to the group before me. “Now, one question at a time.” I glance at Twi and she smiles a bit sheepishly. Pinkie raises a hoof.

“Yes Pinkie?”

“Can that thing-” A loud knock from upstairs cuts Pinkie off.

“Umm… I’ll be right back, hold onto that question Pinkie.”

“Ok!” She says as I walk to the main floor and towards the door. The knock repeats and a second later I open the door. Revealing an impatient, grimy-looking looking Starlight Glimmer. We just look at each other for what feels like the longest period of time ever.

“Come in.” I say blandly. She raises a brow, but walks inside. I lead her to the living room and instruct her to sit on the couch. “I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for a responce I head back to my room. “Uh, girls?” They all look to me. “I’m gonna have to end this session early today.” Rarity, Aj, Chrysi and Rainbow shrug, Twi and Pinkie let out a long ‘awwww’. Without another word, they get get up from their seats and head out the house. Chrysi heads back to her room. I walk back to the living room and sit on a chair across from Starlight. We both sit in silence for a while.

“I thought you were dead.” She grimaces.

“No! That was a dummy!”

“Oh, huh. That explains the lack of blood. Anyway, why are you here? Besides the obvious wanting revenge shtick?”

“Well… That’s pretty much it.” She scratches the back her head. “I’m… Honestly surprised you didn’t hit me as soon you saw me.”

“Likewise.” Silence falls over us again.

“So… What happens now?”

“Well, I don’t know about you,” I snap my fingers and an iron ring appears on her horn. “but as long as everyone thinks you’re dead.” I get up from my chair and encase Starlight in my magic.

“Wait! Hold o-” With a twitch of my hand her head makes a sudden one-eighty. A loud ‘crack’ sounds out and she goes limp. I snap my fingers and the body disappears.

~Where did you send her?~

“Somewhere in the forest.”

-And he did just kill her.-

“Yeah, hopefully no one finds the body.”

*I think I might have gotten away with that.*

-What? That you sent the bitch’s body to the forest a few days ago? Of course you did! We haven’t heard shit about that from anybody!-

*I know.*

~What are you doing out here anyway?~

*I honestly don’t know Ruby. I figured I would just walk around for a bit.*

=In the market?=

*Want me to go back to Town Hall?*

=Fuck that!=

*Then we stay walking around here.* My mind falls silent and I continue to walk around. Making small conversations with ponies that pass by. I still get a few looks from them, but most of them are out of curiosity, others… I can’t really tell. At this point I decided to go back home. It was still mid afternoon, but my talons were killing me. It was when I was on the path leading to my house that I saw something in the distance. I little yellow dot amongst the forest’s edge. Being the curious son-of-a-bitch that I am. I walk over to what I saw. As I got closer the yellow dot became more humanoid in shape.

“The fuck?” I close my hands and the gauntlets form again.

-Go with the hammer this time!-

“Fine.” The gauntlets fly off my hands and the warhammer forms again. I get closer to the figure, and it seems to have its back towards me, if its head movements say anything. *Wait, is that thing a robot?*

-Are you fucking kidding me!? That’s a fucking andriod!-

=How the fuck did an andriod end up here!?= As I got closer I manage to royally fuck up and step on a fucking twig, making a very clear snapping noise. The thing jumps in surprise and quickly turns around. It has a humanoid face; two robotic eyes When it looks to me goes from startled to confused. Not being one for awkward silence. I speak up.

“Why are you here?” The android jumps again. “Speak!” IT flinches.

“Who and what the fuck are you to tell what the fuck to do!? I don’t even know what the fuck you are!”

-Definetly not an android. Or maybe a highly advanced one.-

“I’m a human, what the fuck are you?”

“I’m a human too! And you’re not a human. You’re some kind of bird-human-thing!”

“You never heard of anthros like me?” The android shakes its head. “... Seriously?”

“Yes!” I pause.

“What year is it where you come from?”

“Twenty sixteen. And we’re on Earth!” Now fucking way...

“Umm… We aren’t on Earth anymore. And you’re not a human. And when I last checked the year was twenty twenty-three”

“What do you mean?”

“Look around, does anything look different to you?” He, I assume the thing’s a guy ‘cause of the voice it projects.

“Now that you mention it. Everything does look different, it’s almost like a… cartoon. YOu said I’m not a human?”

“Look at your arm.” He does so, and his eyes visibly widen. Kinda weird, the metal around his face seems to be extremely flexible and stretchy. Almost like Ultron's face in the Avengers. And the eyes look like the turret’s eye in the Portal games. Except his are a little grey in color. He starts to hyperventilate. If that’s even possible. Then he punches himself in the cheek. Making a loud metallic ‘clang’.

“Ok, I’m definitely a robot. I’m not dreaming. This is fucking epic!” He looks all over himself. Admiring all the metal limbs that, according to him, used to be fleshy. I let him look at himself for a few minutes before calling for his attention.

“Hey!” He looks back to me. “Mind telling me your name?”

“No… uh...” I thinks for a minute. “Golden… Streak. Yeah! Golden Streak! That’s it! Yeah.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He sighs.

“Fine, my real name is Gabriel.” The hammer dissipates and I hold out my hand.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Woah! What the fuck was that?”

“What? This?” The hammer forms again. He nods. “This is just my war hammer.”

“Why is it like that? And how the fuck did it come out of nowhere?” I could only answer that with one word.

“Magic.” Gabriel pauses.

“... Are you fucking with me?” The hammer collapses into a little ball and covers my hands, forming the gauntlets once again. “You’re not fucking with me… Were the fuck are we?”

“We, are in the magical land of Equestria.” I say in a dull tone. At that Gabriel’s eyes light up, literally. The little lines in his eyes turn a dull white.

“What?”

“We’re standing in Equestria. At the edge of the Everfree Forest to be exact.” Gabriel looks back to the forest and backs up a little.

“Does that mean we’re near Ponyville?”

“Yeah, how do you know that?” He gives me an ‘isn’t it obvious?’ look.

“Because I fucking love this show called ‘My little Pony’. Ever heard of it?”

“Don’t fucking talk to me as if I’m a fucking retard. I know what the fuck that show is. I’m not a brony or whatever you call yourselves.”

“Really?” I nod. “Does that mean-”

“No.”

“Oh, ok.” I turn around.

“Come on, it’s getting late.”

“Woah, who says I have to go with you?”

“Well ,I was going to offer you a place to crash until you get your own place. But I guess since you don’t-”

“Wait!” Gabriel falls into step next to me, I chuckle.

“I can tell we’re gonna get along really quick.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You’ll see.”

“Let me get this straight, if it wasn’t for the main six, they would more or likely called you a monster and ran you out of town?” I lead Gabriel to my house and let him sleep on the couch until further notice. Once I woke up I had to calm Chrysi down after she flipped out when she saw Gabriel. After that we just started to talk. We both agreed that we come from Earth’s from different dimensions. It’s amazing who a long, drawn out conversation can be summed up to a single sentence.

“Yeah, pretty much.” It was also established that Gabriel was actually a human before coming here. “Now with that out of the way. How did you get here?”

“To put it simply. I think I died.”

“Please explain.”

“Well… the last thing I remember is driving down a road and getting t-boned by a truck, then everything turned white. When I come too again I’m laying where you found me, and you know everything else from then on.”

“Hmm… That’s strange.”

“You’re telling me.”

“At least I got here by comprehensible means.”

“Fuck you.”

“Nah. I’m good.” He lets out an aggravated grunt. “CHanging the subject, you wnna go meet the girls?” At that he brightens.

“I’d love that!”

“Woah! Calm down brony.” He gives me a mean look. “Kidding. Lets go.” We get up from the kitchen table and head out. “I’ll be back Chrysi!”

“Ok!” Gabriel gives me a weird look.

“She doesn't like it when I don’t tell her when I go out.” Still the weird look. “I’m her only friend, I think she would care a lot about her only friend.”

“I still don’t know how you made friends with a changeling.”

“I saved her from a fucking manticore.”

“Reall?” I nod. “Oh… well that makes sense.” We make our way outside.

“So, who do you want to see first?”

“Uh… I thought you would have them all gather at Twilight’s or something.”

“We can do that.” Silence. “Gabriel?” Silence. “If you’re looking at my fuking wings again...”

“Sorry! It’s just, why like that?”

“They were originally feathered.”

“What made them change?”

“You know who Tirek is?”

“Yeah...”

“He tore them off, I turned into a ball of living fire and these somehow grew in.”

“Oh...”

“If you want a more detailed description ask Twi. Now lets go.”

“Ok.”

“Ember, you mind telling us why you called us here?”

“Be quiet Rainbow, I’ll show you in a sec.” I asked Twi to get Spike to get the girls to meet in the table-map room. “Alright, you all ready?” The girls, and Spike, nod. “Alright, just stay calm no matter what.”

“Wait, wha-”

“Alight! Come in Golden Streak!” To this day I don’t know why the fucker insists to be called Golden Streak. Whenever I ask he just says some bullshit about ‘reinventing’ himself. Probably the whole ‘new body, thing.

The main doors open and reveal the golden-yellow android. The whole falls silent as, Golden, walks into the room and stops to stand next to me. While the girls are lfe with faces of wide-eyed confusion and surprise.

“Girls, meet Golden Streak. Golden Streak, meet Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow.” Golden, god I need to get used to that. Just waved.

“Hi.” The girls might not see it. But He’s trying his hardest to contain his excitement.

“Calm the fuck down.” I whisper.

“I’m trying.” He whispers back.

“Howdy!” Aj pipes up. “Nice ta meet’cha!” She gets up from her chair and walks over to Golden, holding out a hoof. Taking the hint, he grabs Aj hoof and shakes it. “Woah! Yer cold to the touch, you alright?”

“Uh, yeah. That’s just because I’m a… robot.” Aj doesn't respond right away.

“A what?”

“He’s made of metal.” When I said that Twi eyes widened, they even began to shine. “Alright, you all can go.” The girls, except for Twi, look to me. When they see the look on my face the smile mischievously. I then bolt out the main doors with the girls, excluding Twi. Leaving Golden with the ever-so-easily-excited-scientist Twilight.

“How did meet ‘em.” Rainbow asked.

“He kinda appeared in this place in a similar way I did.”

“Ohhh. Does that mean you're not the only heumoon-thing here?”

“It’s human, and yes, although. I wish he a woman.”

“Why darling?” Rarity asked.

“So I can fuck.” The girls freeze in their tracks. Then look to me. “What?”

“What’d yall say?”

“I said that I was hopping Golden was a woman so I can possibly make love. You know, do the dirty, putting my meat-rod in her love-hole, my frosting-stick into her cream-cake, my-”

“Ah think thats enough Ember.”

“At least you get it now.” I look to Fluttershy. Who at the moment has a bright pink face. “Right, sorry Flutters, kinda forgot you’re a little sensitive towards that subject.” I walk over to her, kneel down, and scratch her behind the ears again. *I love doing this.*

=Cute.= I stop scratching Flutters and stand back up.

“Whelp, I’ll see you girls later.” I flare my wings and take off. “Fuck I need to practice more with these fucking wings.”

A loud thumping comes from upstairs.

“Who the fuck?” I get up from my chair and walk upstairs and open the door. “Oh, hey Golden. Had fun?” He scowls at me.

“That wasn’t cool man.”

“Hey, you got to hang out with Twi right?”

“I guess, but still!”

“Still what? You got to hang out with Twilight for the day! Isn’t that your dream or some shit?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He pauses. “Still wasn’t funny that you left me like that.”

“Me and the girls thought you’d be fine on your own. I see that we were right.” I walk back inside, leaving the door open for Golden. I hear the close behind and some footsteps.

“So what do we do now?”

“Now, we go to meet Celestia.”

“REALLY!?”

Author's Notes:

Yes, I decided to bring back Golden Streak. But please keep in mind that in this world his mind has been wiped clean of everything that has happened in my previous stories. I'm gonna try and 're-create' him.

Chapter 16: Well This was Unexpected

“Really!?”

“Well, yeah. Might as well be introduced to Celestia and Luna like when I first got here. Plus it gives me something to fucking do around here.” I mutter the last part.

“What?”

“Nothing, lets just go.” Without a second thought I teleport both of us a fair distance from the main gates of the castle.

“Woah! What the hell?”

“Relax, I just teleported us to Canterlot.”

“You can do that?”

“Yeah, I can use magic basically the same way Twi can, I think you can too.”

“Really? Fuck yeah!” A few pish-posh ponies stair in our direction.

“Shut up, the ponies here don’t like cursing all that much.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Now follow me and say nothing.”

“Ok.” With Golden walking next to me we walk up to the main gates, the guards standing at either side tilt their, I think they’re called halberds, so the gate’s blocked. The guards look to me and stair for a second.

“Ambassador Ember. To what do we owe for your visit?”

“I just need to talk to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, whoever is available.”

“What business do you have with the princesses?”

“I need to speak with them about a private subject.”

“Understood. Who is this?” The guard nods his head towards Golden.

“He’s just a good friend.” The stallions pauses.

“Very well, enter.” They bring their halberds back to a standing pose. Me and Golden, fucking odd-ass name, walk in.

“I hope I remember where the fuck to go in there.”

“Why?”

“It’s a bit of a maze in that castle.”

“Oh… Well fuck.”

“Are we there yet?”

“Ask that one more time and I’ll rip your head off. No we are not.” We’ve been roaming these fucking halls for what felt like hours. “Fucking halls all look the same.”

“Alright dude, fuck. And you know something?”

“What?” I’m a little surprised the soft clinking his feet make each time they hit the ground hasn’t driven me insane.

“You’d be less scary if you weren’t so calm all the time.” That got me to smirk a little.

“Heh.” We turn into a random hallway. “This might be it.” At the end of the hall is a huge set of wooden double doors. One of them has the sun and the other has a crescent moon on it.

“Fucking finally!” When we got closer I saw that there were two more ponies standing at each side of the doorway. And boy were they sporting some gear; full-blown body armor with a gold shine to it. All I could see where their eyes, one set was a dull grey and the others were a deep cerulean. They both look to me, then back to looking straight forward. Next thing I know one door is covered in a red glow, and the other is bathed in a soft white glow. Allowing us entry. I look back to the ponies and they nod ever-so-slightly to me. I nod back and we walk in.

“Come on Golden” The last thing I saw on the grey-eyed one were wide eyes. As if it didn;t expect me to nod back.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” I roll my eyes and look back ahead. Celestia and Luna were sitting in their respective thrones at the other end of this huge chamber, I would’ve looked around if a certain memory didn’t make itself present in the forefront of my mind. And I got a little mad at that.

“Ember! What are you doing here? And who is that?” Celestia asked.

“Princess Celestia,” Might as well show them some respect, right? “Princess Luna, this Golden Streak. The second human to appear here.” I heard a little ‘phew’ when I introduce him to them.

“Another ‘hue-man’? But he looks to be of metal.” Luna commented.

“Trust me, he is a human.” I take a glance at him and see that there’s a bit of awe-struck look on his face. *He’s like a fangirls for Justin bieber… Fantastic.* “Celestia?” She turns her attention to me. “May we speak privately?” For a second she gave me an odd look.

“Alright.” She stood from her throne and walked down the small flight of stairs in front of it.

“Follow me.” I do so and she leads me to a door hidden behind the thrones. Said door lead into a small conference room. At one end sat a chair that was obviously meant for Celestia as she took her seat. I decided to sit a few chairs away from here. “What it is you wanted to speak with me?”

“First of all, I want to know why you decided to send me back to my planet, without, my, fucking consent.” My tone went really dark at the last part. I was managing a good poker-face, same couldn’t said for her though. Her ears folded and she looked down a little, with a mix of a sad, almost embarrassed look.

“Oh… Well… I… I thought you, wanted to go back.”

“What gave you that thought?”

“My sister, Luna convinced me it would’ve been ‘better for all of us,’ if I sent you back.” In all seriousness, I can’t get mad at her, or Luna, for that. In fact it kinda makes sense. How bad would you feel of alien with the same thought process and emotions like you were sent to the planet you live on, and then have them find out that they’re the only one of their species on said planet, you would do everything in you power to send them back right?

“Did you know that I was perfectly ok with spending the rest of my life here? Even though I would the only one of my own kind here?” She shakes her head.

“No, I did not.”

“Then I forgive you.” Her head shoot sup, both brows raised in surprised. “Just don’t do that again. Lest you a ball of fire head straight for you.” I say with a smirk, she smiles back. “Changing the subject to Golden Streak.” When I said that her face returned to normal with an inquisitive look to it. “His presence can mean a few things.”

“Like?”

“Like, you may be seeing more of us show up in the near future, there may an armada on it’s way to this planet to either colonize or conquer, and that’s all I can come up with at the moment.” Celestia’s eyes almost shoot out of her head at the mention of the ladder. “I’m really leaning towards the former. Can you feel it if a living being is close to this planet?” She nods.

“Yes, and I do not sense anything. Why do you ask?”

“Well… my people have kinda created a way to travel the stars.” She gives a serious look. “And I’ve been feeling a little paranoid whether or not they’re coming here or not.”

“I can assure you that I do not sense anything making it’s path to here Ember.”

“Thanks Celestia.”

“You are welcome. Is this all need to talk to me about?”

“Yes. Shall we go back to your sister and Golden?” A smile adorns Celestia’s face.

“Yes, we shall.” She likes to mess people? Huh… We both get up from our chairs and head back to the front of the throne. Golden and Luna seemed to hit things off really well. If both of their faces suggest that.

“Golden!” He looks to me. “We need to go.” His face falls a little.

“Aww… Ok. Will I see you later tonight Princess Luna?” Luna smirks a little.

“We shall see.” I couldn’t see Golden’s face at the moment, but anyone could see the child-like grin he was sporting. Luna and Golden shook hand-to-hoof and he walked to stand next to me. The second before I teleported us back to Ponyville Golden waved to Luna, a wave she returned. We appeared back at my house.

“I see you already made friends with Luna huh?” He nods enthusiastically.

“Yeah! It was a little awkward at first, but when I started to talk about the night and shit she immediately opened up.”

“Nice.” I say before I began to walk outside.

“Uh… where are you going?”

“To Sweet Apple Acres, hopefully Aj has some shit I can do.”

“Oh… uh… mind if I come along?” I look back to him, he’s looking a bit shy, and a bit embarrassed. And I think I know why…

-It only makes sense that he would want to stick next to you, seeing as we’re the only humans in this place ‘n all-

*True.*

“Ehh… Why not? Come on.” I wave a hand in a ‘follow me’ motion and I step outside with Golden in tow. Just then an idea forms itself in my head. “On second thought I got a better idea.” I turn to look at Golden Streak.

“What?”

“Want to find out what you’re capable of?”

“Huh..?” He thinks for a second. “Oh! Yeah! Lets do that!”

“Alright then,” I clap my hands, an old habit I never kicked. “lets start out in the field.”

“Ok, what do you think we should test first?”

“Uhhh… how about strength? You look like an android that can handle extreme weight.” I snap my fingers and a bed similar the one I sleep in appears in front of us. “Lets start with this.” I back up to observe. Golden doesn’t say anything and opted to try and lift the thing from the foot-end. And he lifted the damn thing! I’m more surprised that it didn’t break with the way he was holding it. “Wow… ok yeah you’re a strong fucker.”

“Yeah, I’m not even trying.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

*Note to self: Do not get him pissed off at you.* “Great,” I snap my fingers and the bed disappears. “Now to the fun part; magic. Since I’m not that great at using magic yet I’ll teach you what I know.”

“Ok, so what first?” I snap my fingers again and a small jar appears on my hand.

“Levitation. Just make a mental image of this jar in your mind. Imagine it floating. Once you feel a rush of something open your eyes.” He does is I instructed, a few seconds later the jar is covered in a yellow glow. And it begins to hover. “It might also help if you use your hands.” Just as I said that his hands raised and twitch a little. And the jar sits perfectly still in mid-air. Golden opens his eyes, and immediately loses concentration when he eyes the jar floating, the glow around the jar fades away and it drops onto my hand. “And you’re going to need a lot of practice.”

“Aesome. What else can you teach me?” I wrack my brains, trying to remember what else Twi taught me.

“Teleportation.” That got him to be like a giddy little kid in a candy store. “Close your eyes again, like that, now make a mental image of where you want to be, and imagine yourself standing there. You should feel the same rush from before.” And just like that, he disappears with a loud ‘pop’ and a bright yellow flash of light.

-I wonder where he went?-

“It doesn’t matter where he went, what matters is if he can teleport back here.” As if on cue a bright flash of yellow light signified his return. A wide, excited smile plastered on his face.

“Dude, this is fucking awesome!”

“Heh, yeah, I know.” Then a random question formed in my head. “Hey, you mind if I asked something personal?” Golden a little confused.

“Depends what the question is.”

“Did you leave anything behind before? Like friends? Or… family?” Golden puts a hand to his chin.

“I really didn’t have much in the way of friends. But familly...” His face fell.

*Oh fuck.*

=You got that right num nuts.=

~This is not good.~ Why the fuck did I have ask that stupid fucking question?

“Mom… Dad… Nikky...” Now I feel like a piece of shit. “They think I’m dead… They’s probably having a ceremony for me… Oh, god.” he sunk to his knees. And just stared at the ground. I’d bet he’d be crying if he could produce tears. I opted to sit down next to him and put a supportive arm around his shoulders. “I didn’t even say goodbye to them. *sniff*”

“Hey, it’s alright man. If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one on this boat.”

“What?”

“I was pretty much kidnapped and probably sent through some wormhole to get here. I might as well be dead too. At least you still got family to worry about.”

“Oh, wait… what?”

“My mother passed on her deathbed, and my father succumbed to a brain tumor a while ago.”

“Wow dude, that’s heavy stuff...”

“Yeah, it is… Anyway, back to you, it;s going to be ok. Alright? As long as got me nothing can happen to you. Got it?” Golden gave a small, warm smile. And then he hugs me, we stay like that for a while. He lets go after a few minutes.

“Thanks, I needed that, I really needed that.” I pat him on the back.

“Any time.” As I got up a light bulb lit up my head. “Do you… want to go back?”

“What?”

“Do you want to go back to your world?”

“Is… is that even possible?”

“Did I tell you that Celestia sent me back to my world for a day?” He shakes his head. “Well she did, and she brought me back here. I could probably get her to send you back if you want.”

“I… I would like that.”

“And that’s why I’m here.” After I left Golden with Chrysi I went to Twi’s and explained today’s events.

“Oh wow. Well, The princess has sent you to your planet tight?”

“Yes, that’s why I think Celestia can do the same for Golden.” Twi scratches her hoof to her chin. “Can you send a letter to her about this?” Twi thinks for a minute.

“Ok! Actually, we can go to Princess Celestia right now! The faster the better right?”

“I suppose… Wait.” I saw her horn lighting up. Before I could react my vision goes white, then a swirling tunnel of colors fills my eyes. I couldn’t gauge how fast we were going, I could feel gravity keeping me on some surface, I couldn’t move. I could say we were going light-speed. Before I can even registered what just happened everything stops and the setting changed. I’m standing in what appears to be the throne of Celestia and Luna. But that didn’t come to me at the moment. As soon as all that passed I immediately felt sick to stomach. Like a drank a few bottles of vodka before going to sleep, and right now I’m suffering the hangover. I don’t know how I managed to stand as long as I did, but I did eventually fall on my back. I couldn't even feel the pain from the impact. My vision started to fade black and I felt my eyes roll up. I heard someone call my name before I lost consciousness.

*Ooooh…. fuck…* I thought before I completely blacked out.

“Ember!” Twi called out, she galloped over to him, when she got closer she noticed something was wrong, firstly; there wasn’t a solid ‘thud’ a body like his would make. It was more like a soft splat. And the athro’s body seemed to gain a glossy texture and started to convulse, a lot. “Ember?” Princess Celestia and Princess Luna got up from their thrones, both a little confused and afraid for the only human they know.

“What is happening Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked. The princesses stopped at either side of Twilight and just stared in mild astonishment and disgust as the human’s body changed shape, texture, transparency, and size.

“I don’t know! This has never happened before!” By now Ember’s body gained a see-through look to it, and his limbs shrunk into his body and it shrank into a grey-colored blob of what can only assume is slime, and the convulsions stopped. Silence befell the Princesses of the Sun, Moon, and Friendship/Magic. Luna spoke up after what felt like an eternity.

“What has happened to him? He looks to be of... slime.”

“I don’t know sister.” Princess Celestia’s horn light up and the same glow showed up around the mass of grey slime. The glow faded when she was done analyzing the blob.

“Ember is still there, don't worry Twilight.”

“What?” Twilight looked to Celestia, her puffy, blood-shot, teary eyes stared at the sun diarch.

“I can sense his consciousness in that… mass. Right now he is in a comatose state.”

“B-but how did *sniff* happen?” Twilight turned back to the blob of slime that used to be a human. Luna leaned over to her sister and whispered.

“What do we do sister?”

“The best course of action we can take right is just wait.” Celestia whispered back, she then stood back up a walked over to Twilight. Resting a wing over the purple pony’s withers. “He will be alright Twilight. Right now I need you to be strong.”

“But I can’t!” Twilight snapped back. Catching both Celestia and Luna off guard.

“What?”

“I should’ve know better than to teleport him with me! Spells react violently when directed at him! Oh how can I be so stupid!” Twilight sagged to the floor, her forelegs covering her face as she sobbed. Celestia looked to Luna, the lunar goddess could only shrug in response. At this point, Celestia couldn’t think of anything what to say that wouldn't make things worse. She knew Twilight well, she knew whatever she would say, Twilight would respond negatively. So She decided to help Twilight anyway she can. “I wonder if he’ll even want to talk to me again after this.” That was what she needed to start.

“I’m sure he will forgive you Twilight.”

“*Sniff* You think so?” Celestia nodded.

“I know so.” She said with a motherly smile. Twi smiled back. With that Celestia walked closer to the blob.

“We need to bring him out of sight. We can’t let anypony see him in this… state.” Once again her horn glows yellow and the blob is picked up in her magical grasp.

“Where do we take him sister?”

“Lets take him to my room.”

Oooooh fuck I needed a fucking coma. No kidding, I could finally change my sleep schedule, if that can even happen at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if I finally meet the big man above, or end up wherever the fuck you end up when you die. Seriously! I should be dead at this point!

“Uuugghh...”

“Oh! He’s waking up!” I heard a familiar voice shout. Now that I think about it, it felt kinda weird when I groaned. I roll my tongue in my mouth. Yep, definitely weird. Everything felt my slick, like nothing had texture anymore. Get your fucking mind out of the fucking gutter right fucking you dirty mother fucker. “Ember? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah… I can… Ugh fuck I feel like shit.” I can’t even feel my anything. I crack open my eyes slowly and see that I’m staring straight at some ceiling. My sense of touch returns to me and whatever I’m laying on feels like a fucking cloud. It was an amazing feeling. I tried to move one of my arms, nothing. “Uh… why can’t I feel my arms, or my body for that matter?”

“Oh… Well… Uh… Who do I say this… Uumm...”

“You were somehow turned into a ball of… slime.” That got my full, undivided attention. As it sparked a nearly primal reaction… I may be exaggerating it, but I still bolted up to a sitting position. Using my arms for leverage. I was a really fancy-looking room with Celestia, Luna and Twilight. All of them looked to be really shocked to see me.

“What?”

“Take a look at thyself.” Luna responded. I look at questioningly, but obliged her. I look down and my brain froze up. When I looked at myself I saw that I was completely made of a grey colored, semi-transparent slime. I still had my upper torso, a blob of grey slime represented my bottom half. Now, I would like to say that I DIDN’T pass out. But seeing yourself as a literal slime-person, that fucking broke the last of my mental reinforcements. I fell back onto the bed and passed out for the second time of the day.

Chapter 17: Everything's Fine Now, Hopefully...

So yeah, passing out two times a day is nothing really healthy for anyone, at least I got some much needed sleep. Also, I’ve apparently been turned into a fucking living slime. I knew spells cast on me had nasty effects on me, but seriously!? I simple teleportation turns me into a fucking slime ball? Anyway, I think I’m waking up, again.

“Are you alright Ember?” It was Celestia.

“Ugh, you tell me...” I get up again and look at myself. “I... don’t know what to feel anymore...” It’s true, at this point I’ve been dealing with an entirely new world, a few new species, having my wings torn off- “My wings...” I mutter.

“What?” Twi asked. I tried to flex my wings, I did get a feeling of something moving on my back. I look behind myself, and was elated to see that even in this goo form I still have them, I just wonder if I can fly with these… I flap them a few times, nothing, they bend to impossible angles to create even the slightest lift. At this new revelation I turn to the three ponies in front of me.

“Turn me back into a human, now.” My rage started to build again, I even started feel warmer. They didn’t say anything and my rage continued to build. Celesia said something to break the heavy silence.

“I’m afraid we can’t.” When she said that my anger skyrocketed.

“What?” I clenched my fists and the temperature raised to a hot summer day in the middle of a desert kind of heat. In my peripheral I saw little balls of fire form around me. It kinda took me a few seconds to realize what Celestia was doing. *Getting me mad enough to make me turn into a fireball again, that might change me back…* I gave Celestia a ‘got ya’ look before I let myself get lost in the sea of anger that dwelled within me. Next I get that feeling of knowing everything like before, and then I felt extremely powerful again, but this time it didn’t feel as strong as before. I think I even began to hover in the air. When my vision focused, I failed to notice that in the first place, I saw that I was in a yellow bubble of magic floating in mid-air, probably to keep anything from being burnt. No one spoke for a bit, until I decided to break the silence, I think the fire that makes up my being has already done that, eh… I digress.

“I commend you Celestia. I would’ve never thought to do this.”

“This form replaced you wings, didn’t it?” She gave me a sly smile.

“I’m only human, Celestia. Though, I probably would’ve figured out to turn into this again. But still, thank you for making it quick.”

“Anytime Ember.” This whole time Twilight and Luna stayed quiet this whole, Luna looked at Celestia, a little aghast. And Twi was just wearing a shocked look. I guess they must be-

“Of course!” Twi recovered, she slapped her hoof to her forehead. “Last time you changed into this form you got your wings back! Why didn’t think of that?” As much as I wanted to make a joke out of that, I was more concerned with whether or not his would work.

“That was quite clever of you sister.” Luna appraised.

“Thank you Luna.” Celestia turned her attention back to me. “How long do you think you will stay like this?”

“I think not very long. I’m already starting t o feel tired. You mind handing me a mirror? I want to see what I look like.”

“Of course.” A large mirror appears in front of me. And just as I thought, I look like a little sun, this time the edges are a bright yellow. And my eyes, they’re just blue circles. I scowl and they turn to slanted half circles.

*Wow I look badass.*

-We sure do.-

=Hell YEAH we do!=

~I agree.~

*Hey, you’re all back, where were you guys?*

-We’ve mostly been exhausted like you. -

*I see. Oooh fuck I’m getting tired fast.*

~Let me fix that.~ I felt a rush of magic and I suddenly didn't feel tired anymore. I was still losing me current ball-of-fire state. I watch in awe as the fire started to die out, revealing more of my body as patches of fire extinguished themselves, as more and more of my body was revealed I was ecstatic to see that feathers were poking out.

“This is like pushing the reset button...” I marveled at how simple it was to return to normal. If it was this easy to change into a blob of slime, then back to my normal self, I’m a little scared to think what different spells will do to me. The bubble I was in dissapeared and I landed on the incredibly soft bed.

“What’s a ‘reset button’?” Twilight asked.

“It’s mostly a term used when you, reset, certain things or aspects in a video game to default settings. Do you have those here? And is this your room Celestia?”

“No, we don’t. And yes, it is.” I quickly got off the bed. I wanted to ask more about what technology they have here. But I remembered that I more or less made a promise to Golden.

“Oh well, anyway. Did Twilight tell you why we’re here?” Celestia smiled when I asked that.

“Yes, she did. And I’m pleased to tell that I can send Golden Streak back to his world.”

“Perfect!”

“Yes, I sent a carriage for him, he should be here now. Come with me.” She said and she walked out the room, now that I had a chance to look around the room it was fucking huge. A few bookshelves line the walls, along with a large curved desk that held stacks of papers and books. Which was all currently illuminated by sunlight from outside, even the windows were really big. There was even a balcony the overlooked Canterlot. The bed I was laying on was massive! It looked like three queen sizes were mashed together in one big circled bed. We left the room and headed back to the throne room if I remember correctly. Where there happen to be a certain andriod standing at one end of the large room. He had two guards with him. When they saw us Celestia dismissed the guards and began talking to Golden Streak. At her request at a distance so we couldn’t hear them.

“What do you think she's talking to him about?” I asked Luna.

“No doubt she is making sure of Golden’s request to be sent back to his home world.”

“Oh, he seemed dead said when I offered to do all of this for him. I don’t know why he would have second thoughts.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He told he has family back on his planet. He wasn’t too happy when he realized he wasn’t going to see them again.”

“I see...” From the corner of my eye I saw that heard lowered a little.

“You really like him as friend huh?” She nodded weakly. “Well if makes it any better, I consider you a good friend.” She looked to me.

“You do..?” I nodded.

“Yeah, besides the fact that I need to trust you to not go through my mind without my consent. I can say that you’re a good friend.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Luna looked away, for what? I don’t know. Think I said something I shouldn’t have, probably the whole trust with memories, I turn to walk over to Twilight. Before I made my way over to Twi I’m assaulted from behind by a blue mass of fur and feathers. Two hooves wrap around my neck and a set of blue wings wrap themselves around me.

“Thank you.” I heard her whisper. She leaned her head onto my shoulder. Her tears soon began to soak into the feathers there. With my magic I carefully lift her off my body, I turn back around and give Luna a proper hug. We stay like that few a minute, hen Luna lets go. She wipes the tears off her eyes. “Thank you.” She states once again.

“Anytime. Lets go see what’s gonna go down, as far as Golden ging to back to his world.”

“Lets.” She recomposes herself. I hadn't noticed that Twi joined Celestia and Golden.

“So how’s it going?” I asked.

“Golden will be going to his home world.” Twi answered.

“Really? That’s it?”

“There is one addition,” Celestia chimed in. “I will be giving him a scroll that allows Golden Streak to come back to Equestria, should he decide too.”

“Cool, best of both worlds I guess?” I look to Golden and he nods. “Can he use the scroll to go back and forth?”

“I’m afraid not, the scroll is enchanted with a one-way teleportation spell.”

“Oh, well you can send him right?” She nods. “Ok then. So… shall we see you off?”

“Yeah, I’m ready to go.” He said. Celestia stood right in front of him, she motioned for us to stand next to her and we do so.

“I’ll see you all some time!” He waved to us, and we waved back.

“See ya!”

“We will surely miss you!”

“Bye!” We all but Celestia said our goodbye’s as he started to fade away. What surprised me is that he started turning back into a human as he faded away. From what I saw he was white with black hair and green eyes, lucky bastard. I was born with brown eyes and brown hair. With that over with, awkward silence befell us. Well, I think mostly awkward for me and Twi. Celestia and Luna looked contempt to sit there in silence. I think to pay respect to Golden, or out of modesty. I don’t know. Without saying the sun and moon princesses get up and walk away, presumably to their rooms.

“I guess that’s our cue to head back home huh?”

“Yeah.” She closes her eyes and her horn lights up. “Twilight!”

“What!?” She loses her concentration and looks to me.

“Have you learned nothing woman!? You can’t teleport me with you!”

“Oh… right… heh… Sorry.” She blushes.

“Whatever, I’ll see you later.” I say as I teleport home. After greeting Chrysi and explaining what happened I went to my room to fully digest what has happened.

“So it’s going to be winter soon is it?” I asked Twi.

“Yes.”

“Nice. I’ve always preferred it cold.”

“Really?” I nod. After Golden got sent back to his world everything continued like normal. I decided to start walking around town more often, since I really don’t have much to do at home. Me and Twi were talking about yesterday until the subject changed to the upcoming winter. According to her, the ponies head start winter with an event called ‘The Running of the Leaves’. Which is apparently a fall even that leads to winter, and what happens is that the ponies start at one end of Whitetail Woods, which is a nicer version of the Everfree, and they run to other end, causing the leaves of the trees to fall down. And I missed that event, and Rainbow and Aj were part of it, competing against each other. Fuck me.

“I’ve always liked it cold. Even though I used to live in a desert.”

“You lived in a desert?”

“Yeah, I told you. Right?”

“I don’t think so...”

“Ay Ember!” I heard someone yell from behind. Me and Twi looked behind us and see that Vinyl with Octavia, Lyra, and Bon Bon. They’re like their own little group of friends. Cool.

“Hey Vinyl, what’s up?”

“Eh we just wonderin’ if you like to see if ya wanted to see us play!”

“Really? Are you going to host a concert or something?”

“Oh no, nothing like that.” Octavia answered. “We always get together once or twice a week for a little practice. Lyra and Bon Bon are usually our audience.”

“So whaddya think? Wanna join us?” I look to Twi.

“Mind if I..?”

“Go ahead, I have to go check on Spike anyway.”

“Cool, see ya later then.” Twi waves and she walks off. “I guess I’ll join you girls.”

“Awesome! Come with us!” The little group walks off, with me right behind. They lead me to the market, to a little candy shop with the name ‘Bon Bon’s Bonbons. So Bon Bon owns this store? Clever girl. We go inside and my senses are assaulted by some exquisite scents of chocolate, vanilla, and Oohh I fucking love chocolate dipped strawberries.

“How come I've never seen this place before? I fucking love sweets.” They just chuckle at me. I continue to follow them as they head to the back of the shop. Apparently this also a home. I saw some stairs and some other rooms.

Anyway, the room they lead me to had a few instruments hung to the walls and some what looks to be a mini-stage. Vinyl, Bon Bon and Lyra sit on chair that I didn't notice until now, and Octavia stands atop the stage, holding a cello and a bow. I sit on the ground since there wasn’t a chair I could use. That was my size. And Octavia began to play.

“That was amazing Octavia.” I praised.

“Thank you.” She said.

“Just like usual Tavi.” Vinyl commented.

“Be quiet Vinyl. Ember?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to give it a go? I have heard that you are quite talented.”

“Really? Who told you that?”

“A certain mare?”

“Was it Pinkie?”

“... Yes.”

“Figure, I guess Ill give it a try.” I stand up and walk over to Octavia. Taking the Cello she used as she walked to sit with her friends. One snap of the fingers later I’m sitting in a chair, preping to play an old song I used to play when I was younger. For the life of me I can’t remember the name or who created it. It’s been a few years since I’ve played anything. Anyway, I gracefully set the bow against the strings and play. My mind went blank as I continued to play, I closed my eyes and focused in the song as it played itself out in my head. God it’s such a fucking release to do this again. Not as much as pounding someone’s face in, or putting a bullet on some guilty fuckers head, or shoot Corey and his friends point-blank with a fucking shotgun. Time seemed to slow and everything around me faded away, leaving me, and only me and this cello.

“Yo Ember, you alright?”

“*Thwack* Be quiet!”

“Ow! Okay!” That almost broke my concentration. I just waved it off, figuratively, and kept on playing. For about another minute. Time flies when you play an emotional song, apparently. I open my eyes again and realize that I was crying a little.

*Fuck, I needed that.*

-No matter how small of a release it was, it was still good.- Innuendos aside, I looked to the ponies in front of me. Octavia had a mix of a sad and amazed with tears threatening to leak from her face. Vinyl had an impressed look on her face. Lyra was also impressed. Bon Bon… she looked like she was staring at the face of god. Even her eyes dilated and gained a glossy shine.

“What?” I haven’t received mixed results like this, especially something as random as Bon Bon.

“That. Was... Amazing!” Bon Bon… I’m going to sat just Bon from now on, she cheered and started clapping her hooves.

“Eh, it was pretty good.” Fucking Vinyl.

“I liked it.” Lyra had a innocent smile on her face. I guess she’s the neutral one amongst them.

“That was a wonderful piece of music Ember, what was that song?”

“The name of it eludes me at the moment. I doubt you’ve even heard of it anyway. It being from a different world and all.” Lyra perked up at that.

“Wait, so you are from a different world.” I nod. “I knew it! In your face Bonnie! In! Your! FACE!” She jumped off her chair and jabbed her hoof in Bon’s direction. Bon just rolled her eyes.

“Oh, shut up Lyra. How were we supposed to believe you from the beginning?”

“Bon Bon has a point Lyra. I didn't even know you ponies existed, you were all just legends of myth.” Not exactly lying, but not exactly telling the truth either.

“Really? Ponies don’t exist where you come from?”

“Not your kind to be specific. You know how you have wild animals here?” They nod. “Where I come from, ponies are nothing but wild animals. Some of us usually have them as livestock like cows and stuff.”

“... What?”

“Yeah… It’s a bit sad, isn’t it?” All four of them nod at me.

“Does that mean… that you..?” Bon asked.

“Oh, god no.” I grimace. “The way they kept them in small rooms. I never like to keep animals the way people do.” Honestly, I could care less how people kept livestock. The planet’s too populated with humans and other animals anyway, we could do with a few million of us… not having children. For a few years. Yeah…

“Well… It’s good to know that you’re not as bad as you look.” Bon remarked.

“Really?” I ask. Bon just gives me a dumb look, until she realized what she said. Her hooves flew up to her mouth and as scared look creeps upon her face.

“Omigosh! I didn’t mean to!”

“Don’t worry about it Bon Bon. I figured you ponies would see me as some kind of monster.” I got up and handed the cello to Octavia.

“Hey, it ain’t nothing like that.” Vinyl tried to reassure. “It’s just that… you're a little… Scary lookin’.”

“That sure helps Vinyl. Thanks.” I make my way out the room.

“Vinyl!”

“Sorry!” I hear hoof steps from behind.

“Ember, please wait.” I turn around and maintain a stoic face. It’s not that they offended me. I just got a little upset. I absolutely hate it when I’m seen as a monster. And to know that the pe- ponies here see me as a monster. I haven’t done anything that would give the slightest hint of a monster! I doubt they even saw me with Tirek. Or if they think I was that bright ball of fire.

“Yes?”

“Please excuse Vinyl and Bon Bon. They… they don’t...”

“They don’t have a filter?” I supplied.

“You can say that. I’m sorry about them. In all honesty, I didn’t really think you would be so talented. Nopony really knows much about you. And with what you are. I mean, look at you! You’re basically two or three times our size! No offense.” Octavia really must to get on my good side.

“None taken. And thanks. And just between me and you. It’s really difficult to get me angry.” I smile at her. “I like to call myself a calm person. Plus it was kinda funny to see their faces.”

“I see.” She smiles. “Should I tell them that you’re alright?”

“Yeah. I didn’t mean to scare you guys either.

“That’s good to know. Oh, by the way, where are you going? If you don't mind me asking.”

“I’m just gonna walk around for a bit more. I have nothing to do at my house.”

“I see… I guess we’ll see you later?”

“Sure. See ya.” I wave to her and I walk out the door.

Author's Notes:

Yes, Golden Streak will be coming back sometime in the future. Yes, he will be that op son-of-a-bitch you all know and love. Please, leave a like and comment! If ya want.

Chapter 18: More Exposition and Character Building

Well after that little scene, I decided to walk around a bit more. Though, there was a noticeable lack of ponies milling about.

*Odd... why would they be-* A nasty chill runs up my spine as an ice cold breeze passes by. *That must be why, are they getting ready for winter? I wonder...* At the time Pinkie’s place was the closest I could walk to. So I made my way to there to find it was closed. I looked into the windows with no avail. *Must be that then. Pinkie usually has this open all the time.* I remove myself from the window and head back home. during the walk home I couldn’t shake that stupid feeling that something was watching me. I just ignored it and went on my way…

I got home without incident, which was pretty surprising. Since trouble loves to visit me at the worst of times. It even started snowing when I made it inside. I was about call out to Chrysi but someone sitting in the living room decided to make a surprise visit. He was looking at the fireplace, which was burning at the moment, so he hadn’t noticed me yet.

“Gabriel?” He whips his head around.

“Ember! It’s so great to see you again!” He gets up from the chair he was sitting on, walks over to me, and wraps his arms around me in a man-hug. I was a little too stunned to even return the hug. “So how’s it been? Good I hope?” He says when he lets me go.

“Uh… It’s been good.” I say when my mind rebooted. “It’s good to see you again too.”

“I know right!? It’s been a while!”

“... It’s only been a few days since you left.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Ga- Golden puts a hand to his chin.

“I guess the time difference between this and my world are different?”

“What? You mean time in your place passes by faster than here?” He nods. “Huh… cool, I guess. How long has it been for you?”

“A few months.”

“Wow. I guess that proves it. So what did you do when you got back to your word?”

“Oh ! the funny thing about that. Turns out my family almost took me off life support when I came too.”

“Really?” He nods. “Heh, did you feel an unimaginable amount of pain when you woke up?”

“Surprisingly not, I just felt a little sore.” Fuck that would've been funny if he was in a shit-ton of pain. What? I got a morbid sense of humor, lay off. Besides, he didn't die so that’s a plus.

“Cool.”

“So what’s been going on here?”

“Not much, it’s already winter here.” At the mention of winter he straightens up. “What?”

“Dude, that reminds me.”

“What?”

“You’re on the show!”

“... Excuse me?”

“You’re on the fucking show that’s about this place!”

“Really..?”

“Yeah!”

“... Huh. Cool. Does it show where I come in?” He nods.

“Yeah, some portal spat you out and you fell, a lot.” Finally I find out how I exactly showed up in a field. “And then the mane six found you, they wanted to ask what you were but you were knocked out, then Twilight decided to drag you for some reason.”

“You think she would've carried me huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why she didn’t do that. Anyway, the episode continued with you waking up, that little standoff with Rainbow, it even showed how you scared her!”

“Awesome.” I smirk.

“Yeah, and then it ended with you being introduced to the town.”

“Is that it?”

“For that episode it is.”

“Wait, I’m more episodes?”

“Yep!”

“Huh, I don’t know how to feel about that...”

“Dude! You should be fucking elated! Your appearance caused an entire shit-storm! People were going crazy about a human being brought into My Little Pony! It even got bigger when I came into the picture!”

“You realize if I was a normal person I would’ve passed out?”

“Who cares!? WE’RE IN A FUCKING CARTOON SHOW!” He practically jumps in the air like a Justin Bieber fan girl.

“Calm down and stop acting like a One-direct fan-girl.” He immediately freezes.

“That’s not cool, dude.”

“Shut up. To change the fucking subject. How did your family react to you not being dead.”

“They were elated to say the least. We were actually spending the few months together in a big vacation.” He finishes with a heartfelt smile.

“Nice. Did you tell them about this place?”

“Yeah, they didn't believe me at first, then I showed them the episode after I saw it. Oh! That reminds me. The little bit with Pipsqueak, that was cute man.”

“Uh… Who’s Pipsqueak?”

In some random building, many people sneeze.

“‘Who’s Pipsqueak’!? He’s one of the most beloved characters of My Little Pony! He’s the foal that asked what you were a while back.”

“Oh! Him! Now I remember. And you know I’m not a fan of the cartoon right?” Even though I watched the cartoon for research purposes.

“Oooooh yeaaaah... Right.” He pauses. “Eh... Whatever. Hey, where's that changeling? Isn’t she supposed to be living with you?”

“She’s in Canterlot because her hive might be coming to take her back when she doesn’t want to.”

“...”

“Oh… Well fuck.”

“Tell me about it. At this point I’m just waiting for them to show up.”

“What are you gonna do if they do?”

“I don't know, maybe go on a killing spree if they don’t see reason? or maybe talk to them if they want to?”

“Makes sense, except for the whole ’killing spree’.”

“I can always drive them off then.”

“That sounds better.”

“Fucking pansy.”

“Fuck you! What if they don’t want to fight? Or, you know. DIE!?”

“As if that would would matter at this point.”

“On this world it does!”

“Oh. Right. Meh...” A knock some from my front door.

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting anybody today.” I walk over to the door and open it. Two ponies are standing there, their eyes widen when they see me. The one on the left as a brown stallion with a lighter brown mane and tale, with hazel eyes. The other is a plain blue with a black and grey striped mane. His shrunken eyes are a light grey.

“Can I help you?” The blue one regains his composure.

“Uh, yes, you can. Have you seen a changeling around here? Or a new pony around?”

“No, I haven’t, why are you looking for such a creature? Last I heard they were banished to the badlands.” Thank fucking christ I remember that bit from the show.

“That was a different hive, the one we are looking for comes from a different hive.”

“The fuck’s a hive?”

“Listen!” The blue one shouts. “Have you seen a bucking changeling or not!?”

“How about you go fuck yourself? Then come back when you’re in a better mood.” I slam the door in their faces.

“Who was it?”

“Just two fuckboys.” I hear an explosion from behind and the door flies by me, but some stroke of luck not hitting me. I spin around and the two stallions are now changelings.

“Holy fuck!” Golden shouts.

“Bad choice.” I say and the gauntlets form again. The two changelings rush me, their maws open and fangs bared. Aimed right my face. I side-stepped and landed a solid hail maker on both their backs. They slam into the ground and tumble across the floor, until they hit the wall across the hall. Both of them quickly stood up and lunged at me again. This time I uppercutted with both fists, sending both of them towards the ceiling, cracks form around the points of impact, then they both… just hang their. Their limbs flail, and I start laugh my ass off.

“Ember look out!” I hear Golden yell. I open my eyes and the changelings managed to dislodge themselves. And their running straight at me.

*Alright, ass-kicking time.* I side-step again and think of a way to end this as soon as possible.

These bugs really like to lunge, they just keep lunging at me. At one point I they lunge again and I clawed at them, my gauntlets raking across both their bodies. They scream in pain and slump to the floor, a grey goo leaking from the wounds. I walk closer to them, and a limb twitches. I back up as they weakly stand, both of them giving me angry stares. Seeing that they give up. I straighten up and wave my hand to the door. At this point I want the fuck out of my house.

“Hey, I honestly got no clue where the changeling is. Doesn’t mean ya have to fucking attack me, dickwads.” I say to them as they make their way to the forest. Of course I had to lie about that! Hopefully chrysi didn’t tell them about me, wait of course they don’t. they would’ve known who and what I was.

Plus it would be a bad idea to kill them now that I think about it. It wouldn’t be the best thing to cause an invasion on Ponyville. The changelings raise an eyebrow at me. But they eventually take their leave. Once they’re out my house I pick up the door they blew off.

-Fucking assholes.-

=Ya got that right.=

*Yeah, is there a way to fix this using magic?*

~Yes there is, just put the door back in its place, please.~

*Alright.*

“What the fuck was that!?”

“What was what?”

“That! Why did you let them go!?”

“Do you want an entire hive of changelings after you?” He clams up. “Thought so, I let them go for that reason.”

“It does make a bit of sense. Now that I think about it. What’ll you think will happen now?”

“I honestly have no clue.”

“Oh, ok. You know, that’s the first time I hear you say that.”

“No shit sherlock.”

“You really have no idea?” That’s when I flip a little.

“Do you really expect me to have an idea on what’s to come? I’m living in a world filled a completely new species, way of life, and I different culture all together! How tha FUCK do you expect me to always think of what to do!? Especially when I’m dealing with something no human has ever fucking experienced!?” I almost turned into the living fire-being with that little rant of mine. It scared the fuck out of Golden, but seriously, how the fuck can anyone expect me to always know what to do? Especially given my current situation? I barely know shit about this place, much less when it comes to changelings. Or any species on this planet.

“Woah, chill out dude.” He backs up a bit and holds his hands up.

“Sorry, but seriously, stop asking me what I think will happen. It’s annoying.”

“Alright. You ok?”

“I’m fine. Fuck I needed to let that out.”

“I can tell.”

“No shit.” I turn back around to fix the door, to my surprise the door’s already in place, hinges and all. *Huh, cool.*

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my room.”

“For what?”

“I'm workin’ on some shit.”

“Like what?”

“Making a computer.” *And possibly a way to upgrade the nanomites running around in my blood.*

~There is a way for you to do that?~

*I’m pretty sure there is. I just may have to learn a shrinking spell, does a spell like that exist?*

~Yes, but, why do you need a spell like that?~

*I need it for something.*

“A computer!? Here!?” Oh, yeah. Those machines tend to be non-existent around here.

“Yeah, come with me.” I motioned for him to follow me and he does. I lead him to my room and turn the lights on. Revealing the machine in its full glory in the center of the room. I walk over to it and turn it on.

“Alright, that’s fucking awesome. How did you get one here?” I smirk, snap my fingers and a cooling fan appears in my hand. Golden stares at me dumbly until the dots connect. “No… no fucking way… You built it!?”

“Yeah.”

“HOW!?” I toss him a large book I got from behind the desktop.

“Instructions can go a long way.”

“That’s still pretty epic. How is it even on though?” I reach behind the thing and pick up the crystal powering it. I notice it’s not glowing brightly so I give it some magic, bringing back the nice amethyst glow.

“Magic can be converted to other types of energy, in this case electrical energy.” I state matter-of-factly.

“Wow...”

“I know right? Thought, I need to come up with a more sustainable source of energy.”

“Why? Isn’t magic good enough?”

“There needs to be a constant flow of magic to power the desktop. And since there’s no way I can create a machine that can do such a thing I need to find another source.”

“What about solar energy?”

“I can’t do that, the flying ponies around would question what the black squares on top of the house are.”

“You mean pegasi?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Hm… I guess you only got magic until you find some other way huh?” Clap my hands and point at him.

“Bingo genius!”

“Shut up.”

“Fuck you, anyway. I think I’m good with how it’s set up for now.”

“Cool, how did the girls react to this? If you’ve showed them?”

“I did, and Twilight had a nerdgasm, much like how you did.”

“That’s no surprise.”

“I kinda figured since she’s the smart one of the group. Rainbow looked like she could care less.” Golden snickers at that. “And Rarity, Aj, Pinkie and Flutters were mildly interested.”

“Cool. Do you plan to show this to the town? Or- *gasp* We could mass produce these and sell them! We-” I stop him right there.

“Woah, calm down pony-boy. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not!?”

“Would you want to see this place gain a sudden technological advancement? Changing their way of life in a mere few years? Think of the backlash man!”

“What ‘backlash’?”

“Did you fall the fuck asleep in history class? Look at what technology, more specifically industrialization, has done to the planet! Do you really want to see that shit happen to this place?”

“But… how do you know that would happen.”

“It’d be bound to happen, ponies are no different to humans! Just add magic and we’re just like them.”

“Oh… you’re right...”

“Thank you.”

“Then, why did you build a computer?”

“Ehh it was mostly out of boredom.”

“The other part?”

“I like to keep it around as a reminder as to what and who I am. I rather like my humanity.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh, I guess that’s kinda noble.”

“Eh… I think of it more like, ‘keeping my fucking humanity’.”

“Alright alright! I get it.”

“Just stop trying to use words you don’t know the meaning to.”

“I do know what nobel means.”

“Then don’t use words out of context.”

“Alright, just lay off.”

“Ok.”

“... So… You working on anything else?”

“You gonna keep asking me questions all day?”

“No.”

“Good, I plan to, in a sense, ‘upgrade’ my body.”

“How?” I give him a serious look. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Did I ever tell you about all the little robots running around in my blood system?” He shakes his head. “Oh, well I do, and they essentially make me a superhuman. And I plan to upgrade those little robots.”

“How are going to do that?”

“With science, robotics, and a little bit of magic.” I smile broadly.

Author's Notes:

I just saw this story a few more dislikes after I comment a blog. Really? I honestly don't think it's because of that, but I can't help my... paranoia I guess and call it? Meh...

Also, I had to rewrite this particular chapter, the first two times I didn't like where it was going, thank god I finally decided to do some character building, lest you'd see this chapter come out a few weeks later. And I'm gonna try to keep updates to at least one chapter a week.

Chapter 19: Hearth's Warming

“That’s corny, you know that?”

“I know, but in this case it’s true.”

“Yeah, sounds kinda cool though.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Well, while you’re doing that, I'm gonna go do some other shit.”

“You go do that.”

So, it took longer than what I expected to, about three fucking weeks longer. How long is that altogether you ask? About a month and a half. And let me tell ya, it was mostly worth it. Why? I had to take a blood sample of my own blood, isolated a single nanomite, which is something literally impossible without magic given my situation. Even with magic it was a pain in the ass. Then I had Ruby create parts for the thing, which I also had enlarged. After that I had Tony Stark some shit and upgrade each individual part using magic. It still astounds me to this day that there is a fucking spell that enhances anything. I’m starting to think I’ making my own rules for using magic because of this. All I have to do is snap my fingers and the desired spell will cast.

Kinda amazing/scary at the same time, isn’t it? Anyway, after shrinking the machine back down to molecular size and test it on my own blood samples. I did have Ruby create, or ‘conjure’ as he calls it, a microscope to begin this whole process. You know? It’s cool to watch cells under a microscope. Not really, it’s more interesting to watch paint dry.

After a few test runs the new machine did succeed in improving regeneration rate, the little thing even began to duplicate themselves! What? You thought they already do? What gave you that? They just help regenerate lost limbs. Humans can already generate lost limbs, the nanomites help speed up the process.

Anyway, after the successful trial runs, I put the sample into a syringe and now I’m about to inject it back into my blood system. And Golden just happened to walk into my room.

“Hey E-” He froze when he saw the needle in my arm.

“You know what this is, stop overreacting.” I state after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“Oh thank god.” His visibly relaxes and walks down the stairs. “It’s those little robots right?”

“Precisely.”

“Oh good.”

“Shut up.”

“What exactly are you doing anyway?”

“Remember when I told about upgrading the little nanomites?”

“Oh yeeeaaaah! Wait, you sure that’ll work? Like, nothing bad will happen?”

“I’m sure nothing ‘bad’ will happen to me. I tested it on my blood to make sure.”

“Oh, ok.” At that I push the stopper, sending the blood by into my bloodstream.

“The effects should be instant.” I mutter under my breath.

“What effects?” Fuck, how did he hear me? I would've answered him, but a numbing sensation overtook my body, I was still standing, but any slight move could send me to the floor. “Hey, you alright?” I couldn’t even move my eyes to indicate I’m alright. Golden got closer and waved a hand in front of my face. After getting no response he backs away, a concerned look etched across his face. “Dude, you’re scaring me. Please say something.” I’m starting to enjoy the look on his face. The numbing sensation already went away and I can move again. I just wanted to get some fun out of it with Golden’s sudden appearance. And I’m not disappointed.

“Im gonna go get the gir-”

“BAAA!” I flare my wings and flail my arms about.

“WAAAAAA!!” He screams and I proceed to laugh my ass of. “DUDE! What the fuck!? That’s SO not funny!”

“Oh calm your *huff* metallic tits Golden. Hooo fuck that was funny.” I had to take a breather after that, it was that hilarious.

“FuckI YOU!” He walks out of the room.

“Wait!” He turns his head to me.

“What do you want, asshole?”

“How do my eyes look?”

“What?”

“How, do, my, eyes, look?” He sighs and walks closer to me. He stops when he’s a few feet away.

“Woah. That’s freaky, in a cool way.”

“Why?”

“They look like the blood vessels are circuits.”

“Perfect!”

“That’s what you were going for?”

“Yes, and it worked!”

“That’s really cool.”

“I know right? Now, where you planning to go?”

“I… actually don’t know. Maybe go see Twilight? Wait, you said it’s barely winter right?”

“Yeah.”

“We need to find Rainbow then.” He walks out the door and out my house in a brisk pace. With me in tow.

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

“Alright.” I say a little unsure of the events to come.

“So, you’re telling me that everything I’ve done here is on that show?”

“Yeah, you went with the girls to the little town, tell me though, it didn’t show what you did to Starlight when you went into the cave with her.”

*Oh good, it didn’t show the rock.* “We had a stand off, she caused the cave to collapse, and a rock fell on top of her.”

“Did the same thing happen to her like Pinkie?”

“No.”

“What..? Oh.”

“Yeah. Anyway, what else happens?” He was glad I moved on.

“The episode ended with you and the girls partying. Speaking of which. That party Pinkie threw for you, did you almost start crying?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“Just a little curious.”

“I almost did.” The tone in my voice made it clear that I was not enjoying this conversation.

“Ok.”

“So, what else has this cartoon, show me doing?”

“Hmm, you did that thing with Tirek, awesome by the way, and then you did that thing with Starlight, the dreams, then then I came into the picture, then there was that little scene with Luna. There’s probably some little things I missed, but that’s most of what I’ve seen.”

“Cool.” I look up. “Hey, we’re here.”

“Oh really?” He looks up with me. “Huh, perfect. But how do we get up there?”

“I could fly us up there, but I don’t think both of us can walk on clouds.”

“Why can’t you? Could you even carry me?”

“I could carry you with my magic, and I wasn’t born wit these wings, remember?” *You can cast some kind of cloudwalking spell right Ruby?*

“Yeah.”

~Of course.~

*Can you cast it on me and Golden?*

~Of course!~ I feel a rush of magic and a red glow washes over me and Golden.

“Woah, what the fuck was that?”

“Just a cloudwalking spell.” I grab Golden in my magic and I take off towards the cloud mansion.

“Woah shit!”

“Calm down.” It only took a few flaps and I made to the front of the cloud mansion. I then set him down next to me.

“Thanks.”

“No-” I’m interrupted by very loud sobbing.

“That must be Rainbow!” Golden rushes inside.

“Ooookaaay...” I follow, a fair bit calmer than the robot. When I entered to building I was amazed on how it resembled a roman mansion. It does on the outside, I didn’t think I would look so much like a roman town square. All the pillars and patterns, it makes me a bit jealous. I look at the tracks left by Golden that eventually lead to her room. The girls are all hugging around Rainbow, wos looks to be crying about something, along with the girls. *What the fuck is she wearing…*

-A rainbow robe with turtle slippers, and she’s holding a turtle, no, tortoise, that has slippers on it’s feet that look like Rainbow.- To my right is Golden, a sympathetic look on his face.

*Wait, why..? Ooooh…* It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on. Reptiles usually hibernate like bears. But really? Rainbow crying over something like this? It’s not like the tortoise is dying! Although, I still thought this was… kinda funny. What? Fuck you, it is funny, she’s being overdramatic about a fucking tortoise hibernating! What’s not to laugh at? At least I managed to step out the room and out the house to laugh my ass off. Once I’m calm I walk back inside to Rainbow’s room. And it seems the girls are content to just sit there in silence. I shrug and head back out. They might question me later about leaving and coming back, then leaving again. *Eh… no harm in telling the truth.* From the porch I noticed that ponies were milling about in town. With that I decided to head into town and walk around.

“So lemme get this straight, you left because ya thought it was ‘funny’ that Rainbow was cryin’ over Tank goin’ inta hibernation?” Aj asked and she kicks a tree. All the apples that hung from it fell into the placed tubs below the leaves.

“Pretty much.” I kick a tree not too far from Aj. Knocking the apples from it and they fall into tubs placed below.

“Ya know that’s a little messed up right?”

“Not really, it’s just me with a weird sense of humor, well, weird for you ponies.”

“Whaddya mean by that?”

“Anyone would laugh at that from my planet. At least, a lot would. Some would just look sympathetically.”

“Like Golden Streak?”

“Yep. He’s more of a softy than anything.”

“Then why are you like that?”

“Did I ever tell you of my past?”

“No...”

“Did you read that letter that Celestia sent Twilight?” I turn to look Aj straight in the eye. Our eyes meets and she quickly looks down, her cheeks turning red.

“Yeah...” She squeaks.

“There’s your answer.” I kick another tree, the apples fall into tubs again.

“Uh, is that really why you’re like… that?”

“That’s most of the it. I was already a bit… dense? Aagh, there’s a better word for that.”

“Ah know what cha’ mean. Ya just don’t think’s at big of a deal, and to be honest,” Heh. “Ah don’t think it’s a deal either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Rainbow cryin’ over her turtle that’s goin’ to hibernation? Its not like he’s gonna kick the bucket.”

“That’s exactly what I thought!”

“Good to know we’re on the same page.”

“Yeah. Y’know, you’re always the level-headed one in every situation. I like that.”

“Like you? Thanks.” In the corner of my eye I see her blush a little.

*Do they always blush when complemented?*

=Maybe they don’t get compliments like that?=

-Maybe, but considering what they’ve done, you’d think they’d get praised wherever they go.-

*Yeah, I guess that’s just how this world works?*

~Indeed.~

“Thanks, Aj.”

“Anytime.”

“You, that’s the first time I get any praise in this world.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Hey, do you go into town often?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do the ponies in town… talk about me?”

“Why do ya ask that?”

“I’ve noticed recently that ponies tend to grow silent when I’m around. DO they not like me or something?” I look to Aj, she shakes her head.

“Everypony likes ya Ember, even before ya dealt with Tirek.”

“Then why do they go quiet around me?”

“Hmm… I don’t rightly know, but Ah’m guessin’ that they’re a bit… intimidated by you.”

“I kinda figured, I don’t look like a nice guy don’t I?”

“Took the words right outta ma mouth.” I look over to Aj, and a smug grin is plastered on her muzzle.

“Up yours Applejack.” I chuckle, she snickers back and we go back to kicking the trees. If you’re wondering why we’re kicking apple trees, winter didn’t last long. It’s weird how the pegasi control the weather, even though winter lasted three months. “Hey, what month is it?”

“Febumarey, why?” Fucking puns.

“Just asking. Do you have holidays here?”

“Yeah, Hearth’s Warming is coming.”

“What’s Hearth’s Warming?”

“It’s where we get together with friends and family to celebrate to union of the three pony tribes.”

“Oh, cool.” I kick another tree and once again the air is filled with silence.

“Uh… do, you… have anypony you can spend hearth's warming with?”

“There’s Golden Streak, but I don’t think he would want to do that.”

“Why not?”

“Where we come from it’s considered ‘weird’ or ‘wrong’ for another male to do anything like that with another male. Same goes for women.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” I kick another tree. “Most people can care less,” I walk over and kick another tree. “But there is always that group of people that think anything new is wrong.” I stomp over and kick another tree, the main body cracks when I kick it. “Especially those religious extremist.” I walk to another tree and practically chop the tree from its base. “Always saying same sex relation is wrong and you’ll go to hell, saying it’s against the fucking bible.” I reared my leg up to kick another tree. “Making it a living hell for us, can’t even show public affe-”

“Ember! Stop!” I freeze and look to Aj.

“What?” I look at myself. “Oh,” Smoke was fuming off me, and my breathing was fast, even my heart was attempting to burst from my chest.. I put my leg back to the ground and take a few deep, calming breaths. “Sorry about that.” I say

“What was all that about?”

“Just some… things I had to deal with back home.”

“Oh. You alright then?”

“I’m fine now.”

“Good,” She turned away to kick a tree, but something seemed to catch on in her head. “wait, you said ‘same sex relations’, does that mean..?”

“*sigh* Yes, well no, I… uh… How would you say it..?” I think for a second. “Oh! I swing both ways.” A confused look takes Aj’s face.

“What?” It take her a minute, but she does eventually understand what I meant. “Oh. OH! Yer inta mares and stallions?”

“In simpler terms, yes.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“Nothin’, just didn't think your… barn door swung both ways.”

“You don’t think it’s wrong?”

“No, ah think everypony deserves to have a special somepony, no matter their preference.”

“Thanks Aj.”

“Anytime Ember.”

“Guys!” A new voice comes from nowhere, and Golden bursts in from between two trees.

“What?” Aj and me speak at the same time.

“Aj! You’re going to Appleloosa right?”

“Yeah, ah’m also taking Applebloom and her friends, why?”

“Can I come with?” He ask with an almost manic grin.

“Uh… Sure. Ya got bits for a train ticket?”

“Umm… fuck.”

“Don’t worry about it Golden, I’ll buy a ticket for you.”

“Ehe, thanks.”

“No problem.” I kick another tree.

“Ah think that’s enough applebucking fer today Ember.”

“Alright. Let go get you that ticket then. See ya Aj.” Me and Golden walk off towards the train station. “So why did you want to go with them?”

“I remember in the show that CMC go off on own little investigation and help a stallion truly understand his cutie mark.”

“‘C.M.C.’?”

“Cutie mark crusaders.”

“Ah, I never heard the acronym for that.”

“Well now you have.”

“Shut up, smart ass.”

“Fuck you too Ember.” Golden and me laugh at each other, and I can hear Aj chuckle behind us.

Author's Notes:

Didn't reach the 3000 word mark this time... I'm trying to keep it at that, I can't promise that the next chapter will be at 3000 words, but I'm trying my hardest to do so. And the chapter title was a little misleading wasn't it?

Chapter 20: Friendly Sparing

“So you apparently know what’s going to happen in the next few days, am I right?” I ask when we leave the orchard.

“Yeah.”

“And you want to see it happen first hand?”

“Yup.”

“Are you going to just watch, or fuck everything up?”

“Just watch, and what do you mean by that?”

“You know if you intervene it could have… undesired effects?”

“Oh, I’m perfectly aware of that.”

“Good.”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be greatest thing to change the future huh?”

“My thoughts exactly.” We’ve been walking through the town for a while, and we’re near the train station.

“Ey Ember!” I heard a familiar voice call out. I turn to where the voice came from.

“Hey Vinyl! What’s up?”

“Who’s that?” She points a hoof at Golden. I let him introduce himself.

“I’m Golden Streak, it nice to finally meet you, Vinyl.”

“Uh… how do you know me?”

“Ember’s told me about you and some of the ponies around here. You’re a Dj, right?” I roll my eyes and walk over to the station. I approach one of the windows and ring the little bell that sits on the table. A pony walks in front, who goes wide eyed at my presence.

“Good evening, can I have one ticket to Appleloosa please?”

“Uh... r-right away sir.” The stallion steps away from the window and comes back shortly with a golden-looking ticket in his magical grip. “Th-that will be four bits, please.” I snap my fingers and four bits bit appear in my hand. You think I carry around off my money? That’s a few tons of gold, not even I can carry that much weight. Anyway, once the bits collect in my hand I drop them onto the counter. And the ticket floats to me, I grab it and the stallion takes the bits.

“Thank you.” I offer a small smile. He smiles back, although a bit unsurely.

“Thank you sir, have a good evening.”

“You too… Gusty.” There was a little name tag on the shirt he was wearing. He full name being Gusty Cupcake. Kinda weird his last name is cupcake and he’s not a baker. Maybe he has two jobs? Eh…

“Thank you sir.” He returns the smile, with a notable confidence in his tone. I give him my signature wave, which is just me putting two fingers to my forehead and taking them off, almost like a salute, but casual.

“Hey Golden, got ya the ticket, here.” I hand him the ticket when I’m close enough.

“Thanks.” Him and Vinyl are still talking, something about EDM or some shit. I decided to head back home since I didn’t really have anything to do.

The walk home was pretty peaceful, though some of the ponies still ask me questions from time to time. But they’re more out of curiosity than fear. Definitely better than them staring at me in fear. Though, it was gun to mess with like that. The looks of pure fear and terror…

Anyway, I make it home and head to my room, but before I can even open the door to my room a knock comes from the front door. I sigh, walk over to the door, and open it.

It’s the same two fucking changelings from before, with two more behind them. I can tell because they look like someone kicked their ass.

“State your business here, or die.” I don’t take kindly to people who try and fuck with me. I form my warhammer and stand it next to me. “Now.” One of the changelings nudges the one to my left.

“Um… we, wanted to apologize, forearlier...”

“Earlier..?” I put a finger to my chin. “Oh yeah! The two fucks that decided to bust my door down and attack me!” I grin widely. “So that’s you came for? Just to apologize?” One of the two in the back step up.

“No, we also need to know of you have seen another changeling around here. Have you?”

“I honestly haven’t any other you guys around here besides you four.”

“Thank you. Also, have you notified any of the ponies around here?”

“No, why would I need to?”

“No reason, just asking, thank you for your time...”

“The names Ember.”

“Right thank you for your time Ember. Oh, and one more thing, the queen sent her apologies as well.” He reaches to some area at his side and pulls out some weird spikey statue, and hands it to me. “A gift.”

“For what?”

“For not killing these two, and for not telling the ponies of our presence.”

“No problem.” The changelings walk away and I go to my room. *Fuck I need a nap.* As soon as I enter my room I walk over and flop onto my bed, clocking out before my head meets the pillow.

We’ve been stuck in this god forsaken fax hole for god knows how long, the enemy will let the fuck up, I look around me, every living thing in the area is riddled with bullet holes. I wonder how the trees are still standing. The only thing you can hear is gunfire. Then a momentary ceasefire.

“Move move move!” One of my comrades shout before running out into the open.

“No you idiot!” The rest of us shout, but it was too late. They started firing again, and we all watch in horror as Rocky is gunned down, blood, mashed guts and bits of bone fly in numerous directions.

“Goddamnit! No one go out there! No matter what!”

“Yes sir.” A few of us nod. The few of us at either edge of the hole put our rifles out and shoot at them randomly. Screaming from the other side tells us we shot some of them. Then I run out of ammo.

“I need more ammo!” Danny tosses me a magazine. In one motion I replace the old one and continue to fire. But a bullet from completely shatters my right hand. “Gah!” I fall on my back, clutching my soon-to-be nub. “Fuck!” A few seconds go by and Robert comes into view with bandages in hand. Without anything being said I hold out my hand. Which is really a few fingers holding on by strings of skin and muscle.

“Fucking shit.” He says and he grabs a needle of morphine, I hate needles. “This’ll only hurt for a second.”

“You and I both know that’s bullshit.” I chuckle. “I wanted to be left-handed anyway.” Rob chuckles. I get up when he’s done covering my arm and grab my gun with my left.

“What do you think you're doing?”

“I said I always wanted to be left-handed.” I prop the gun up on a rock and aim it back at the enemy. “Might as well learn now-” A bullet hits me square in the chest. Time slows to a crawl. I look over to everyone else, they’re looking at me. *Gee, I wonder wonder why they are*

“That’s enough of that.” A new voice comes from nowhere. And the entire setting I’m in completely shatters like glass, but no sound is made. What’s left is me standing a black, endless void.

“Evening Ember.” I turn around and Luna is standing a few yards away.

“Evening Luna. You were napping too?”

“No, I usually sleep during the day. I am Princess of the Night. And as such I need to guard the night from evil beings.”

“I see. And since we’re in my dream.” I snap my fingers and the void is filled with stars and galaxies. I love outer space.

“You really like the stars don’t you?” Luna asks, a small smile on her face.

“I do, it’s beautiful to look at.”

“Indeed.” We stay in silence, and we stare at the masterpiece that is the cosmos. Eventually my mind wanders, without me realizing it, I think about home. Back on Earth.

“You want to go back home, don’t you?” Luna asks.

“God no. I just wonder if my own race has done to earth.” It’s a genuine thought I get sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if they destroyed the planet, or if another war has started, or even if they finally found peace amongst each other.

“Then why do your thought’s go to your home planet?”

“Sometimes I wonder what’s happened back home.”

“Why would you care? From what I’ve seen you like it here better than your homeworld.”

“Because I was born there. I may be on a world filled with sunshine and rainbows, but I still do care about Earth. I was born there, raised, there, made friends, lost friends. Things like that. I just wish I didn’t hate it so much.”

“Hate what exactly?”

“The evil and corruption. There are some kind hearted people, but I did get the luxury of meeting them, it’s always been me against everyone else.”

“You did say there were many of your kind, correct?”

“Yes.”

“How can such… corruption happen?”

“People who know how to manipulate the weak-minded. And money, lets not forget wealth.” I laugh. “And the worst kind of influence, power.” I grin widely. “The more power one person has, the more they’re mind warps. And very rarely there is someone who balances power and moral.”

“It’s a game of power versus moral isn’t it?”

“Couldn’t of said it better myself.”

“...”

“How can somepony, someone, grow in a world like that, and come to a new world… like you?” She asks.

“Eh I just happened to be born from parents that were just like me. They saw the same things I did, and did not want me like that.”

“Ah… I see.”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, you said ‘were’. Does that mean..?”

“Yeah, my mom passed because of natural causes. And my dad died from a brain tumor.”

“Oh...” She goes silent.

“Yeah, at least they got to live full lives.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes… You mind if I change the subject.”

“Please.”

“Alright. You saw my dream right?”

“Yes..?”

“You saw how I managed to keep at it even with my hand gone?” She nods. “How do ponies compare to humans? I’m talking about the ones in the guard.”

“You humans are certainly more resilient than the royal guard.”

“Really?”

“Yes, though, each set of armor the guards receive are enchanted so they heal from any injury in a few seconds. From what I see you humans don’t have that kind of magic.”

“Humans don’t have magic.” That statement made her eyes turn into dinner plates.

“T-tis a lie! Surely humans do use some sort of magic?”

“No, not really. We rely on technology. Like ponies rely on magic. Even before that time we had tech that would help us get back body parts, and heal from almost any injury.”

“... R-really?” I nod. “Dear maker...”

“What?”

“To think a being from a world full of that kind of technology, sent to a land where the latest technological advancement is artificial lighting.”

“That’s not entirely true, ponies do have… speakers, music players, heart monitors...” Yeah that didn’t help.

“That doesn’t help Ember.”

“I thought I would. Anyway, back to the guard, how do you think I would fare against a few of your guards?”

“Oh, if you had those weapons with you, they would blessed if they live.”

“I mean hand-to-hand combat.”

“Hand, to hand?”

“Fighting in an old-fashioned brawl.”

“Ah, I don’t know, the guards are trained by the very best combat specialists Equestria has. You would need to actually need to fight them to find out.” I smirk.

“Do you want to find out?” She smirks back at me.

“I would like to see that.”

“Shall we find out then?”

“I will send a private carriage for you tonight. My cannot cannot know of this, she would most likely punish both of us.”

“Why would she? All of this is in the pursuit of knowledge and entertainment.”

“I suppose, we should still keep this private, understood?” I nod.

“Crystal clear.”

“It set then, you will fight against the best of our guards tonight.”

“Looking forward to it.” We shake hoof to hand.

Fuck I can’t wait for tonight. It’s gonna be so much FUN. God I feel like a kid again. When I woke up I went back into town, just to walk around for a bit more. I saw Golden just before he went of to Appleloosa with Aj, Applebloom and her friends. Meaning he’ll gone for a couple days, I think. Which also means that my and Luna’s antics will not be seen by other people watching this show, I hope. Anyway, I spent the rest of the day walking around the town, i've even started offering to do little jobs here and there for some ponies. Gotta make money besides my monthly pension. I don’t want to become a lazy asshole.

Anyway, when it started to get late, I headed back home. And just before the carriage arrived too. The ponies, or thestrals as they like to call themselves. Pretty cool name for bat-ponies, arrived about a minute after I got home. A loud knock comes from my door. I walk over and open the door, and two of these thestrals are standing in front of me. And for a split second, both of their eyes widen and return to normal.

“Are you Ember the human?” One of them asks. It’s kinda funny how they look like twins, dark grey fur, deep, navy blue bat-like wings and tail. The helmet they wear conceals their mane. Speaking of garments, the armor they wear is badass. The helmet looks like it has a fin instead of the fur, and the chest plate has an eye on the center and flares at each side, and the part the rest on the back is a light, pale blue. And the eyes… they look fucking awesome with the slit for a pupil.

“Yes, I am. Are you the ponies that are supposed to take me to Canterlot Castle?” I ask sarcastically.

“Yes, we are. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Then follow us.” They turn around and fly.

*Those two don’t like sarcasm.* I think and take off with them.

“So, is there a specific word for your kind?” I ask.

“We call ourselves thestrals.”

“Ah, cool name. Better than… bat-ponies.”

“Agreed.”

“Also, anything else I should know that might make an ass if I didn’t know about?”

“We do not drink blood, we do not burn in sunlight, and we do not come from a race of blood suckers.”

“Good to know.”

“We are here.” We land at some part of the enormous castle, I assume it’s the barracks. As guards are walking around.

“Cool, night guards right?”

“You are correct.”

“You guys look much more... fierce than the day guard.”

“Ch’, thank you.” I didn’t know whether to take that is an insult, or an agreement. Or whatever else that may mean. The two night guards in front of me lead me into the massive building, which is separated from the castle for some reason. A couple of long hallways later I’m lead a highschool-sized stadium, with a basketball court-sized stage in the center, it’s almost like a boxing ring. And it’s filled with ponies, most of them thestrals, as ponies here and there are from the day guard. I guess word spreads quickly, I just hope Celestia didn’t hear about this, if Luna is right about fearing that happening. I see Luna standing a few yards away from the doors we just came in through.

“Ember you made it. Are you ready?” The two thestrals that lead me here go stand at each side of Luna.

“Depends on what your definition of ready is.” I smirk. She grins back.

“Are you ready to fight one of my most elite combat specialist the night guard has to offer.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. And just one?”

“What?”

“I kinda feel a little insulted Luna.” I say with a broad grin. “You know what I’m capable even without magic, at least put me up against four or five.” The two ponies standing by Luna stand shocked. Mouths agape and eyes wide.

“Fine. I’ll send three more.” She grins at me.

“That’s more like it. Thank you.”

“If that is all, then please step onto the stage.” With an excited smile, Luna waves a hoof to the stage, from what I see there’s already five thestrals standing at the opposite end. They haven’t even seen me yet.

*They’re gonna get one hell-of-a surprise.* I nod to Luna and begin to maintain a straight, blank face while I walk up to the elevated platform. I didn’t see any stairs, so I thought I’d make an entrance. The entire stadium grew silent as I got closer.

“Is that what they’re supposed to fight night?” I hear some ponies ask.

“It’s apparently a human, and he’s supposed to be really good at close combat.”

“He doesn’t look so strong to me.”

“Twenty bits says he’ll lose in ten seconds.”

“You’re on!” I;m really the underdog in this fight. Huh…

When I’m close enough to the ring I jump into the air with a single flap of my wings, and land with a loud boom, my wings close as I stand up. I stare at the pony across the platform, who looks to be a little surprised. Then Luna gently land at the center, followed by three thestrals, two of them unicorns, I don’t know how the fuck that’s a thing. The three new ponies join the one across from me.

*What?* I ask myself in confusion.

“The rules for this event are simple, if rendered unconscious or you ask for mercy, you are out for the rest of the match.And you are to not use lethal force. Last team standing is declared the victor. Any questions?”

“FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!” The crowd began to chat.

“Just one. Are we allowed to use magic?”

“Yes, but no stun or lethal spells. Is that all?” I nod. “BEGIN!” Luna exclaimed and she backed away. I remained still while the ponies across from me too defensive stances. They take the first move. They split to two teams of two and flank me from both sides. That’s when I move.

I dive over them and turn around, before they can react I grab two of them from the tail and throw them behind me. The two left turned around and tried to lunge at me. Before that can happen I grab one of them by the neck and slam his jaw onto my knee. I feel the bone cracking, with that one out I move to the next one. He looks at something behind me. I spin around on my heels only to be tackled by the two I threw. We roll around a bit, both of them landing solid blows across my body. When I started to feel bones crack I heave them off of me. But a hoof to my fore arm snapped it in half.

“GAH!” I stagger backwards and clutch my arm.

“We got ‘em!” One unicorn shouted. Fuck me I need to learn names… All four of them stand in front of me, smug looks on their faces.

“Not exactly...” I wheeze out. With shear will power I adjust my arm so it’s straight again. Cause an unimaginable amount of pain. But the pain soon subsides and the bones completely heal. *Oh that’s a relief.* I shake off the last needles of pain and look to the three ponies before me. With a mad grin I take advantage of their stunned stupor. I lurch forward and kick a the one on the far left right under the armor. Sending him sliding across the floor. I then grab the one in the middle by the throat with my left and throw a punch with my balled up fist. Feeling the ribs snap. I punch a few more times until a pony latched onto my back, and started attacking my wings.

“Fuck!” I try and grab the pony on me, but it manages to avoid my grip. Then I feel some bones on my wings snap. I let out an almost feral growl, I then jump and land on my back.

“Argh!” It screams, I immediately stand back up. The broken bones already healing and setting back in place. I turn around a look at the pony who attacking me from behind. And SHE was quickly recovering.

“You’ll pay!” I fucking kick the absolute fuck out of her. More bones break and I automatically go for the others. Landing hail makers and jabs all in rapid succession. I don’t know how many bones I’ve broken, but it’s enough to render them immobile in a small pile of flesh. The crowd cheers madly at my victory.

“Hoo fuck that was a good fight.” I look to the crowd. I proud smile plastered on my face. “Too bad it’s over so soon.”

“Who… said… it was… over?” A feminine voice heaves out. I turn back around, and the mangled bodies of the bat-ponies are reforming, their smashed in faces popping back into place, their broken legs fixing straight. In a matter of minutes they’re back to normal.

“Oh now it’s fair fight!” A clap. “Ready for an all-nighter?”

“Heh, you think you can last all night?” I chuckle and snap my fingers. And my eyes turn red.

“Sure," I say nonchalantly. "just don’t get me angry.”

Chapter 21: It's THAT Time of the Year

I open my eyes, and immediately they’re assaulted by bright light.

“Agh!” I bring my hands to my eyes. “That hurt...” My senses begin to return to me, I’m lying in a bed, a very comfy bed. And I’m not in an hospital like Ponyville Medical Center. I’m in a medical ward. If the many voices around me prove anything.

“Who was that?” With eyes slowly adjusting to the light I sit up on the bed I’m in and look around. The walls, minus the one behind me which is marble, are curtains, and the room is kinda small, for human standards anyways. I hear hooves on marble and a unicorn with a light brown coat, dark brown mane, blue eyes, wearing a lab coat and stethoscope, walks into the room. “Oh good, you’re awake. The Princess was starting to worry.” He grabs a clipboard that was hanging on the front of the bed I’m laying on. “I’m quite surprised you didn’t sustain any internal or long-term damage from your… event last night. It’s especially a miracle in your position.”

“Why?”

“There was no trace of any healing magic on you when we scanned your body. Yet it was able to heal at a faster rate than the guards you were fighting against. We assume that your species has such an accelerated natural healing ability.”

“Yeah, lets go with that.”

“But something tells me that’s not the case.”

“Why do you say that?”

“When we scanned you for any internal injuries, we noticed an unusually high amount of metal in your system. Even for an omnivore your size.” He remarks, not taking his eyes of the clipboard. “Care to explain?”

“Yeah, where I come from my kind have developed… advanced technology. Super advanced compared to you ponies.”

“What does that have to do with you having an unusual amount of metal in your blood?”

“I’m getting there, please let me finish.” He nods and I continue. “And with that technology, humans have developed these microscopic robots, you know what robots are right?”

“You mean some kind of machine?”

“Yes, except we developed a certain kind of machine that helps me heal much more effectively and it basically makes my entire body more efficient. It also makes me stronger, my mind can process things faster than the average human brain, and it increases my intellect.”

“... So what you’re telling me… is that these little machines… are making you… faster, smarter, and stronger? And these little machines help you heal as if it was a potent healing spell.”

“To put it simply, yes.”

“I see… Can you prove any of this to me?”

“Sure.” I snap my fingers and a microscope and needle appear on the nearest table in the room. Using my magic I bring the needle over to me. I grab it and insert it into my left arm, drawing some blood into the needle. I take it out and set it on my lap, my snap again and a little glass slide appears. I gently grasp it, stand from the bed, walk over to the microscope, and set the slide on the little platform. “Look into the eyepiece.” I point to the eyepiece and back away. The doctor, I assume, walks up to the microscope and looks into the eyepiece. With his back facing me I couldn’t tell what expression he had on. He then turns around after staring into the eyepiece, giving me a straight look.

“I will be taking this sample for study.” The slide levitates and the pny begins to walk out the room. I snap my fingers and the slide teleports to my hand.

“No, you will not.” I touch my finger to the my blood, and it sucks back into my body.

“Why not!?”

“It is of matters known between me and Princess Celestia and Luna.” Yes I was pulling lies from thin air.

“O-oh...”

“Sorry to be a little harsh, but I really can’t share things like this with ponies. Moving on though, can you call Princess Luna for me?”

“Yes, of course sir.”

“Please, call me Ember.” The doc nods and heads out the room.

~Did you really have to lie like that?~

*It was the best I could come up with were he wouldn’t ask question and I would have to make more lies. Plus it’s better than explaining human technology and potentially causing and era of indutrialization.*

~You do know that may not happen? Don’t you?~

*Better safe than sorry, plus I’m just being slightly paranoid.*

-Slightly?-

*Shut it.* Just then Luna walks into the room.

“Ember, I’m glad to see you better.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The doctor explained that you suffered a massive concussion. We were quite surprised that this was the only concerning injury you acquired.”

“Hmm… What were the less concerning injuries?” Luna put her hoof to her chin.

“Multiple lacerations across the abdomen, many, many fractures and broken bones, organ damage that lead to internal bleeding, and heart failure.”

“Oh wow, ok. That’s considered less considered?”

“The medical staff have spells that can easily heal these kinds of injuries.”

“Then why not a concussion?”

“Magic can only heal so much when it comes to the mind and brain. We can only hope the worst is memory loss.”

“And magic can’t heal any kind of brain damage?” She sadly shakes her head. “Ahh… good thing I can heal from that huh?”

“Yes. Are you sure you are ok?” I nod.

“I wouldn’t be walking around and talking if I wasn’t now wouldn’t I?” I smirk.

“I suppose.” She offer a smile.

“Yeah, moving onto a lighter subject, does Celestia know of what happened?”

“I can assure you that she has no clue of last night’s event.”

“Good, now what do you say we get out of here.”

“Let’s.” She agrees and we walk out the little room I was in.

“Oh, one more thing, can you take me to the ponies I spared with last night? I’d like to formally meet them.”

“Oh perfect! I was taking you to them anyway! Follow me please.” I do as she says and she takes me to a different part of the… infirmary I’m going to call it., which basically looks like an indoor medical camp, and replace the tents with curtained rooms. And it’s all looks like it was originally a hallway that was turned into a medical ward. Luna leads me a down the corridor to a more private-looking part this place. To one room that looks to be built like a separate part of the ward. Though no windows are present and the only door has a large red cross on it.

“What’s that?”

“Urgent care.”

“Ah, but shouldn’t whatever magic they were using heal them to perfect health?”

“You exhausted the magic used to enchant the armor that allows them to heal.”

“Oh… Will they be alright?”

“Yes, they will.” She opens the door with her magic and we both enter. And first thing I notice is that it’s a short hallway,with beds and curtains representing a room, which are bigger than the one I was in. Second thing thing I noticed is the there are four beds in one combined curtain to make a one big room. And laying on those four beds are the ponies I fought last night. All covered in casts, splints and bandages, makes ‘em look like mummies. They look us, more specifically Luna, and they do their best to sit up, but only one stallion and a the one mare manage to sit up and salute. “At ease.” Luna waves a hoof and the two lay back down. “No need to for formality, my little ponies, I would like to introduce the combatant from last night.” She motions towards me with a foreleg. When the four look to me I straighten out and salute to them.

“An honor to meet you all.” I put my hand down. “My name’s Ember.” This time they manage to salute back.

“Night Skies.”

“Dusk.”

“Lunar Star.”

“Moonlight.” They name themselves off from left to right.

“To think we underestimated you. You’re one heck of a fighter.” Lunar comments.

“Thanks, I can say the same about you guys from what I heard the guard is really… flawed.” Luna cut in before the others could answer.

“This is because my guards are trained by the best warrior's around! We have had the most respected and feared warriors come from all walks of life and they have taught my ponies well.”

“I know, I’ve never had to fight like I did in years.”

“What happened last time? If you don’t mind me asking?” Dusk asked.

“I sent him to the hospital, much like you four, accept I ended up paralyzing him from the neck down.” They all go wide eyed and their ears fold back. “Yeah, not a pretty sight. Fucker deserved it though.”

“What would warrant such brutality?”

“He made fun of my mother. No one makes fun of my mother. Nobody.”

“Oh...”

“Yeah, anyway. It was nice meeting you guys. I kinda need to go.”

“Anytime.” All four say in unison. I wave to them before I teleport back to my house.Once there I leave my room and see that the girls, minus Applejack for obvious reasons, looking around my house for something.

“What are you all doing here?”

“EEP!” Fluttershy shrieks. “Oh, it’s you. Hello Ember.” She says when she turns around. Subconsciously I stare into her rear. Nothing needs to be said as all will be explained.

“Hey Fluttersh-”

“Ember!” Twi exclaims. “We were looking for you!” Hey eye twitched noticeably.

“For what?”

“Fer somethin’ that involves testin’ yer abilities.” Aj answers with weird look in her eye.

“Can you tell what we’re gonna do exactly?”

“Oh buck it!” Rainbow shouted. “We’re in season and we need a stallion, now.” All five of them blush.

*In season..?* I think for a second.

-If she means what we think she means… Run-

*Right ahead of ya.* I bolt to the back door.

“Hey! Get back here!” I heared Rainbow shout. As soon as I’m outside I take off of and head to the Everfree.

“Buck! Go get ’em RD!”

*Fuck me...* “Fuck off!”

“Not without you monkey boy!” She reaches me and crashes into in a second, a true testament to her speed. When she crashed into me she broke my arm of my right wing. Now, this wouldn’t have been a big deal, if I wasn’t already fifty feet in the air, over a forest. I may be exaggerating about the height though.

“Fuck!” My wings go limp and plummet out of the sky.

“Oh, my bad...” I collide with the canopy and fall through leaves, branches and god knows what. It felt like an eternity, and I was really starting to hurt all over. There wasn’t a part of me that didn’t hurt. I think my wings broke even more. Twigs snapping and leaves rustling is all I hear.

I finally hit the ground, with a notable amount of pain in my chest.

“Fuck...” My breathing was ragged and short. “The fuck… happened?” I look down, only to be mortified at what I see. Besides all the cuts and gashes I got from falling, which are already starting to heal, there is a big, broken branch sticking out of my lower chest cavity, I think right above my stomach. Little spots of blood dot the wooden object. And from what I see in the slightly dim lighting bits of flesh hang off the tip of the branch. Probably bits of stomach and liver.

“Ember! Where are ya!?” Rainbow flies in from the hole I made in the trees. “There you are!” She hovers to the ground a few feet away from me. “Hey, what-” She freezes when she sees the branch sticking out from my chest. And stays frozen in place.

“Rainbow!? Ember!? Ya around here!” That snapped her out of stunned stupor.

“Uh… Yeah! Over here!”

*No dammit! I gotta get up and get the fuck away!* With all the strength I could muster, I heave myself up, using the tree behind me for leverage.

“What are you doing!?”

“Trying to get... away from you... what else?” *Fuck it’s hard to breath* Rainbow walks closer to me.

“Don’t.” Is all I could say. “Don’t you fucking, dare.” Just then the other girls burst in from the foliage, manic looks on all their faces. Which drop to looks of horror when they see me.

“Oh no! Ember! Are you ok?” Fluttershy quietly shouts. I didn’t answer her, all I did was start to walk, well, more like stumble away, deeper into the forest.

“Ember?” Pinkie called. I turned my head to look at her. And I give her the most pissed off look I can create, getting my point clearly across of ‘stay the fuck away from me’, and her face fell. Even her hair turned straight. I kinda felt bad for making her sad like that, but the little pity I had was incinerated in the inferno that was building inside. I turn back around and keep walking into the forest. Leaving the girls to their own devices.

~Are you going to remove that log in your chest? It is tasking to keep you alive.~

*You know the nanobots are already taking care of that right?*

~Are you sure?~

*... Keep at, only for a few more seconds. The pains getting to be unbearable anyway.* I kneel down to a sitting position. Albeit a bit hunched for obvious reasons. I couldn’t pull it out by normal means, so I use my magic to grab the end of the branch. “Ok, three… two… one. *shlorp!* Fucking god dammit!!” I yanked the thing out in one pull. Cause much more pain to flare up in my chest, I fall on my side, my breathing ragged again. Luckily the pain subsided as the hole in my chest began to close. Though the healing felt like it lasted an hour. I’m not the fucking Wolverine! So don’t expect any superfast healing like that.

Finally after four minutes of agonizing pain, it soon subsided. Allowing me to stand and keep walking.

-You know, that really fuckng hurt.-

=Thank Mrs. Obvious=

-I know! I just thought we wouldn’t feel that.- My mind froze, but my legs stwitched to autopilot.

*...What the fuck do you mean by that?*

-Oh fuck, umm…. Me and Emby--

=We can’t feel as much pain as you do.=

*Really? Are you fucking kidding me?*

-No..?-

*Ch, whatever. At last I have the privilege of not listening to your bitchy complaints.*

-Fuck you.-

*I wish. Fuck I need a good fuck.*

=I know. I feel it too.=

-Eh…-

*Should’ve figured.*

-I’m a woman, what did you expect?-

*You damn well know what I expected.*

-Wh--

~This is entertaining and all, but I think you should pay attention to what is ahead of you.~ I stop walking and do just that, I’ve been apparently walking down a path the lead to to a small hut that was built into a large tree. Kinda like Twi’s house before it got destroyed. Except this place looked a little foreboding. Even though this place is familiar looking. So, being the curious son-of-a-bitch I am, I walk up to what looks to be the front door and knock. Some wooden sounding clashes come from inside and the small door opens.

“Good eve-” The zebra-looking pony freezes when she sees me. I think it’s a female, she has eyelashes, and good god does she look like a zebra, grey fur with darker grey stripes. And a mohawk that doesn’t look out of place for what looks like a zebra. The weird thing is all the rings she has on her neck, ears and legs. And then her eyes are stark contrast with their bright blue color, it’s actually kinda cute, and you know what kind of cute I mean.

“Wie is jy en wat is jy!? (Who and what are you!?)” She backs away a little.

*Woah ok. She speaks Afrikaans?* “Ek bedoel geen kwaad, ek was net rond te loop en ek het gestruikel oor hierdie plek.. (I mean no harm, I was just walking around and I stumbled upon this place.)”

“Wag, hoe het jy my moedertaal tong ken? (Wait, how do you know my native tongue?)”

“~I speak many languages. Though, I’m quite surprised this language is spoken here.~”

“~Why do you say so?~”

“~Well, you see, I came here from a portal from another world. My name is Ember by the way.~”

“~Ember?~ *gasp* ~Are you not the ‘huyman’ the Ponies of Ponyville have been talking about?~” I nod. “~Ah! Fantastic! I have been meaning to go into town to see you with my own eyes. And my name is Zecora.~”

“~Heh. How have you heard of me?~”

“~Sometimes one of my friends Fluttershy or Twilight Sparkle come to pick up some of my special brews.~”

“~You make brews? Like, potions? Oh! Now I remember! The girls would talk about you sometimes. A pleasure to finally meet you Zecora.~” I crouch down and shake hand to hoof with the zebra. “~So, you really are a zebra?~”

“~This is true.~”

“~Ok. Just being curious.~”

“~It is ok, Ember. I am very curious about you myself.~”

“~Well since I don’t have anywhere else to be, I’d be happy to answer questions if you want.~”

“~That would be nice of you. Please, come in.~” SHe steps back from the door and I kinda crawl in. Once inside I manage to stand up to full height, something I’m very appreciative of. And the inside looks like a shaman’s hut. Masks and shelves full of bottles and containers line the walls. And off to my left sits a cauldron atop an open flame. A bubbling dark green fluid fuming away in the large pot. Across the room is a counter lined with almost empty bottles, bowls filled with some herbs, and who else knows what. Towards the back was a living room-looking area, a couple coaches are up against the back and and one lone sofa sits in front of the others. “~Please, take a seat in my living quarters while I make some tea.~” I nod and sits down on the comfiest looking sofa. Pretty nice.

“~Hey, I just noticed, you don’t speak in rhymes in your language. Why is that?~”

“~That is of a matter I would not like to speak of.~”

“~Alright. Sorry for asking.~”

“~No need to apologize.~” She finished whatever she’s doing and walks over to where I’m sitting. Taking the couch across from me. “~Now, where shall we start?~”

“~How about you ask all the questions first? Then I go after that.~”

“~Splendid!~” She smiles, I smile back.

“It was nice talking. I’ll be sure to come visit.”

“~That would be wonderful. Until next time we meet, Ember.~” We wave to each other and she closes the door. I turn around and make my way back home. But once I’m at the edge of the forest that leads directly into the town I teleport to my house. I make a quick search of my home and retreat to my room when no one is around. And since I had nothing to do I gave myself something to; creating a robot with an artificial brain.

So, as it seems this… Estrous cycle they call it, lasts two and a half weeks. Which is how long I had to avoid all of the mares wherever I go. Which is pretty difficult to do, with most of the population being female. They can apparently smell any male a fucking mile away. A lot of running, flying, and teleporting around happen those weeks. And I decided to stay inside until it passed. Ruby was generous enough to give me food from wherever the fuck he gets it from. And it was smooth sailing from there, I kept myself entertained by working on my new project. Which I decided to start with the artificial brain. You know, it’s really difficult to do with the computer I’m stuck with, maybe I should-

*Knock knock knock* That was the front door.

“Who the fuck?” I quickly and quietly make my upstairs and peer through the peephole in the door. It’s Twilight. *Why the absolute fuck is she here!?* I shrug it off and walk back to my room.

“Ember!? Are you in there!? Rainbow said she saw you here earlier!”

“Go the fuck awaaaay!” I shout a little too cheerily.

“Ember? We need to talk.”

“How about you go away before I make you go away?”

Chapter 22: Possible Reconcile?

“Um... What?” I slowly let the door open.

“How about,” I take a step closer. “you get the fuck out of here,” Another step. “before I make you?” I take another step closer, and Twilight takes a step back. “The last thing I want to do right now as talk to any of you.” That left Twilight a little scared and dumbfounded.

“I… uh… heh...” I snort, turn around, and walk back inside.

“Uh… W-wait!” I freeze and turn my head around very slowly.

“What?”

“W-we just… We just wanted to say.. we’re sorry.” I huff in response, turning my head back around and storm back inside, slamming the door behind me.

*Fucking sorry my ass.* I think, at this point one would think that I need to calm down. And what I have to say to that is: Try running away from those horny cunts and then get impaled onto a fucking branch right bellow your ribcage, get back to me when that happens. *I need a fucking nap.*

~Again? I’m sorry but that seems a little odd to me~

*Well you’re not human, you’re a fucking rock, of course you would think that.*I get no response.

-Don’t mind him Ruby, he’s just really pissed at the moment,-

*No shit peabrain.*

-He just needs to calm down a little. Just don’t talk to him and you’ll be fine-

~I see…~ I make it into my room and flop onto my bed. Closing my eyes and soon fall asleep…

“Ember! Come back!” I hear the girls yell. I ignore them and walk deeper into the forest.

*Those ponies can go fuck themselves, causing me all this pain for nothing, first the yelling, then all the fighting, then losing my fucking wings!* I slam my fist into a tree, promptly shattering it’s midsection into hundreds of splinters and pieces of bark. “And now this bullshit.” I look the log sticking out of my chest. I pull it out with my magic, not even flinching. “Ugh I wonder how I’ve be able to put up with shit as long as I did. Makes me think why Golden loves being here. Maybe he doesn’t truly realise what’s happened to me here. And to think I haven’t even thought about going back home yet. Nagh, that’d be another set of problems to deal with.” By now the forest has disappeared and nothing is left of it, save for the dirt path I’m walking. I was too enveloped within my own thoughts to notice.

*I don’t know what to do. It’s either stay here and endure god knows what else is going to happen and probably die, or go back home and become a media sensation. I don’t want to do anything else that will fuck things up even more. Fuck...*

-Ok, you really need to calm down now.-

“How can I!? I don’t know what the fuck to do! I’m totally lost and anything I do will just fuck things up even more! Urgh!” I made a move to punch another tree, but instead of wood my balled fist meet air, making me stumble a bit. “What..?” I look around. “Oh yeah, that’s right, napping. Maybe I can..?” I snap my fingers and the void is replaced with a beautiful forest, neatly light by the white sun and a smooth shallow river splashing nearby. A slight breeze was passing by, making the leaves of the trees rustle in the background. I sit down, crossing my legs. I close my eyes and begin to breath at a slowed pace.

“Is this what you do to calm yourself?” A feminine voice says.

“Yes, Luna. And it’d be nice if you would stop sneaking up on me like that. Last thing I need is more stress.”

“I know, I saw your dream.” She walks closer to me and sits on the patch of grass next to me. I scoot away a bit. “What?”

“Forgive me for acting like that, but with what has happened earlier, I’m not too keen on being close to ponies at the moment.”

“I understand.” She says plainly.

“I’m sorry Luna. Ok?” I says with a strained voice. “Ever since I got here it’s mostly been nothing but pain and suffering.” I start to pace. “First the high-pitched yelling, then fighting. God fucking lord all the fighting. And then getting my fucking wings torn off, after that being turned into a slime creature. And now this bullshit! The apparent ‘heat’ made it worst for me.” I huff out a few breaths. I then look to Luna, who’s eyes were a little wide and looking at me.

“What?”

“No pony has ever talked to me like that.”

“Oh, and now you hate me for it right?” She quickly shakes her head.

“No, it’s quite refreshing. Not being referred as ‘princess’.”

“Well good for you, if you don’t mind I’m just going to walk away now.” I turn away from her and walk deeper into the forest.

“I see that you are a little irritated right now.”

“No really? I didn't think you would catch on.” I say with heavy sarcasm. “Im in my own dream, trying to calm down after dealing with being impaled onto a log in a failed attempt to get away from six fuck-hungry ponies that would do god knows WHAT to me!” I got close to her face as I ranted. Finishing a few inches away from her muzzle, I huff and back away. “Of course I’m a little irritated right now. Because of all this bullshit I’m left with nothing to do but stay trapped in my own home because I don’t know how to handle this! Hoohoo of course I’d be mad, maybe even downright pissed to an unholy extent! Who the fuck knows what’s going to happen at this point. The worst I could hope for is me resenting you ponies and tacking a first-class ticket out of here. But there’s the ultimatum; go back to my home world and become the biggest media sensation next to furries and be tested on again after the fucking crazy-as-fuck nut jobs find me again. Or stay here and-”

“Ember!”

“WHAT!?”

“Calm down! This is not like you at all!” I pause and sigh.

“Fuck… I do really need to calm. I was having a breakdown wasn’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say that, it was more like… You decided to go into a ranting session.”

“Yeah, ok… I do feel a little better now.”

“Wait, that actually did good for you?”

“Yeah. I feel a little calm now. I guess I just needed someone, uh, pony, to rant to.”

“So it seems.”

“I just… Do you what to do at this point?” Luna looks to the ground, a hoof scratching under her chin.

“Well, to begin with. You need to speak with Twilight and her friends, and hear their side of the story.”

“Something I’m mostly willing to do now.”

“Good.”

“Is that all you think I need to do?” She shakes her head.

“The last thing you need to do; Is forgive them.”

“Something I’m finding harder to do as more time passes.”

“Trust me Ember. Everything will be ok.”

“That didn’t sound creepy at all.”

“You do know what I mean. Don’t you?” I nod.

“Yes, I do. It’s just this is gonna be a little difficult for me.”

“I know, but as your friend, you need to do if you ever want to move on.”

“I know. Thanks.” I grab Luna and hug her, I needed a hug too. Luna just stays there, limp in my grasp. Eventually she hugs back. We stay like that for a few minutes and step back. “Wow, I feel a whole lot better now.” Luna just giggles. “What?”

“You humans are interesting creatures.” She smiles.

“Heh.” That was a little unexpected of her, kinda left me flabbergasted. “So are you ponies. Though, they’re more of an annoyance at this point. You know I had to run and teleport around this place just to get away from the others?” Luna honds in the affirmative. Then lets out a little giggle. “Whatever. Anyway, what do we do now?”

“Now, you have to go talk to Twilight and her friends.” Everything starts to fade. Just like time we talked. “Bye Ember.”

“Later Luna.” My vision goes black…

I open my eyes and get up from bed, feeling refreshed and relaxed. And good god I feel better, my stomach isn’t churning and my eyes don’t hurt anymore. What? My eyes hurt whenever I get really mad. Yeah, anger fucks up your body. You didn’t know that? Wow, you’re either the happiest person alive

*Ok, ok. Just stay calm and everything should be fine. Everything should be fine.* I calmly get up from my bed walk upstairs and head outside. Not being one to waste time I take off. A few parchments and paper in my hand.

Just stay calm, just stay calm, just stay calm and everything will fly by. I’ve been repeating this mantra in my head for the last half-hour. I’ve already left all the notes telling the girls to come meet here, hopefully they all got to read them.

*Knock knock knock*

*Must be them, hopefully.* I use my magic to open the front door. “Come in.” I say just loud enough for them to hear. I hear hooves against wood flooring and the girls walk in slowly, Twilight is the first to notice me. She looks to the rest, motions them to follow her, and walks into the living room, followed by the girls. They all take the sofa across the room from me. Rainbow and Applejack sit on the floor beside the sofa as Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy fill the thing. And then we just sit there, absolutely nothing being said. We stay like this for hours as it felt like at the time.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” I started with Rainbow Dash. She was who I was mostly angry at. She perked up when I spoke, but her ears folded and she looked down, clearly unsure of what to do or say.

“Uh…”

“Right, Twilight?” I look to said purple alicorn. She perks up, only her ears standing up. But they quickly fold back down, and a sorrowful look takes her face.

“I’m sorry, we were all not thinking clearly, while we were in heat. I’m sorry.” Anyone can tell she felt awful for what happened. And that was enough for me surprisingly, I think I’m more pissed at rainbow than anything.

“Good, I accept your apology.” That made Twilight perk up, and a small smile curved her lips. “Applejack?” I turn to her. She looked up, a determined look on her features.

“Ah’m sorry for what I’ve done, I was not thinkn’ so clearly like Twi said. And Ah’m sorry fer chasn’ ya out ya own home and tellin’ Rainbow to go after ya, causin’ all that mess.” Her voice wavered at the end. Almost as if she didn’t want to remember that space in time. Heh. Funny. You always expect the hard-headed to be confident is these types of situations.

“Good, I accept your apology. Pinkie.” She flinches when I say her name. “I’m sorry.”

“... What?”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have looked at you like I did. Sorry Pinkie.” It only took her zero point three seconds for her mind to process that and lunge to hug me. Knocking the chair I’m sitting on backwards. Her forelegs lock around my neck and her hind legs lock around the area just above my waist.

“I forgive you Emby! I could never be mad at you!” She nuzzles into the crook of my neck, her hair covering my face. It was then that I got a warm, fuzzy feeling. Something I’ve felt one other time on this planet. I couldn’t help but smile and hug back.

“Thanks Pinkie. But… can you get off me? You kinda have me pinned here.” The pink pony lets out a combination of a giggle and a snort and literally jumps off. I get up by teleportation and stand the chair up, and sit back down. A notable smile on my face.

“Uh, Ember, what are ya smiln’ about?”

“Nothing in particular, I’m just happy we were able to get this over with. Without any complications.”

“Does that mean you forgive us darling?”

“For the most part, yes.”

“Then what’s the other part? If, you don’t mind me asking..?”

“I don’t. I’ve just yet to hear from a certain cyan pegasus.” The girls and me look to Rainbow, she just has this dumb look on her face.

“Why are you all looking at me?”

“Maybe because you have cyan fur? I don’t know, it could be someone else.” The other giggle at my sarcasm. “If you haven’t guessed by now you’re the one I’m talking about.”

“Oh, um.” She pauses. “I’m sorry for hitting you into a tree...”

“What?”

“I’m sorry for hitting you into a tree.” This time we were able to hear her.

“And?” I add.

“And for fighting you that one time.”

“And?”

“And I’m sorry that I wanted to kill you when we first met.”

“And?”

“And what!? There’s like, nothing left for me to apologize for!”

“I was waiting for the one for being stupid. But I’ll let it slide this time.”

“Oh… Hey!” Me and the girls laugh at Rainbow’s expense. Ending this day on a definite good note.

“So the only reason you all managed to not jump me the other day was a spell?”

“Yes. I forgot I knew that spell.” Twi blushes. “It would’ve been easier for all of us if I remember that spell.”

“Yes it would’ve. Yes, it, would have.”

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“What?”

“It’s how I say, ‘go ahead’.”

“Oh, ok. I just, was it really that easy to forgive us?”

“Not exactly, When I left you guys in the forest I met up with Zecora. We talked for a bit and I left after a while. As soon as I got home I decided to take a nap, still pissed at what happened that day. Luna joined me in my dreamscape and we talked for a bit. And from there she helped me calm down.”

“Oh, huh...”

“I know, it’s pretty coincidental. Isn’t it? You ponies drive me to near insanity, and then Luna comes in to save me from insanity.”

“Wait, insanity? Why do you say that?”

“I was worrying too much about the whole thing I was beginning to think of the worst possible outcomes. And with knowing nothing of what ill or might happen, it didn’t help but make things worse.”

“Oh.” She mulls that over for a minute. “Are you humans always like this?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Sorry, it’s just… I’m really curious as to how humans behave.”

“Oh. Oh! Speaking Of behaviors, how is that Aj got back so quickly?”

“Oh, Applejack knew she was going to go into heat so she decided to only go to Appelosa for a short time and come back.”

“But… Then what about Golden? I haven’t seen him for about two weeks now.”

“Oh yeah! He wanted Applejack to tell me to tell you that he went back to his homeworld to see his family again.”

“Oh, cool. Did Aj go back to Appleloosa?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Ah ok. When will she be back then?”

“She should be back by tomorrow. She left right after you called us to check up on Applebloom and her friends.”

“Alright.” A pony walked up to the table we were sitting at, a large platter in his left hoof holding two plates. One plate carries a simple salad, the other displays a small pile of hay, few flower petals and other things I can’t identify.

“The food you order, sir.” He hoofs me the salad.

“Thank you.”

“And the Haybale Special for you, ma’am.” The waiter hoofed Twi the other plate.

“Thank you.” The waiter bowed and walked off to serve some other ponies. We then dig into our food. You know, they make wonderful salads here. I just wish there was some meat around here.

“Hey Twi.”

“Mm?”

“You know where I can get some meat?” She gasps, but chokes of the hay she was eating.

“W-what!?” All the ponies around us look at us while Twi takes deep breaths.

“You remember me saying humans are omnivorous right?” Twi wheezes a bit more.

“*cough* Right.”

“So where can I can my hands on some meat?”

“Not around here, but I can ask the Princess to deliver some… meat to your house.”

“If it’s not much of a bother.” I say.

“Oh it won’t be.” With a pop a scroll and quill appear in front of Twi in her magic. THe feather dances on the scroll and the parchment rolls up. A purple laces ties around the center and the thing poofs away. I assume she sent it to Celestia.

“No matter how many times I see that I’m always gonna be amazed.”

“Hm. It’s quite understandable considering humans don’t have magic. Although, it’s interesting you’ve learned how to use most of your magic in ways it would take years for any scholar to master.”

“I think that has to do with the possible fact that I’m making my own rules for magic here.”

“What?”

“I’m basically saying I think I’m make up my own ways and rules of using magic. You’ve seen that I just snap my fingers and the spell I want just casts itself. Right?” She nods.

“Yes, I have. I wonder if that means humans do have their own variant of magic. Maybe there are some books in the Canterlot Library about this.”

“Oh.” A certain memory rockets to the front of mind. “Wait, Chrysi said there were humans on this planet at one point.”

“Who?”

“The changeling who lives with me?”

“Oh, right. Wait, she said humans did exist here?” I nod.

“Yeah, her mother would tell her stories about us in ancient times. From she’s told me we were here at some point before the greeks.”

“The what?”

“It’s an ancient time-period thousands of years old back on Earth.”

“Oh. But still how could she and her mother know about this and not us?”

“I don’t know, I’m finding it hard to believe too. But I can’t help but think that this all makes sense in a way.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Archeologists, you what those are right? Ok, anyway, them and some other scientists have been looking for evidence of the origin of the human race. And nothing has come up, even after hundreds of years of research. Which lead a lot of theorists to think that we didn’t originate on the planet we live on.”

“So they think your kind was brought to the planet you lived on by some higher being?”

“Pretty much. It makes a sick sort of sense when you think about it.”

“I know, but why ‘sick’?”

“Because, if all of that is true. Then how and why were we sent to the world I was born on?”

“Hmm… Maybe I can ask Princess Celestia about this.”

“I already have. She says she doesn’t know anything about us in this world.”

“Really?” I nod. “Oh… Hmm… Then how would changelings know about humans?”

“I don’t know, the only theory I got is that they’ve been around longer than before Celestia’s rule.”

“That could be it.”

“You think you can find out?”

“I can always ask.”

“Could you please?” I ask.

“Of course!” Another paper and quill appear in front of Twi.