Funny... how I used to think that I won't ever encounter ordinary Mortal problems. That I won't have to bother myself for anything else, aside from looking back to my actions. If they were Balanced or not. If they passed through The Balance's morals, which you could call the third-aspect.

My most mused topic was about reducing the number of souls in the world. If I will have to take away more than one soul the next day, or if that soul will be mine. How many innocent soul are in the world and how many of them will turn guilty and join to Dark side of the A'nforian population.

Questions, all about whens and wheres. Where will I have to travel next, to prevent a disaster? Where will I commit the same sin like the previous day? Where will be the end of this insanity? And if it ends, could that be the end of me as well? When will my soul run dry from all of this? Will it ever happen? When will be that moment, when I can say that I am done?

The sempiternal list of questions, further increasing its length and the majority of them will forever remain unanswered...

None of these questions had anything to do with relationships. Simple as that, it didn't come to topic and I never questioned the process of making such connections. It wasn't part of my life and in order to not bring emotional troubles on my way, I denied every thought from myself, in connection with this subject. I had my loved ones and I was perfectly fine with them and them alone.

Yet... there I was, having a problem, which I always found downright ridiculous and never understood, what was all of this big fuss over a break up or getting into an argument with a friend...

Exactly what I told myself years ago and what haven't been such a bothersome topic for me to pounder about. I felt incredibly narrow-minded for that. Descending down to lower mentality like that? It was unlikely from my part and I honestly believed that no soul would ever see me in a state like that. Pathetic, that is what I was...

Thankfully, some peace, a few more cigarettes and receiving reminders from Dhuradhan and recalling Thelestial's wisdom, I recycled the given informations and took the young past into count, to form up a proper solution and not one, that caused only one side to overpower the other. Balance... strict, second-nature, out of pure instincts Balance... Simple. As. That...

''I'm willing to act friendly, though I won't make any move towards the friendship level, until THEY make a move towards it. I'm already dealing with this low importance and to think that I agreed upon doing unnecessary and absolutely useless activity? I will see where it takes me with Celestia, but not with these equines. If they want friendship, then I can only fake the feeling and not mean it. Celestia and I have a long ago made connection and I prefer talking to her... and not to strangers...''

''This is understandable in my opinion. I do not care if they like or not, I won't change my mind. And this is the final declare, no more pondering about the subject!''

That was it for me and I immediately moved on to the next thing on the agenda, getting seriously tired of denying my own words...

Later I found out, that the ponies were not like those equines back on Earth. The A'nforian equines weren't THAT sentient or should I say improving? Before my spectacular arrival in Equestria, I had been amongst sentient equines... yet, these Equestrian ponies were different.

A'nforian equines were still animals and not because of their look. But because of their wild lifestyle in the nature. Now THOSE creatures were the equines, that were not on my bed list. And the reasons for that were because they acted like equines... wild equines, to be precise. They did not build houses, created society or even THOUGHT about making those. They traveled from field to field, eating grass and just being animals. They weren't that sentient in my eyes, to look at them in any attractive way...

Yet, I adored them. They were not hostile and even if they defended themselves with fair amount of fighting knowledge, they were peaceful and wise. They had the ability to talk, think, dream and create families... but they simply didn't find the need of a house or such comforts. Hell, I even found out, that many of these equines were among Mortals, acting the mindless animal! Imagine placing your child onto a talking horse, yet you know nothing about how intelligent that horse is.

And how did I find out? My own cat at home told me... picture my train of thoughts, after talking to my own cat for an hour...

And for your information, the only equine type I was with in bed was Griffon. Not all of them are like the horses and the fact that they were able to walk on two legs made them acceptable... though I needed a few drinks before the ravaging...

The other equines remained animals in my eyes, no matter how wise they were. They had no dignity and only those equines, who were in the team of a Spirit, were more appealing to be attractive in some souls' eyes... I wasn't one of them and never will. I may find fur exotic, but I would like my partner to be more intelligent than an animal and have dignity... and by dignity, I mean they hide their private areas and not let the world to see it, when walking through a tavern in the woods...

Now, the ponies in Equestria - as you could tell - were much more than that. I would describe them as Humanoids, just with different skeletal structure. And me analyzing their daily life on that balcony of mine, it confirmed my statements. They - somehow - were able to hold objects in their hooves. Their limbs were unbelievingly flexible, yet they had the limits of the bones and joints. Humanoid like gestures were coming from second-nature and their faces clearly showed their emotions.

I started to think that these ponies were once Humanoids, given how they acted in the everyday life...

Furthermore, proving that the Equestrians were more than the A'nforian equines, they were advanced in magic; had a working economy; friendly society; were able to offer proper and well paying jobs; had daily routines; built houses with families; HAD DIGNITY; wore clothes occasionally and they were just overall, more appealing to be with.

It didn't change my previous solution, not in any possible way, but brought to me a nice feature, that I will take advantage of sometime... it just went through my head and left me genuinely relived, to know that being amongst these superb equines comfortable, should be no problem. And the time I spent of my balcony, it gave me enough proof to believe, that they were slowly getting used to me by now, just like I got used to them. To tell the truth, when I thought about the future, when I will be standing really close to these inhabitants, I won't be feeling unease because of what they are and instead, feel perfectly comfortable next to a mare... more than comfortable for a certain reason...

Actually, Dhanthas helped me and on himself, by bringing up this subject...

''Which one will be the fucking-partner?''

Yes, you guessed it right. It was THAT subject...

You see, after what I had seen from this town, I started to play with the idea. They were clean, due to their Humanoid-like needs. They were exotic, interesting to talk with - as long as they don't freak out from my presence - and most importantly... not too wise, like those A'nforian equines. Those talking horses were just impossible... too impossible to even TALK about them!

So, you need to understand, that I thought about leaving Ponyville one day, searching up a tavern and sweet talk myself onto a willing female pony... mare, to be accurate...

Like I did it on Earth with Elf girls, with certain types of the Anthropomorphics and with other powerful beings. It was always a surprise actually, now that I think back. It was always the same... stopped by to drink or eat something, an Anthropomorphic walked up to me, we talked some - not much, given how passively I treated all of those females - and after plainly asking her if she wanted to or not... she excitedly dragged me into one of the tavern's bedrooms. And this went for a year, discovering which specie I liked the most... the Elves won in my opinion... those Abilities to control vines... no wonder why I chose them over Anthropomorphics...

Anyways, Dhanthas asked me a question, which didn't just cause me to let my mind to wander away to dirty corners in my head, but resulted in forgiving Dhanthas and sparing him from my undeniable wrath...

''I rather search for such fun somewhere else. The only thing I need is living in the same town like the female I slept with. She would just think I wanted something more, you know how they are...''

''So that Celestia was out of the question... ehhehheehee...''

Change of plans... Dhanthas will be in need of a punishment...

By the way, plans... I ran into a certain problem, regarding my life. It would seem as a tiny difficulty for a Mortal, but not for me and I felt rather foolish for not being able to find a solution to THIS, while I was able to get myself out from a possible wrong approach in connection with friendship...

And let me tell you, friendship was foreign subject for me... yet I found a solution to THAT and not for this peculiar problem of mine...

''Dhuradhan, I need your help... and I'm feeling incredibly ashamed of myself for asking this...''

''I am listening.''

''... How should I start my life in Ponyville? I know what to buy, what I need and what will I do aside from eating and sleeping... however, for some reason, I cannot seem to find a good start in my mind...''

When I was thirteen and hadn't jumped down from that cliff at Mernye, sealing my destiny, I lived my life emptily. I awoke in the morning, at a fair time before breakfast, like a normal person. My family called me down, I slowly picked myself together and went to the bathroom. In the mirror, I could not see myself, yet a grey picture greeted me. Every morning, the same. Tired, ran-out and just... all grey. While hardly forcing down food on my throat, I listened to my parents, arguing. I silently waited for them to stop, not being able to find the bravery to speak up, nor the strength to do so. Always the same... money problems and tension because of that... and while the shouting wasn't targeted at me, I felt like I was an influence as well...

I did what they needed me to do and I never talked back. They asked me, I answered, with the best of my knowledge. I wasn't alive and I had no plan on what to do with myself. I was just hanging around all day, waiting for something to happen. I did my best to stay pure and commit no sin. I wanted to be a good person, hoping that the world would show mercy on me and foremost on my family. I felt sick, as I let the world to punish me with emptiness. Yet, I learned to school as much as I could, with all of the negativity holding me back. I did favors to others and I never received appreciation from them.

In the afternoons, when I was done with my daily tasks and my family required no help from anything, I killed time in my room. The covers blocking the remaining sunlight and I was sitting on the floor, no lights trying to bring colors to my world around me. Dark, grey and senseless. I couldn't remember if I ever smiled in those years of mine. Nor I was able to recall any other emotion from my part. Only in my thoughts, I felt myself. In a reality, where no one was able to hurt me or disturb me.

Later on, it turned out I wasn't alone in my thoughts, nor in my room. Lucifer, his Powers had reached me and filled my once safe and pleasant thoughts with suicidal intentions. Promising pictures about the end, where I would finally find peace and tranquility...

For a long time, I fell asleep each night, hoping that the tomorrow will bring some hope. To find something positive in the next day... but all of those hopes were crushed into darkness, for the next day lied nothing, but another empty day. The empty days turned into terrible ones, once my grades started to drop because of those thoughts of mine and my concentration broke...

And it resulted in suicide at last...

Celestia saved me and thinking back to this, it nearly made me go easy on her and give in to this whole friend thing mindlessly. But I quickly moved on to the next events after my suicide, not wanting to cause myself more shame in thinking about this low activity, which she called making friends. Besides, I had learned from my mistakes from those years and dwelling on them was NOT something I wanted to do at that moment. It was my fifth cigarette that I lit up on the balcony, already... good thing I had like five more boxes of Black DunHill...

As I was saying, after she helped me accept who I was from that day and what role I will be playing in Humanity's life... my whole life changed all of a sudden...

Lucifer had no more influence on me anymore and it seemed like my family was starting to readjust to a productive and promising life. Money problems were no longer a bother, my grades in Mortal education weren't that bad, though keeping up The Balance secretly turned out to be harder than I had originally thought. Thus, I was just an average boy, being a bit bad from that subject and good from that subject. It acted as a good camouflage, at least...

Sadly, my family received the damage from those horrendous years, therefore, the arguments were about the family members' past actions and not about money anymore. Divorcing had come into topic and unfortunately, a few arguments ended with violence...

I kept on helping my family, just like I did before becoming The Balance. Emotionlessly and and without protesting, I helped and tried, but thanks to these, I couldn't help my family out, when questions about the arguments came to my direction...

On the beginning of May, I had become The Avatar. Throughout the summer, I got used to being The Balance of that world and prepared myself for the school years and thankfully managed to perform well with both of my Mortal and Avatar life. I just explained how the Mortal life went by in those years, but what was outside from that life of mine?

I went to sleep at a normal time, woke up like an ordinary person, ate well and actually tended to myself. I did nothing more, but keep myself in a state, which was enough to start protecting the Earth. First The Balance,  and only AFTER that my own self. I kept this lifestyle strictly, making sure that I do a perfect job as The Avatar. Others came before my needs and with childish determination, I went after any disaster, danger and creature.

For a long time... everything turned out good...

Then the many creatures and powerful being, the A'nforians... they finally showed the white of their teeth...

Spirits, Dark Angels and Beasts started to cause troubles amongst the Mortals. As The Balance... it was my destiny to stop them...

My first encounter with a Spirit was the first time I experienced pain. Disturbingly unpleasant pain... in the stomach, especially. After some talk with Thelestial, I came up with a plan, which worked against this troublesome Spirit and it was the first time, when I experienced that pressure in my chest. The first time I tried pushing my cross back into my chest, with Energy filled inside that relic.

The most painful five hours I had experienced...

After that harsh revelation, my way of thinking changed and the look of the world dropped a few shade of itself. Before that encounter, I foolishly denied the fact that those 'mean' souls would ever try to bring such agony upon someone... especially on The Avatar. You could say... I lived with a child's fantasy, where I was the untouchable hero... how wrong I was...

As I said, I changed. From that day, I trained harder and made sure to have enough skills to avoid experiencing that same pain from that unlucky encounter. Instead of being good, just so the world would treat me kinder, I stayed as a good soul, to show the world, that I was more than those evil souls. I stayed good, out of fear that if I ever hurt my enemy, then I will hurt others and eventually... become just as evil, as my foes. I wanted to show an example to the world, that I was able to stay pure, no matter what they threw at me...

Remember that memory I had on the streets of Ponyville? About Thelestial and me, getting rid of the Shadow? My unpleasant encounter was before his comical visit and later I realized that my mentor came to enlighten me about The Balane's proper methods. I realized... that I wasn't The Balance, because I was doing everything for the good, by the system's methods...

I half-tried doing what Thelestial said about the third-aspect... I just couldn't leave behind the good...

After defeating Lucifer for the first time and when my family started to have money problems again, doubling the argument's intensity, Thelestial died from oldness...

And you know how I had changed to that aggressive teenager. So without further story telling, let me talk about how life went by, when I was the fourteen years old beast...

I stayed up late, woke up late, had an unbalanced diet, cared less about school and consumed the poison from drinking, smoking and taking drugs. I tried out forbidden things and became the example of a problematic teenager and son...

After acquiring The Grim Reaper's Power and retrieving my cross, I changed again. But after that, my life was all about killing those, who weren't corresponding to The Balance's aspects. Ignored The Light, because Luceta' proved to be wrong in my eyes, yet killing him would have been wrong. Staying away from home, traveling through the world, taking out the polluting souls for the Mortals, as the Headhunter. In other words, I lost my life... after fifteen years of living...

Short, isn't it?

When both Luceta' and Lucifer ceased to exist and The Balance of the world returned, I tried going back to living a life. I swear I tried... but I just couldn't...

Turning sixteen, I left my middle school in the first year, refusing to Mortally educate myself and instead, I sticked with the A'nforian life. Traveling around the planet, discovering other A'nforian societies and making sure that they won't get into trouble in any way, no matter if the Mortals find out about them or THEY pay a visit to the Mortals. Getting rid of problematic beings, who were causing disasters; and just overall... bringing peace to the A'nforians... keeping up the Balance...

After all, every A'nforian had the rights to live, as long as they lived by the rules...

They either spent some time somewhere, locked up... or they payed the prize of committing a serious sin...

I learned from life, changed and became a grown up man in that early age... and I highly enjoyed it... For one. Whole. Fantastic. Year...

My previous, the seventeenth birthday was spent alone, in the middle of the magical part of Earth. And that was when I heard that the Third World War erupted and was already going... when my well-deserved vacation forcefully ended, to my upmost disbelief...

I spent months over taking back Pest, one half of the capital city. Ripped away from a tranquility filled life... aside from keeping up the Balance, however, living as an A'nforian made me ignore the harsh moments of my destiny... like many other Mortals, who enjoy life, but hate their job. Yes, similar life... and I got ripped away from it, forcefully being junked back to the never ending cycle of life...

And the rest has been told from my part...

Now I ask you... after such experiences, would you know how to live a Mortal-like life? Fitting into an A'nforian town would have been easy... but these ponies were like Mortals in a certain way. With magic and unreasonable fear inside them, all because of my presence... these equines were a mix of A'nforian and Mortal inhabitants.

I just couldn't figure them out... just like I couldn't find that start I needed. So many possibilities and ways to start my life, but, call me a perfectionist, I wanted to have a kick-start flawlessly...

And what was the rub? Well, Equestria... new world, new place and unknown things. I could have just stayed on the balcony, observing the details of this town, the ponies and goods, but I needed my time, if it wasn't obvious already...

''First things first... food. I figured you as one, who does not want to put the house on fire. I suggest restaurants and easy food for home breakfast.'' Did he just said I was bad at cooking? He seriously taunted me? From all the souls around me, I expected Dhanthas or one of the ponies after a few days to say this... but Dhuradhan?

''Tssssssss, burns...'' Dhanthas noticed it as well, it seems... well, it was good to see Dhuradhan easing up and working on a personality for himself... or more like receiving one over time...

''What do you mean-...'' For a long time, Dhuradhan remained silent, realizing what he had said. Interesting, so their personalities were forming out slowly and sometimes revealed themselves. Understandable... a known, yet forced back habit...

''Some groceries, eat mostly at restaurants. Toiletry products, more cloths, some books for later, find a job and the training starts tomorrow.'' He quickly listed and in my mind, I literally felt the pressure leaving me. As I said, I felt ashamed of not being able to figure out something like this. There was that kick-start I needed from Dhuradhan and I started packing up my small bag, going immediately.

Finally some progress...

''Aaand he's gone.''

''He is?''

''He said he needs to check on his state, so comments like this one won't happen again. It's a shame... I would like to hear him taunting you and not just acting as your adviser...'' Dhanthas informed me, surprising me by the news.

''Did he return to the Dream World?'' I asked, putting away my portable ashtray.

''Ah-ha.''

Dhuradhan... always staying cold minded. But it was his decision, not mine. As long as he served good, I cared nothing about his behavior or personality. I was about to wish that he could be like Dhanthas, but with more mature jokes... I decided against it in the end. Dhanthas may be annoying with his jokes, but those comments are all for a good purpose... lightening the mood and killing the tension...

The two were just perfect as they were for me...

Now that everything was in order and further pondering about life's subjects was not in need, I focused on my tasks... first, getting food...

I put the open box of cigarette into one of my inside pockets of my hoodie, to have it ready if I will be in need to let out some gas. I had a slight suspicion that I will encounter a tiring moment later, so cigarettes will be then. I attached my small backpack's straps together, across my chest and the additional straps around my waist, to keep them from bouncing... and mostly from making noise, for obvious reasons.

I call these additional straps as Stabilizers for a good reason...

I closed the balcony door, went down the stairs and stopped in front of the door, next to the rows of hangers. I was about to take off my hoodie and leave a few more things in the house, but I decided against it. The town may seemed friendly, from what I had observed up from the balcony, but maybe the town folks were only friendly with those, who were not scary in their eyes. I was new, mysterious and probably will be, as long as I stay in Equestria. According to what I had witnessed, the citizens were in a really close relationship with each other. Smiles everywhere I looked, greetings could be heard from every direction and it seemed like the whole town knew who lived and where. Every... pony was friendly with the other one and not just out of politeness. It was like each citizen knew the other one, both from outside and inside- and in a completely non sexual way, so you stay silent, Dhanthas!

And what I was for them? A stranger and no matter how well they forgave me - at least I hoped they did - , I was sure that they weren't about to walk up to me, wanting to be friends. My stone attitude was also a reason to not think about my first encounter, as a friendly one.

And I preferred to keep my full gear on, in case that group of ponies try themselves out at one point, testing if the new 'meat' was an easy target... or a soul, who should be not messed with...

After locking the entrance door, I started my way over to the market square, to get some small amount of food for breakfast and to just see what they can sell. This time, I had money... bits, to be precise. When I wanted to buy something from one of the vendors in those hidden A'nforian villages, I was forced to do a favor for the merchandise. Or, I accepted certain contracts, just so I could get different kind of currency. Although the A'nforians mostly used simple gold, silver and copper coins, some village had their own currency. Again, I have to mention the Elves... they payed with special timber chunks, that were both for making Elven weapons and relics. But, they used it to have their own currency as well. I've never got around to understand this whole system about currencies...

Thankfully, warriors like me had a different kind of approach to situations like this. The contracts, easy as that. Vendor needs something to be delivered? Give it to the fighter and he or she will go through fire and water, just so the contract would be done and the reward would be received. Feral animals attacking the shopkeeper on the way to work? Hire the guardian and everyone comes with a good fortune. A soul stole something and that soul keeps on ravaging the shop with his or her buddies? Call the assassin an everything will be done.

The reward was either the given currency or something useful, like a relic or a weapon. And here comes the best part... The Balance has no right to interrupt these contracts and missions. My job is to keep up the Balance between the A'nforians and the Mortals, along with keeping the Dark and Light creatures in check, to prevent another war between The Light and Hell.

But what the A'nforians are getting into, are none of my concerns. The security in that area takes care of these inside-fights, not me, only if they ask me to help out... I usually ask for some reward for these, but not for saving the world.

As long as these inside-fights stay amongst the A'nforians, then I have nothing to do with them...

And now you know, why I enjoyed that free life with those creatures. Next to fulfilling my destiny, I had multiple jobs. What I listed just a moment ago, I accepted these kind of missions. Doing these objectives brought a sense of excitement to me and the reward was always welcomed from my end. The feeling of serving good for the society, being productive and letting the world know about your actions... I felt so alive...

Now, I didn't have a clue about how Equestria's currency worked, nor how much a bit costed. The Hungarian forint, the Euro and dollar and the A'nforian's currency was in my head, the Mortal currency being the only one I was familiar with mostly. I was JUST starting to get used to A'nforian currency and now the Equestrian bits? I took a mental note to look around before buying anything. I may never finished middle school and was still a starter at A'nforian business, but I knew how to figure out what worth purchasing...

And there was my plan 'B', which was the usual method... asking if I can do something else for the required merchandise...

The wide streets of Ponyville provided enough space, to avoid getting close to one of these ponies. I played safe and didn't want to scare any of them, by simply being in their presence. If they coincidentally got in my way, I reacted first and walked around them, showing that I was NOT about to inflict some sort of dominance. I was the submissive one and I wanted to show them, that I was not a threat, but a helpful citizen.

They did give me a long stare, following me when I bypassed them in a fairly wide circle. After that, they resumed doing what they were originally doing, before they had taken notice of my oncoming. I figured it will be better, to allow them see this 'meek' acts from me, so they won't think that I was all confident about having every right to be amongst them.

It was an unwritten rule. If you were new in town, you had to show gratitude for being allowed to be there. Also, the submissive part was for letting them know that I respect them and I wanted no trouble. Keeping my distance, so they see that I won't pickpocket them when I pass by them narrowly; they won't get the feeling that I show no respect to dodge them; and just to not scare them... many reasons, all of them played down in the mind. A not clear, yet visible psychiatric sign and a trick of mine, that I learned from that short time with the A'nforians. The ponies won't notice it, but slowly, they will get used to me...

It was easier with the A'nforians, though... they didn't have to get used to an unknown creature, but even then, if a new race visited the town, they didn't freak out immediately... it was most definitely because of the lifestyle difference. Ponyville citizens didn't seem to be ready to defend themselves, while an A'nforian village had many traveling adventurers, ready to fight against the newcomer, if that soul decide to go on a frenzy and disrespect the law...

All of that musing about the A'nforian life, left me feeling rather well amongst these equines. I ignored the stares and did everything out of instincts, completely forgetting that they weren't those fantastic creatures back on Earth. It also added a bonus to my appearance, since my visibly comfortable movement got less attention from the equines. In my mind, I looked at the world with confidence and without unease, thus sending the same feeling to the ponies.

And my walk to the market was spent in peace, no disturbance or awkward trip, as they - I predicted - slowly got used to me more and more...

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A'nforians: Those creatures, who are not know about by Mortals and only exist as a myth.

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Anthropomorphics: A'nforian race, whose appearance are between a certain kind of animal and a Humanoid. Half-animal, half-Humanoid, if you will. They can have fur, wings, horns, non-Humanoid face features, hands, feet and so on. As long as they had a touch of animal appearance, they were considered as Anthropomorphics or Anthro, for short...

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Stabilizer: Check Here!