Balance of the Mind and Body

by Swift Blaze

First published 25th of December, 2012

Ever wonder if that Mayan Calendar prediction actually came true? What the world be like if everyone panic? Then come and read the following tale of a human that this happens to.

Ever wonder if that Mayan Calendar prediction actually came true? What the world be like if everyone panic? Then come and read the following tale of a human that this happens to.

The human will be given a choice to go anywhere. He decides to go to the one place where it is peaceful and know nothing of war, Equestria. He will go through hard points and other things as they are thrown at him.

This is my first story so please post comments and suggestions and I will update when necessary.

*Update*
Totally forgot to change this. I am updating this story, chapter by chapter. If you would like to read the original, please message me and I will give you a link.

Prologue: The End, or is it?

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait, 2014 was crazier than normal for me. But I'm getting back into this. As I said, I'm going to be rewriting these chapter for better flow and structure.

I now have editors to help me so I can make sure everything is good. They are Izanagi and Biker Dash. They will be helping me through the rewrite and new chapters after.

The poll result I did on this is rewrite is I do one chapter and post it. Will try to do 1 to 2 a week, if possible.

Rainbow Dash: Enough of this chatting. Get on with the story!
You are not even in this chapter. So hold your horses.
Pinkie Pie: Silly author, Rainbow is not a horse. She is a pony. Actually, she is a Pegasus. The fastest one in Equestria! Well, until . . . Mmph!
(A hand is keeping Pinkie's mouth closed)
No spoilers. Ok?
(Pinkie Pie nods)
Now then, onto the Story! Version 2.0.

Ever had a moment when you think you had a bad day, and it couldn’t get any worse? Well, one fellow’s day went to the extreme on this particular day. The day of December 21st, 2012.

This fellow’s name was Smith, Bob Smith (how original). A young adult of twenty-five, standing tall at five foot, eleven inches. His body structure, you would think, was of an average working man, along with his brown hair and blue eyes. Nothing unique would make him stand out in a crowd. Bob did his normal routine of a work life where nothing special happens. He gets up, goes to work, goes home, and sleeps. Very boring. Except today.

Bob had just pulled into his workplace and saw that the entire parking lot was empty. Wondering what’s going on, he pulled out his cell and called his boss.

“The person you are trying is unable to connect. All connections are currently busy. Please try your call again later.” The automated female voice said from his phone.

Huh, that’s odd. He tried another number of a fellow co-worker. Same message.

What’s going on? Bob turned on the radio to hear if something is going on.

“This is the Emergency Broadcast System. Major rioting is occurring in all major cities. All citizens are instructed to stay home and lock their doors. The President of the United States has declared Marshal Law until the riots have stopped.” The computerize-voice on the radio says, repeating itself as a looped message.

“Well, shit. That would explain why the shop is closed,” he said to himself. Better haul ass home then. Before the riots show up here. Thank you back roads.

Bob got home with no issue in running into the military or any blocked roads. A benefit of living in the middle of nowhere. He locked the door behind him and quickly turns the TV on to a news station, wanting more info. News reporters on every station reported about riots showing up in more locations around the globe and military and police are doing their best to control them and get them to disperse.

Why is this happening across the globe? He noticed the date in the lower right hand corner: 12/21/2012. Now where do I remember that date. It took him a few minutes, but it finally came to him like a ton of brick. The Mayan Calendar End of the World date.

Bob stumbled back and fell into the couch behind him. He couldn’t believe that silly prediction was coming true. It must have been fifteen minutes before another thought entered his head. I should contact my friends to see if they are okay.

Knowing the phones are down, he hoped the Internet didn’t go down as well. Bob headed to his tech room and initialized the systems. Computer, Xbox, and PS3 came to life across his monitors. Seeing this setup, you would call him a geek, and he was proud of it.

No messages showed up on the Xbox or PS3 that those friends were online. On his computer, the Internet web pages failed to load on each one he tried. But once Skype came online, several messages waited for him.

His friends wondered the same thing, if he was alright. None were close to him as they lived in other states and countries. Bob replied to each one, informing them that he was okay and in a safe place, away from any possible riots. Each one couldn’t believe how much chaos was happening everywhere. Bob was in the same boat. His final message to them was for them to stay safe and alive. They wished the same thing to him.

Bob signed off and shuts all the systems down. With what his friends chatted about near them, it wouldn’t be long before the power goes out. His Boy Scout training kicked into overdrive as he felt the need to check on what supplies were in his home, planning for the worst.

Several hours passed by as he checked on everything. Once satisfied, Bob started to prep an over the shoulder emergency pack. A last resort if he had to flee his home if the riots came all the way out there. The lights started to flicker when he entered the kitchen.

“That’s not good.”

He turned on the small TV in there to the news. On the display, it showed an empty newsroom. The only thing was a scrolling message of the same thing he heard on the radio.

If they have cleared out, it has really gotten worse. I’m going to need some weapons for protection.

Bob headed down to the den room in the basement. Along the fall wall, various weapons were on display behind glass doors. An ammo safe was tucked in the corner to his left. He unlocked the glass doors and started to pick out some weapons. The first ones were a pair of pistols. Next, various dagger blade styles. He placed them into another pack that was hanging on a wall. Once happy with the choices, Bob went to the safe to get enough ammo for the guns that should last him a while.

As he started to leave the den, his eyes looked over the space to see if there was anything else he should bring. He remembered his prize possession as he spotted it mounted on the wall by itself. A custom, real samurai sword. One unique thing about the pack he has, it has a special slot in the back to hold his sword. Bob placed it in it and made his way back upstairs.

Good timing too. The power just went out.

The time on his watch read a little after 1pm, Bob decided to have lunch. The only thing is, with no power, his choice was a sandwich or a sandwich. Tough choice.

Decided on the latter one, he made a PB & J one. Bob ate it as he opened the front door of his house. If you expected him to hear the sounds of the woodland animals, none of that was happening. All he could hear in the far off distance were the sirens of police, fire, and ambulance in the city, roughly 20 miles away.

Without warning, a military helicopter was flying low and buzzed over his house. “SHIT!” Bob said as he tried to cover his ears from the loud roar of the blades.

The helo headed towards the city as a couple more were following behind it. All of them were armed to the gills. Their path was the same as the first one. It must be really bad if the military had to send in armed helicopters. I need to find out what the hell is going on.

Bob closed the front door and locked it again before heading to his computer room again. In there, he headed toward the closet and pulled out an emergency radio. Once it had enough power from turning the crank arm, he turned it on and searched for any active radio stations.

Most of the ones he knows of were now only transmitting static. Even the NPBR station was not transmitting. Bob switched to the AM stations. Nothing found on those. The only frequencies left are the Weather Band stations. He expected those to be down as well. They weren't. Each one within range transmitted the weather forecast for that area it covered. I don't think that is useful in this time of crisis. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Bob thought as he shook the radio in frustration.

Not wanting to leave his home to find out, the only thing he can do now is sit and wait for something to happen. Fifteen minutes went by and Bob is now officially bored. He went to his emergency pack and pulled out something to occupy his time, an iPad.

(What? Did you think he was going to pull a deck of cards? It's the 21st century.)

Bob typed in his code to unlock it. He tried to decide what to do with it now, his thoughts went over the choices. Could play some games. Nah, that would draw my attention in too much. Need to stay focused. The Internet is out as there is no connection without power. Guess I'll do some reading. Good thing I downloaded some stories last weekend.

These stories were not the books that get published and sold. What Bob referred to were fan-created by the shows they watch. The ones he had on the device are for one show in particular.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Yes, he what you would call a Brony. A bro who likes Ponies.

Bob didn't share with his fellow co-workers that he likes this show. Let's face it, a dude liking a show that was made for little girls, you would think he was gay or something. But he didn't care what others thought about this. Bob knew there are millions of other Bronies like him and they care for one another.

One thing was on the back of his mind, he wondered how the others were all handling this crisis in their part of the world.

Time passed as the sun started to set on the day. With the light source going away, Bob knew he will need another source of light soon. He went into the backpack he just packed and pulled out an LED lantern. With a flick of the switch, the room was lit up once again.

He guessed on the time, and his stomach growled at him, it was dinner time. Bob brought the lantern with him to the kitchen. Still with no power, the only thing he can have was a sandwich. This time, however, it will be a HLT with mayo (that's ham, lettuce, and tomato). He made two as he wanted to fill himself up this time, unsure of what is happening in the cities around him.

With the meal now inside him, Bob turned the radio on again. He is hoped someone was broadcasting something, besides the weather. As the dial is slowly being turned, his ears concentrate on something that was not the static that was already there. The FM broadband came back with nothing. When he switched to the AM, a station started to come in as he turned the dial back.

Quickly, he adjusted the radio antenna to try and clear it up. The static was still somewhat there, but Bob could now hear whoever was transmitting.

*static*If you are tuning in now, you MUST leave your homes if you are in the cities! The *static* government has failed in getting the riots under control and have abandoned them. Any gangs in your area are now in control with military weapons. You have to *static* escape with your lives if you want to live! Run NOW! I don't know how long this broadcast will last. *sounds of a door being broken down* OH NO! They're here! For the sake of our species, you must *BANG*

Nothing but static was left now. Bob turned the radio off. Silence was left in the house, with a small hum from the lantern nearby. Well, this country is going to shit. When the Mayans predicted the end of the world, I was thinking a natural disaster would be the cause. Nothing like this.

All of a sudden, Bob felt and heard a rumble. He went to the back windows and looked through them. Nothing coming from this side of the house. He headed towards the front and looked through a window beside the front door. His eyes saw some flickering light coming from up the street, and it was heading towards his home.

As the light sources came into view, he could see people caring fire lit torches. From the light, his eyes saw everyone carrying a semi auto rifle. They didn't appear to be military as they were not in formation, nor were wearing standard clothing and armor. Bob looked to what was following the group. His eyes grew wide as he saw what was making the rumble. They had a tank.

Bob went and turned off the lantern in the living room to reduce being spotted of being in the house. He made his way back to the window and watched the group in the street. The tank stopped in the middle between his house and the one across the street. The armed people were arguing something, but he couldn't make out what.

The tank's gun barrel began to rotate. It swung toward the other house. Once it stopped, a big bang came from it. The front door exploded from the impact. All the other people standing around began to shoot at the house. Glass was breaking and the siding was being torn to shreds from the onslaught of bullets. Once they all finished their clips, the tank turret began to rotate again.

Bob didn't need to be a physic of where it was aiming next, his house. He bolted from the front, grabbed his packs, and headed out the back into the woods. He was out of the house for only ten seconds before another bang came from the tank. He dived toward the ground and took cover. Bullets started to fly through the home of Bob, destroying everything in their path.

Bob could hear some of the bullets pass over him. All of a sudden, the house exploded in a big ball of fire. He picked his head up off the ground and turned to see the remains of his former home. The second story was no longer there. The only thing that you can see standing was some of the frameworks in the corners.

Before Bob can do anything about it, debris began to fall. A piece of his house fell and slammed into his head. This knocked him out.

Unknown time has gone by before Bob awoke with a splitting headache. Soon, pain started to come from other places on his body. He opened his eyes and saw parts of his house were covering him. Before Bob could try and lift the debris on him, he felt someone on top and they were lifting the stuff off him.

Once the piece that covered his head was off, Bob smile of joy of being saved changed when he saw who it was. It was one of the people that was with the tank. This guy's face was a mix of a Latino gang member and a merc would be the best way to describe it. Around him were the rest of his buddies.

"Well, look what we have here. I thought I saw something in that house." He said.

Someone else said, "What do you want to do with him, boss?"

"I think I will let him decide." He got close to Bob's face. "Now then, we have been killing all day and night. Instead of us deciding how to kill you, I will let you decide. We can either shoot you, or hang you. Which way do you want to die?"

Bob said with a quivering voice, "Can't you let me go and live?"

"Sadly, no. With the end of the government, we are going to create a new world order. But first, a lot of people have to die to show we mean business. So what is it going to be?"

Bob thought hard on this as it will be his last decision he would ever make. Coming to a decision, he replied, "I'll choose the bullet. But, can you do it right at midnight?"

A thug behind the boss said, "Now why would we let you choose the time?"

"I just want to know that I survived the Mayan End of the World prediction. You'll still get to kill me. I just wish to live after this day, with all the chaos that exploded from it."

The boss thought for a little bit about this request. He turned to a black dude on his right. "What time do you have? I also want the seconds." He commanded.

This guy pulled a phone out of his pants pocket and looked at it. He replied, "11:59pm and 30 seconds, boss."

The boss turned back to Bob and said, "Guess you are in luck. I can wait for 30 seconds to go by before I shoot you." He pulled out a pistol and aimed at Bob's head. "Give me a count down."

"15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . . 12 . . . 11 . . . 10!" shouted the gang around them.

Bob stared at the end of the barrel, looking down the dark hole the bullet will soon shoot out of.

"9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4!"

"Adios, muchacho."The boss said. He pulled the hammer back on the gun.

"3 . . . 2 . . . 1!"

Bob heard a click, then everything went white.

Chapter 1: Where am I?

Bob heard a click, then everything went white.

Seconds past as he expected to feel some sort of pain from being shot. He looked himself over and found no bullet wound. Bob then noticed that he was in a vast void of white.

Is this purgatory, or is this heaven? I would have expected to see some color Bob thought to himself.

"That can be arranged." A mysterious voice said out of nowhere.

“WHO SAID THAT?!” Bob looked around to find the source.

"Oh, come now. You were thinking of purgatory and heaven. Do you need any more hints?"

Bob's mind started to quickly think of an answer, but what he just went through back on Earth was having an effect on coming up with something. He shook his head quickly for his response.

"I'm the Alpha and Omega. Creator of the Earth and everything on it."

A single word started to form in his mind, but struggled to say it. It's like it is on the tip of his tongue and doesn't want to leave his mouth.

"Would you mind opening your mouth? I think I saw something in there."

Bob slowly did so. He soon felt something put some pressure on his tongue. What ever it is, the thing jumped out of his mouth. It landed a few feet away. His eyes went as big and wide as possible when he saw it.

It was a grasshopper carrying a scroll on its back. If Bob wasn't in shock from being shot at, this would definitely do it.

The grasshopper pulled the scroll from its back and opened it on the pure white floor. Only three letters were on it in big characters.

GOD

Once Bob reads this, his mind went into overdrive, Holy shit! I'm chatting with God. THE God! What do I do? What should I ask him? Shit! Shit! Shit!

"First off, mind cutting the swearing down? Then, take a deep breath and calm yourself. Once that is done, I think you know what you want to ask."

"Sorry, God. Wait, were you just reading my mind?"

"No. I didn't hear you say 'Holy shit' in your head."

Not wanting to drag this weird discussion out further, Bob followed the God’s suggestion to get his nerves under control. With his heart rate back to a normal beat, he said into the vast void, "Before we start chatting again, would you mind taking a physical form so I can see who I'm chatting with? Speaking to myself would make others think I'm crazy."

"Not a problem. I can't reveal my true form as your mind isn't capable of handling it. Hmm, let's see. . . Ah! This one will do for the setting we are currently in. You may turn around so we can talk."

Bob did so and saw a familiar setting. Before him were two high back cushion chairs. In one of them sat a man he recognized, Morpheus. "Yeah, I would say that would fit to where ever I'm at this time." He said as he walked up to the other chair and sat down. "Well, guess my first question is what happened to the Earth?"

"Ahh. That Mayan date was a test to see how the human race's reaction if chaos went wild over the planet. Would they embrace it, or try to stop it by any means necessary. Sadly, chaos was the victor."

"Then why am I here?"

"There are those who didn't go the violent route. For those people, I'm giving them the choice to go to any world of any dimension they wish that is within my powers. You, my good lad, are one of those."

Bob didn't know what to feel after hearing this. Should he be happy, excited, or sad about the events that occurred on his planet. He needed more answers. "What will happen to those who failed?"

"To them, today's events never took place. They will continue to live their lives out in that timeline you came from."

"Won't people question why thousands of people disappeared in one night?"

"Yes, they would, if I wasn't going to leave a clone of yourself there if you choose to decide to go somewhere else and live out your dreams." Morpheus leaned forward in the chair. "Isn't there someplace you have always wished you could go to? Maybe to the place of where those fan fictions you read are talking about. Hmm?"

It didn’t take a second for Bob to realize where God was going. “You mean, if I choose to, I can go to Equestria?” He said with a surprised look on his face.

”If that is what you wish. That is certainly within my power to do so, in any story or timeline you choose.”’

He couldn’t believe it! This is a Brony’s dream come true. All the fan fiction stories he had read popped into his head of how they entered and lived in the world. Something in the back of his head was telling him he needed something to help him in this world.

“Um, God, would it be possible to. . . get some . . . abilities? To help me there?”

God was thinking for a moment. Then said, ”I don’t see why not. I have done even stranger requests. So what would you like?”

“There are two other shows I like that are on par with My Little Pony. They are Dragonball Z and Naruto. Would it be possible to have those?”

God leaned back in his chair and had his finger tips touch each other. After some thinking, he said, “I don’t see why not. I’ll give you the basic knowledge of how to use them right now. Any more advanced skill, you will have to learn yourself. I will tell you how later. For now, let's get that knowledge into you.”

God stood up from his chair. He reached into his jacket with his right hand and pulled out a silver cylinder. He pushed a button and it extended in length.

"Wait!" Bob stood up quickly and backed away a couple feet. "Isn't that a de-neuralyzer? I thought you were going to give me some knowledge? Not erase my memories!"

God started to laugh. "I'm sorry, my attempt at some humor. No, this isn't that. Let's just call it, an in-neuralyzer. It will implant the info into your head. Although, we could . . ." A spike from The Matrix appeared in his left hand. "We could go with the direct approach."

Bob quickly said, "Uh, no to the spike. I like my skull like it is."

The spike disappeared. God extended his right arm out with the device. "Now then, I'm going to also put in some barriers in your head. They are to prevent these ponies from looking at any memories you have about the show and of myself. I think you can tell when someone is looking into your mind without permission. Now, hold still."

A yellow light flashed from the device. Bob’s brain started to throb as it processed the new knowledge. He was breathing hard against the restrain. Once the throbbing died down, Bob said between breaths, “Next time, warn me about the pain.”

”Sorry, it slipped my mind.” God said with a smile. ”So would you like anything else before I send you to Equestria?”

“Yes, please. I would like to stay human there. Also can you change my clothes to a red gi with black trim and the Japanese symbol on the back for balance?”

“Your wish is my command.”

Another yellow flash and his clothes have changed to what he has requested. Bob looked himself over, liking how it looks.

”Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step.”

“What?”

Author's Notes:

Another chapter down. Edited by Izanagi. Will have the next one later this week.

Chapter 2: One Word, Ouch

”Have a safe journey and adventure. Watch that first step.” God said.

Bob responded with, “What?”

A blinding light filled his vision. It's kinda like a flash bang, but without the bang. His vision was obscured because of this. As he tried to get them refocused, his body started to feel moving air all around him.

The spots in his eyes soon faded away. This allowed Bob to see where he was placed. He could tell it was night time as the stars and the moon were out. His senses began to warn him about something. The wind was blowing upward on his body. Bob looked down and he didn't like what he saw. He was falling, without style.

“SSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!” Was all that came out his screaming mouth for thirty seconds. Bob's brain was working on overdrive from the fear and adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. He tried to think of something that could save him. Nothing was coming at first, then he remembered that God gave him some abilities.

Bob tried to think of flying from DBZ, but nothing was coming, No basic jutsu would be able to save him from this. The last option that might work are energy balls. Come on. Work dammit! Work! he screamed into his mind and body to produce the results.

A warm feeling began to emit from his right hand. Bob concentrated on trying to form a sphere of the energy gathering there. It started small, but soon grew to the size of a baseball. He was filled with joy that he made it, but soon realized the ground was approaching fast.

Bob saw some sort of a river was close to being below him. He twisted his body to best align him with it. The energy ball was still floating in his right hand. With about fifteen seconds from impact. Bob launched it to the water below. It made contact with the water and exploded. He shifted his body to a shallow dive position and braced for impact.

Contact.

The force of hitting the water knocked Bob out. He couldn’t tell how long he was out, but wished he wasn’t dead already. The pain was starting to throb from his limbs Ow. Hate the pain, but at least that should mean I’m not dead. A sharp pain was now coming from the chest. It felt like someone was hitting it with a big hammer. He soon felt himself spitting out water.

Bob tried to see what was going on. His vision was blurry. Before he could focus, he blacked out again.

The next time Bob was able to wake up, he saw he was in a building. The pain from his limbs was still somewhat there, but not as severe as before. He looked around to see where he was. His eyes saw that he was lying on a cot in a room that looks like it was made from a tree. I must be in Twilight’s house.

His ears began to pick up on some voices upstairs. Bob focused on the sounds to try and determine who was up there. The first voice he recognized was Rainbow Dash talking. She shouted, “That thing should be locked in chains! It could be dangerous!”

I must be the thing she was referring to. Bob made a small laugh, quietly, but quickly stopped as the pain started to come from his chest. He also noticed his left arm and right leg were in a cast. I don’t think chains would be necessary as I can hardly move right now. He continued to pay attention to the voices up stairs.

“Dash, you saw how it is. It was severely injured. The injuries show signs that it fell from a great distance.” said Twilight Sparkle.

“I agree with Twi, sugarcube. Besides those casts on him, they’ll prevent it from going anywhere for a while anyway.” said Applejack.

“I still think a chain from the bed to a leg should be done to protect everypony, just in case.” said Rainbow.

That’s your typical Rainbow Dash. She sees almost any strange creatures as a threat. Such loyalty to her friends just to protect them. Bob looked around the room some more. He soon spots the bags he packed back on Earth. They were leaning against the wall with the sword next to them. It appears they have not gone into the bags. Who knows what would happen if they messed with what’s inside. A sharp pain from his leg hit him hard. It caused Bob to shout from the intensity of it.

“I think it is waking up. Let’s go check on it.” said Twilight.

Bob quickly laid back down and closed my eyes. He soon heard the door open upstairs. The sounds of several hooves hitting wood started at the top of the stairs. They were getting closer. He did his best to stay perfectly still. Bob was acting that he was sleeping, even though the pain coming from his limbs was coming back.

“It appears to still be asleep, sugarcube. But I reckon that look on its mug means that it’s in pain.” said Applejack.

“I will perform the spell again to dull the pain away so it can rest peacefully.” said Twilight.

Her horn started to glow. Bob could feel warmth entering his body, causing the pain to subside. Without warning. A hyper voice from the top of the stairs came rushing down as it spoke.

“Twilightwhydidyounottellmeanewponyhascometotown. Mypinkiesencehasbeengoingoffsayingsomethingstrangandnewhascometotown!” said Pinkie Pie in her hyper state.

She then did something that Bob hoped she wasn’t going to do. But she did it anyways. Pinkie Pie jumped onto Bob. It caused the pain to come back, tenfold. Bob launched his body to sitting position from the pain. It also caused him to knock Pinkie off. He held onto his chest with his right hand from the pain.

Bob looked to where the girls were standing. Seeing them for the first time in person, they looked exactly like on the TV show. They started to back away from Bob as to what Pinkie caused.

“Pinkie, why in Equestria did you jump on it? Couldn’t you could see it was injured and asleep?” said Twilight.

Pinkie Pie replied, “It wasn’t asleep, silly.”

“Why do you think it was not asleep?”

“My pinky sense told me.”

Great, can’t fool her when I fake sleep. Bob finally noticed that the entire Mane Six were there. Rarity hasn’t done any talking that he heard. It was probably because she was looking at the clothes Bob was wearing. It was either to determine if they were beautiful or horrid. Fluttershy might have talked while up there, but Bob couldn’t tell as her voice would have been too quiet.

Twilight stepped forward and said, “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Are you able to understand me?”

Bob nodded my head.

“What is your name?”

He replied with “Bob.”

“Bob?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“You said it backwards.” he told her. That got a chuckle out of Applejack. Rainbow acted like she wasn’t amused being caught on that joke.

Bob already knew their names, but since he didn’t want to reveal how he knew, ignorance would be an ally. “So what are everyone’s names, seeing as how we are introducing ourselves?”

Applejack went first, “Howdy partner. Names Applejack. I own an apple farm down the road named Sweet Apple Acres. The best apples on this side of Equestria!”

Rainbow Dash quickly went next, “Name's Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in all of Equestria and future team member of the Wonderbolts!”

Up next was Rarity, “Hello darling. You may call me Rarity. I must say your clothes are dreadful. Come by my shop when you are better and let me design you something better to suit your style.”

Pinkie Pie jumps in close and starts talking, “Hithere. I’mPinkiePie. Sorryforjumpingonyou. Ijustcouldn’twaitforyoutowakeupandmeetyou! Doyoulikeparties? ILOVEPARTIES! . . .” Bob had his right hand over her mouth to stop her from rambling on.

“Please, Pinkie. Can you slow down your talking speed and allow me to answer your questions? My body is already injured. I don’t want my head getting a headache from trying to process all you are saying. I shall answer questions once I get to meet everyone.”

“Everypony.” Twilight corrected.

“Huh?”

“You said everyone. The correct way to say is everypony.”

Bob rolled his eyes for being corrected when he already knew the correct way to say it.

Twilight restarted the introducing, “Ahem, as I said before, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I run the library above us. I'm also the personal student of Princess Celestia.”

Last one to go was Fluttershy. She was currently hiding behind Applejack, shaking, scared, and trying not to look at me. Applejack decides to speak for her, “The pony behind me is Fluttershy. She takes care of lots of woodland creatures that come out of the Everfree forest. She also has a tendency to be scared of lots of things.”

Bob decided to try and comfort her by talking calm and smooth, “It’s ok Fluttershy, You do not have to be afraid of me. I know I look strange, seeing you probably never seen a creature like me. I promise you, I will never harm you, your friends, or any creature that is under your care.”

She poked her head from behind Applejack and put on a big smile. “May I ask what species are you, if you don’t mind?” She asked softly.

“I would more than happy to. But, can we do this a little different than usual. I too have several questions that are popping into my head. What we can do, is go back and forth asking questions and answering them.” Bob looked at Pinkie Pie. “And please, only ask one at a time so I can answer them if I can.”

Twilight’s eyes grew bigger than normal. Probably knowing that she is going to be learning about a species unknown to her. She ran quickly upstairs to grab the stuff she will need to write all this down. She was back down, in the basement, in ten seconds flat. Rainbow Dash was impressed with the speed she showed. Twilight Sparkle then realized that somepony else should also be here, her mentor Princess Celestia. She shouted up the stairs, “SPIKE!”

Bob’s ears were ringing from the big shout from the pony. As the ringing died down, he soon heard something else coming down the stairs. He knew who it was, but Bob was a little excited was going to see a dragon in real life. He didn’t care that Spike is still considered a baby dragon.

Halfway on the stairs, the dragon looked at him and asked Twilight, “Um, Twi? Why isn’t that thing down there and not chained?”

“Spike! Behave, please. Can’t you see it is injured?” Twilight took a quick sigh. “We are about to ask it questions. I would like you to send a letter to the Princess telling her the situation. Also, to invite her to hear what it has to say. Finally, to get her opinion of the creature.”

“Right away, Twilight!” said Spike. He pulled a letter and a quill from behind him and wrote out the letter. He rolled it up and breathed his magic fire that will transport it directly to the Princess.

While they waited, Bob began to think, I am overfilled with joy knowing exactly where I am and who I am with! Then something popped into Bob’s head. The Princess of the day was on her way. He hoped those barriers will hold if she decided to peak in. Still with no one talking, Bob decided to recall exactly what abilities and jutsu that he could do right now. Minutes passed. He opened his eyes again and noticed that all of them were looking at him with confused looks. “What is everypony looking at?” Bob asked.

Rarity spoke up, “Well, Twilight and I noticed a strange aura around you when you closed your eyes. You mind telling us what that was?”

“Um, well, seeing we are waiting for another guest to show up, I decided to meditate and gather my thoughts.”Hope they believe that.

Applejack was giving me a strange look. Bob quickly thought, Shit! Her honesty might be seeing through that lie. Better lean more truthful to stay under her lie detecting radar.

Bob began to try and scratch an itch under his arm cast.

Fluttershy quickly said, in a more audible level, “I’m so sorry! I did not realize they were causing you discomfort.”

Bob replied, “It’s no problem Fluttershy. You could not have known, as I was unconscious. I do appreciate that you have made sure to set the bones into the sockets before wrapping them in a cast.”

Fluttershy blushed a little bit from the compliment. “I did my best as I didn’t know what creature you are. My best guess is that you are close to a monkey in structure. Is there anywhere else that you are hurting?”

“Now that you mention it, I think one or few of my ribs are either bruised or broken. But I don’t think they have punctured my lung.”

Fluttershy walked up to where Bob was sitting on the cot, She reached a hoof up to my chest, but stopped before touching. “Um, may I? If you don’t mind.” She asked. Bob nodded to her as he lifted his arms out of the way as best as he could. Her hoof finished moving the distance to his body. It moved around where all the ribs were located. Bob winced in pain when it touched one of the injured ribs. “None of them don’t feel broken. But we should get you to a proper doctor to get checked and healed.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. I just don’t know how any doctor could help if none of you have seen my species.” said Bob.

Spike let out a belch from nowhere and a scroll appeared. Twilight lifted it up with her magic and opened it. After a quick read, Twilight said, “The Princess said she will be here in a few seconds with her sister, Princess Luna, as well.”

In the middle of the room a bright flash filled the room. Everypony else had prepared themselves for that. Bob, again, started to see things in his vision from staring at it.

In the middle of the room, where the flash started, stood Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They were wearing their royal crowns and accessories. Behind them, stood six Royal Guards, with their weapons drawn and pointed at Bob. Everypony kneeled down before them. Bob remained in the cot as a leg was still in a cast. But he bowed his head instead.

“Everypony may arise. That too includes you, human.” Celestia said.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 3: Do You Want To Play Twenty Questions?

“Everypony may rise. That also includes you, human.” Princess Celestia said.

All the girls were shocked that the Princess knew what species Bob was. Still playing the idiot card, he had to choose his words carefully. “May I be the first to ask the question as to how you know my species?” he asked.

“Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Princess Celestia. This here is my younger sister, Princess Luna." Luna bowed her head, but did not say a word.

"You will have to forgive my sister," Celestia cleared her throat. "She just came back from a long journey and hasn't fully adjusted being back yet. Now, as to your question. You are not the first human to show up in Equestria. I remember that there used to be thousands of your kind in this area. It seems roughly a thousand years have past since I last saw one.”

Woah. Humans used to be here? I need more info about this. “Hmm, that must explain where some of our myths about Pegasus and Unicorns came from. One thing they never mentioned in them is that they had the ability to speak and be understood.”

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash barged into the chat. Her muzzle was directly in front of Bob's face. "What do you mean we can't speak? Explain yourself!"

Rainbow was pulled back by her tail by Applejack. "Now hold it, Rainbow Dash." said the orange earth pony. "I don't think the feller meant any disrespect. Did ya . . . um . . . what's your name again, sugarcube?"

Bob smiled and said, "It's Bob. Also, let me clarify that I'm a guy, dude, bro, or male to whatever you call in your species. That way you can stop referring to me as "it"." He did his best to do the in air quote marks, but no pony understood the gesture. "And Rainbow Dash, I didn't mean anything bad. Myths and legends tend to lose some of the finer details about them. I don't know as I didn't learn to become an historian. Now, what were we talking about?"

Twilight politely said, “Um, excuse me Princess, but I don't recall seeing any notation in my books that described a creature like this. How do you know what, HE, is?”

“Well, Twilight, it has been so long since the last human was here. They have become myths to us as we are to them. As to why they are not in any books, I believe they were lost at some point in history.” said Princess Celestia.

Bob's thoughts began to wonder about that. I have a feeling the Princess is hiding something. She knows more than she is leading on. Mental note, ask the Princess as to why there are no more humans here. The human felt something going off in his head. Kinda like a spider sense, but more like someone is trying to poke into his mind. He looked over to Princess Celestia, her wings had pop opened stiff. Her eyes grew very big as she tried to clear something from her throat. Bob decided to try something, If this is you, Princess Celestia, nod your head. Bob said in his mind.

The white alicorn did a small nod, then looked at the human, Ahem, I was never expecting that type of barrier protection in a mind. Why would someone put that up as a first barrier? She asked in Bob's mind.

Bob replied I didn't place that barrier. It was the God most humans believe in that placed that in my mind. I didn't know what it is. All I was told is that it would help identify who is trying to look into my head. What did you see?

The Princess let out a tiny blush on her cheeks. Well, I can say it is effective. But why would your God want to place that in your head?

He did it to protect myself as well as your kingdom. There are some things in my mind that no one should know about where I come from. I think, it might be possible, for me to allow you pass them by acting as an escort of sorts. Would that be acceptable?

Yes. I believe that should be. I am sorry for trying to read your mind without permission. I should know better than to poke into others’ minds. I only did it as I fear for my subject's safety when a possible old threat comes back.

It is alright, your highness. Bob did a quick look at the other ponies in the room. I think we should get back to answering questions that everypony can hear.

She nods again and they break the link. Bob looked at everypony and asked, “So, who has a question for me?”

Twilight shot her hoof up in the air like she was back in a classroom.

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?”

“That would make sense to do that and would answer several questions you all probably have. As you all know now, my species is called human. I am male, age twenty-five, and I come from a world where magic does not exist.” Twilight was about to say something, but Bob stopped her. “Please, Twilight. Let me finish giving my brief history and it will probably answer the questions you are thinking of wanting to ask.”

She nodded and kept her muzzle closed. Bob continued to tell his tale. “The world I am from is called Earth; we are the major species on the planet. As I said before, we don’t have magic. We survive and grew with science and technology. There are so many things that happened over the past century that we now have devices that allow us to store an entire library collection on a single device.”

“I don’t believe it. Nothing like that could ever exist.” Twilight interrupted.

“I can actually prove that right now. I have a device like that in my bag over there." Bob was about to get up, but the pain from his fall was returning. He sat back down, slowly. His head turned towards Princess Celestia. "Um, your highness, would you happen to know of a spell, or something, to heal myself. I kinda had a rough landing when I arrived.” Bob said with a weak smile. “These, um, ponies did their best to heal me with no knowledge about my body structure.”

Celestia smiled and said, “I think I know of a spell that will mend your injuries. Now, hold still, this will either tingle, or cause some pain.”

The human nodded and braced himself. The Princess lowered her horn a bit. It started to emit a yellow glow. Bob could feel something was happening to his body. Different spots were tingling. As he was enjoying it, the sensation was interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest, around his ribs. The human reacted to the pain as he scrunched his face, to avoid screaming. Guess I did have broken ribs. Wish I had some morphine to numb the pain.

Oh, you wanted me to dull your nerves BEFORE I set the bones? My bad. Celestia said in Bob's mind, with a smile on her face.

Is this payback for what ever that barrier is in my head? Bob heard a humming tune in his head. Just before Celestia popped another rib back into place. Again, the pain was intense for a second. But he did not let out a scream from it.

Once everything was healed inside of Bob, the cast on his arm and leg disappeared. He stood slowly in front of the cot. Being stiff as a board for who knows how long, the human did some simple stretches of his limbs, causing some to emit a pop from some of his joints.

Bob was about to move to his back, but the guards still had their spears pointed at him. "If it would also be possible, can you please ask your guards to lower their weapons? They are making me a little nervous thinking they are going to strike me without cause.” He asked the Princess.

She nodded and told them to stand down. They put their weapons away, but some still had the scary look toward the human. Bob headed to his first backpack and pulled out his iPad. He displayed it in his hands as he said, “This is one the latest achievements my people have created. It is a tablet based computer that allows us to access any information we want at the touch of our hand." He then looked towards the purple unicorn, "Twilight, later on, I will show you how to operate it as long as you ask permission to use it.”

She shook her head up and down. Her face was that of excitement as she clapped her front hooves together. Bob barely heard a pony said 'egghead'. He didn't know who, but it came from one of the guards. The human carried the iPad back with him as he sat back on the cot to continue to tell his tale.

“Some of the other things that technology has allowed us to do are create transportation machines that don’t require horses to pull us around. Finally, we have machines that give us the ability to go fast through the air.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” said Dash.

Guess its time for a demonstration. From the ponies perspective, Bob started to touch the tablet with those little things at the end of his front hooves. He was tapping them at a quick pace. Once ready, the human turned the device around and show them. “This is one of the many creations that allow us to do that. It is called an airplane and it comes in all sorts of sizes and uses. From small personal ones to ones like this that can transport hundreds of humans or several tons of cargo half the way around the world. We also have another that is used by the government’s military. Those types are only designed to hold one to two humans. But the neat thing about them is the speed they can travel I'm talking about supersonic speeds. I know they could do at least 4 times the speed of sound.”

“NO WAY! I’m the fastest flyer and I barely break the sound barrier once!” Dash shouts out.

“I'm impressed that you can do that without something protecting you. But, seeing we have no way to fly by ourselves, it is these machines that granted us that ability and protect us at the same time." Bob looked around the group as he turned off the screen. "So, who is next with a question?”

Fluttershy quietly asked, “Um, if you don’t mind, can you explain how you got those injuries?”

"I had a feeling this was going to come up. Well, you probably have some scary stories of creatures coming from another world. They come down in a spinning metal disc?" Bob questioned them, hoping for a response.

"I've read about those in comic books!" said Spike. "Some show the aliens have taken ponies so they can probe them. Others are eating the ponies BRAINS!" He said with such enthusiasm. "But I never know what probe means. There are never any panels showing the process."

"Spike!" Twilight said with a stern voice. "I told you that those comics are bad for you. There is nothing educational within them. Plus, some can give you nightmares."

Spike had a sad face from being scolded by Twilight about his comic books again.

After a moment had passed, Bob said, "Well, you can classify me as an alien. But I didn't arrive in a flying device. My method of travel wasn't my choice. Falling from above the clouds to your doom is never fun."

Twilight, with a surprised look, said, “How in Equestria did you manage to survive a fall from that height? Also, how did you even get up there?”

Bob let out a quick chuckle, then said, “Let’s just say, a super being is the cause of me falling from that height. But, also gave me the knowledge and abilities that helped me survive, barely. Now then, how did you find me?”

“I heard a big explosion from the river. Then I saw water flying higher than my apple trees.” said Applejack. “I called out for Rainbow to come with me to check it out.”

Rainbow Dash said with pride in her voice, “I got to the river first.”

“That’s because you used your wings.”

“I’m a Pegasus. It’s only natural for me to fly. I AM the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Anyways, when we arrived at the banks of the river, we saw something floating down river."

"I flew over to it and saw you, bruised and bleeding. So, I grabbed your hoof and dragged you to where Applejack was standing."

"Once you were on dry land, I checked if you were breathing. You weren’t. So I raised my fore hooves and stamped hard on your chest."

"You spat water out so high, like a fountain. It was hilarious!"

"You did start breathing again, sugarcube. But you still looked seriously hurt. I had Rainbow Dash fly to fetch Fluttershy while I took you on my back to Twilight’s home/library. I was guessin' one of them could fix ya right up."

"Thanks for the rescue and emergency care that you were able to provide." said Bob, with a smile. "Just a small suggestion for next time," He raised a hand up and left a tiny space between the thumb and index finger. "Please don't stamp on my ribs when trying to get me breathing again. I think I was lucky that you only had fractured them. It could have been worse if you broke one right into my lungs. That will be harder to fix."

"Sorry about that, I sometimes forget my own strength. I can buck all the apples of a tree with one kick. So how did ya manage to save yourself from a fall like that without one of them machine contraptions?"

“I figured that was going to be the next question. Remember when I said that a super being gave me some knowledge to do certain abilities?" Bob looked around and saw all the ponies nodding their heads. “Well, I had to break the water’s surface before hitting it, if I wanted to survive. So I sent a bigger version of this down to create the explosion in the water."

The human had his right index finger pointing up, while the others were in a fist. He concentrated on pulling the energy to his finger to create a pea size energy orb. It took a while, but a small yellow orb was floating above his finger. Bob pulled the energy back in, then took a couple deep breaths from exhaustion.

"I'm still getting the hang of it."

Pinkie quickly said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! What other nifty things can you do?" Her smile was as big as ever as she looked at Bob with her big eyes.

"Well, I haven't tried these yet, but some of them are cool." Bob had a smile on his face as a funny idea popped into his head. “Pinkie, seeing you asked to see one, can you come here and stand next to me?”

She hopped over Rarity and spun herself around in mid air. Every creature waited for the human to do something. In his mind it was thinking, Please, please, please! Let this work the first time! Bob recalled the new knowledge for the skill he wanted to perform. Once ready, the human hands came together in some pattern as he shouted, “Transform!”

A puff of smoke enclosed Bob and Pinkie. When it dissipated a few seconds later, everyone else in the no saw there were two Pinkie Pies and no human. They were surprised by what happened, including Pinkie. Bob mimicked her movements so they looked the same.

“So, who is the real Pinkie?” Spike asked.

They both said, “I am!” in the exact same voice. No one could tell them apart as the voice was another exact match.

Bob decided that the fun was over now. He released the Ninjutsu to return to his original form. “Did everyone enjoy that?” he asked.

“That was very impressive, Bob. Are there others on your planet that can do that?” Princess Celestia asked.

“No, they can’t. The only place humans could think of doing something like that is in their dreams. Now then, I have another question." Bob already knew the answer, but he still had to ask to draw suspicion. "I noticed that all the ponies in the room have a tattoo on your rear ends. Can someone please explain why?”

They all laughed at the human for asking that. Twilight decided to answer this one, “Well, I don’t know what a tattoo is, but what is on everypony's flank is their cutie mark. It symbolized our special talent in what we can do. When we are born, we have a blank flank and we get to enjoy the wonder of discovering what our special talent is as we grow up. Don’t humans have cutie marks?”

“Sorry Twilight, but no human never gets a mysterious mark on their butt. Unless they get so drunk that they forget what they did the night before." Bob said with a laugh. He cleared his throat, then said, "To explain what a tattoo is this. To us, it's a design we choose to place somewhere on our body showing what we love or to look cool. Some may get one tattoo for the experience while some others can get so many, that they cover their entire body. I am one of those people who choose not to get one because it's a little painful process.”

“Then how do you find out what your special talent is?”

“In truth, most humans don’t find out. We educate ourselves to do the jobs we get hired to do. That way we can pay bills and to put food on the table. I would have to guess that most humans don’t like the job they are doing, but like the pay it gives. There are others that do love the job they get hired to do. Finally, there are also some humans that find themselves having a wide range of skills they are good at. I think I am one of those.”

“Why do you think that, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Well, for my job, it involved fixing certain equipment sometimes. Also, being able to find the problem with most small machine types and fix them. Lastly, I'm quick to pick up on learning new skills through visual and hands on exercises.”

“That is really amazing! I am the same way with my magic. I can do so many spells while other unicorns can only do a certain amount based upon their special talent. I too don’t like to show off that I can do that. Plus, I like to use it to protect my friends.” Twilight said.

“Hmm, I want to try and guess your special talents now that I know what those cutie marks stand for. Please don’t hesitate to correct me if I am wrong.” I know I'm going to nail this on the head. This is going to be so much fun. “Let’s see, well Twilight already stated she is good with lots of different magic so that must be what her special talent is."

Bob turned his head to the next pony. "Rarity, based upon you wanting to make clothes for me and those diamonds for a cutie mark. I would have to say you make the precise and beautiful clothing of this land.” Rarity started to shed a tear.

“Now for Applejack, you said you work and own an apple farm. Your own name has the word apple in it. It's very clear that working with apples is strong within you. You must be very proud to produce the best apples that everyone loves.” Applejack started to blush.

“Pinkie Pie, with those balloons and your high amounts energy, you must throw the best parties for any event and make everyone smile.” Pinkie smiled so big, it looked like it was about to come off her face.

“For Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus with a rainbow lightning bolt as a cutie mark, I take it when you do break the sound barrier, a rainbow trail might form behind you. Plus, you are the fastest creature I have ever known.”

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow yells.

“Finally, for you Fluttershy, from what Applejack said about you how well you did to take care of my injuries, I would have to say that your special talent must lie in knowing how to take care of any creature you come across. You have the care creatures like, the ability to heal most injuries they might get, and you maybe be possible to be able to communicate with them on a different level compared to the rest of us. I would like to thank you again for taking care of my injuries when no one else knew anything about me at that time.”

Fluttershy was so moved at the compliment, she came over to Bob and gave him a hug. Everypony awed at this scene. The human started to stroke her mane with his fingers. She said, “You're most welcome, and do come by my place if you need anything.” She then returned to sit back down with everyone else.

Before the next pony could ask a question, they all heard a loud rumble coming from the human. “Sorry about that. I guess my stomach is trying to tell me to go and get some food. Would you mind if we take a break to get some?”

“Not at all.” Twilight said. “Although we should find out what you can eat so we don’t poison you.”

“Yeah, no one likes to get poisoned. From my early school days, I seem to recall that ponies are herbivores. It's where you mostly eat plant type foods, correct?" Twilight and several others nodded their heads in response.

Bob held his hands in front of him. The palms of the hands were facing the ponies and were just barely beyond his chest. He said, calmly, "Now them, please don’t be afraid with what I am about to tell you. Humans do eat certain plants, but we also have teeth designed to eat meat. We're omnivores” All the girl ponies raised their hooves to their mouths in shock. Rarity did her faint thing again onto the couch. The guards raised their weapons at the human with serious looks on their muzzles. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna remained sitting, with no shocked look on their faces. Spike only had a confused look on his.

Bob pushed his hands further away from him as he shouted, “Hold it! Let me make it perfectly clear, I would never eat a pony, a talking creature, or woodland creature that is friendly.” He looked directly at both Princesses to wait for their response.

Princess Celestia told the guards to stand down once again. With everypony calming back down, or regaining conscious again, Bob lowered his arms back to his sides to continue explaining. “I will still need to take in protein to keep my muscle strength up. For that, I do know of other foods that I can eat to reduce the normal meat intake. Even to almost nothing if need be. Some of foods that are high proteins are cheeses, beans, eggs, and peanuts. The other food groups I have no trouble eating. Some of the things humans can’t digest are hay and flowers." He looked at each one as he finished by saying, "Please don't be afraid of me because I can eat meat.”

“Of course not, sugarcube. You just startled us when you said you ate meat. We won’t think anything bad of you for what is natural for humans to do.” Applejack said.

“Um, if you want, if you don’t mind, I could give you some fish I have for the animals I take care of.” Fluttershy said.

“I would appreciate that, and thank you again. Now then, can we head upstairs and grab a bite to eat before I faint from hunger?” asked Bob.

They all nodded and started to walk up the stairs. Spike and Twilight headed into the kitchen to gather some food. Everyone else got comfortable in different places in the library. The guards are still keeping an eye on the human, in case he makes a move. A few minutes later, Twilight and Spike came out. Twilight used her magic to levitate several plates of food.

The one that came to Bob had cut up fruits and veggies on it. On the other plates, there was some type of sandwich with a side of hay. The human took a bite of a fruit. His eyes went wide as he continued to chew down everything on the plate. He thought, I couldn’t believe how fresh and tasty these all are. These tastes like they were just picked less than an hour ago.

Bob quickly finished the meal as everyone else did at the same time. “Thank you for the food. I never had anything that tasted so good like that. Most of the fruits and veggies humans get come from the store. That takes at least a day or two to get there. These taste like they were picked just an hour ago.”

“They were. I got them from the market this afternoon. Good thing, too. I wasn’t expecting any company tonight.” Twilight said.

“Well then, my compliments to you for picking them, and to the farmers for growing such fresh food.” Bob placed his hands on his stomach and said, “Shall we get back to questioning?” Everyone nodded. “Let me go first as I have one for the Princesses. I know about Unicorns and Pegasus from myths and legends, but I never read about a horse type creature with a horn and wings. Can you please enlighten me about yourselves?”

Princess Celestia spoke up, “My sister and I are called Alicorns. As of right now, there are only three in existence in all of Equestria. They are myself, my sister Luna, and our niece, Princess Cadance. The thing that is unique about us, besides having a horn and wings, is that we are immortal.”

“So, that explains how you recognized my species. You were there when they last were here. Let me just say that you and your sister are still as beautiful.” They both blush from the compliment. Bob turned his head to the others and asked, “So, who next has a question?”

Pinkie jumped up from where she was sitting and asked, “What are those things at the end of your hooves? They look like what Spike has, except they are not sharp.”

“Well, first off, these are not hooves, they are called hands. At the end of them are called fingers. They allow us humans to grab things as well as other things. They don’t need to be sharp to do damage. The same goes with my feet.” Bob took one of his shoes and socks to show off. “As you can see the foot also has thing at the end of them. They are called toes. The only thing is they are not as flexible as the fingers on my hands.” He flexed both of them so show what they can do.

Bob had put the sock and shoe back on. Soon after, he let out a big yawn and stretched out his arms. “If it's alright with everypony, I would like to hold off the questions for the time as I am getting exhausted. Would it be possible to explore your town in the morning?”

“I agree on holding the questions back for now. I need to organize all these notes I have taken.” Twilight said. Bob saw a stack about one hundred pages of notes she had taken. “As for the tour, I don’t know how the other ponies will react to you just walking around.”

“In a few days, I will make an announcement of your arrival to the town so you don’t scare anypony. For now, my sister and I need to return to Canterlot to attend to some royal duties. If you would like to contact us at any time, just have Spike send us a letter. I bid you all farewell and look forward to learning more about you.” Princess Celestia said. Everyone bowed to her. She used her magic to teleport her, her sister, and the Royal Guard out of the library in another big bright light.

“I have to get going as well. I have several dress orders due tomorrow and need to get back to them.” said Rarity. She then headed out the library.

“I’ve got to get back to the farm. I have to help Big Mac, my brother, buck the apple trees in the north field.” said Applejack. She too made her way out.

“I have weather duties I need to attend to.” said Rainbow Dash. She flew out the door.

Fluttershy said, “I need to get back to my cottage and take care of the animals. A bear has been complaining of back pains.” She trotted out and closed the door.

Bob looked for Pinkie Pie and couldn’t find here. “Where’s Pinkie?” he asked.

“Probably ran off to take care of a party.” Twilight said.

“But I did not hear her leave. Does she have ninja skills?”

“No. She is just being Pinkie.”

“Well, it looks like you get the honor to show me around in the morning.”

“Wait! You can’t go out there looking as yourself. Why don’t you use that thing you did to change into another pony?”

“It does not work like that. I can’t think of a random pony design out of the blue. I have to use another pony’s look and copy that. Do you have a spell that can change me into a pony, temporarily?”

“I think I do. It will take some time to find the book that might have it. How about you go and lay down in the cot in the basement as I start my search.”

“Sounds good. Good night, Twilight Sparkle. Good night, Spike. See you in the morning.” said Bob. He made his way back down to the basement and crashed onto the cot with a smile on his face.

Bob was awakened by a voice shouting, “Found it!” He crawled out of the cot, stretched, then made his way back to the main floor. Once the human was there, he saw most of the books that were on the shelves were now spread out in various stacks on the floor.

“Spike, would you be a dear and put the books away as I help Bob with this?” said Twilight.

Spike looks frustrated by how big of a mess she can make. Twilight’s eyes were scanning the book in front of her that she was also levitating. “Let’s see, the spell is temporary and will last for two days. It also says that it does not have the control in which pony type they will be turned into. You ready for this?”

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 4: It's Pony Time

“Bob, are you ready to be changed into a pony, knowing that you will be in that form for two days?” Twilight asked.

Bob responded, “I’m sure. Being cooped up here, waiting for the Princess to get back to introduce me to the town, isn’t my ideal way of spending my time. I will get bored.”

“Bored!? How can you get bored with all of these wonderful books.” Twilight gestured to the collection of books in the room. The same books that Spike was working on putting away after her search for the spell.

“Books may be your thing, but they’re not mine. Can we proceed with this?”

The Unicorn nodded her head. She looked back to the book to read the spell one more time. Twilight wanted to make sure she knew what to do. Her horn started to glow. The body of the human was soon enclosed in the same color from her horn. He started to feel his body changing. The skin felt like it was boiling, and the bones twisted and rearranged to that of a pony. The pain was nothing Bob had ever felt before.

Twilight heard the human cry out in pain. She was about to try and reverse the spell, but Bob then shouted to her to not stop. The Unicorn nodded and continue to channel her magic into the transformation. Without warning, a bright flash came from the orb that surrounded the human. The spell had finished.

Twilight Sparkle felt exhausted by channelling all that mana into the spell. With tired eyes, she looked over to where Bob was last at. Instead of the human body, she saw a deep red coat earth pony with a two tone black mane and tail lying on the floor. His eyes were closed from being knocked out from the spell and pain.

The Unicorn checked the other ponies’ vitals with a simple spell. All was good. She let out a big yawn and looked at Spike. “I’m going to bed, Spike. That spell was a doozy. Please wake me when he wakes up. Should be in a couple hours.” She said.

“Sure thing Twi.” replied Spike. Under his breath, he said to himself, “That should allow me enough time to get these books back on the shelves. At least until she does another bout of research all through the night.”

In the unconscious mind of Bob, he find himself in the white space again. “Great, I’m dead again. Nice job, idiot.” Bob said.

”No, you are not dead. You are just in your mind. A little space I set up for you to do some training,” said God.

“Is this going to be like The Matrix training?”

”No, I told you will have to work for the knowledge. Turn around so we can begin.”

Bob did so. In front of him, stood Master Roshi. He was wearing his Hawaiian shirt and dark shades. He chuckled at the sight. “So, I take I’m going to learn some fighting techniques?”

”You are correct, my boy. Have to start with the basics before you can learn the hard stuff.”

Bob bowed to him and said, “I’m ready, master.”

Hours had passed before Bob came out of his mind training and come back to the real world. “Ow. Why does my body ache all over?” He said to himself. Oh yeah, Twilight turned me into a pony. Ninjutsu transformation didn’t hurt at all. Well, that is just an illusion. This is real. Ow. The former human tried to rub his head with his hand. Instead, he hit himself with his new hoof.

His new ears picked up the sounds of a pony quickly coming down the stairs. Twilight came over to Bob where he was still laying on the floor. She walked around him as the Unicorn looked over the result of the transformation.

“I take it that the spell worked, Twilight?” asked Bob.

She nodded with a smile. Her horn lit up as a mirror was levitated over. “Take a look yourself.” she said.

Bob looked into it. He too, was impressed. The color of his eyes was a red, purple color mix. The hair, or should be called a mane now, was now black. The coat fur on his pony body was red. He turned his head to look at his flank. Bob was wondering if and what kind of a cutie mark he would have. Sure enough, there was one there. It was the yin and yang symbol. I was hoping it was going to be that. With me learning stuff from those two animes, what could be more perfect?

Twilight Sparkle saw the former human smile when he saw his cutie mark. She asked him, “Would you mind telling me what that cutie mark stands for? I have a feeling you know with that grin on your face.”

“It’s true, Twilight. I do know what this stands for, and I am happy to receive it. It is called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is mostly about balance. That could be anything. From the sun and the moon, good and evil, harmony and chaos, and right and wrong. Everything needs to be in balance, not just the body and mind, but everything in nature and in space. I held on to this belief since I was a child.”

“That is something very good and pure to believe in. Don’t ever lose it.”

“I don’t plan to. One good thing about this now, I have my own pony form I can change into after this spell wears off.”

Twilight asked with a confused look, “How is that possible? I thought you need to see what you are going to change into to make it work.”

“Most of the time, yes. That would be if I was going to change into a pony, a creature, or an object. But with this, I can use my mind’s eye to recall what this new body looks like to transform into. I would try to demonstrate it now, but I can form the symbols with these hooves.”

“This is all interesting, but let’s get you up so I can show you around Ponyville.”

“I agree. Let’s get going.” Bob wobbled as he tried to get up on his new limbs. There were several falls onto his face and flank. After enough tries, the new earth pony was finally able to get onto all four hooves.

“You are picking up how to use your new hooves rather quickly. Shall we try some walking?”

"Yeah, I have an idea of how they work from watching you ponies. It still feels very odd being on all fours." Bob lifted his left front hoof, while balancing on the others. He wobbled a bit, but remained standing. Ok, now the back right. The new Earth pony repeated the walk pattern in his head, occasionally falling in different directions, but continuing to get up and try again.

Twilight remained by his side as he continued to relearn how to walk. Bob finally got to a good enough level to where he could hold a conversation without falling.

They headed out around noon time. Twilight had let Bob borrow an old saddle pack. With the door to the library closed behind them, they started the tour of the town. I can’t believe how exactly it resembles the TV show. The Earth pony thought while she pointed to different buildings. “Say, Twilight, how long have you been in Ponyville? I'm only asking because you mentioned you are a student of Princess Celestia. With that, you must have lived in Canterlot.”

“You are correct. I did live in Canterlot from when I was born to about a month ago. Princess Celestia had asked me to oversee the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration right here in Ponyville.” She continued to talk about what happened to her when she arrived; the meeting of her new friends that she let into her heart; the prediction of Nightmare Moon coming to pass; and finally how they stopped her, rescuing Princess Luna in the process. All the same stuff from the first episodes.

“So, you and your friends now are the barriers of these, Elements of Harmony. I think I could see those traits in you ponies, now that I think about it. I'm grateful you found me, instead of drowning or something.”

Twilight said her welcome, then continued showing all the different buildings in town and where her friends lived in. The last stop was Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie resided. Before entering, Bob turned to her and said, “Twilight, I just thought of something. Since I am in a pony form right now, I should have a name, kinda like you ponies, instead of my human name.”

“Not a bad idea. Have you come up with one?” asked Twilight.

“I think so. What do you think of Swift Blaze?”

“I think it suits you. How long have you been thinking about this?”

“Since we left the Library. Another thing about me is I have different thoughts running around in my head as I do another task that don't have any connection with it.”

“You keep amazing me with what you tell me about yourself. Shall we go inside and get a treat?”

“Sure thing. But, let’s see if we can trick Pinkie by having her meet a new pony and not realizing it is me. Just hang back and follow my lead.

“Sounds like fun. Everypony will be laughing when you reveal yourself."

"Oh, can I have some currency of this world? Don't think what humans use will pass here, plus I left it in my bags at the library.”

"Not a problem. Here are a couple bits.” She levitated a couple coins from her bag and placed them in Bob's, now Swift Blaze.

He headed inside and saw Mrs. Cake behind the counter. “Well, hello stranger. I have not seen you in town before. Did you just get here this morning?” She said.

Not wanting for Pinkie to recognize, Swift Blaze changed the tone of his voice to a western accent, “Howdy there, ma'am. I did just arrive this morning. Got off the train coming from Appleloosa.”

“That is some distance to travel. What brings you here?”

“Mostly just to take a hoof off from constructing of putting up more buildings there.” All of a sudden, a pink blur came at Blaze from the kitchen. It was aimed to hit him, but with a slight twist out of the way, the object collided with a wall. “What in tarnation was that?” he said with a surprised look on his muzzle.

“I am so sorry! That is my employee, Pinkie Pie. I have told her to not tackle every new pony that comes to town. Pinkie Pie! Say you’re sorry to this nice stallion for trying to tackle him. His name is, . . . err . . .”

“Swift Blaze. My name is Swift Blaze. I'm actually kinda used to being attacked. We have some pesky buffalo wanting us to move the town someplace else for some unknown reason.”

“Sorry to hear that, dear. So what can I get you?”

“I'm in the mood for a couple of them fresh glazed donuts.” Blaze said as he licked his muzzle. Odd, never thought a pony's tongue was that long.

“Coming right up.” She headed to the kitchen.

Pinkie Pie picked herself up and came over to the Earth Stallion, “I'm so sorry for trying to tackle you, Swift Blaze. I just get so excited when a new pony comes to town that I have to meet them right away and become friends with them. Strange thing though, my pinkie sense normally goes off when a new pony comes into town.”

“Pinkie sense?”

“That is when my body sends me a signal base upon what my body does when I am not in control of it.”

Twilight now came into the shop and acted like she never met Swift Blaze before. “Hey there, Pinkie. How come you ran off early yesterday? I thought you would of liked to show Bob around town?”

“You know, silly. I have to plan his welcome party and that is going to be a surprise. Just like yours when you arrived here in Ponyville.”

If she only knew she just told me.

Mrs. Cake just came back with very fresh donuts. “That will be two bits, sir.” She said.

Blaze placed his head into the saddle to grab the money with his mouth. Once he felt two of the coins, he placed them on the counter for her. Mrs. Cake then walked with him to a table and set the food down.

"Enjoy it, deary." she said. Then, the blue mare returned to behind the counter to attend the next customer.

Blaze picked up one of them with his mouth and chewed the entire thing up. Even the pastries are better here than on Earth.

Pinkie and Twilight walked up to the table Swift Blaze was at. “Hey Twi, have you me Swift Blaze? He just arrived in town this morning from Appleloosa.” said Pinkie.

Twilight was doing her best to not mess with the joke Blaze was doing. “Can’t say I have. Well, it is nice to meet you, mister. How long are you going to be in town for?” Twilight asked.

“Not long, miss. Just a few days to relax before I return back to my hometown. I already got a place to stay at a hotel nearby.” Blaze replied.

“Hey! Do you want to come to the surprise welcome party we are having for our friend? It will be at the library at 8:00pm.” said Pinkie.

“Sounds like a barrel of fun. I'll see ya there.” said Blaze. He headed out, but not after picking up the last doughnut and eating it down quickly.

He returned back to the library. To keep the ruse going, he informed Spike of his prank.

"Oh, this is going to be hilarious! I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when you reveal yourself. How did you come up with something like that?" Spike asked.

"I've dabbled in some pranks back in college. Ones I'm under oath not to share with anything." Blaze said. With nothing to do, the stallion decided to kill time by reading some books on Equestrian history. More to familiarize himself with it.

Twilight showed up later with a huge grin on her face. “What has you in a happy mood?” Blaze asked.

“I am so excited to get back at Pinkie for startling me with my welcome party when I got here.”

“Glad to be of service. I can’t wait to surprise everypony the human they met now has his own pony form. So, in case ponies ask where I went, tell them I went into the forest to stretch my legs. Also, so they don't worry, tell them that I said I can handle myself if danger comes. Sound good?”

She nodded, then said, "Hold on. How did you know there is a place in Equestria called Appleloosa? None of my friends, nor I, mentioned it.?

"Um, I saw it on that map there on the table in the center of the room." Blaze said, hoping she will believe it.

Twilight turned her head to the table in question. Sure enough, a map was on it. "Huh, I thought I had put that away. When did you take a look at it?"

"When I was practicing walking around the room and chatting with you."

"Interesting. You managed to read a town's name on a map while walking and talking. Your mind is impressive. Anything you can't do?"

Blaze thought for a second, then said, "Mime."

"Huh?" Twilight said with a confused look on her face.

“It's a unique performing style back on Earth. So, are you going to invite the Princesses?”

Twilight's smile went even bigger! “I should! I'll go and write them a letter about the upcoming party. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” She said as she clapped her fore hooves together.

As she went and pranced about to go and write the letter, Blaze went back to the book he was reading and waited for the party to start. I'm glad that map was there. Don't know what I would have said to explain my knowledge of this place.

Pinkie showed up at 7:30pm. She pulled in her party canon and fired it to quickly set up all the decorations. Mr. and Mrs. Cake showed up soon after with the food and drinks. Soon, everypony else had showed up. Some of them got ready to surprise Bob, the human. Blaze thought as he watched, Won’t they be the surprised ones.

“You remembered to tell Bob to come back at 8pm for dinner, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Of course." she said with a fake smile. Before anyone could question it, Twilight said, "Now then, it's getting close to him returning. Everypony, get into position!”

Everyone went to every possible hiding place. Blaze stayed close to Twilight. She whispered to him, “So, when are you going to surprise them?”

Blaze whispered back, “I will nudge you. Then, you'll get up and sound worried. Once everypony believes you, I will reveal myself.”

She giggled quietly at this plan.

8:15pm rolls around. Twilight felt the nudge. She got up slowly and looked around. “Where is he? He promised to return at 8pm. I am starting to worry girls.”

The others got up from their hiding spots. They too looked worried. “What do you think could have happened?” Rarity asked. “I hope nothing dreadful!”

“We should then go out and look for him! He might be hurt!” Rainbow shouted.

Blaze decided to reveal himself. In his normal voice, he said, “What is everypony worried about? Wondering where I have been?” They turned their heads toward the red Earth pony, looking for Bob in his human form. “What? Did you expect to come through the front door?” Everyone that was not in on the joke, dropped their mouths wide open. “I guess the surprise is now for you!” Swift Blaze started to laugh hard. He was on his back, holding his gut, laughing out loud. Twilight and Spike soon joined in laughing. Then, everyone else had joined in on the laughter.

“Oh man, Bob! I think that was the best prank yet!” Rainbow said, while flying and holding her belly too from laughing very hard.

"I didn't want to stay inside and wait for Princess Celestia to introduce me to the town. So Twilight used her magic and transformed me into pony for two days. I have roughly forty hours left before I should turn back. Once back in my human form, I think I'll be able to change back into this form whenever I want to after that. Also, I decided to give myself a more, pony name. That would be, Swift Blaze. Or you can just call me Blaze.”

"Swift Blaze, huh," said Rainbow Dash. "Guess that is twenty percent better than the name of Bob."

"You're still mad that I caught you saying my name backwards."

"AM NOT! I don't know who in Equestria would name their kid that."

"Remember, Rainbow Dash, I'm not from here."

Rainbow blew some air out of her nose, out of frustration. Then headed to the food table for some cider.

Rarity came up and said, “Oh darling, you look very handsome as a pony, and a nice name too. I have a couple designs I think would look good for you. Why don’t you stop by my place and allow me to make something for you.”

“Thank you Rarity, for the compliment. I'm sorry, but I can't afford anything like that. I do not have any money that will work here to pay for them.”

“Don’t worry about it. The first one will be free. Any others you can pay for them, when you can. At a friendly discount of course.”

“Thank you for the generosity. I will see you tomorrow then." Blaze turned to the hyper pink ball. "So, Pinkie, are you ok after I turned the surprise on the surprise planner?”

“Ohthatwassocrazyandtrulyunexpected! Youreallygotmegood. Iamsohappyyouarehereandsomuchfun. IwillcomeandseeyouwhenIwanttopullsomepranksonsomeponies.” She said at hyper speed.

“Pinkie Pie, you should really slow down your speaking so everypony can understand you.” Blaze said.

She nodded, then hopped away to continue hosting the party.

Blaze mingled with the other ponies he hadn’t met yet. He told some stuff about himself that they would believe while in pony form.

A little while later, the front door opened. The Princess of the Day and of the Night had arrived. They walked inside and closed the door. No guards were with them this time. All the ponies, including Blaze, bowed to them.

“Hello my fellow ponies. I hope we are not too late to surprise our newest arrival to Ponyville.” Princess Celestia said.

Most of the ponies had smirks on their faces, knowing that the joke is still going. Blaze walked up to them and said, “Good evening your highnesses. I’m sorry, but the guest of honor has yet to show. Would you mind describing what they look like?”

“Well, he is not a pony, nor any creature you might have witnessed or read about. He is about as tall as me, stands on his back legs, and has a very unique personality.”

“What do you like about MY personality?”

“Well, you remind me . . . wait. Bob?” The Princess started to sound surprised.

“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out. Well, I have a new name, Swift Blaze. Didn’t expect the surpriser to get surprised?”

“It was good, Bob, or should I say, Swift Blaze.”

“While in my pony form, call me Blaze.”

“We detected thy presence, but could not find where.” said Princess Luna.

“How did you figure that out?”

“Thy soul aura is different than thy ponies.”

“Huh, never could have guessed that.” Swift Blaze looked directly at the Princess of the Night. “Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle had told me about your first visit to Ponyville and . . . the return of Nightmare Moon.”

Princess Luna duck her head lower as she still could not forgive herself for turning into that thing. Blaze saw that he’d struck a nerve. “I am grateful these girls were able to save you with the Elements of Harmony. I can’t imagine what you went through. If you want, you can talk to at night. I will most likely be up as I don’t need much sleep.” He said.

“We might take thou up thine offer.” she said.

“If you would also like, I think I can help you speak the way of the modern world.”

“We would appreciate thine experience in this.”

“It would be an honor to do so.”

Princess Celestia stepped up close to Blaze and said, “Whenever you’re ready, Blaze, I would like to find out more about your day when you arrived here. I sense it might be a touchy subject. That is why I did not ask when I first saw you.”

Blaze looked at her and responded with, “I’m grateful for that. It is somewhat a touchy subject. But, when I’m ready, I will tell you and my new friends. They should also know what happened to me.”

“I’m glad to see they have grown on you and you on to them. Have you determined where you are going to stay?”

“Well, if the others agree to it, I will see if the girls will allow me to stay with them. That is until I can get the resources together to get my own place. Before you say it, Your Highness, I cannot accept your generosity in giving me a place that is made for a pony. I won’t be a pony all the time, so I would like to make sure the house is set for a human.” said Blaze.

“I understand that your species require things differently, but don’t hesitate to ask for help, as we help everypony.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia. If you would excuse me, I think I should verify where I am going to stay for the night.”

Blaze bowed to them and made his way back to the Mane Six. They had gathered together near the food table, chatting. “How is everypony enjoying this party?” he asked.

“We should be asking you how you are enjoying it, sugarcube.” said Applejack.

“I agree, do you like this social gathering?” Rarity asked.

“I’m definitely enjoying the party. This is the biggest celebration I’ve been to in years, especially one for me.” A tear started to form in one of the red Earth's pony's eyes. “I can’t thank you enough for rescuing me, healing me, and letting me into your hearts.” he said.

“Enough of this wishy washy. You are even making me tear up.” Rainbow said.

“Alright. So, seeing it’s getting late, and I just came to your world and broke, would one of you mind if I stay the night with you? This is only until I can get something together for my own place. I won’t be able to get it started until I’m back in my human body.”

They all started to offer up their places, except for Rainbow as her home is literally in the clouds. Blaze tried his best to hear each of their reasons why he should stay with them. The problem is, they are saying them at the same time. The only one Blaze could not hear was Fluttershy.

“HOLD IT!” He yelled to get their attention. “I realize now that was probably not the best way to ask. From what I can tell, you all have good points. But, I think there is only one pony that I should choose. I am truly thankful to her for taking care of my injuries.” Blaze walked to the pony in question. “Fluttershy, would you allow me to stay at your place tonight? In the morning, I could help you with the feeding of your animals.?”

Her face revealed a big smile. “Yes. I would like you to stay at my cottage.” Her voice was a little louder than normal so everyone could hear it.

Blaze placed a hoof around her, to give a hug.

The party started to die down as other ponies started to leave. The red Earth pony helped out with the others in cleaning up. The girls insisted that Swift Blaze didn’t need to help. He replied that he wanted to. Plus, this would allow him to practice being a pony some more.

After the cleanup, Fluttershy and Blaze walked toward her cottage. She kept close to him as she was a little afraid of the dark. Once they arrived, Angel stepped in front of the Earth pony to try and stop him from coming in. Fluttershy explained the situation of why he was here. The rabbit still gave him the stink eye as he let the pony pass.

Inside, Blaze said, “Fluttershy, where is the bathroom? I would like to freshen up before I go to bed.”

“Oh, it’s down the hall. First door on the right.” She said.

Blaze was in there longer than he would have liked. Trying to use the facilities was hard as he was still learning how a pony did it. Once done, the Earth pony made his way to the living room.

On the couch, he saw Fluttershy. She was asleep and under some blankets. I know I am the guest, but I could never take her bed. Blaze did his best to pick her up and place her on his back, without waking her. She must have been exhausted as she didn’t wake up as he carried the Pegasus to her bed. Angel was following them.

In the bedroom, Blaze whispered, “Look, I know you probably hate me.”

The bunny nodded.

“Can you put that on hold and help me by pulling the sheet back?

Angel looked at him for a few seconds. Then, he hopped onto the bed and pulled it back. The Earth pony gently placed her in the bed. The bunny pulled them over her, then position his body down next to the Pegasus and went to sleep.

Blaze went to the couch. He just collapsed onto it without a second thought. Soon, he too was off to dreamland.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 5: She has the Golden Ticket . . .

While Swift Blaze was sleeping, he was visited by Master Roshi (God) again. They did some agility training. Some were DBZ style, others were with the chakra from Naruto. The latter took longer, as the former human had to find it within him and learn how to control it. The last part was flight control with ki energy. The ground changed into a rubber elastic compound. The human needed it, as he fell quite frequently.

Before Blaze woke up to the real world, he said, “So, should I expect to do this training every night in my sleep?”

”No. Tomorrow night you can take a break.” God’s body shifted forms. ”The next night, we are going to work on the hard stuff.

Great, I went from a master to a major.

”What did you think about me, boy!

The human stood straight up and said, “Sir! Nothing, sir!”

With that, the white space vanished from his sight. He wakes up, just before falling off the couch. Ow. The Earth pony saw it was about an hour just before dawn. He decided to watch the sunrise. Also, he should do some muscle training in on this pony body.

He headed outside into the cool air and slight mist in the air. The air here is so clean. I still can’t believe what we lived in back on Earth. All from the pollutions and toxic fumes we were pouring into the atmosphere, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. Blaze started his routine with a quick gallop down the road. The pony did this until he came to an open field with a nice hill. He walked to the top, thinking about the next part of the training. The moment Blaze reached the top, he could see the sunrise about to start. The pony sat down as he watched the sun slowly rise into the sky. Such a beautiful view of the mountains and landscape. I really want to capture the moment, but it will have to wait till I am human again so I can use my phone to take the pic.

Once satisfy with the view, Blaze went back to training. He started with stretches to see how his pony body can handle it. From there, the Earth pony practiced standing on his hind legs in different positions. He fell on his flank more times than he liked, but he had a feeling this will be needed soon.

After an hour, Blaze headed back to Fluttershy's cottage to see if she was awake. Upon arriving there, his nose could smell something delicious cooking. He headed to the kitchen to see Fluttershy cooking something good. “Morning Fluttershy. What smells delicious?” He said.

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked as Blaze had startled her. “Oh, Blaze, I did not hear you come in. I saw you left when I woke up. For some reason, I couldn’t figure how I woke up in my bed. Did you carry me to my bed last night?”

“I did. I could not take your bed as you took the couch. I just wasn’t right. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. I just hoped you slept well on the couch. If you don’t mind, can you tell me where you went this morning?”

“It is never a problem, Fluttershy. I went out to watch the sunrise and to get some practice in on using this pony body. I realize now I can't do some of the same stuff my human body could do." Blaze said as he rubbed one fore hoof on his flank. "So, what are you cooking up?”

“Oh, just some pancakes, with a side of fruit. Would you like a plate, if that is okay with you?”

“I would love one. I’m sure anything you cook will taste very good.” She hoofed Blaze a plate to the table. He sat down there and started to eat. She joined him with a plate of her own.

Once he licked the plate clean, literally, Blaze said, “I was correct. You do cook some delicious food. Seeing you cooked, please, allow me to clean up. Then, we can go and take care of your animals.”

“Oh, I couldn’t allow you to clean up. You are a guest in my cottage. Please, allow me.”

“Sorry, Fluttershy, but I insist on doing the cleanup to show my gratitude.”

Blaze picked up the plates and cooking equipment. As he scrubbed everything clean, a thought came to him, Huh, I'm able to hold onto this stuff without thinking hard about it. Must be that passive magic all ponies have the fimfic stories always mentioned. Cool to see it in action.

The two ponies went outside and started to feed the animals. She was showing Blaze what to feed them and how. "You have to do it this way so they wouldn’t be scared of you. Isn't that right, my cute little animal friends?" The Earth pony found it was relaxing to watch the animals eat in the beautiful scenery.

“Would you mind accompanying me to the market? I need to pick up some more feed for my animals.” Fluttershy asked.

“I would love to.”

They grabbed some saddle bags from inside before leaving. Angel decided to tag along by riding on the back of Fluttershy. Once at the edge of town, Blaze followed the Pegasus to the market. He was still figuring out where everything is. They came to vendor that sold animal feed of all kinds. She purchased her usual amount. The Earth pony had put more of the feed on himself, so Fluttershy did not have to carry so much, and that it would help strengthen his legs with the extra load.

As they approached the town square, Blaze saw Twilight chatting with Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie. Spike was there also, and holding something shiny in his claws. Angel bolted off Fluttershy and ran toward the dragon. The bunny snagged the shiny objects and brought the items to the yellow Pegasus to see. Once they came into view the red Earth pony saw that they were two gold tickets to some event. It took a few seconds for him to realize that they are the tickets to the Grad Galloping Gala. Oh boy. Twilight is going to have a fun day today.

Swift Blaze and Fluttershy, along with Angel, joined the girls in their conversation on who should get the second ticket. Blaze cleared his throat and said, “May I interject for a moment? What is this event you all are arguing about?”

Each one told him about how big the event is and what each one dreamed of doing there. “I see. Well, I hate to be rude, but you should give Twilight her space so she can think of who she wants to give the second ticket to. I personally don’t want to go as I can’t stand fancy parties.” said Blaze.

“This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise." Twilight said in frustration. They all nodded and wandered off in separate directions.

Blaze returned with Fluttershy to her cottage and dropped off the feed. "I'm going to check on Twilight. She looked like she couldn’t decide on who to choose." he said.

"I do hate to see my friend so worried up about it. Maybe there is something I can do to cheer her up." said Fluttershy.

"I suggest to not do anything too big. She might think you are only doing that to get the ticket.“

Blaze left and started to look for the purple Unicorn. He found her sitting at a table outside a cafe with Spike. Twilight had her head on the table. The Earth pony walked over to join them and said, "Um, Twilight, you okay?"

"Oh, hi Swift Blaze.” Twilight said. She picked her head up. “I'm not doing so well. I just can't decide who I should give the other ticket to. They all have good reason to go, and I don't want to disappoint them.”

"Have you thought of asking Princess Celestia about getting more tickets for all your friends?"

"I can't ask that! Don't you know how hard it is to get these tickets? It is a very exclusive and big event that anypony who is anypony will be attending. I just can't ask the Princess for more tickets."

"To answer the first part, no I don't. I just came to your world. For the second part, I do think she would give you the tickets as you are her student, one of the barriers of the Elements of Harmony, and especially your friend."

Twilight smiled at Blaze. She believed that he might be right.

"Now then, let’s order something. I’m starving." Blaze’s stomach rumbled in response.

Twilight giggled and agreed. She levitated a menu to him. He looked it over and saw most of the dishes either contained some flower or hay. Even though I am in a pony body, I can’t convince myself to eat those. The Earth pony went for a basic salad. Twilight ordered a daffodil and daisy sandwich. Spike had the hay fries, but extra crispy.

The food arrived soon after. Before they could chow down, nearby ponies were running into the buildings. Oh great. I recall this scene. The waiter asked Twilight and company from the door if they wanted to eat their food in the rain.

“It’s not raining.” said the Unicorn. She looked around and saw that everywhere else nearby was raining, except the spot they were at.

Blaze just said, “I will give you one guess what could have done this.”

She thought for a moment. Once the name came to her, her voice was loud enough for the culprit to hear it, “Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow popped her head over the opening above them. “Hi there, best friend forever I've ever, ever had. Enjoying the sunny weather?” said Rainbow Dash with a smile.

As they go back and forth about doing favors, Blaze started to chow down his food before the cloud opening was zipped up. The rain then fell on them. It caused the uneaten food to get soggy. Twilight’s frustration rose higher than before.

Soon after, Rarity showed up. She had an umbrella saddle on her keeping the white Unicorn dry. She invited all of them to dry off at her shop, but Blaze knew this pony had other motives. The Earth pony decided to intervene here.

“Hey Rarity, would you mind getting my measurements?” asked Blaze. “I would also like to see the outfit design you want to do for me.”

Rarity’s eyes sparkled at the thought. “Oh! It will be my pleasure! Oh, I have so many design ideas! I don’t know where to start. But first, we should get your measurements. Want to make sure they will fit you correctly. Please stand here and hold still.”

As the red Earth pony was getting measured, he mouthed to Twilight to meet her at her library. She nodded and left with Spike.

Time passed and Blaze felt he was standing there for an hour. But it had only been fifteen minutes. “Okay, darling, in a few hours, I should have the first design of many I have planned for you. You can either wait here, or come back.” said Rarity.

“I think I will wait here. If I could put my suggestion into it, I would like no gems. I prefer something that is comfortable, but should also be stealthy. Fabric that doesn’t make noise when you move about.” said Blaze.

“Interesting. I haven't done something like that before. What are you planning, Swift Blaze?" Rarity looked at him with a questionable look.

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Blaze quickly replied. “ I just like that style of clothing. Kinda like that gi outfit my human form was wearing when I arrived.”

“So that is the name of that style. Well, it will be a challenge, but I’m up for it. I’ll come get you when the design is done.”

“Thank you. I’ll go take a seat in the front.” Rarity nodded, then headed off to her workshop in the back. Blaze got comfortable on the sofa Wonder if God wouldn’t mind if I do some personal training in that space.

Blaze closed his eyes and focused on entering his mind. When he opened them, he was back in the white space. He looked around and saw how boring this was.

“Wish I could practice in someplace those DBZ fighter had fought in.” said Blaze.

The area changed to an open area with huge rocks. Huh, that was easy. Can I get a bacon double cheeseburger? Nothing happens.

Blaze turned his attention back to the task at hand, more training. He's been focusing on physical movement with God. He thinks this might be a good time to try some type of energy blast. The human focused the energy to his right hand. A red orb started to form just above it. He focused more energy into it, causing the sphere to grow bigger and shine brighter. Once it was the size of a softball, he launched it into a rock that was a good distance away. The rock exploded into dust.

"Yikes. I need to dial the energy down a peg or two. Anything more and you can kiss the planet goodbye."

Blaze scaled the energy he was using down. He continued to launch and adjust until he would cause cracks to spread out in the rocks.

With that done with, the next thing he wanted to practice more of was ki flying. Recalling this early morning routine, Blaze focused his ki to below his body. The skin on his arms and head was feeling the wind around him, blowing in all directions. The human increased the energy flow. Soon enough, he was off the ground. Just as the human was about to fly in this mind space, a shattering scream came from the distance. This knocked him back to the real world.

When Blaze opened his eyes, he was upside down in front of the couch. He looked around for the source of the scream. The Earth pony soon saw Rarity, standing at the entrance of her workshop, with a frightened look on her face.

“What’s going on?” Blaze asked. "And why am I upside down?"

Rarity did her best to compose herself. Then, in a scared tone, said, “I just got done with your outfit and came in to show when, I saw you floating above the couch! What in Equestria were you doing?”

Woah, guess my flying also occurred in the real world while in my mind. Glad none of those energy blast became real also. I need something to explain this. thought Blaze. “Um, I was trying to recall any other skill or ability that was placed in my head. I guess that I can float or something.”

“Are you saying you discovered a way for non-Pegasus to fly?”

“I don’t know anything about that. This ability is something I’m still figuring out. I didn’t think this pony body would be able to it.” Blaze changed the subject to avoid any more questions on this. “So, what is the new outfit you made?”

“Well, when I first saw your outfit in that, um, human body, I thought it was repulsive. But, after hearing about yourself and what you like, I can see how clothing can serve a function instead of being fashionable. So, for you, my dear friend, Swift Blaze, your new outfit for your pony form is a gi. Should feel the same like what you had, I just had to get your measurements to make sure it will fit.”

Rarity’s horn lit up as she levitated the outfit from the work shop. The style was an exact match. “Thank you so much Rarity! I can’t believe how you were able to get the design down just by seeing it on me. You really do have an eye for fashion design. Expect to see me soon when I need some other clothing to be made.”

“It’s not a problem, dear. I look forward to your future business. Now allow me to help put this on you so you can really admire it.”

“That might be a good thing as I don’t know how to put clothes on in pony form.”

She giggled at the comment. In a short time, Blaze was wearing his outfit in front of the full three angle view mirrors. Everything fit perfectly. Blaze turned his head to the Unicorn and said, “Again, Rarity, you did an outstanding job in recreating my gi outfit. You sure I can’t do anything to pay you back?”

“Of course not, darling. You are my friend and I love to make things for my friends with no payment in mind.”

“Thank you, again. Now then, if you excuse me, I am going to take my leave.”

She nodded and went back to her workshop.

Once Blaze was outside, he decided to check on Twilight Sparkle and Spike to see how they were doing. It didn't take the Earth pony long to find out. He went around a corner and saw a group of ponies tossing another pony above them in front of the Library. Seeing Twilight needing some possible help, Blaze ran toward the crowd. He was almost there, but then saw the purple Unicorn and small dragon that was holding her tail ran off in another direction with everyone else chasing them.

Oh goody, time for the chase scene. Better pick up the pace. thought Blaze. While running, he started to push chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to make quick jumps and gain some speed. Within a minute, the Earth pony had caught up to the pair.

Blaze shouted, “TWILIGHT! SPIKE! GET ON MY BACK IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE!" as he ran alongside them.

Twilight looked over and said, "Blaze!? Where did you come from?"

"No time for questions! Quickly, get on!"

Spike jumped from Twilight's back and onto Swift Blaze's. Twilight soon followed. Blaze felt the increased weight on his back, but the pony body was able to handle it.

"Buckle up. We are about to shift into Turbo!"

Before Twilight or Spike could respond, Blaze pushed more chakra to his hooves. This allowed him to increase his jump distance. The Earth pony was getting away from the mob that were chasing them. He went into an alley when Blaze guessed he had about a ten second lead. Time to go where they won't expect us to be. Blaze thought as he charged up his ki.

As the stallion stood still, Twilight said to him, "Bob, how did you . . . AHHH!!!"

The Earth pony just forced his ki with all he could down to the ground. This sent him and the others on his back up into the sky. Twilight and Spike screamed as they gained altitude. Twilight's mind was trying to figure out how this Earth pony was doing this

Blaze flew into a thick cloud to hide them. He whispered, “Ok, please quiet down. We don’t want them to find out where we went. Agreed?"

Twilight and Spike nodded while they finished recovering from the adrenaline rush. Both still couldn't believe what had happened.

"I will explain how I did this once we are safe.”

Blaze slowly poked his head out to see if the coast was clear. When it was, he flew them back to the library. Once back on solid ground at the front door, they hopped off the Earth pony and started to kiss the ground.

They went inside after that quick happy period. The Unicorn closed the door quickly. She then turned to Spike and said, "Quick! Close and lock all the windows and barricade the doors."

The lights turned on. Blaze saw Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had been waiting for them to come back. Twilight’s stress finally got to her as she confessed to them why she hadn’t been able to make a decision. Her friends saw how bad this was making the purple Unicorn feel. Each one decided and told her that they no longer wanted the ticket for different reasons.

Hearing their new decisions, Twilight felt relieved. She now knew what she should have done. “Spike, take a letter to Princess Celestia.” she said.

Spike grabbed a scroll and quill and started to write down what she wanted to say. The mares gasped when they heard she was returning both tickets.

"I do not want to go to the Gala without all of my friends." Twilight said to everyone in the room.

With the letter done, Spike blew his flame onto the scroll. It turned into a smoke, heading to Princess Celestia. A few minutes later, Spike belched a letter and read it out loud,

My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Why didn't you say so in the first place.

Six tickets appeared. All the mares cheered as they could all go to the Gala.

Blaze said to them, “Have fun at the Gala. Spike and I can use that time for a guy’s night out.”

Spike did another belch and another scroll appeared. It read,

To Spike and Swift Blaze,

I forgot to include tickets for you two in the previous scroll. Enjoy your time at the Gala.

Your Sun Ruler,

Princess Celestia.

Two tickets appeared with this scroll. “Looks we have our escorts to the Gala, now.” Rarity said.

Blaze replied to the comment with one of his own, “It also looks you will have to make me a tux for my pony and the human form if you want me to escort you girls to the Gala.”

Her smile went almost ear to ear. The white Unicorn’s eyes glittered as different designs were going through her head.

Twilight Sparkle's stomach rumbled, breaking the festive mood. The other mares decided to treat her to dinner for the grief they had caused their friend. Twilight only accepted if Blaze and Spike could join them. They all nodded.

On their way to the diner, the purple Unicorn said to the red Earth pony, "Once we place our orders, you have some explaining to do."

Blaze only response was, "Aww, <censor beep>."

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 6: Blaze, You Have Some Explaining To Do

The group made their way to a local diner. They all joked about the things they did to convince Twilight Sparkle to give them the second ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. Inside, the waitress mare greeted them, "Good evening. How many are there in your party?"

Pinkie Pie quickly said, "This isn't a party, or I would have brought my party canon. Wait, where did I leave it? OH! I know it's . . . mmph!"

Applejack had placed her hoof over the party pony's mouth as she continued to muffle what she was saying. "Hey, Red, sorry about that. There's eight of us," the orange mare replied.

"Not a problem, Applejack. Give me a few moments and I'll have your table ready." Red, the waitress walked away.

Applejack took her hoof down, once Pinkie was done saying what she was thinking. Blaze was in the middle of everyone, trying to think of the best way to explain what he did that day.

Red came back and led the ponies, and dragon, to the joined tables that can handle everyone. She passed out green menus and said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get your drink orders."

With that, she left as everyone went around the table to find a place to sit. There were no chairs, only cushions. Swift Blaze sat at one end of the table, while Spike took the other end. To the red Earth pony's left, sat Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. On Spike's left, sat Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

Red came back and took their drink and food orders. When she left, both Twilight and Rarity looked at Blaze with a waiting look in their eyes. It was as if they were expecting something from the stallion. He took a big gulp down his throat while getting a double third degree stare.

“So, Blaze, care to explain what you did today?" Twilight asked.

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I do need to explain, seeing I did something no Earth pony could do, I think."

"Nothing recorded without the aid of magic or some small, personal, flying contraption."

"Wait," said Rainbow Dash. "Are you saying that he, who's been a pony for two days, somehow flew? I think, Twilight, the chaos of today made you see things."

"I agree with Rainbow on this one. There is no way a mere Earth Pony could fly without some Unicorn or Pegasus help." said Applejack.

Blaze said, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was flying today. I floated in Rarity's shop and I helped Twilight and Spike escape from a mob of ticket hungry ponies."

"How in tarnation did you pull that off?"

"Remember when I said that super being had given me some abilities?"

The ponies and dragon nodded their heads.

"Well, it turns out that one of them is to fly."

Rainbow said, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Then tomorrow, I will show you. Better yet, we can do a little race.” Blaze said with a smile.

“You do realize you just challenged the fastest flyer in Equestria?”

“No, I challenged the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. We shall see who is faster.”

“Alright! It . . . is . . . on!”

Their orders arrived soon after. The pony started to talk about what they want to do at the Gala. Blaze and Spike just sat quietly and ate their food. The mares paid for the meal, including what the red stallion and dragon ordered.

After they left the diner, Blaze asked, “So girls, who's place am I going to be sleeping at tonight?”

“I suggest you come with me,” Twilight said. “You have a meeting with the Princess before she will introduce you to the town in your human form. The event is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. If my calculations are correct, that will be about the time your spell should end.”

“I guess that makes sense. So, I will see the rest of you sometime tomorrow.” Blaze turned his head to the purple Unicorn. “Lead the way. My body feels tired enough to sleep standing.”

“Bye, girls. I better get this stallion to his own bed before he collapses on the road.” They giggle at that and separate to go to their homes. Blaze followed Twilight to the library with Spike. They went inside and closed the door.

“So, where will I be sleeping tonight? Is it in the basement, a different bed, or maybe your bed?” He said with a smile.

Twilight stopped in her tracks and coughed a bit. She turned her head to him. “Excuse me?” she said with a scary look in her eyes.

The stallion raised his fore hooves in front of him. He waved them about as he said, “Sorry! Sorry! It was a human joke. The cot in the basement will be fine.”

Spike said, "I don't get it. I sleep in Twilight's room. Where's the joke?"

She calmed down. “It's ok. You don’t have to sleep in the basement. I have a guest bedroom upstairs that you can use.”

“Thank you. If it's not too much to ask, do you think you can bring my stuff up to the room as well?”

“Not a problem. I'm still holding your word that you are going to show me that fancy device that has tons of information.” Twilight used her magic and brought them to the foot of the bed.

“I haven't forgotten, Twilight. Once you see what's in there, you'll probably get a brain overload." Blaze chuckled after that comment. "Goodnight, Spike, Twilight. See you in the morning. One last thing, can you tell me where your bathroom is? I would like to freshen up.”

“Sleep tight, Blaze. The bathroom is the next door on the right.” The Unicorn and dragon left the room and closed the door.

After thirty minutes of figuring out how, Blaze was finally able to get his new gi off, without ripping it. Once the bathroom business of cleaning up and using the facilities was done, he headed back to the guest room, climbed under the covers, and fall asleep.

His eyes opened to reveal he was back in his mind space. Bob took a look around for his trainer, but he wasn't there. He shouted, "Oh God! I need to chat with you!"

"Someone who was turned into a pony called my name?” a voice said behind the human.

Bob turned around and said, "I almost blew my sleep training! I was floating in my sleep. How could that have happened? I'm just grateful nothing else showed up in the real world."

God was dressed up as a janitor with a mop in his hands. "Oops, silly me, I forgot to disconnect that. Give me one moment."

He walked a few feet to his right and pulled at something. It revealed to be a maintenance panel with switches, buttons, and lights in no particular order. God's eyes looked around inside, trying to find the correct thing to select.

"Ah! There is the nasty bugger. That shouldn't happen anymore."

With that, the panel was closed and disappeared from out of sight.

Bob said, "Thanks. While you are here, mind helping me build up my flying speed?"

"This wouldn't be for a race you talked yourself into?"

"Kinda is. I know I've only started my training, but I need a crash course in aerial flying if I want to stand a chance."

"I suppose. But don't think this would get you off from training tomorrow night." God shifted his form to Major Payne. "I'm gonna make you nice and strong."

The next morning, Blaze woke up again before dawn. His body ached from the intense mind training he’d went through. But the pony was glad he did. He got out of bed and stretched all his limbs. Then, quietly put on his gi. It took less effort this time in getting it off.

Blaze exited the room and made his way to the outside. Once there, the Earth pony started his morning jog to the hill to do some physical training. He stretched his limbs and body a little more in the open space. Then, the stallion went into balance training to stay on the back hooves longer.

After about an hour this, Blaze made his way back to the library. Once inside, he saw that Twilight and Spike had not waken up. Let's see how well I can cook with these hooves. He thought in his head as he held up his fore hooves in front of him.

Blaze made his way to the kitchen. He looked in the pantry and fridge to see what was available. The stallion found enough ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes from scratch. He made them plenty of times back on Earth, so the basic of the recipe is easy to recall.

The pony got on his hind legs and gathered the food and cooking utensils to make everyone there a nice breakfast. He mixed up the batter and added the chocolate chips into it. Then, he turned on the stove, without catching on fire. Finally, he placed a flat skillet and started pouring the batter onto it. Blaze heard some movement coming from upstairs.

He continued to cook when Spike came into the kitchen and said, “What smells delicious?”

Blaze replied, “One of my favorite kind of pancakes, chocolate chip. Did the cooking wake both of you?”

“It sure did. Hope you made enough.” Spike said as he licked his mouth with his dragon tongue.

“I made enough for seconds. Go ahead and sit at the table. The first batch is almost done”

He did so very quickly. Twilight entered the dining room and joined her assistant. "Good morning Swift Blaze. How nice of you to make breakfast. I hope you were not at it very long." she said.

Blaze said from the kitchen, “It took me a while to get started. Mostly because I'm not used to holding things with these hooves. I had to focus how my hand would normally grab the items.”

The stallion walked in on his hind legs as he carried two plates in his fore hooves. He placed them down on the table. As he was about to go and get his, Blaze saw it float in with a magical aura around it. His plate landed at an empty spot on the table.

The red Earth pony smiled as he said, “I can see how Unicorns don’t have an issue with holding items. Their levitation magic makes it easy.”

“In case you’re wondering, not all Unicorns can do that," Twilight said in-between bites. "Their magic more ties to what their special talent is.”

“I'm still impressed as there is no magic on my planet. That's why the human civilization went down the scientific path. That allowed us to develop items to make our lives easier, . . . sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let's just say that not everything that was made was a good thing." Blaze's smile went away as he recalled some of the destruction the planet Earth went through. "I don’t feel comfortable talking about it right now. I'll explain it later. Have to think of the best way to describe it."

"Sorry to bring up any painful memories."

"It's ok. Oh, I have a tiny request. Please don’t go snooping through my bags. It's more for your safety.”

Spike said with food in his mouth, "What do you have in there? Is it some weird human food that is harmful to ponies and dragons? Oh wait! Do you have something that could destroy everything?"

“Spike! Be respectful to Swift Blaze and his request. Also, don't talk with your mouth full. How many times have I told you." Twilight turned her head to Blaze. "I understand and respect your wish. I will not go looking through your things. That is a Pinkie Promise.”

They finished eating the pancakes. Not a crumb was left of them. Twilight and Spike thanked the stallion for making breakfast. Spike gathered the dishes and took them back into the kitchen to clean them. Twilight Sparkle helped out by drying them and putting them away.

Once done, they walked back into the library. Blaze was sitting on a cushion, reading a book of the different creatures in Equestria.

"Seeing you have challenged Rainbow Dash to a flying race. How about we head to the park so you can get some practice in," said Twilight.

Blaze closed the book and said, “Sounds like a plan to me. Some real world practice would be good."

“Then let’s get going. Spike, do you want to come too?”

“As long as I can stay on the ground, sure. I would love to see if somepony is able to keep up with Rainbow Dash," said Spike. "How about I go and gather the others and meet you there."

"Ok, Spike. See you there."

They left the library and headed out, the two ponies to the park, and Spike to round up their friends. When Twilight and Blaze arrived at the park, the sky only had a few clouds being placed overhead by the Pegasus. They found an open space that was deserted. The red Earth Pony went to the middle of it. The Unicorn stayed a couple yards back.

"Alright, time to get the air-born." said Blaze.

He closed his eyes and focused his ki to his hooves. The mind training paid off as he was floating off the ground. When he opened his eyes, Twilight has gotten closer. She was walking around the stallion with her horn glowing.

"Amazing! I can't detect how you are doing this," Twilight said with excitement.

Blaze said as he floated in the air, "It's from an energy source called ki. Another name for it that you may know is life force. From what I can tell, I'm channeling it to push against the gravity the planet is pulling on me."

A scroll and quill appeared next to Twilight. "What else do you know about this life force you call ki?"

"All living things have this. From the grass, the animals, and the ground below our hooves. Even all the ponies and any other talking creature on this planet has it. Some may say it's their soul. For those that learn to access this, it can be a great asset, or something dangerous. It took a while for that super being I mentioned to teach me how to access mine."

"Interesting. How much of this energy do you think you have?"

"I honestly don't know how to tell. It's not like I have a Z Scouter that could measure it."

"Huh?" Twilight asked with a confused look.

"Uh, never mind that. All I do know is, the more I use this source, it will likely increase its capacity."

The quill is moving fast as Blaze was talking. "I would like to bring you to my lab so I can see if we can get an actual reading. No sense in letting the equipment continue collecting dust in the basement."

"We can do that another time." Blaze looked off in the distance. "Looks like our friends have arrived."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for wasting your training time!" Twilight said as she magically sent the scroll and quill away. "This life force was so intriguing, I got caught up in wanting to learn more."

"It's ok. I got a basis of how to use it while talking. That way, I won't lose my concentration and fall out of the sky."

Rainbow and the others soon showed up to where Blaze and Twilight were. Each one had a surprised look on their faces. "Alright. Nice attempt at a prank, Twilight. You can stop using your magic," said Rainbow.

"I'm not using my magic. See?" Twilight touched her horn.

"So, then there's another Unicorn doing it."

Blaze said, "Nope, no magic is involved. I'm doing this all by myself." He did a backward somersault to demonstrate.

"Well, I still don't think you can out-fly me. You only started flying. I've been flying all my life."

"Then let’s make it interesting by placing a bet. If you win, I will do whatever you want for the next week. That means anything. But, if I win, you'll teach me all the flight maneuvers you know. Do we have a deal?” Blaze held his hoof out to do a hoofshake.

“Oh, this is so on! You got a deal! Be prepared to be humiliated!”

They shook their hooves. Blaze landed and stood next to Rainbow. She stretched her wings. He heard a couple pops come from them.

Rainbow said, “Here is the course, newbie. We'll fly to Canterlot to the highest tower of the castle, do a loop around it, and return here."

"That sounds simple enough.” Blaze replied.

“Then I'll see you at the finish line, tomorrow!”

“I'll make you eat those words." Blaze turned to Twilight. "Do you want to tell us when to go?”

“Sure.” Twilight said.

The purple Unicorn moved in front of the red Earth stallion and blue Pegasus mare. Those two had determination showing on their faces.

After a couple seconds, Twilight said, “On your marks. . . Get set. . . GO!”

Rainbow Dash was first off the line. Swift Blaze moved behind her in flight. She flew near her top speed. The stallion managed to keep up. They saw the city on the mountain, Canterlot, getting close. Both ponies made their way to the highest tower and completed the looped around it.

As they headed back to Ponyville, Blaze yelled to Dash, “Is this all you got? I thought you can break the sound barrier.”

“Then eat my rainbow dust!” She increased her speed and did the sonic rainboom.

From seeing this, Blaze thought That's is so beautiful. Wait, I can't lose focus now. I have a race to win. He focused on pushing more ki out. The increased thrust allowed him to break the sound barrier too.

Instead of a bright, rainbow circle that formed from the break, Blaze created what appeared to be a red, flame circle. It expanded like the sonic rainboom, but after a few seconds, the flames died off and left a gray smoke circle. It didn't grow in size.

The other thing was there was no trail of color following the Earth pony as he skyrocketed to catch up with the Pegasus. He soon caught up to Dash. Her face was in a little shock from seeing another creature flying as fast as she ever had

With a smile to her, Blaze shouted, “No, you can eat my afterburner!”

He pushed the most ki he has ever tried. The stallion sped away in front of Rainbow Dash. Soon afterwards, he reached Mach Two.

Instead of the fiery red circle, this one created a bright blue fire. It lasted long enough for Rainbow to fly through the center. Blaze was now creating a blue fire trail behind the path he was flying. It only lasted a few seconds before turning into smoke.

The finish line the other had created was approaching fast. It was a banner across two poles that was above them. Blaze flew just above it, causing the paper to catch on fire.

At the instant he crossed it, a thought popped into his head, HOW DO I STOP?? He frantically tried to do reverse directions on his ki as he waved all his hooves in a pattern similar to a back stroke.

The ponies and dragon on the ground saw he was getting close to the clearing edge. In a panicked voice, they shouted, "Blaze! Watch out for that tree!"

The out of control flying Earth Pony closed his eyes as he braced for impact. Nothing happened. He peeked through one eye. Blaze saw his nose was about one inch from contact with the trunk of the tree. With both eyes opened, he saw he was in an upright vertical position. All of his hooves were placed like he was hugging the tree.

Taking a big sigh of relief, Blaze floated back to his friends, who were waiting. The banner had burnt to ashes.

Rainbow Dash crossed the finish line and landed in front of her friends, out of breath. “How (breath) in (breath) Equestria (breath) did you (breath) beat me (breath)?”

They all turned and looked at Blaze with a questioning look on their faces. “What? I am surprised as you all are. I thought that I might have a very slim chance. I just never realized how high my ki strength was. I wonder if I can go even faster.” he said.

They all dropped their mouths open from hearing that. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack fainted.

Blaze, with a blushed look on his face, said, “Guess we should try and wake them before I continue.”

The others nodded and started to try and wake them.

After a half an hour, they started to regain consciousness. Everyone was now under a nearby tree for some shade. Those three looked around to recall where they were. All at the same time, they looked at Blaze with the same surprised look. “You three have a nice nap?” the stallion said as he leaned against the tree trunk.

“What in tarnation did you say again?” Applejack asked.

“Well, before you three fainted, I said that I think I can go faster than what I was doing.”

“How fast were you going, anyway?” Twilight asked.

“Well, breaking the sound barrier requires a speed of Mach One. I don’t know the exact speed, but I was going at least Mach Two.”

They all dropped their mouth open again, but no one fainted this time.

“Look, I don’t know the exact science in how I was able doing it. The fact is, I'm not actually a pony, so Rainbow Dash is still the fastest Pegasus in Equestria. I'm a human with strange abilities that I'm still figuring out. A human freak that doesn't know why he thought of leaving his world because of some chaotic event.” Blaze said in a frustrated tone. He got onto his four hooves and started to walk off.

“Wait, darling! We don’t think you are a freak. We are your friends and do care about you. You just startled us. That is all,” Rarity said. “Can you explain the last thing you said?”

“I rather not talk about it at the moment. It’s a sensitive subject I am not ready to talk about. I will meet everypony before the rally at the library. I just need some time alone to do some thinking.”

Before they could say another word, the stallion flew off and out of sight. He made his way to the top of a nearby mountain. The pony sat on a rock near the top. His mind was in a battle of decisions that needed to be made. Can I really tell them about what happened? Will they still accept me for not being true to myself? There are so many things that could happen, I don't know what to think! Blaze place his fore hooves on either side of his head. Just thinking about this is getting a headache. I really want to tell them. It's just that I was nothing back on Earth. No one would have really noticed if I did disappear. But here, they all like me. I have, friends. He lowered his hooves and put a smile from this happy thought.

“Something troubling you, Swift Blaze?” said a pony behind Blaze.

He jumped in shock as the stallion turned around. He saw Princess Celestia was standing a few feet away from him. “How did you find me?” he said as he was calming his heart beat back down. He sat back down on the rock he was just on.

Princess Celestia moved to sit next to Blaze. She turned her head to him and said, “Twilight sent me a letter stating you flew off after stating something about some event that occurred back on your home world. I used my magic to detect you and teleported here. Mind telling me what is troubling you?”

Blaze looked at the ground in front of him as he replied, “I knew this topic would come up sooner or later. I've been trying to come up with the words to explain why I choose this and why I have my powers. I guess you can say that I'm afraid of wondering what they might think.”

The Princess of the Sun wrapped a wing around his back. “Your friends do care about you and are currently worried. Whatever you tell them, they still will care about you. You have been helpful to your friends and they want to help you during this time." Princess Celestia rose from the rock and stretched out her wings. "Now then, let’s head back so we can introduce you to the town.”

“Sure. Let’s fly back so I can get some more practice in.”

“I would like that. Plus, it would allow me to see how you actually flew up here. Twilight tried to explain to me in her letter, but I think she was missing some things.”

"I bet she was." Blaze stood up and started to float above the ground. "This is how, Princess Celestia."

"Interesting, I can see why Twilight would have a difficult time explaining this. Well, shall we get going back to Ponyville?"

With that, they flew back at a gradual pace. Blaze explained to the Princess about the ki energy and what it can be used for. When he told about the race, she wobbled a bit in her flight when the stallion mentioned breaking the sound barrier, twice.

They landed just outside the library's front door. Princess Celestia used her magic and went in first. Blaze quickly followed. Just as the Alicorn moved out of the way, He saw the six ponies and Spike were in there with worried looks on their faces. When they spotted the stallion at the entryway, their frowns disappeared and were replaced with big smiles. Blaze was then met with them running toward him. There was no time to react as he was tackled to the ground outside.

"I'm sorry for making you worried about me. I never had any friends that cared about me so much like you all do,” said Blaze.

All the ponies and dragon got off of him. The red Earth pony looked at each one as they spoke.

“I'm glad you're feeling better. Also know, whenever you’re ready to talk about that thing, please know that we will still feel the same way about you, no matter what.” Twilight said.

Applejack said, “That’s right, sugarcube. You have new friends who care about your well being.”

“We don’t care about who you were in your world, darling. You are here with us and we are happy you somehow came here,” said Rarity.

“The joy you brought to my animals shows you are a very good human, and I'm happy to be your friend,” said Fluttershy.

Pinkie Pie bounced up and down as she said, “The pranks you've pulled have been the best I've ever seen and everypony has enjoyed them. I can’t wait to see your next one. Also, I always do my best to turn my friend’s frown upside-down, so if you are ever gloomier, come and see me and I will cure that frowny face right off.”

“I'm glad I met you. You have given me the determination to increase my training. Just knowing that somepony, or human for that matter, is out there and is faster than me. So plan on us having a rematch soon. I'm also glad you came here and keep on helping us when it is needed,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Even though we haven't hung out that much yet, I look forward to hanging out with you and to do some guy stuff,” Spike said. He got closer and whispered, “I can only take this girly stuff so much.”

“As you can see, Swift Blaze, you have great and wonderful friends that truly care about you. You no longer need to hide about your past from us. We'll understand whatever you say and accept it as who you are,” said Princess Celestia.

“Thank you, everyone. I'm deeply touched. I will tell you soon about my past, but today is not the day. I know now that I should tell you the truth about me, I just need time to get my thoughts together. Hope you understand.”

“Of course we do.” They all said.

“Now this is taken care of for the moment, how about we introduce me to Ponyville?” asked Blaze.

Princess Celestia replied with her own question, “When are you going to be turned back to a human?”

“I think the spell ends around 3pm.” Twilight said.

“That is when the ceremony starts. I think the citizens will definitely be surprised when you change back.”

“Quick question, will I be in pain again as I change back? It was some extreme levels when I changed into a pony.” said Blaze as he rubbed the back of his head.

“More than likely.” Twilight said.

“Then shall we hold off the event till you change back, Blaze?” asked the Princess.

“I think it would be best. That way I don’t tarnish the minds of any young ponies with anything as I scream out in pain. Probably the safest place would be in the Library's basement. I'll just wait down there." said Blaze.

Twilight said, "Then we too shall go down there and . . ."

Blaze stopped her as he said, "No. I would like to do this by myself. I was doing my hardest to not scream any profanity during the initial transformation. I just don't know if I can hold it back again."

“We all understand. I shall inform the mayor that we are going to delay the introduction ceremony.” said Princess Celestia.

“Thank you. I shall see you all in a few hours.”

The stallion headed down into the basement. He took off the pony gi to avoid destroying it, during the change. Seeing the pony had time to kill, he went over and sat on the cot. Then entered his mind space.

In there, the area looks like a classroom. But not like ones in the United States. This had more of a Japanese feel. Blaze looked at the chalkboard and saw a note written out in English:

I'm sorry Mr. Smith, but I can't be with you right now. You know, the whole God thing and all. I left some scrolls on the teacher’s desk for you to read and learn some new Ninjutsu. Have fun.

- G

"Well, at least now this explains the classroom layout and all." Blaze said to himself.

He walked over and began studying these new techniques. Hours later, just as he finished getting better with the last one, a massive surge of pain knocked him back to the real world.

Blaze rolled off the cot and onto the floor. The transformation process had begun. He didn't hold back on what he thought of the pain. "AHH! MOTHERFUCKING JACKASS! I HATE THIS SPELL! SON OF AN ASS RAPING BITCH!”

He continued to yell and curse as the bones rearranged back to that of a human body. The feeling is like having them stretched, compressed and on fire all at the same time. After several minutes, Bob was back to his human body, naked. As the pain subsided, he soon realized the condition he was in.

Shit. I forgot to grab some human clothes to put on after I that.

Bob looked around for something to cover himself up. He noticed a gift package was underneath the cot. The human pulled it out and saw a card was on top of it. It said:

Dear Swift Blaze,

Inside you will find the clothing you wore when you arrived. I had Rarity clean and mend it. I teleported it down to the basement after you have gone down. See you soon.

-Twilight Sparkle

The human, with a smile on his face, opened the box and put on the repaired gi. He picked up the pony gi, went up the stairs, and opened the door. Bob spotted some of the ponies were playing games while the others were chatting away about something.

“I’m baaaccckkkk,” he said as he showed off his human form again. They looked at him with happy faces. “I hope none of you heard what I was saying as I was changing back.”

“Not to worry. I placed a sound proofing spell around the basement so no sound could escape. We heard nothing,” said Twilight. “I see you found the package I left down there.”

“I did, and thank you. So where is the Princess?”

“I’m right here,” The Princess said as she came in walking in from the outside. “Just got done talking to the Mayor about delaying the ceremony. We also chatted about some other business. It’s good to see you are back to your human form again.”

“It feels good to be in my original body again. You have no idea how much I missed my fingers,” Bob said as he waved them about.

“I take it you are ready for me to introduce you to Ponyville?”

“One sec, want to test a theory that came to me while I was down there,” Bob placed the pony gi down on a nearby chair. With quick hand formation, he transformed back to his pony form. “Rarity, would you mind helping me get my gi on?”

She cast a quick spell and the clothes appeared on the stallion. “There you go, darling. Now, why did you want to put this back on when you’ll be going back to a human.”

Blazed replied, “I’ll tell you if this works. And sorry ahead of time if it doesn’t.”

He released the transformation and saw he was back to his human body wearing the original gi. The pony clothing was nowhere in sight.

With a smile on his face, Bob said, “That proved the first half. Now for the second part.”

He redid the jutsu and changed back again. His pony form was still wearing the clothing.

“And that confirms my theory,” said Blaze.

With a confused look, Applejack asked “Mind telling us what ya talking about sugarcube?”

“Gladly. As you see, when I changed into this form, I concentrated on being the pony version of me. The result of it is that I changed into what I last looked like, including the clothing that was being worn. I’ve discovered a different transform ability. This isn’t like when I changed into Pinkie Pie and copied her movements. I think this style is called a shadow transform jutsu. The transformation is almost realistic and has everything that form has,” Blaze turned to Rarity and said, “That’s why I wanted to put the gi on you made, Rarity. It proved that this shadow transformation forms are stored somewhere in my mind. I get a real pony body instead of an illusion that can be easily broken. With this now, I’ll be using it so I won’t cry out in pain when I change.”

“That’s very interesting about this new ability. At some time, would you allow me to get some data on this too?” Twilight asked with her big eyes looking at him.

“Not a problem. Unless you are planning to cut me open like an, wait, I am an alien!”

“Huh?” All the ponies and the dragon said at the same time.

“It’s another human joke. Going to need to work on which ones you ponies might actually get.”

“If everything is good now, shall we get going to the ceremony? I hate to keep everypony waiting,” said Princess Celestia.

“I’m ready. Let’s get going.”

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 7: Hello Ponyville!

The group exited the library and made their way to City Hall. The ceremony is set to take place inside. The Princess was in front. The Mane Six and dragon were grouped up behind her. Swift Blaze was in the back. As they got closer, the red Earth stallion saw other ponies heading inside. None of them stood out of the ones he knew from the show, nor the ones that fans named.

Princess Celestia stopped in her tracks. She turned her head to the other and said, “Ok, everypony, Blaze and I are going to the backstage. He can meet with you all again afterwards.”

The mares and dragon looked to Blaze with cheerful smiles. He said, “It’s ok, everyone. I'll do my best to handle whatever reaction the townsfolk might do. I'll stay calm about it. All they need is time for them to get to know me as it did with all of you."

“Ok, Blaze. We know you can handle yourself. But, please be careful.” Twilight said. The others nodded in agreement.

The stallion nodded his head back. Then, he followed the Princess to the back. There were a couple Royal Guard ponies standing on either side of the back door. They bowed their heads as the Princess went inside. Blaze was about to follow, when the two guards stopped him. They pushed him back a bit with the back end of their spears. “Halt! You are now allowed to enter here. Only the Princesses, the mayor, and the new guest may enter. Go back to the front entrance,” one of the guards said.

Blaze replied, “I happen to be the guest of Equestria. So if you would step aside and let me . . .”

“HA! You can’t be the guest! We were told it was a strange and freaky creature. You are a normal Earth pony wearing odd clothing,” the other guard said.

“Freak!? Did you just call me a FREAK?” Blaze said in a louder tone. His left eye started to twitch. He looked at them and said in a serious tone, “Last chance. Please, step aside, so I can be introduced to the town.”

“Move along or we will have to force you!” they both said.

Blaze stood up on his hind hooves. He placed one fore hoof pointing straight at them. The other was pulled back so it was near his head. With a smile, he replied, “Like to see you try.”

The guards charged at the red stallion in an attempt to tackle him to the ground. Blazed jumped up and backwards to avoid being hit. In the middle of the flip, he transformed back into a human and landed on his feet, repeating the same position it was in before.

Those guards skidded to a stop in their tracks. They went from strong guard to full frightened mode. Blaze shifted his stance to a more offensive position, in case they charged again. The guards started to back up to the building.

“I thought you were going to force me to go to the front entrance? Or, did I scare the shit out of you?” said Blaze.

“Um, sorry about the confusion, sir. Your body as a pony was so realistic, we couldn’t detect it was an illusion spell,” one of the guards said with fear in their voice.

“Yeah, we really thought you were just another earth pony trying to get a back stage access,” the other guard said with the same tone.

“Next time, ask the Princess that just entered before me if I'm with her.” Blaze transformed back and walked to the entrance. As he passed by the scared stiff guards, the Earth Pony noticed a small, wet area beneath both of them.

Blaze saw the Princess was looking at a couple note cards. He walked up to her and said, “Excuse me, Princess Celestia, why didn't you stop the guards and tell them about my pony form?”

She turned her head to him and replied, “I wanted to see their reaction as well as yours. You are defiantly agile. I think you might do very well in our Royal Guard.”

“If that is the best of them, I think your training needs an overhaul. Let’s get through this first. I'll probably scare these ponies the same way when I go human form. I'll think about your offer and get back to you.”

“Very well, wait for my signal to come onto the stage.” She went around the backdrop and stepped onto the stage. Blaze heard all the ponies cheering for her. “Hello citizens of Ponyville! Today is a grand day. A new creature has come to our world and would like to be part of the community. Now don't be afraid of him. I know he's nothing like we've seen before, but I assure you that he means us no harm. You may have noticed him already and didn't realize it. He disguised himself as a pony so he could learn about the town and our customs. Please, allow me to introduce to you, Swift Blaze!”

The red stallion came around the backdrop and onto the stage. The cheers died off when the crowd saw his pony form. Only ones that continued to cheer were Blaze's current friends. All the ponies had confused look on their faces. One pony in the back yelled, “That's no strange creature. That's just an Earth Pony wearing some odd clothing.”

Blaze stood up on his hind legs and replied, “Really! Then let me show you my true form!”

He released the jutsu. A cloud appeared around his form. Once it dissipated, a human was now standing there. All the ponies gasped at seeing him change. Blaze thought he saw a few faint in the middle, but none were Rarity. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “Your Princess did say I was in a pony form to blend with the town until this introduction could happen."

Once the crowd calmed down, Blaze resumed his speech, "First off, I would like to thank you, Princess Celestia, for the nice introduction. I think I should explain some things about myself that you might be wondering about. I would only ask if you can please hold all questions until I'm done.”

Some nodded while others whispered between themselves. “Ok then, let's start off with that my species is called human . . .”

“HA! I KNEW THEY EXISTED!” Lyra Heartstrings yelled somewhere in the crowd. "YOU ALL LAUGHED AT ME, SAYING THEY ARE MYTHS! HUMAN! HUMAN! I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS!" Two Unicorn guards walked up to her. "No! I will not quiet down! I must get some answers from him before he gets away!" They placed her in a bubble barrier and took her out. "Hey! Stop this! I need to get my answers! HUMAN! I WILL FIND YOU!" The doors closed when they exited the building.

“Anyway, the place that I come from, there is no magic. We are a technological race where we used science to help with everyday living. We walk on two legs and don’t have hooves. The bottom parts of my legs are called feet, and at the end of my arms are what are called hands,” Blaze said as he pointed each body part out. “These tiny things at the end of my hand are called fingers and they allow us humans to grab things as well as other stuff,” he said as he flexed them about.

“Now then, I am not your typical human. I've discovered that I have certain abilities. While you have magic to do some unique things, I use a different energy source within me. One of which allows me to change my form mimic the appearance of anypony. You've just seen me in my own pony form. I think I'll demonstrate by looking like another pony in this room.”

Swift Blaze looked over to the Princess and give her a wink. She nodded as she had a good guess who he is going to do. The human placed his hands together is some formation. A cloud again covered himself. When it disappeared again, another Princess Celestia was standing there.

The ponies were gasped again. The real and fake Princess of the Sun mirrored each other’s movement. They circled around each other so much, the crowd lost track of which one is real. With them panicking, Blaze decided to end the charade and go back to his human form.

Once the cloud dissipated, Blaze raised his arms as he worked on calming everyone down. He said, “I'm making this promise to you citizens, right now, that I won’t use these techniques to cause any harm."

"For another skill I discovered this morning, any ponies here that were in or near the park?" A couple hooves shot up. "So you saw that Rainbow Dash, one of my new friends, was in a race with an unknown pony." More of the crowd nodded their heads. "Well, I was the pony she was racing."

A Pegasus that was off to the side shouted, "I don't believe it! You came in here as an Earth pony. There was no way you could have out flown her. Even Unicorn magic would not allow you to keep up. She's the fastest thing in Equestria."

Blaze replied, "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but, " he started to hover above the stage high enough so they all could see. “I was that pony Rainbow was racing. It was just a test to see how fast I might be able to go. Be proud of her as she had me really pushing this skill. I've never seen a creature back on my world that can move as fast as she did. To even perform that sonic rainboom, I almost lost my concentration. I'm glad to have her as a friend. Don't worry, she already had me promise to a rematch in the future.”

The ponies started to chant Rainbow’s name. She flew above the crowd to accept the chant. Then, returned back to sit with the other new friends Blaze had made.

“That is pretty much the basics about me. Does anypony have a question for me?” the human said as he scanned the crowd

“How did you arrive here?” asked a pony somewhere in the middle.

“It hurt a lot as I fell from the sky.”

Another pony said, “You just showed us that you can fly. Why didn’t you do that when you were falling?”

“I didn't know how to when I arrived. These abilities, I'm still learning about what I'm capable of." Blaze looked to another section of the crowd. "Next question?” he asked.

“Why do you wear clothing all the time?” A Unicorn mare asked.

“Well, humans don’t have fur all over their body like you ponies do. We do have hair on our head for the same reason you stylize your mane. The other reason is because," he cleared his throat as he started to blush. Blaze said the next thing very fast, "human males can’t hide a certain body part like colts can. NEXT!”

A several mares in the front giggled as their eyes looked the human over. Seeing this, Blaze thought, Oh, I think I'm going to regret that in the future.

“What is your special talent?” A little filly asked from the back.

“Well, I don't know if you would call it a talent. To me, it's more of a belief. I didn't have one until I was magically transformed into an Earth pony by Twilight Sparkle." Blaze rolled the sleeve up on his right upper arm. His cutie mark was revealed as he turned it towards the ponies. “As you can see, this symbol has two rotating pools. One of them is white, while the other is black. They are in perfect balance to each other. Back in my world, they called this the yin and yang symbol. It basically means balance. But, for me, I think this cutie mark means the balance of the body and the mind. That means I do a fair amount of work on my body to keep it fit. And with the mind, I keep it sharp so I am able to react fast to almost any situation. Everywhere you look, there is a balance in play. Here are just a few examples: the sun and moon, chaos and harmony, good and evil, and so on. The universe, like everything in balance so if something tips it too far, the devastation will follow." Blaze rolled the sleeve back down. Then, he said, "Who else as a question for me?”

“Do you have a special somepony?” A mare yelled from the crowd.

Blaze did his best to hold his composure as he replied, “Special somepony? I don’t know the entire lingo here, but if you referring to a girlfriend, then I do not. I haven't been in this world for even a week yet. It's too early for me to think about that. I don’t know even if I want one right now. So sorry ladies, this guy is keeping his single card for now."

Blaze raised one of his arms as he said, "I think that's enough questions now. I'll see you all in Ponyville at some point. I'm here to who knows when!” He started to wave. The ponies applauded and cheered for him. The human was about to walk off the stage when . . .

“Just hold it for a second there, Swift Blaze. There's something else the mayor and I would like to give you.” Princess Celestia said. She then turned to the crowd to address them. Her horn lit up as she revealed an open scroll. “To help you get started in this fair town, Mayor Mare and I would like to give you this deed to three acres of land outside of town for you to build a house on and to your spec when you want to.” She rolled it up and levitated it to Blaze.

He grabbed onto it and started to tear up. This was the biggest generosity he had ever received. “I don't know what to say. Thank you, Princess Celestia and Mayor Mare, for the generous gift, I really do appreciate it.” The ponies started to cheer again as the human finally left the stage.

Blaze went outside and waited for his friends to show up. He saw them coming around the building very quickly. There was no time for him to dodge as Pinkie collided with him first, causing the two to land on the ground. “What an amazing gift to receive. I've never seen anypony get that from the Mayor and Princess. You're so lucky,” Pinkie said while on top of the human.

Applejack said, “Come on Pinkie, get off of him."

Pinkie jumped off of him as quickly as he was tackled.

The orange mare said to Blaze, "Would you let me see that deed? I think I can show ya where the land is at.”

Blaze got up and gave the deed to her.

“Ok, partner, follow me and I'll show you where your land is at.”

The group followed Applejack out of town to a nearby hill. The human recognized it, as it was where he has been training each morning. Blaze smiled at the thought that this land was his now. Hmm, Princess Celestia must have been spying on me each morning. I would like to figure out how and why. Maybe think of a way to teach her about how it's not nice to spy on others.

Rarity said, “What a lovely piece of land. It was nice of the Princess to give this to you.”

“You are not far from my cottage. You can come by whenever you want to, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy said.

Applejack added, “Blaze, you're also close to my farm. If ya need anything, come on over, sugarcube.”

“So, when are you going to get in contact with an engineer to design and build your house?” asked Twilight.

“Let’s not think about that right now. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm starving,” Blaze said.

His stomach growled in agreement. Everyone laughed at this.

The group headed back into town and made their way to a restaurant. Blaze stayed in his human form. He figured this would be so the town ponies will need to get used to it. Upon entering the place, the chatter from the ponies already in there suddenly stops as every eye in the establishment looked at the human.

Blaze cautiously said, “Uh, hi. Can I get a booth for me and my friends?”

The hostess was a yellow Unicorn mare with a pink mane and tail. She stared at him with a big deer eye look.

“Hellooo, anypony home?” he asked. The human waved his hand in front of her face to get her out the daze she was in.

The mare shook her head. “Oh! Sorry about that. How many in your group?” She asked.

“There are eight of us. Can we get a booth, please?”

“Right away, sir. I'm sorry for staring at you. I have just never seen how, unique you are in that form." She levitated eight green menus to another mare. "The waitress will take you to your booth.”

“It's no problem. I figured this will be happening for the first week or two. It's not everyday a creature from another world comes to your nice town.”

"Thank you. I hope you enjoy your dinner."

The waitress led the group to a big, round booth. The human sat in the middle as best as he could. Everyone else were on either side of him. The chatter in the restaurant came back to normal. Blaze thought that some of the conversations might be about him.

Being back in human form, his choices were limited on what he can eat. While looking through the menu, he thought Need to get some meat soon. Maybe I will ask Fluttershy for some meat tomorrow. He decided on a simple garden salad, with no flowers, a vinaigrette dressing, and some bread. The other girls and Spike placed their orders. Once the waitress left, they all turned their heads and looked at Blaze.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked.

Twilight replied, "Well, we were wondering what spell it was that you were going to show us next."

"Hmm, I honestly don't know what 'jutsu' I will learn. I don't exactly have full control of the learning aspects of it. They have been occurring in my sleep. Every time, it surprises me."

"Oh! I love surprises! One time . . ." Pinkie said as she goes into one of her odd stories. Everyone else at the table nodded at different intervals as they listened. ". . . and that is how Equestria was made."

Now that randomness is out of the way, Blaze looked to the white Unicorn and said, “Anyways . . . So, Rarity, would you mind if I come over tomorrow morning? I'm going to need a set of human clothes. Don't want to continue wearing the same thing every day. I still would like them to be like this gi, but I'll let you choose the two colors for each set. Just one tiny request, please don't do any pastel or girly colors. Also, I will pay for these, once I can find a job.”

Twilight spoke up, “Oh! Princess Celestia wanted me to give you this and this note about it.” The purple Unicorn levitated a pouch from her sack. It had a scroll note attached to it.

The human grabbed onto the pouch. Once the magic was released, he felt some serious weight with it. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Read the note on it, silly.” Pinkie said.

Blaze placed the bag down onto the table and pulled the note off. The contents read:

Hello Bob/Swift Blaze,

If I know my student, Twilight Sparkle, I figure you are getting this after the ceremony, at some restaurant, and after you mentioned needing to get a job to get money. To help you along, I'm giving you this pouch of 7,000 Bits to help you pay for any expenses you are going to need to pay, until you're able to find a job.

Your Sun Ruler,

Princess Celestia.

P.S. You’re pulling to your right a bit in your morning training. You should work on it.

Blaze immediately thought, Ha! I knew the Princess was spying on me. Now then, I will have to pay her back, somehow.

The human rolled the scroll back up. Then said, “Well, that was definitely a surprise." He looked towards Rarity. "How much would you charge to make seven gi and fourteen undergarments?”

Rarity replied, “Give me a minute, darling.” The white Unicorn mumbled some stuff to her as she did the calculations in her head. “For a normal customer, I would charge One Thousand Bits for what you requested. But, for being one of my close friends, you would only have to pay Five Hundred Bits.”

“Thank you for the discount." Blaze directed his attention back to everyone else at the table "Could someone explain me how your money system works here?”

“Our money is called Bits and comes in four different increments.” Twilight stated. “A copper bit is worth One Bit. A silver bit is worth Twenty-Five Bits. A gold bit is worth One Hundred Bits. Finally, a platinum bit is worth One Thousand Bits. Would you mind telling me why you are interested when you have no money?”

“What do you think the Princess gave me?” The human said as he shook the money bag.

He reached into it and pulled out Six gold Bits and Two silver Bits. Blaze closed it back up and passed the money to Rarity.

“Here is the money for the clothes. Plus, a little tip for the work you have done and will be doing in the future.”

She counted the money and quickly said, “Oh my! I could not accept that much of a tip. Having you as a friend is more of a tip I need.” Rarity tried to send a gold Bit back to him with her magic.

Blaze held his hand up to stop it. Then said, “No, Rarity, I insist. Plus, this won’t be the only clothing you will need to make for me. I'm going to need a tux for the gala, clothes for when it gets cold, and rain gear for when it rains. Please, accept the tip. I'll only be going to you for all my clothing needs.”

Rarity nodded her head. Then, she levitated all the Bits and placed them in her saddlebag.

The human saw a Unicorn waiter carrying eight plates of food with his magic. The stallion was heading to their booth. “Looks like the food is here. Let's dig in.” said Blaze.

They ate the meal in silence as everyone was too busy chewing their food. It was another great meal as they all had smiles on their faces. Once done, the waiter came back, collected the plates, and left the check.

Just as the mares started to fiddle with their saddlebags to get their money out. Blaze said, “Wait a sec, you've treated me to several meals already. Please, allow me to get this one.”

Twilight said, "We don't mind, Blaze. You are our guest and new friend."

"Then let this friend take care of this meal. It's the least thing I can do."

The mares all nodded as they put their Bits away. Blaze picked the check up and looked at it. Then, counted out the right amount of coinage to include a tip.

They left the restaurant and made their way to the town center square. Before the human said it, Rainbow Dash said, “Ok, Blaze, which one of us are you going to ask to stay at their place for the night?”

“Let's see, I've stayed at Fluttershy and Twilight already." He turned and looked at the blue Pegasus. "I’m sorry Dash, but I can’t stand on clouds. My flying skill requires concentration to keep me up. Plus, I don't feel like falling out of the sky again."

"It's no problem. Just one day, remind me to show everything about the Wonderbolts. You may like them as much as me."

"I'll take you up on that." He turned back to the others. In a game show style voice, Blaze said, "So, the contestants are Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Who will take a strange creature to their home?”

Applejack spoke up first, “I think ya should come to the farm. My sis was asking me questions about ya while at the ceremony. Plus, I can show ya to the rest of my family.”

“Then I'm coming home with you if there are no better offers.” Blaze looked and no other pony said anything. “Nope? Then sold to the orange pony with apples for a cutie mark! Come on down and claim your prize!” he finished with the game show voice.

The girls started to laugh at this while Applejack started to blush.

“Come on now. Stop it. Before I buck you to the next town." The group quieted the laughter down, but they still had a big grin on their faces.

"Ok, let's get going. I shall see the rest of you tomorrow," the human said as he waved goodbye.

Applejack and Swift Blaze headed to her farm while the rest went to their homes.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 8: How much pain can you take?

The sun was setting as the moon rose to take its place. Swift Blaze could see a lot more stars in the sky. Nothing compared to living on Earth with the city lights everywhere. He and Applejack soon came up to a simple wooden fence that went around several hundred acres of apple trees. They passed through the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres and made their way to the house next to the barn.

Before they emerged from the tree cover, Applejack stopped the human and said, "Okay, Blaze, you gonna need to wait here. I have ta tell them about you before they see you. Don't want my brother to attack you and for Granny to scream. My little sis saw you at the ceremony already. I know she'll be overjoyed to meet ya."

"Not a problem. I'm sure your family will accept me with open hooves," he said.

The orange mare left the human by the trees as she went inside. After a few minutes, Blaze saw the front door flew open with a slam. Big Macintosh was charging at the human with an angry face. Oh shit! He means to deal damage, if not, to kill me. the human thought as he prepared for the tackle. The big red stallion made contact with Blaze. Instead of being pinned, the human changed the momentum so the Earth Pony was on the bottom and pinned.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Swift Blaze yelled into Big Mac's face.

His face changed to a surprise look from how quickly this creature was able to take him down. Big Macintosh soon started to feel the pain of the reverse tackle. "Sorry for charging at ya. Seeing you, a strange creature, out the window of my home, I completely ignored what my sis were saying. My gut was telling me you were going to cause some trouble." A pain shot through his body. "Ugh, I think something broke," he said.

Blaze replied, "Promise not to move and I will see where it hurts."

The big stallion nodded his head slowly. The human slowly got off him to not cause anymore pain. "Now, I'm going to feel around your body. Tell me when it hurts." he said.

By this time, Applejack came walking up with frustration being expressed. She said, "Why do ya always do this when something is strange to ya? Now ya got yourself injured. And just before applebuck season. What am I going to do with ya?"

"Sorry sis, I'm just overprotective of my family." He clenched in pain. "Right there, mister. Also, there's pain coming from my back."

“Looks like you may have a few bruised ribs. Possibly a dislocated back. If you want, I can try to help realign it. The pain will increase for a sec, but will get better after that,” said Blaze.

With the pain increasing, the stallion said, “Let’s get this over with. What do I need to do to help?”

“Big Macintosh, I just need you bite down on this branch so you don’t chip your teeth. Applejack, can you get me some heavy duty rope?”

Applejack replied, “Sure thing, Blaze. I recon you have done this before?”

“Something similar. But, not to worry, this should ease the pain.”

Applejack didn't like the sound of that. But, with the hospital on the opposite side of town, it would take too long to get proper medical attention. Trusting her new friend, she went to the barn and got the rope. When the orange mare got back, she and the human carefully helped the red stallion to his hooves. Blaze then tied the rope around the upper part his chest, behind his fore hooves. The other end was tossed over a high and sturdy branch.

“Alright big fella, I'm going to lift you several feet off the ground. The pain might increase, but please bear with it as it will lessen when I align your back,” the human said.

Big Macintosh nodded and braced himself for the pain. Blazed pulled the slack out of the rope. He then focused his chakra to his limbs to maintain grip with the rope and the ground. He looked to the stallion and said, "You ready?"

Applejack's brother nodded, then closed his eyes. He was biting down hard on the branch in his mouth. Blaze reached out as far as he can go on the rope. With a mighty pull, the stallion started to dangle off the ground. You could hear wood being crunched on as Big Macintosh felt the surge of pain from his back.

"Hold it together, we are almost at the height needed." Blaze said as he struggled with the rope. It was a big old fashion tug-of-war in lifting the big stallion. The human's feet were digging into the ground with each small step he took backwards. Applejack was just standing there, unsure what or who she could help with. After several agonizing minutes, the height was reached. Blaze looked to the orange mare. "Quickly, tie this end to the tree behind me," he said as he struggled with the weight.

She moved as fast as her body would let her. With a couple spins around the tree and a sturdy knot later, everything was secured.

Blaze released his hold on the rope. Big Macintosh went down a little bit, but was still above the ground. The human was working on catching his breath. He flexed his arms and legs to get rid of the stiffness that built up. The stallion was still biting down on that branch as the pain was slowly increasing in his back. Once Blaze was ready for the next step, he said, “Brace yourself, Mac. There will be a surge of pain for a few seconds." He looked towards the orange mare. " Applejack, please, don't stop me in what I'm about to do. It's the best way.”

“What are ya going ta do with my brother, Blaze?” Applejack asked.

The human didn't answer as he took a couple steps back. He then ran at full speed and jumped onto the lower part of Big Macintosh's back. The stallion gave out a loud scream as Blaze heard a pop in the pony's back.

Applejack ran over and pulled the human off her brother. She tried to get him to respond, but the stallion's eyes were closed. She could hear him breathing, calmly. The pain must have been so bad, it sent him unconscious. She turned to the human laying on the ground. She looked very angry. "What did you do! He's not responding!" she shouted.

Blaze held up his hand with the palm facing her. “Your brother is fine, Applejack. The spinal column in his back was being compressed, causing the pain he was experiencing," he said. He then lowered his arm and moved to a sitting position. "All I did was stretch it back out. For him, being as big as he is, this was the best way I could do it."

Applejack's face switched to a worried look. "Is he going to be alright now?"

"I believe so. He will just need some sleep. Can you get some bandages so I can wrap his rib cage? I want to apply pressure so nothing else moves.”

She nodded and headed back to the house. Blaze untied the rope and lowered the sleeping stallion slowly to the ground. A few minutes later, Applejack came back with the rolls of cloth. The human started to wrap Big Macintosh's ribs while his sister kept him up on his hooves.

Once done, they both helped carry him inside the house. Applejack was in front and led them to his room. They placed him on the bed. Applejack covered him up and closed the door.

Back in the living room, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith were sitting on the couch. Applejack went and sat in a different chair. Blaze stood at the bottom of the stairs. He placed a hand to the back of his head as he said, “Well, not the best way I wanted to introduce myself. Don't know what could have been worse than bringing in an unconscious family member.”

“It wasn’t your fault to begin with. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt yourself, sugarcube. Can ya explain how in Equestria were you able to take my brother down so fast?” Applejack asked.

The human lowered his arm and replied, “Basically, I've learned some martial arts over the years back in my world. One technique uses your opponent’s movement against them. That's what happened, I took his momentum of charging at me and used it to flip him onto his back. Finally, I pinned your brother down to avoid any more conflict.”

“You thought of that in those few seconds before my big bro ran into ya?” Apple Bloom asked with big excited eyes.

“I decided upon a friendly method that was quick and reliable. I didn't want to cause any serious harm if I didn't have to. That's why I learned those different styles, to help in choosing the best way to deal with whatever situation that I might get into. Not to act like a jarhead that attacks first without thinking the best way to do it.”

“Jarhead? You mean they go around with their heads in jars? That’s silly. How in the hay do they eat?” Granny Smith said.

“It's a figure of speech. It means their mind is close to others’ opinions. They're only focused on the objective.”

“Wow, mister! You must be really smart to know all of this. I'm surprised your cutie mark is not something related to fighting,” Apple Bloom said.

“Let me switch to my pony form. That way you can clearly see my cutie mark. Plus, I'll go into more detail about it for you. But first, please don’t be startled by what I'm about to do. I will also explain how I can do this.”

Swift Blaze performed the shadow transformation jutsu into his pony form. Granny Smith started to scream that he was a changeling. The old mare was trying to run, but it was at a snail's pace. Applejack helped calm her down and moved her back to her seat. Apple Bloom remained sitting where she was. The filly was clapping her hooves together in excitement for getting to see the close up transformation.

Blaze explained about the energy source he used to change. He then went on to go over his cutie mark in a little bit more detail than what he said at City Hall. When the stallion finished telling them about himself, all three Earth mares clapped their hooves together.

The stallion was engulfed in a puff of smoke. He released the jutsu and changed back to his human form. “Seeing how I told you quite a bit about me, do you ladies care to introduce yourselves? Or shall I just call you relative of Applejack?” Blaze asked as he sat down in an empty seat.

Granny Smith started out first. She told how her family came to this land, with caused the foundation of Ponyville. Apple Bloom went next. The little filly only said how she was going to school in town and how she helped out on the farm when they allowed her.

After the quick intro, Apple Bloom asked, “So, ya think I might get a cutie mark from learning martial arts from you, mister?”

“Please, call me Blaze. I don’t think martial arts is for you. What I know, the style, would be hard to teach to a different species. Mainly because they are focused on the use of these hands." He brought his hands up again and flexed the fingers. Blaze placed them back on his lap and said, "I was taught to use these to protect myself and my friends, never be an attacker.”

"I really wanted to know what my cutie mark is now! I can't find it if I don't try everything," said the little filly.

Applejack placed a hoof on her sister's back as she said, "Calm yourself, Apple Bloom. You can't force it to reveal itself. Your cutie mark will show when the time is right."

"Then how come Blaze got his so easily?"

Blaze replied, "I didn't. Humans never really find out what they are good at. Some do, but most have to do other jobs they don't like just to make ends meet. I went through many years of training to get to where I'm at. You can't learn this type of skill in just a day." Unless this is the matrix.

The grandfather clock in the corner chimed up and signalled it was ten o'clock.

The human stood up and stretched out his arms. After a big yawn, he said, "Well, it’s getting late. Applejack, can you show me to a bathroom with a shower? I would like to freshen up. Also, I would like to know where I'm going to be sleeping?”

“The bathroom is upstairs. The first door on the left. There are fresh towels hanging in there. For a place for ya to crash for the night, I sorry to say, but there are no rooms available in the house. You can either sleep on the couch here, or there is room in the barn with plenty of hay to sleep on.”

“Thank you for the use of your bathroom. I think I'll take the barn. Don't want to wake everyone up too early. I have been going outside and doing some morning training exercises before breakfast.”

“We are also early risers so we shall see who gets up first. G’night Blaze” Applejack said.

“Good Night Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith. Big Macintosh should be taken to the hospital in the morning to make sure everything is back into place,” said Blaze.

The human made his way to the bathroom and closed the door. As he looked at himself in the mirror, he thought, When was the last time I washed this body? Running around each day feels like I haven’t bathed for a week.

Blaze took off his gi off and looked at his cutie mark on his upper arms. The size of it seems to fit perfectly. Just like how they are on a pony's flank. Hmm, I think I'm going to need to have Rarity make the new clothing sleeveless. No point of having a cutie mark and not show it.

With that, the human finished undressing and hopped into the shower. He dried off and started to put the clothes back on. Blaze ripped the sleeves off his top before it went on. It was a little ragged, but his cutie mark was now visible.

Blaze left the house and made his way to the barn. Inside, he found a lantern. There were matches nearby to light it. With a light source, he headed up to the loft where a pile of hay was spread out. Once he made himself as comfortable as he could, the human drifted off to sleep.

Swift Blaze woke up to the empty mind space. As he looked around, the human worked on recalling other jutsu that God has placed in his head. The one he was really looking for was the Shadow Clone. It would help speed up the training by a hundred fold with that many doing it. The other was the element-based jutsu. The only trouble with that is, Blaze didn't know what his chakra was in tune with. None of that really matters as he couldn't locate any of this in his head. Wish I had access to some Ninjutsu scrolls, but where in Equestria am I going to get those! The human grabbed his head in frustration.

Out of the corner of his view, a door appeared in his mind. He cautiously walked over to it. It slowly opened without him touching it. Through it, what he saw was an old style office with a big desk at one end. Blaze walked in and looked around. The door disappeared when he looked behind himself. Well, guess this is God’s doing, but why do I think I've seen this office before?

“You should know, you were just thinking about that show,” the person behind the big chair and desk said.

Blaze said, “Hello God. From your comment, then this is the 3rd Hokage's office.”

The chair spun around. Sitting on it was God, but he looked like Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage of the leaf village. "So, what are you requesting to learn tonight?"

"I've gotten down most of the basic jutsu, but this might go a little faster if I could make Shadow Clones."

God opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small piece of wood. He tossed it to Blaze. "Break that in half."

Somewhat trusting him, the human did so. Once it broke into two, a powder mist of green rose up and flew into his nose. Blaze choked on it at first, until he could breath safely again. "What the hell! Couldn't you just give me a scroll instead of some strange, crazy, way to shove the knowledge into my head?"

"Excuse me for allowing this old fart to have some laughs. Is there any other questions you have?'

“Yeah, can you tell me what basic elements I am naturally towards? Don’t have any of the special chakra paper to test.”

“I'm surprised you haven't figured it out. Think about what you have done so far,” God said with a big grin.

“Let's see, I can fly, I'm agile and fast, strong enough to beat Big Mac, and I can shoot energy blast.”

“Well, what elements do those lines up with?”

Blaze thought for a moment. Once it clicked, he shouted, “WAIT! ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE SAYING?”

“Correct, my little ninja. You can do Ninjutsu of all five base elements. You will still need to do the actual training with them first. I'll leave you with access to the techniques in your head. I can't keep popping in here each night to help you."

"Thanks, God. Don't know if my mind can handle any more forced knowledge into it."

"Anytime. Oh, I suggest you learn the Water and Earth style first. See you another time.”

With that, the room got engulfed in smoke. The space he was now in was a library with thousands of scrolls. How ancient, wish it was digital. The room disappeared and a computer terminal showed up with a projector. Right, all in my mind. Blaze searched up different advance jutsu he could potentially learn.

He called up his favorite clone style and watched how to do it. This was harder than the other techniques. Not only did he have to use a certain amount of chakra per clone creation, but the amount he can use is divided between him and the clones. With all this math calculations, I don't even know how Naruto even mastered this. Oh yeah, Nine Tales chakra helped boost his. Lucky bastard. Blaze started practicing it until the clone was perfect and not a pile of mush.

After those couple hours, he went back to the terminal and looked at some of the basic Genjutsu and how to release them. These require a lot more mental power as the caster had to create a space in the target's head that would either trap them or reveal secrets. After selecting a few. The human created a dozen three man teams to practice. One would cast, one would be the target, and the last to try and break the technique. This went on for several hours.

Once the clones departed, Blaze was hit with the knowledge they had learned. Being a Genjutsu exercise, it felt like being smacked with a chain mail glove. After shaking that off, he thought about what God said. Why did he want me to learn Water and Earth style jutsu? What do those have that something cool like lightning would give me? The human slapped his forehead when the thought came. WOOD STYLE! I CAN USE THAT TO BUILD MY HOUSE IN NO TIME!

Blaze looked up the Earth style jutsu first and begun learning a few basic moves. Again, hours passed as the clones and he finished up before the sun rose. Satisfied with the practice tonight, he left the training space and finished sleeping the rest of the night.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 9: Stubborn Pony

Author's Notes:

Hi Everyone!

Finally got this chapter done. Real world stuff has been keeping me busy.

In other news, I will be attending BronyCon in 2015 (Aug. 7-9). Looking forward to having fun and meeting more fellow bronies.

Blaze woke up the next morning again before dawn as usual. He headed out of the barn and looked at the farmhouse. Some of the windows lit up as lights were turned on. Guess it's a tie, the human thought.

He left the farm in his morning jog for a few miles. Then, he did some training on the hill he now owns. With the shadow clone technique under his belt, Blaze created one to spar against. After a good two hour of training, the sweaty human headed back to the farm for some breakfast. Before going into the house, he went to a water spigot to clean himself and smell better.

“Good morning everypony!” Blaze said as he entered the house.

“Blaze! You just made it in time for breakfast. Care to join us, please?” Apple Bloom asked.

“But of course. My morning training always gives me an appetite. What are we having?”

The filly listed several apple-based foods that are very tasty. They were pretty much having dessert for breakfast.

“What do you think of the choices?” Applejack asked.

“Not only do you grow apples here, but you can make every food they are used in. By looks and smell alone, I think this will be better than what any human could make.”

“Why thank ya, partner. Now let’s dig in.”

The Apple family and human ate a fair share of the food. Everything tasted so good that Blaze went back for seconds on things that he could get his hands on. “Now that was delicious," he said as he patted his stomach. "Glad you made enough. Now allow me to take care of cleanup. It's at least I can do for allowing staying the night.”

Blaze to pick up the dishes and brought them to the sink. As he was washing, the human heard Applejack wishing Apple Bloom a good time at school.

Once the dishes were clean and were put away, Blaze left and headed to Rarity’s place. Wanted to get the measurements done as he had no clue how long it would take. Upon entering, the white mare got into her introduction until she sees who it is.

“Oh! Blaze, glad you came early. I couldn’t wait to start making all those outfits for you." Rarity then let out a surprised gasp. "Oh my! What happen to yours? The sleeves are torn off!”

“Yeah, I did that." Blaze said as he rubbed the back of his head. "After I was done showering last night, I decided I wanted to show my cutie mark that were on my upper arms. So, I tore the sleeves off. Can you make it so the gi outfits you are going to make will be sleeveless?”

“But of course, darling. I think you will look smashing with being able to show it off in your human form. Let’s go over what I will be making for you, seven gi, sleeveless, I have color matching control, and you wanted no gems on them."

"That's correct."

"Moving on, a tux for the gala for your human and pony form. Fourteen undergarments of underwear, as you called them, and socks for the shoes you wear over your feet."

"I believe that's it for now. You know I'll come and see you when I need something else."

"But of course, darling. I believe I can have the first gi done later today. That way you'll have some fresh clothing for tomorrow to wear. I’m sure your current gi is getting dreadful without cleaning it.”

“I'm glad for that. Thanks again."

A very low rumble was coming from outside. "What’s that sound?” Blaze said. He opened the front door and saw ponies in a panic. One stallion yelled, "STAMPEDE!"

The human looked back to the mare inside and said, “Rarity, stay inside. I will help take care of this.”

She nodded her sacred head. As the human finished stepping outside, the door quickly slammed shut behind him.

He moved quickly through the pony crowd, running in the opposite direction towards the disturbance. On the edge of town, Blaze saw a dust cloud come into view. In that, he saw a herd of cows going at full speed. Drown out the noise of the screaming ponies, he heard the voice of Applejack directing somepony else in trying to steer the herd away.

Seeing a need to help her out, the human decided to try a new jutsu. He got into the stance, did the hand signs, and said, “Earth Style: Stone Wall Formation Jutsu!”

A curved wall came up from the ground starting at the edge of the herd line and curved it in the direction Applejack was trying to get them to turn. She was successful as the stampede stayed away from the wall by at least ten feet. Once all the cows passed and stopped nearby, Blaze lowered the wall back down. He headed over to the exhausted Applejack and said, "You alright?".

The orange Earth mare took a couple breaths before she said, “I’m fine, Blaze."

She turned her head to the cows."Now then, care to explain to me why y’all was making you mad run into town?”

One went on talking about how a cow thought she saw a snake and that caused them to run.

Applejack understood where the cow was getting at and suggested that they steer clear of Ponyville. They all nodded and Applejack headed back to the farm with a little herding dog. The ponies in town started to cheer for Applejack for saving their town from destruction.

Mayor Mare spoke up and said, "To commend Applejack for saving our town, we shall have a celebration later this week to honor her with this year’s award for Pony of Ponyville Award."

They all cheered again for this.

Blaze was standing nearby with his arms crossed. All he could think was, I raise a six foot tall stone wall out from the ground and nopony noticed? Oh well, I wasn't doing it anyway to get more attention. Being the only human here on this planet is enough.

Somewhere in the crowd, Pinkie was going about of how excited she was for the party she has to put together now.

Swift Blaze went back to Rarity's Boutique. Upon entering, the white Unicorn mare demanded to know what happened. He told her everything that he recalled from his view.

Rarity said, "I'm so relieved that nopony got hurt. Now then, back to the business at hoof. Would you mind stepping up on the platform so I can start getting your measurements?" She levitated a tape measure, quill, and scroll from her work desk. "This is going to take some time as I have nothing to reference off of. Hope you don't mind standing still for a couple hours."

"I have an idea that should help the both of us. You get something to get my measurements off of. I get the ability to take care of other thing so that I'm not stuck here all day," said Blaze.

"What are you going to do, darling?"

"Something I learned last night in my sleep. Please don't faint or do something crazy for what you are about to see."

She nodded her head and moved to sit on her couch.

Blaze moved his hand into position and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke appeared next to the human and revealed a clone of himself. Rarity's eyes widen from the surprise. She tried to say something, but it came out gibberish.

Original Blaze said, "Rarity, say hello to my clone."

"Hello, milady. Shall we get started on those measurements?" the clone said.

The mare shook her head to clear the confusion that was there. She said, "Ok, Blaze or Blazes, would one of you mind telling me how you did this new spell? Duplication spells, according to what I know, can only be done by very high level Unicorns."

Rarity got up from where she was and went to stand next to a platform. She pointed to the Blaze clone and directed him onto it.

As she took measurements, the original human replied, "Well, I'm not a Unicorn and I'll say again that these are not spells."

The human clone continued the conversation with, "What these are called jutsu. I won't go into the boring details about them as I don't want to be poked by any needles by accident if you fall asleep. OUCH!"

Rarity did that on purpose for that comment. "Please, continue."

"Well, just like this one, I can also affect the area around me. Like the stone wall I had made earlier." Original Blaze said.

The clone Blaze added, "I learned that too last night. With these shadow clones for help."

"We act as separate beings able to do what we want."

"When one of us releases ourselves of the jutsu,"

"The other will get all the other one's memories since the jutsu was performed."

"This skill is good for scouting out enemy areas to gather intel."

"The other good thing is if there is need of an instant army, I should be able to make over a hundred clones."

"The downside is the same energy I used to make them, it gets split between the number I create."

"The plus is if an enemy does cause major harm to a clone of me,"

"It disappears and I still get the knowledge that one obtain."

"Wow, just simply, wow. How are you learning these 'jutsu' so quickly?" Rarity asked. "You've only been here for a couple days."

The original Blaze replied, "You remember I said that a super being had given me some abilities?"

The mare nodded her head.

"Well, I've discovered when I go to sleep, I can go to a space in my head that allows me to train and practice. That's what I've been doing each night. While my body is resting, my mind is learning a new skill. I don't know how much I can learn, but I think some would come in handy. Like that wall formation to steer the herd of cows."

"Simply amazing, Blaze. I can't imagine how you humans could live without magic. Why, if I didn't have my horn, I don't know what I would be doing. How ever did your kind ever come up with such interesting abilities?"

"I can't really say. I just feel that these are to help me with something in my new life here. Don't know what that is yet, but I'm sure I can handle it."

"Well, whatever it is, know that you have friends here that can help you if you can't."

"Thanks Rarity. Well, I am off to do other things. You can tell the other me when you are done with him. Don't want to cause anypony a headache if they see multiples of me yet."

Swift Blaze left the boutique and headed to the library. As he entered, he saw Spike was stacking the shelves with books. The human guessed that some were returned ones and the rest were what Twilight had finished reading for the moment.

The purple Unicorn mare had several books around her as she was writing down stuff onto scrolls. Spike turned his head and saw Blaze at the door. Before the dragon said something, the human had placed a finger over his mouth. Spike recognized the motion to him to stay quiet. He nodded his head and watch what Blaze was going to do.

The human closed the door quietly and snuck inside. As he moved stealthy to get behind Twilight, Blaze had to duck under some of the flying books to get close enough. Once there, he waited a few minutes to see if she was aware of his presence. She wasn't.

Blaze inhaled deeply and said, "HI TWILIGHT!"

The purple mare literally jumped onto the ceiling. The books that were under her control flew in different directions, slamming into walls and other books.

While hanging from an interior branch, Twilight looked for the culprit. She screamed, "Blaze! What the buck was that for! You nearly scared me out of my skin."

The human was on his back, on the floor, laughing very hard. Spike soon joined in the act. The mare teleported back to the ground floor and started to gather the books back under her control.

Once Blaze could get hold of himself, he got to his feet and said,"Sorry about that. I just wanted to prove that you're too focused on your studies. It's great to have a passion to study and learn. You just can't be nose, or muzzle, deep in it and not be aware of your surroundings. What if the town was on fire?"

Twilight responded, "Oh, the Pegasus would gather rain clouds to help put the fire out. Plus, there are several Unicorns with the fire department that can either generate water, or put a bubble shield around the fire to snuff it out."

"That's not the point I was getting at. It's true that I did sneak in to get you, but that's because I saw how you were and recalled I was the same way back in college. You can't study for several hours straight. Take a break from it to clear your head and so you can hang out with friends. If I was a betting man, I tell you were so focused on whatever you are working on, you must not have noticed a stampede of cows an hour ago."

"There was a stampede of cows? What happened?" she asked, surprised.

Blaze told the events of what happened and how there is now going to be a celebration in Applejack's honor.

"Oh! I need to write a speech for her as to how wonderful she is. If you excuse me, I need to get started."

"Well, I'll just do some more reading on the other different creatures here. Also, get started on the aerial training from Rainbow Dash. Plus, have Rarity finish getting my measurements for my clothing."

Twilight completely ignored Blaze she started to write on some note cards.

Spike has a confused look on his face as to what the human said. "How in Equestria are you going to do all three of those at the same time?" Spike asked.

Blaze smiled and said, "Like this, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Another clone of the human appeared beside Swift Blaze. Spike's expression was what one would expect, shocked with his mouth wide open.

"I shall explain after you get me that creature book I was reading here last time."

The little dragon rushed off to another section of the room. The Blaze clone walked to the front door and opened it. Before stepping outside, he said, "Goodbye Twilight, I'll see you sometime later."

The purple mare waved her hoof behind herself in the general direction where the sound was coming from. Her head didn't move from where she was looking.

Spike came back with the book in his claws. Blaze went over the new jutsu he learned last night. Then, how he learned another that can form walls from the ground itself.

Spike paid attention to every word as he was very interested in how quickly this creature he just met was was learning new things. "Is there anything you can't learn, Blaze?" he asked.

"I'll let you know when I discover it," Blaze replied.

The purple dragon went back to his chores and the human start reading where he last left off.

-------- Meanwhile--------

(This is the Blaze that left Twilight's.)

Looking around, Blaze spotted a rainbow tail hanging over a cloud. He floated up to it and saw the mare was taking a nap. Typical Dash. I'm going to have some fun with this. The human leaned closer to her and whispered into her ear, "Hello Dash. I have your first mission as a Wonderbolt. Do you accept the mission?"

Her head nodded as she sheepishly said, "Sir, yes sir."

"Your mission is to train the human, Swift Blaze, in aerial moves until further notice."

"No thank you, sir."

"You have no choice Rainbow Dash. Now," Blaze shouted, "WAKE UP!"

She jumped off the cloud, causing it to dissipate. The human was laughing as he held onto his stomach.

"What the buck was that for, Blaze?" she demanded with a pissed off tone.

"It was a harmless prank. I actually wanted to see if you will still honor that promise."

"I remember it. I train you how to fly better and I'll keep my word. From now on, don't ever wake me like that again. I might have bucked you."

"Noted. So what is the first lesson, teach?"

"Need to judge how you are now. Copy what I do until you can't do it."

"Roger that, wing leader."

That comment got a chuckle out of her. They took off as they played 'follow the leader'.

-------- Meanwhile--------

(This is the Blaze that is at Rarity's.)

After hours of standing still and being poked to hold clothing up, the human was finally allowed to get off the platform. As he popped several joints, he asked, "Anything else you would like me to do before I take my leave?"

"That will be all, Blaze. I have what I need to make your order. Now then, if you would excuse me, I am getting into the zone as it were." She headed off to the workshop in the back humming a tune.

Not wasting any time, the clone released the jutsu and disappear from Rarity's.

(Going to the Blaze at Twilight's)

While this Blaze was reading about a tiny little ball creature that lives in the Everfree Forest, he jolted to a standing posture from the rush of memories and annoying pain that filled his head. As he shook some of his limbs, he said to himself, "Ouch. Hope I don't have to stand still again for Rarity. Those pokes of the needle really hurt."

"You said something, Blaze?" Spike asked.

"Nothing, Spike. Just got a cramp from sitting so long. You can go back to finishing your chores."

The dragon shrugs his shoulders, then continued stacking the books away.

The human looked over to where Twilight was. The Unicorn had filled out about fifty note cards for the speech about Applejack. As he watched her, Blaze thought, I don't think she will even read one, with how Mayor Mare likes to keep things simple. Wait a minute, this morning event seemed familiar for some reason. Was it from an episode? What was it about? Shit! Blaze brought his palm to his forehead and smacked it. It was applebuck season! That idiot Applejack is going to try to do it all by herself. Big Macintosh is injured because of me. I have to get her to ask for help before she causes those problems.

The human closed the book and turned towards the dragon. "Spike, I need to take care of something. Make sure Twilight will be ready for the ceremony," Blaze said.

Spike nodded as he continued to look at the human. With a quick hand placement, the jutsu was released. His body was engulfed in smoke and disappeared.

-------- Meanwhile--------

(This is the Blaze that is with Rainbow, doing some training.)

Swift Blaze was barely able to copy all the basic moves Rainbow Dash had shown him. Not bad for a human that has only been ki flying for a few days. They just started on intermediate level of moves. Blaze just finished doing the first one when the clone's memory from Rarity rushed into his head. He lost his ki focus from the pain the other had endured. It was only for a few seconds, but it caused him to fall roughly twenty feet.

"Well, that smarts," Blaze said as he too shook the pain from his limbs as he floated in the sky.

Rainbow Dash saw the human drop during that time and rushed to his side. "You ok there, Blaze?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just lost concentration for a sec when the clone at Rarity released their jutsu."

"A clone? You must be pulling my wing. Very funny joke."

"No jokes, honest. I also have another one at Twilight doing some studying."

"Prove it."

"Ok, then. Let’s land down in that open field to do this. I'm not ready to do ki and chakra control at the same time.”

The two flyers landed in the center of the space. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of Blaze, with a waiting look on her muzzle.

The human said to her, “Haven't we reached the point to where you can believe me in this?”

She replied, “Maybe, I would have, if you didn’t pull the prank to wake me up.”

“Just admit you like it when I show you something new. Am I as cool as you yet?”

“Need to be about twenty percent cooler to get to me.”

“At least I know where I stand in comparison. How many do you want me to make of me?”

“Fill the field.”

“Ok, don’t say I warned ya.”

Blaze focused on gathering as much chakra as he could muster. This was going to be the biggest amount he has ever done. A tiny red hue was starting form around the human's body.

With his hands finished doing the correct signs, Blaze shouted, “Massive Shadow Clone Jutsu!”

A massive cloud of smoke filled the field. When it dissipated, every direction you looked, you could see hundreds of the human. All were looking towards the center.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth was wide open as it could get with an awestruck look.

“You ready to believe me now, Dash?” they all said at the same time.

The blue Pegasus fainted like a stiff goat, lying on her back with her hooves up straight. The original that was standing across from the mare thought, I think I broke her.

He released the jutsu and all the clones disappeared.

“Dash, you ok? The multi’s of me are gone now. Come Rainbow Dash, we still need to determine the level of flight I'm at before you can teach me.”

Dash came to and stood back up. “I think I should trust you in what you can do from now on. Don’t want to see anypony seeing me faint like that. That never happened, agreed?” she said as she stared at him.

“What happen? We just landed because I needed to take a break.”

The mare nodded and understood where the human was going.

At that moment, the memories from the Blaze that was at the library popped into his head. He quickly went through them. Getting what the other wanted to get across, he said, “Hey Dash, mind we continue this later? I just remember that I have to ask Applejack something. See you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing. I need to take care of some weather stuff for this evening.” Rainbow bolted off into the sky in some direction, doing some fancy aerial moves at the same time.

The human made his way back to Sweet Apple Acres. He went over possible methods he could try to convince the orange Earth pony to accept help. He first headed over to the farmhouse to see how Big Mac was doing. Blaze knocked on the front door. It was Granny Smith, who answered. She said, ”Hi Blitz. Fancy seeing ya here. What brings you to our home?”

“Hi, Granny Smith. I just came by to check on Big Macintosh. Wanted to see how he is doing from our tussle last night.”

“He's upstairs in his room. Doc says for him to relax. Couldn’t understand the rest with all the fancy words he was using.”

“Thanks. I'll head up and give him some company.”

Swift Blaze entered the house and looked around. He saw Apple Bloom was doing some homework in the living room. He headed upstairs to the stallion's room At the top, the human saw the door was already open. Blaze knocked on the door as he poked his head inside and said, “Is this the room of the idiot who decided to attack a creature he didn’t know and got his flank handed to him?”

The red Earth pony was lying on his stomach, on the bed, reading a book. He had bandages wrapped around his chest area. The stallion looked up and said, “Eeyup.”

The human walked in and stood a few feet inside.“How are you doing, Big Macintosh?"

"I could be better, mister . . . ?"

"Oh, right. We haven’t been properly introduced, my name is Swift Blaze. Sorry about getting you injured.”

“I'm the one who should be sorry for attacking you without a good reason.”

“Seeing we're both sorry, let’s just forget about it. What did the Doc say?”

“He said I'm lucky for getting my back realigned when I did. It could have been much worse. I would like to thank you for that. All I have left are those bruised ribs you mention and swelling around the back. I can’t do any work outside and that is bad because it is applebuck season.”

“I heard a pony in town mentioning it. What is it?”

“It's the time of the year when all the Apple families do the major harvesting their apples all across Equestria. Usually, my sis and I could handle the fields we are owned by ourselves. I just can't do it this season because of my recklessness." Big Mac gestured to his bandaged side.

"Can't the rest of your family help?"

"Granny's too old and Apple Bloom is too young to help out. I tried to convince her to get some help from her friends, but she doesn’t want any. She's going to try and prove she can do it all by herself. I'm worried she'll get too exhausted and still try to help her friends out that she's agreed to.”

“And you have tried everything you can think of to convince her to ask for help?”

“Eeyup.”

“Would you mind if I tried something? I don't know if it will work on a pony, but it may help her realize what her action might cause. What I'm talking about is using a technique I've recently learned that will plant an illusion in her mind. I'm going to promise you that she won’t suffer, but it might break her stubbornness. If it does, and she will accept help, I'll offer my help around here until you get better.”

“At this point, I will try anything. You can do this, thing, only if I come with you. More to watch so nothing bad happens. This isn't up for discussion.”

“Seems fair. Ok, you have yourself a deal. So, where can we find Applejack?”

“In the South Fields is where we start each season. That's where she'll be.”

Big Mac slowly got out of bed. Blaze helped him to reduce the pain. They made it out of the house and made their way to where the orange mare should be.

In the distance, the human was hearing the sounds of a hoof, hitting a tree trunk, hard. A few seconds later, sounds of apples falling into wooden buckets. Soon afterwards, they spotted Applejack. She was loading another cart full of apples to take to the barn.

“Hey, Applejack! What are you up to?” Blaze yelled as they got closer.

The orange Earth mare looked in their direction and said, “Big Bro! What the hay are you out of bed? You need your rest so you can get better. You didn't need to show Blaze where I was at.”

“Applejack, Blaze wanted to talk to you about why you won’t accept help from anypony,” Big Mac said.

The mare stopped a back hoof as she yelled, “I ain’t going to go over this again! Us Apple folk never needed help from outside the family to take care of applebuck season. Now if would excuse me, I have trees to buck.”

“Applejack, I can understand you want to follow tradition, but seeing it is part of my fault for Big Mac getting hurt, will you allow me to help?” Blaze asked.

“Sorry sugarcube, but I said I was going to do this myself and that is what I'm going to do. There is no pony that is going to change my mind.”

“Well, luckily, I'm not a pony. Sorry in advance for what I'm about to do.”

Applejack looked angrily at the human. She was trying to figure what he was going to do as she readied herself.

Blaze's hands joined together as he shouted, “Earth Style: Body Imprisonment Jutsu!”

Stone walls popped out the ground around the mare. They moved so fast, it pinned her body so she couldn’t move. Applejack's head was still exposed.

The mare thrashed her head about as she tried to break out. “Let me out of here! When I do get out, you're going to get a serious bucking!” Applejack screamed.

Big Mac was stunned at what the human did. “What did you just do, and was that really necessary Blaze?” he asked as he tried to speak over Applejack.

Blaze replied, “I'll explain later what I did. But, yes, it was necessary for this next part. Applejack, look at me for a moment.”

She does so with an angry look on her face. He formed the hand signs for the Genjutsu. The human thought, Hope she likes this third person view of what would've happened if she didn't change. I think I recall everything correctly from the episode.

Her eyes went into a daze as Applejack was now under the jutsu.

“It should take about an hour for the jutsu to do its task. In the mean time, Would it be alright for me to help with some of the harvest? I can use it to get a workout done for today,” Blaze said.

Big Mac replied, "You can try, but I don't think you can get much done. Your body doesn't appear to be that strong to kick the apple out of the trees."

"You're probably right. THIS form doesn't have the same strength as your Earth pony body," Blaze said with a smile.

The human did another hand formation and a cloud of smoke surrounded his body. When it dissipated, Blaze's Earth pony form was now standing there.

"I think this should be better. Don't you agree?"

"It's better, but still not toned for apple bucking. Try not to hurt yourself. Oh, and you still owe me an explanation on how you are doing this magic stuff without a horn," Big Mac said.

"I'll explain this while I work."

Big Mac nodded and went to a bucked tree to lay down next to it. Blaze carefully tested his strength to knock the apples down. It took several kicks, but they did fall into the baskets below.

As Blaze went from tree to tree in the vicinity, he told the other red Earth pony about the chakra and the different jutsu he had learned so far. The hour soon was coming up, so the human released his pony form so he could undo the jutsu. Applejack came out of the daze. She looked at Blaze with the saddest eyes, he has ever seen.

Blaze said, “I’m sorry, Applejack, for having to force you to watch that illusion. It was the only way I could think of to make you listen to reason. Will you please accept your friends to help you?”

She nodded slowly up and down. He released the stone that had entrapped her. The mare stretched her limbs for a few seconds. Applejack turned back to Blaze, took off her hat, and said, “I’m sorry for not wanting to ask my friends to help me. That trick of yours did open my eyes.”

“Well, for now, please, allow me to help you today, then we can get the others for tomorrow.”

“Even with your help, it’s still going to take longer to get what we need to the barn.”

“How many wagons do you have to harvest with?”

“Umm, we only have two. It’s typically only Big Mac and myself doing the harvesting. Why do you ask?”

“I have another jutsu that will help out. Shadow Clone Jutsu!”

Five puffs of smoke appeared behind Blaze and showed five more of himself. Then four of them said, “Shadow Transformation Jutsu!” They changed into the pony form.

“Think we have enough help now?” they asked.

Both Applejack and Big Mac had just been surprised at how quickly he made a workforce to help them. “That meda-thingy you do really allow you to learn some very fancy tricks. I think we might have a good chance to get this done sooner,” said the mare.

“Just tell us what to do and we will follow them.”

They got their instructions and formed teams to buck the trees, move the buckets to the wagon, and finally unload the wagons in the barn. One of the human Blazes helped Big Mac back to the house. Then, he retrieved the other wagon.

It was already late in the day, but they managed to get the quota for the day. Blaze returned to his human form and informed the orange mare he was going to have dinner at Fluttershy’s for some necessary nutrients. Applejack understood what he was getting at and said goodnight to him.

Chapter 10: Working the Farm

As the sun was setting, Swift Blaze made his way to Fluttershy’s Cottage. He knocked on the door to see if she was home. A few minutes later, the door was opened up by Fluttershy. “Oh, Swift Blaze! What brings you here?” she said with a surprised voice

“Hi Fluttershy. I was wondering if I can join you for dinner and have some, uh, fish you said you have for your meat eating friends?” the human asked her.

“Oh, sure. Of course you can join me. I’m glad you are taking up on my offer. I just got done feeding my animal friends before making my dinner. If you want, if you don’t mind, I could cook the fish for you. Or, if you prefer, you can have it raw.”

“I’m not a big fan of sushi, which is raw fish. You don’t have to cook it, honestly. I’m just glad you have some on hand. Right now, I don’t have the energy to go hunting after helping Applejack.”

“Ok, Blaze, I’ll show you where I keep the fish. Then, I will work on my dinner.”

“If it’s alright with you, I would like to make you a dish from my world. I can make it vegetarian for you and add fish to mine.”

“That sounds lovely. It’s not everyday that I get to try food from another place. I'll show you where the kitchen is, too.”

Blaze followed Fluttershy into her cottage. He looked around and saw several animals eating food pellets from their food bowls. Angel was being different from the others. He was having a fresh salad. The yellow Pegasus mare showed the freezer with the fish and where everything was in her kitchen.

"If you need any help, I'll be in the living room reading a book," Fluttershy said.

Blaze replied, "Thanks. It should be ready in about thirty minutes."

Once she left, the human looked in the pantry for the ingredients he needed. He pulled out rice, soy sauce, brown sugar, and oil. In the fridge, he found bell peppers, red onions, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, fresh ginger, and garlic. All the basic ingredients to make the stir fry. The human looked in the meat freezer and found the fish to be salmon, his favorite.

He placed a pot of water on the stove and lit it. Then, he started cleaning the fish. Blaze then gathered up the veggies and chopped them to the proper size to cook evenly. Once the water was to a boil, the rice was tossed in and stirred. The human then placed two skillets onto the stove over lit flames; one will be veggie only, and the other will be veggie and fish. He wasn't following a specific recipe as he has done this several times.

While Blaze was focused on the cooking, Fluttershy snuck back into the kitchen as everything smelled very good. She watched him mix different herbs and liquids in a bowl. Then, pour it over what was in the pans. Once it hit the hot surface, new smells she hadn’t smelled before filled the air. The rice finished cooking. Blaze drained it and place it onto two plates that he had pulled out at some point. The first pan was emptied onto one and the other was emptied on the other.

Fluttershy went to the table nearby as the human carried the plates over with silverware. He placed the veggie one in front of her and the salmon and veggie where he was going to sit. Lastly, he went back to the kitchen to get both of themselves a glass of water.

Blaze said, “Dinner is served. Just be careful with the first couple of bites. It's still hot from the cooking.”

The mare picked up some with her fork, blew on it for a bit, then took a bite. Her face showed pure happiness. “This is amazing, Blaze! I'm amazed you don’t have a cutie mark in cooking.”

“I only taught myself in how to cook the dishes I like to eat. True chefs know how to cook any kind of meal with the ingredients they can get.”

“Well, thank you for cooking it. I might ask you to come over more so I can see what other dishes from your world you can make.”

“I would like that. Once I get my own place, you can come by anytime too, if you want to eat more of my cooking.”

“That would be lovely.”

They finished eating and Blaze helped with cleanup. He said, "Goodbye, Fluttershy. I'm heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. I'm just helping out on the farm while Big Mac recovers."

"Oh, I'll stop by tomorrow to check on him. Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams," she replied.

Once the human got back to the barn, he saw a cot was placed where he had been sleeping the night before with a blanket. Guess they want to make sure I get good rest tonight, he thought with a smile on his face. Next to the bedding was a package wrapped up with a fancy bow. Blaze opened it and looked inside. His smile went bigger as there was a new Green gi outfit with white trim inside. Underneath, were all the undergarments he’d asked for. The human thought how nice it was of Rarity to deliver it here. He was excited to see what the other ones will look like.

Blaze placed the box next to the bed and went to sleep. Inside his head now, he made several groups of shadow clones. The first set practiced more water and earth style jutsu. The next went to practice the aerial moves Rainbow had him copy. He couldn't wait to start working on trying to learn wood style. That will be very helpful in building his house. Blaze only continued this training for a couple hours. He wanted to get a full rest for the work he said he will do.

Next morning, the human woke up at the usual time. He decided to skip the morning training. Going to get plenty of work outs on the farm for the next couple days. Blaze snuck into the farmhouse with his new clothes and headed to the upstairs bathroom to clean up. He didn't hear any movement from the bedrooms.

Once inside, he closed the door and began to undress. Blaze had his gi off and in a pile on the floor next to him. Just as he had two thumbs tucked inside the waistband to remove the undergarments, the door opened all the way. The human quickly turned his head and saw Applejack was standing there, with a groggy look on her face.

“Applejack! Don’t you know to knock!” Blaze shouted. Then, he slammed the door in her face.

“I'm sorry there, Blaze. I'm just used to being the first one to wake up and use the bathroom," the mare said with a sad tone in her voice from the other side of the door.

Blaze calmed down and replied, "It's alright. That was kinda an auto human reaction to that type of event. Don't think anything wrong about it."

"Alright. So, when did you come back last night?”

“I guess it was sometime after you ponies went to bed." Blaze continued with taking off his clothes. "I'm also sorry for snapping at you. Where I'm from, the human species don’t like to expose ourselves to strangers. I'm going to take a quick shower and be out quickly.”

Blaze turned the shower on and hopped in. Once all clean and dried off, He put the new clothes on. They fit nicely, the fact being it was Rarity's first time to make it for his species. He exited the bathroom and saw Applejack was sitting next to the door, with a sad look on her face.

The human lowered himself to sit on his heels and be at the same level with her. He placed a hand on the mare's shoulder and said, “It’s ok, Applejack. You couldn’t have known how humans feel about being naked in front of others. I'm not mad at you. Now then, cheer up, clean up, and I'll get some breakfast going.”

Applejack looked into his face and said, “Ok, Blaze. I'm sorry again for doing that. I’ve been meaning to get locks on that door. You can see that we ponyfolk don’t wear clothes all the time, so we are used to seeing everything.”

“I believe I know what you're getting at. Now, get in there and let's just forget this completely.”

As the orange Earth pony went into the bathroom, the human went to the kitchen. Blaze gathered the stuff to prepare a special pancake batter that he believed the Apple Family will laugh about when they hear what the human's call this dish. As he started to cook them, he heard the others getting up.

The first to arrive was Apple Bloom. The little filly said, “Morning Mister Blaze, what smells good?

Blaze replied, “Good morning to you too. I'm making breakfast this time. Your sister is in the bathroom at the moment. If you would like to help, can you set the table?”

“Right away! Hope you make enough for everypony.”

Apple Bloom scurried about with the plates and glassware to the dining room table. As she was finishing up, Granny Smith and Big Mac came down. They helped each other to the table. Blaze said good morning to them and they replied back with the same response. As the human was making the last batch, Applejack came down and joined the others. Blaze turned off the stove before he brought the platter with the special pancakes to the table. Before he could sit down, the other ponies started to take some and taste it.

“YEE-HAW! Those are some mighty tasting pancakes. What do you call them, Blaze?” Applejack asked.

“You,” Blaze replied with a big grin.

“You? That’s a strange thing to call them.”

The human started to chuckle a bit. “Not ‘You’ you. Its name is you.”

“I don’t get where you are getting at, partner. Mind just telling what the name is?”

“The name of this dish is called applejacks.”

All the ponies started to laugh, while Applejack was blushing. Blaze joined in the laughter.

They finished breakfast and the human helped with the cleanup. He then helped Big Mac back to bed before he joined Applejack outside. She was saying goodbye to Apple Bloom as she was going to school.

The orange mare said, “Ready to get to work, Blaze?”

For a response, he repeated the jutsu he did yesterday. Once the smoked cleared, they all shouted, “Ready!”

The workforce continued clearing the south field of the apples. They took short water breaks when needed. Most of all, everyone was having fun. When lunch time came around, half the south field was done. Applejack snuck away at some point to prepare some peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches for lunch. The mare made enough for all of Blaze's clones to eat too.

As the group continued working through the afternoon, the human had a feeling that something was watching him. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it has been there for some time. The other clones detected this also. They nodded to each other to continue the work without looking suspicious.

Blaze finally spotted what was looking at them in the corner of his vision. It was a very small portal hovering above the trees. Best size guess would be about the size of a camera lens. The human picked up an apple from a bushel and threw the fruit at it. It went straight and true and flew into the portal. He heard a faint scream as the portal closed. A letter popped in front of him with Princess Celestia’s seal on it. He opened it and read the following:

Dear Swift Blaze,

Impressive job of discovering that opening and being able to hit it with an apple. It tasted quite good by the way. If you are not busy tomorrow, I was wondering if you are now ready to discuss with me about your last moments on your planet and how you arrived here. I can schedule to be down there so you can tell me and your friends. I do want another time with you in private to discuss about those mental blocks you placed in your mind.

Your Sun Ruler and ‘eye’ in the sky,

Princess Celestia

After re-reading it for a second time, Blaze agreed that he shouldn't put this off anymore. He'll tell as much as he can, without messing with the possible future he may know.

Applejack saw that the human Swift Blaze had stopped working. In his hands he was holding a scroll. She trotted up to him and asked, “What’s going on, Blaze? Did that come from Princess Celestia?”

Blaze rolled it back up before he said, “Yea, this came from her. She would like to have another chat with me and ask me a few more questions. Also, Princess Celestia wishes for you and the others to be there too. I agree with it." The human turned his head away. "There have been some things in the back of my mind, I've should have said sooner. I’ve just been trying to think of the best way to say it." He looked back to the orange Earth pony. "Would you mind coming to it?”

Applejack rubbed the back of her head with a fore hoof as she said, “I don’t know. I still have a lot of apple-bucking to do. If both of us are gone, we will fall behind greatly.”

“No, we won’t. Remember, I can make more shadow clones to cover it. They'll continue to work for us while we do this.”

“Alright, sugarcube, I'll join ya. I do have a few more questions, based upon what you said. Now then, let’s get back to work. These apples won’t buck themselves.”

The two of them went back to work with the other clones. They worked until the sun had set below the horizon. Blaze released most of his clones, except for one. The human sent this one to inform the others about the meeting at Twilight’s library with the Princess.

Applejack and Blaze returned to the farmhouse with empty stomachs that were giving a mighty roar. Granny Smith and Apple Bloom were taking care of dinner. With nothing to do, the human went to sit on the couch, or more accurately, fall onto it. He was still getting used to the aftermath of using these clones for long periods. He's grateful that he didn't collapse right after they vanished.

As Blaze sat there, he thought about what might have to come to light in the questioning, wondering what they will think of him lying about all of this stuff he's been doing, the ki and jutsu stuff. What will they say about his true self, a computer geek that spent his spare time on the internet, in one form or another, back on Earth. Well, it would be hard to say as they don't have the same tech level humans do now. Finally, the human couldn't avoid the main topic the Princess requested to learn. Maybe he should work on teleportation and substitution jutsu tonight, just in case.

“Dinner is ready, everypony!” Apple Bloom said from the kitchen.

This broke Blaze's thinking, with some help from his stomach growling. He got up and made his way to the table. The human saw that on the table were two salad types and the usual apple deserts that were popular. The first salad was a veggie-based one, with what he's probably guessing is an apple style dressing. The other one is just different fruits that were cut up and tossed, that included apples. Blaze only went for a good serving of these, while the Apple family was eating a bit of everything.

Some time later, as they finished eating and settled down in the living room, there was a knock at the door. Apple Bloom quickly went over and opened it. Standing there, was the pony form of Swift Blaze. "What the? I thought you . . ." the young filly said as she looked back and forth from the living room and the door. "AHHH! It's a changling! Run everypony!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while running away.

Before this filly could run up the stairs, she was yanked back and had hooves holding her around her body. Apple Bloom thrashed about, trying to break free. She soon saw it was the pony that was standing at the door that had her. This caused her to want the break the hold more.

"Calm down, Apple Bloom. I'm not this changeling you ponies keep calling me," the pony Blaze said.

"Yeah, right! Then how come you look like my friend's pony form when he's sitting right over there?"

The human Blaze replied, "That's because that is one of my clones I can create."

"What the? There are more of you in Equestria?" Granny Smith asked.

"No, this is just another one of those fancy magic things I can do. I'm too tired to go into details." The human Blaze turned his head to the pony Blaze, "Why are you still around? I thought you would release yourself after visiting everyone."

The clone replied, "I would have, boss, but I had to bring back a package from Miss Rarity. I left it in the barn next to the cot."

"Wow, she really worked fast finishing the other outfits."

"Before you ask, I did thank her for doing them."

"But, it still doesn't explain why you had to walk over here and tell me directly."

"Well, I wanted to see the filly's expression on seeing two of us. It was funny, right, boss?"

The human Blaze gave a small chuckle. Then he said, "Yea, I guess it was."

"I'm still here, ya know," Apple Bloom said while still being held by the pony Blaze. "I've calmed down. Think you can let go of me?"

"Oh! Sorry about that." He set the filly down gently before releasing his hold. "We good, Apple Bloom?"

After the filly adjusted the bow in her mane, she said, "Yea, we are. I didn't see that coming. Now I'm looking forward to the next thing you'll do."

"Well, it will have to wait until later. I have a meeting with the Princess tomorrow and should get my rest."

The pony form released the jutsu and his memories merged with the human. He got up and said, "As the other me stated, I need to hit the sack and get ready for some of the questions that might come tomorrow.”

“How in Equestria are you going to prepare to answer questions you don’t even know?” Applejack asked.

“I'm basing it on what has already been asked,” then, in a small whisper voice, “and what I've read in other fiction stories.” Blaze switched back to normal volume and said, “Good night, everyone. See you all in the morning.”

They all said good night to him as he left the farmhouse. Inside the barn, he saw the package his clone got from Rarity. Blaze opened it up and began to take the clothing out, one at a time. The first one was a blue gi with black trim. Next, a red gi with black trim, a full black gi, a full white gi, a green gi with black trim, and finally, a black gi with white trim. The human was very impressed with how they all looked and their color choices. He couldn’t wait to see what Rarity will do for his tux for the Gala. He folded them back up and placed them back in the box to keep them clean.

Blaze lay down and entered his mind. He first made clones to start learning the new jutsu he thought he should have, in case of needing an escape method. While they did that, he focused more on what he may have to cover and possibly have to reveal. There is only so much the human could show from his iPad. If possible, and they accept it, somehow, allow them access to enter his mind. Of course, he will have to be in control of what they will see. Can’t let them wander into his personal memories. This only went on for a few hours before actually going to sleep. Blaze will need it to keep his mind sharp and in check of what’s to come.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 11: The Truth Comes Out

The next morning, just before Princess Celestia rose the sun into the sky, a human woke up in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Swift Blaze didn't mind this as he had gotten used to it.

He climbed out of the cot slowly as his legs ached a little from yesterday from kicking the trees as an Earth Pony. He stretched out his arm as he let out a big yawn. Blaze grabbed the full white gi and a set of clean undergarments before he made his way to the house. Up in the bathroom, the human cleaned up and got dressed. When he opened the door to the hallway, Applejack was waiting next to the door.

“Morning, Applejack," Blaze said, "Thank you for not barging into the bathroom while I was in there.”

“Morning, Blaze. I did learn my lesson from yesterday,” said Applejack with a little blush on her cheeks.

“This living arrangement won’t be for much longer. I'm planning to work on my house soon.”

The orange mare looked confused as she replied, “When did you schedule time with an engineer to go and build it?”

“I didn’t. I'm going to build it myself. I will need a pony to do the plumbing and electrical for it.”

Not wanting to drag this conversation out further, Applejack said, “Anyway, I’m hopping into the bathroom to clean up. You are going to make some more of me?”

“Only if you really liked eating yourself,” Blaze replied with a grin on his face.

The mare blushed some more as she went in and closed the door. Blaze went to the kitchen to make the same breakfast as before. The others soon came down while Apple Bloom was setting the table. The human made a bigger stack this time. Everyone couldn't get enough of them as they got second and third servings of it.

Granny Smith insisted that the human didn't need to clean up this time. Blaze thanked her and headed outside. In the front yard, the human made four clones that, in turn, transformed into the pony form. He didn't need to tell them what to do as they already knew. They were him of course.

Applejack came out of the house a few minutes later. She walked next to the human and said, “Ya ready, sugarcube?”

“As ready as I'll ever get. Let’s get going before I change my mind and make a run for it.” Blaze jokingly said the last part with a tiny bead of sweat rolling down his face.

Applejack saw the worried look he had. The mare couldn't imagine what's troubling him in the back of his mind. She hoped that he didn't do anything foolish in front of the princess.

They made their way into town to Twilight’s place. As they were getting close, Blaze saw a royal carriage was parked nearby. There were also several guards standing around Golden Oaks Library. The human wondered if these guards will give him a hard time like the last ones. As the pair approached the guards, they stepped out of the way and said nothing.

They entered the library and saw that the others were already here. Even Princess Luna was here. The two royal sisters were sitting on cushions in the middle of a half circle with an empty chair in the middle. The rest of the mane six were evenly divided on either side, with Twilight sitting next to Princess Celestia. Spike was sitting next to Rarity. He didn't register the others that just came in as he stared at the white Unicorn mare.

“Good morning, everyone. I see we are not wasting time in continuing the interrogation,” Blaze said as he sat in the chair.

"What?" Twilight exclaimed. "This isn't anything like that! Now why would . . "

Blaze was snickering with a big smile on his face.

Applejack said, "Don't mind him. He's been Mr. Funny Bones since this morning. Why, he joked about serving me up for breakfast, again."

"WHAT?!" shouted several ponies, except the Royal Princesses.

"What she means is I served up some pancakes that had apples in them," Blaze replied. "They are called 'applejacks' back on my world," he said while doing the air quotes. Getting nothing but nods from the others, the human turned his head towards Twilight and said, "As for what I said earlier, that was just to break the tension in the room."

"Ahh, I see." Twilight wrote down a few notes on the piece of paper next to her, with a couple hundred blank pages sitting behind her.

"Well, I see that those new clothes look amazing on you. I hope you like all the color combinations," said Rarity,

Blaze replied, "They're perfect. I'm more amazed by how quickly you were able making them."

"Once I had the first one done, I had to finish the others. I was in the zone as it were." The white Unicorn mare cleared her throat before she said, "Do your, um, undergarments fit nicely as well?"

Blaze blushed a tiny bit. "Yeah, everything is good."

Princess Celestia cleared her throat before she said, “Well, this is definitely going to be an interesting morning, Blaze. Before we begin, I just wanted to say that I'm glad you accepted to answer some more questions we may have.”

“Not a problem, Your Highness, I figured that was why you may have been personally having been keeping a hidden eye on me. That is, until you don't consider me to be a threat."

"One has to protect thy kingdom and thy subjects," Princess Luna chimed in.

"So true, little sister," said Princess Celestia. "Now then, . . ."

"Um, before we begin," Blaze interrupts, "I don't know if this a good place to say everything. I know you have your Royal Guard around this place, and maybe a few spells in place for privacy. But, I think what you may want answers to, I just feel safer if it's a place that no one would have a way to walk into."

"I assure you, Swift Blaze, the guards have been informed to not allow anypony through that we haven't approved," said Princess Celestia.

"I know, the other thing is," Blaze rubbed his temples on the side of his head with his hands in frustration. "Ugh, I've been trying to think of the best way of telling some things, without being able to show them. But, can't get a better way of doing it."

"What about that flat, rectangular, thingy you showed that image from?" asked Rainbow Dash.

The human dropped his hands to the top of his legs. "It's called a computer tablet, or an iPad. And I've thought of that. The thing is, it doesn't contain everything from my world. It allows you to get access to other data locations, back on Earth." He let out a big sigh. "I wish there was a way you can enter my mind. From there, I can show you my memories and better explain stuff."

"There is a way," said Princess Luna. "We enter the dream realm and we shall connect everypony to your mind, if you allow the connection. We haven't been able to see your dreams at night for some reason."

"Hmm, I'll try to let you in, if everyone is comfortable with trying this."

“I'll agree," said Princess Celestia, "Only if two of my guards may stay inside the library as well as two that will go inside your mind.”

“I don't have a problem with that. I'll also leave myself here to stand watch.”

The white Alicorn Princess nodded and summoned four Unicorn guard ponies into the library with her magic. Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and another human showed up standing next to him. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were somewhat startled at this. The guards went on the defensive, but Princess Celestia explained what was going on.

Princess Luna said, “Those who are venturing into the dream realm, please form a circle around the human. Lay down on a cushion so you don’t fall over when I cast the spell.”

Those on the floor pillows did so as two guards joined them behind the sitting human. The clone moved to the front door where the other guards were standing at attention. Once everyone was comfortable and ready, the Princess of the Moon's horn lit up as she channeled her magic. Small, rope-like strands emitted from her horn and floated through the air as they connect to their foreheads. Finally, a big strand moved to Blaze's head. Upon contact, they all closed their eyes.

With the group now asleep, the Blaze clone said to the two guards, "This is going to take a while. I'm going to get some stuff from my bag upstairs to amuse myself. Do you want me to get you anything?"

The Unicorn stallion guards remained at attention, standing tall and firm with their eyes looking forward. Neither one said anything.

Clone Blaze thought to himself, Princess Celestia definitely knows how to pick them.

--------Inside Blaze's Mind--------

The human was the first to open his eyes. He looked around and didn't see the others around. He then noticed a floating computer window a few feet away. Blaze walked over to it and saw it said.

Luna party requesting access to mind space.

Below that there were three choices: Full Access, Guided Access, Denied Access.

He selected the middle one. The window disappeared and the group surrounded him in the same location as in the library. The ponies and dragon opened their eyes and saw they were surrounded in a vastness of white.

Blaze said, “Welcome everypony, to the inside of my mind. Watch your step.”

“Your head is pretty empty, Blaze,” Rainbow said.

“That's because this is where I go in my sleep. Here, I can imagine anything I need to help with my training. For example, let’s have a tree sprouting up where you are, Rainbow.”

The ground under the blue Pegasus shook for a few seconds. Then, a huge apple tree grew to full size as it engulfed her in the limbs.

Inside the newly formed tree, the voice of Rainbow Dash said, “Very funny.” She then flew out of the tree and landed next to Rarity. The mare shook her head and body to remove any leaf that may be stuck to her.

"Easy there, Rainbow Dash. I spent two hours this morning beautifying my mane and coat for the Princesses," said Rarity.

"I think you are beautiful. No matter how long it took," said Spike.

"Aww, thank you, Spiky-wiky."

Blaze said, “So, I figure this space would be easier to explain things about me and humans as I can show you things easier instead of trying to get the words to describe it." Blaze looked around to the others. "Who would like to start first?”

“Um, can we go someplace that is more familiar? This place is a little strange, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy asked.

“Sure, I'll recreate the library from where we once were. Remember, it may seem real, but it's all in my mind, not yours.”

The library appeared around them. Like, a haze that was obscuring their sight. The cushions were arranged differently. They were placed in three rows of four in front of a podium that was next to a projector screen. The human went behind that as the others took a seat. The Royal Guards remained standing on either side of the space.

“Before we continue, I would like to make a request that you do not wander around in my mind. I've managed to let you in, but you can only look at stuff I show you. All of these books and rooms contain nothing."

Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and hoped this telepathic connection was active. He said to her, I'll show you these thoughts later on, Princess, You'll see why I'm keeping them a secret.

The Alicorn nodded as she replied in the connection, I expect you will soon. If you want to gain my trust. The Princess of the Sun then said with her normal voice, “Can you please show us what happened to your world which caused you to come to ours?”

“Wow, the big question right off the bat. Give me a few minutes to gather the displayable items as I'll explain. It will take some time as I need to cover a few things before I can get to my last day on my planet.”

A tablet materialized on the podium. The human tapped away as he gathered pictures and video he could recall from memory the best he could do. Once he was ready, the projector screen lit up as he talked.

Blaze said, “Ok, the first thing I'll need to go over was a prediction a group of humans called Mayans have made."

Various images of humans and their life style showed up on the screen.

"Now, through some mathematical thing they did, they calculated off when my world, planet Earth, was going to end. This prediction was over five thousand years ago in the timeline there.”

The images changed to a monster circle stone tablet. Then, to an artist rendition of the entire planet on fire. A couple of the mares gasped at what they saw.

“Sorry about this image. Most humans didn't believe this would come true. For the next part, I must warn you, I'm about to talk about what humans are like. Please don’t relate me to them as I have different beliefs than most.”

The Princesses and the others nodded their heads before Blaze continued telling his tale.

“Over the many eras of the human race, one thing has been a constant, we like to fight and cause destruction. Most of these conflicts were either about land, money, or power over other humans. Most historians say we need to learn about our past so we don’t repeat them in the time we live. Well, that never happened. We never learned and because of that, we paid the ultimate price.”

The human showed images and short video clips of different battles that he recalled seeing as he was in school. He went over each one and explained what it was about and how the advances in science and technology had resulted in more death and destruction. He even went over the creation of some of the most destructive weapons. Things that could easily destroy towns, cities, or an entire country. Blaze said that a government of a country actually used a device like this, twice. It happened during something in humankind's history called World War II.

"That sounds horrible!" shouted Twilight. "Why would anyone use something to cause mass destruction? Let alone, twice."

"Humans have been speculating what goes on in the minds of these past leaders that drove them to make those decisions. Some say greed. Others, say fear. Finally, it might be because what they believe in," replied Blaze.

The projector screen went dark. The human saw several of the mane six had tears rolling down their face as either one or both fore hooves covered their mouths. Spike was hiding underneath his cushion. The Princesses had a sad expression while the guards were doing their best to maintain their posture and glare face. Only their tail had curled up between their legs.

Blaze walked to the front of the podium, as it shape-shifted into a chair. He sat down and said, “I'm sorry for showing you this. I never wanted to let you know what most humans are like. But, I feel you should know of what became of humans since they were last here.”

Princess Celestia got up from her cushion and walked to the right side of the sitting human. Princess Luna joined her on the opposite side. They both looked at each other for a few seconds before looking down at him.

“I'm glad you showed this to us. Both, my sister and I, are also glad you say that you're not like these humans,” Princess Celestia said.

"Indeed," Princess Luna added.

“The thing is, I am a human. These reactions, they are in my DNA. I could have done these things at any time. I don't because of what I believe, like the balance in the world.”

“If you were like those other humans, then how did you survive the last day on your planet, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, guess it is time to show you what happened. The day in question was the date the Mayans predicted was going to be the end of the world."

The screen lit up and it showed Swift Blaze's memory from his point of view. He only showed the things related to the violence that he heard on the radio and saw on the television. He skipped the parts of what he packed and anything that he didn't want them to see. There was a low rumble coming from the video before it paused and cut to black.

“What happened next?” Pinkie asked in an excited tone. She had a huge bucket of popcorn in front of her,

"Before I continue, this next part has the final moments on my world that I experienced." Blaze had placed his right hand on his left elbow while the left arm stayed by his side. "You can say that I was very afraid and in shock of what was happening. I don't think there is another moment in any creature's life of being the most scared is when they realize they are about to die."

The human looked at the others as he lowered his right arm back to is side. He continued with, "If you don't want to see it, I'm okay with it. I've created a sound proof room through the red door over there."

After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy and Rarity got up from their cushions. Before they headed to the door, they made their way to the front. The two ponies went over and gave Blaze a hug. Spike got up and gave the human a bro claw punch.

Looking around the room, Rainbow Dash stayed put as she was proving that she wasn’t afraid of anything. Applejack was next to the mare and took it as a challenge to see who will scream first. Both princesses were staying calm and focused. The Royal Guards remained at attention, but a little sight of fear could be spotted in their eyes. Twilight Sparkle had managed to create seven stacks of note cards of different heights. Pinkie Pie was still eating popcorn, except that the mare now had a tall soda next to her and wore 3-D glasses over her eyes.

Once the red door was closed, Princess Celestia said, "Bob, please continue."

With that, the human started the projector screen back up to where he left off. From the point of view, humans were carrying torches and other odd things in their other hands. The rumbling noise soon revealed an odd looking metal box thing that was going down the road. There was a quick change as the light source in the house was turned off before looking again at what was happening in the street.

The ponies saw the smaller metal part on top of this thing began to rotate to the other side, pointing a metal stick at it. There was a loud bang and the door to the other house was engulfed in a fiery explosion.

Blaze saw the young mares jump in their cushions from that. The Princesses stayed firm and focused on the scene. Both Unicorn Guards had their legs shaking a bit as they tried to stay at attention. Pinkie Pie was now wearing soundproof earmuffs as she watched.

By now in the replay, Bob had run out of the house just as another explosion just went off. The view went black, but the sound was still going. Small bangs in the distance with strange, high whistle noises was being played from the back speakers towards the front at quick intervals. These were then followed by a bigger explosion.

When the picture came back, the ponies were seeing the destruction that happened to the house somehow. Then, there was a clunking sound. Followed by the picture going black again.

Twilight was the first to speak. "Blaze, your home! What happened to it?!" she asked.

"Everything that I owned got blown up from that tank there and by those other humans," he replied. "What just happened was a piece of my house hit me on the head and knocked me out."

"And those other sounds we heard?" Rainbow Dash asked. "They sounded like something moving very fast."

"You are correct. They are the much smaller projectile from what came out of the tank. It came from what those thugs had in their other hands."

"Is there any more in this memory?" Princess Luna asked.

With a heavy sigh, the human said, "Yes."

The playback started back up. It showed debris was being removed that was blocking the view. The ponies saw the humans from before had surrounded him. They had a creepy, evil-looking smile on their faces.

Bob was pleading for his life after being told he had two choices to pick from. After choosing and the thug leader had agreed to the terms, the others started counting down. Blaze looked at how his friends were reacting.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were holding each other. Twilight scooted closer to Princess Celestia. The Princesses themselves remained firm. The guards’ legs were shaking more than ever. Pinkie Pie had emptied the popcorn bucket and placed it over her head, covering her face so she couldn’t see.

Near the last ten seconds, the only thing showing on the projector screen was the sight of looking down the gun barrel. Where a bullet would soon be exiting, once the hammer drops. Right after the sound of a click, the screen went white.

Rainbow Dash released her grip on the orange Earth mare, once she realized she was doing it. Applejack too composed herself as she adjusted her hat. Below the Royal Guards, a small puddle had formed beneath each of them. Their legs were no longer shaking.

Blaze was sitting in the chair with his head low. He was looking down to his feet. His face was both showing pain and sadness. The human felt two things touch his back. When he looked up, Blaze saw that both Princesses were now next to him. They had placed one of their wings around his back. A smile started to grow on his face.

He soon noticed the other mares and small dragon have formed a half circle in front of him. Each one had a small tear rolling down their face. Blaze's tears turned into tears of joy from seeing these ponies care for him, even though he was a complete stranger to this world.

The human wiped his tears away and said, "Thank you. I'm fine now. That experience is something I wish to never feel for a very long time."

"No, thank you for sharing what happened to you," said Princess Celestia. "I could never imagine the humans I knew would fall so low."

"You still have to realize, these bad ones are the results of power, greed, and corruption. Not all of us go down that path. We choose how we want to live our lives by what we do."

"And it seems thou hath chosen wisely," said Princess Luna. "Can thou continue with the tale?"

Blaze stood up and said, "Sure, give me a sec to gather my memories."

The chair transformed back to a podium. He went behind it as the others returned to their cushions. The Royal Guards had found a mop and a bucket and were cleaning up the mess they had made.

Blaze tapped away at the tablet for the next part, but something was odd. He was getting an "Access Denied" on each segment of memory. Finding it odd, he decided to put this on the back burner to investigate further.

“Well, I first couldn't tell where I was. It was because everything was looking pure white. Out of nowhere, the mighty god that most humans believe in spoke to me. He explained why I survived what just happened. The Mayan calendar prediction was a test to see how humans would react to it. Those who stayed peaceful on that day got another chance at life in a world of their choosing. I chose for a world that is peaceful, never seen war, and not human.”

“And you ended on our world. That is tragic, yet sweet of you to get a second chance, darling,” Rarity said.

“Question, how come you didn't kick those other human flanks with those things you know?” Rainbow asked.

Blaze replied, “That's going to be the next thing I was going to explain. The truth is, my world does not have humans with these abilities. I was never trained in martial arts. I'm what my people called a computer geek, nerd, tech savvy, and sometimes freak for liking things they don’t understand.”

“Then where did you come up with chakra and ki abilities if they never existed on your world?” Twilight asked.

“One thing my kind of people, the geeks and nerds, were into something we called ‘Anime’. What that is are illustration cartoons playing out scenes that we watch, read, and sometimes wrote stories off the series. Actually, I think it would be better to show you where I got the idea from.”

The projector screen started to show scenes from Dragonball Z of different fights and seeing humans flying about. It then switched to clips from Naruto. They all were intrigued in the shows and recognized some of the jutsu Blaze had done.

“Wow! That was amazing!" said Spike. "How come you have not done any of those blasts from your hands?”

“Well, for starters, never had a reason to. Also, I haven't done much practice with it. Finally, as you can see, these techniques are very dangerous. I don't think I would have a need of them. I only chose them so I could gain the power of flight. I mean, besides those who have wings, have any of you dreamed what would it be like to fly?"

The Earth and Unicorn mares shook their heads. Spike nodded his head with excitement. The Unicorn Guards gave a subtle nod with a little blush showing on their faces.

Blaze continued telling his tale, "So, the reason I chose to get the abilities from these shows, besides how cool they are, I didn't know what I would be facing in the next world. I like a little mystery of the unknown and to be a little prepared. I still have to train and practice with them. That's what I've been doing in my sleep most nights.”

“Thank you for telling about the events leading to you arriving here," said Princess Celestia. "I feel sorry that most of your species did not survive your God’s test. I've seen for myself the good in humans turn corrupt for greed and power. That's why they were banished from this world over one thousand years ago."

“Taking a wild guess of my species timeline, that speaking was during the medieval era. Also, roughly that far back in time too. That time was another dark period in human history and where myths about Unicorns and Pegasi came from.”

Princess Luna asked, “Roughly, how many dark periods were there in thy species' history?”

“There are too many to count. We have history books that go over past events that they've been able to piece together from aged documents centuries later. Most have been destroyed in fires, or have been lost."

“Again, I'm sad to hear about that," said the Princess of the Sun." Let's go over another topic I wish to know more of. Would you mind going over the new jutsu you have learned since we last met?”

“Sure thing, Your Highness. The last time I saw you, I explained about shadow transform. In the show, the main character’s popular move is called shadow clone."

Blaze went on and explained how a typical clone jutsu is, from what he had seen from the show. Then onto what makes this one more unique. The human went on by doing a quick demonstration on the intelligence gathering.

He made two clones. One went with Spike, the other with Rainbow Dash. They went two opposite parts of the room and had a whisper chat. The original Blaze explained to the others what they are chatting about, but couldn't go into detail at this time. When they returned, the clones disappeared and Blaze went over the new memories.

"Alright. Rainbow Dash, you told my clone that you have a Wonderbolt's poster that has almost all the signatures from them. You are only missing Spitfire and Soarin. You said that they are very busy with the show themselves, is the reason why. You currently have it framed above your bed, on the ceiling. That way, for each morning, you can look at that when you wake up to increase your determination on joining them. Did I miss anything, Rainbow?"

"You pretty much nailed it," said the blue Pegasus mare. "The only thing you didn't mention was how awesome I am."

"That ain't a secret, sugarcube," said Applejack

"Onto Spike now. You didn't tell me anything. What you did with my clone is he showed you a quick game called, 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'. We played best out of seven. I won three and you won three. The final round became a draw as we kept on doing the same symbol."

"I love playing games!" said Spike. "Can't wait to play it again."

“Impressive, Blaze," said Princess Celestia. "I can see why this is very useful. But, I can also see how an enemy could make an army appear. We wouldn't be prepared for something like that.”

"There is one downside to this," Blaze replied. "Say, one enemy makes a thousand clones of himself. Their power and strength is also divided evenly among them. So, one all powerful foe divided by a thousand, you get an army that would fall from a paper cut."

"Paper cuts are not something to joke about," said Twilight Sparkle. "They really hurt."

“Anyways, for this next part, I will need to explain the basics of it so you can understand the next jutsu. Besides the basic Ninjutsu, the show talks about the ninja being natural to a naturalistic style. Those are earth, fire, wind, water, and lightning. Typically, you are only natural to one. But, with me choosing to also have abilities from the other show, God said I have the capability to learn all of them.”

Almost everyone was shocked to hear this. As Rarity did her fainting scene, Blaze had a couch show up behind her. Pinkie Pie spilled her popcorn. Twilight broke her quill.

Blaze cleared his throat before he said, “Even though I have this, it will take me some time to try and learn the different nature jutsus to a useful capacity. What I've started learning are earth and water style jutsu.

"I've gotten a good experience with that earth one," Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash asked, "How's that?"

"Blaze trapped me so I couldn't move."

The Unicorn Guard started to charge up their horns as they stared angrily at the human.

Blaze held up both hands toward them and shouted, "Hold it! That's not the full story. Please, let me explain."

Princess Celestia looked to her guards and nodded her head. Their horns stopped glowing. They returned to their at-attention pose. The human thanked the Princess. Then, he told the tale of what occurred that day.

Applejack had her head down low because she recalled how stubborn she was acting.

“Applejack, why did you not ask us to help you when your brother got injured? We would have gladly helped, ” said Twilight.

Before the orange mare could reply, Blaze said, “I asked that myself when Big Mac and I went to find her. She went on saying it was Apple family tradition and that she was trying to prove herself to her brother. I realized she wasn’t going to listen to reason, so I immobilized her body so I could do the next jutsu.”

“What jutsu was that?” Pinkie asked while eating from a new bag of popcorn.

“The type is called a Genjutsu. Instead of some physical change to something, this one goes after the mind. I did a weak one that allowed me to implant an illusion into her of what could happen if she did not ask for help and got very exhausted.”

“What was the dreadful illusion that made Applejack realize she should ask for help when something is too big for one pony, Blaze?” Rarity asked from the couch she was on.

“I think Applejack should answer this. She experienced it,” the human suggested.

The Earth pony looked up and glanced at all her friends. She said, "I couldn't tell at first what I was seeing. There was some screen in front of me and I couldn't stop looking at it. I was seeing myself really exhausted, while trying to help my friends. Each thing I was involved with that I promised to help them ended disastrously. I sent Rainbow flying badly when she wanted my help for a stunt. I poisoned a bunch of ponies with bad muffins. Finally, I terrorized all the new baby bunnies to go into a stampede when I was helping Fluttershy.”

“This is so bizarre. I was going to ask you for your help later this week with a stunt to increase my launch speed,” Rainbow said.

“I too was going to ask you to help in making some baked goods at Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said.

“I was going to ask, if you don’t mind, to help me gather all the baby bunnies to get a count of them. The way you handle the cows was impressive,” Fluttershy said.

All eyes turned and looked at Swift Blaze. While being a little nervous, he said, “What? How was I supposed to know what Applejack was going to see. I'm still figuring out how all of this works."

The mare gave the human a questioning look as they thought over what he said. He hoped that they will buy it. Who knows what could happen if the real truth comes out, Blaze thought inside his head.

And what truth could this be? another voice in his head said.

Blaze looked to Princess Celestia. Her eyes stared at him, like she was glaring at his soul.

Busted, Blaze thought. He did a big swallow before he replied in his head. It's true, Your Highness. I've been holding some things back from all of you. I was planning on telling you, in private. The fewer that know this would probably be safer for your kingdom. I hope you'll understand why after you hear it.

Only a few seconds went by. But the human felt it was an hour before the Princess responded. Very well. We shall discuss it, after this meeting, she said with a stern voice in the human's head.

Another gulp came from his throat as he now feared what might happen later.

Applejack broke the silence in the room when she said, “That illusion made me realize that I should never have thought to try and do something that big. I have helped my friends with their problems. I should have asked them to help with mine.”

“Ok, Blaze, it looks like you diverted an issue between your friends if you had not stepped in to help Applejack that friendship lesson. I'm glad you controlled yourself to make sure no harm came to your friends. Do hold yourself back in causing harm to my ponies. Unless, you are going to protect them,” Princess Celestia said.

“I do wish to protect your ponies and my friends. That's why I'm continuing to learn these jutsu and ki abilities. In a world where magic exists in everything around us, a single human is at a disadvantage if they want to protect the ones they care for,” the human replied.

Princess Luna said, “We're glad to hear that. Maybe thou should join the Royal Guard. It would be a good way to train in fighting in thy pony form.”

Blaze replied “I'll think about it. I still need some time to figure out my place in your kingdom. There are many other considerations of things I could do here. I could maybe teach your guards some Taijutsu techniques.”

“Tai what now? What the buck is that?” Rainbow asked.

“It's another style of jutsu. While the others I've talked about using chakra, Taijutsu does not require it. You can pretty much classify it as another style of martial arts. The only thing is, I will have to adjust it some for a pony body. Again, that is another possibility I could do here.”

“I would like a demonstration, before I will consider you teaching my guards,” said Princess Celestia.

“But of course, Princess," the human said as he bowed to her. "Now then, let's get back to the jutsu I have learned. The next style that I haven't used in the real world is Water style. Just like the name says, it uses water to make it work.”

“If you have been training to use them in here, can you give us a demonstration?” Twilight asked.

“Not a problem. I'll need to change to a different area. Please, remain seated until the transition has come to a complete stop.”

The surrounding wall became blurry as they moved at imaginable speeds. Once it came to a stop, the ponies saw they were now in an open field with huge boulders, spread out. Next to the human stood a basic water fountain.

"Where in Equestria are we?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I don't recognize any of this."

"That's because this isn't. I'm using an area that is seen often from the Dragonball Z series. This area is good to do some target practice." Blaze stepped to the side and gestured to several boulders that were behind him. "As you can see, I have different rocks of different sizes and properties. I will be doing three different techniques on them. Please, stand back."

The ponies watched as the human turned and faced the rocks ahead. The water from the fountain began to form a long blade. It shot across the space and did a diagonal slicing move on the first target. On the second one, the water stream transformed into a massive hammer. It slammed into a middle rock, causing it to be smashed into hundreds of pieces. Onto the final rock, and the biggest. Blaze had caused the water to change back into a collected pool of water. It launched itself at the boulder, piercing it, and continued going through it. The stream came back from behind the rock and repeated the motion of turning the rock into Swiss cheese, literally.

Once he was done, the human turned back around and faced the others. Some were stunned by the damage was done. Others were amazed of Blaze’s feat.

Spike spoke first as he said, "That, was, AWESOME!"

"You definitely know how to break rocks," said Rainbow Dash. "What else can you do with water?"

"Almost anything can be used for destroying things. It's when you use it to be creative, that's the amazing part," said Blaze.

He put his hands together and did different symbol poses. The fountain water shaped shifted into several dolphins. The human had them fly about around the group, doing different tricks and passing through hoops that were also made of water.

Once Blaze was done, the mares and princesses clapped their fore hooves together. They all had big smiles on their muzzles. The guards remained at attention.

“You are certainly learning some useful jutsu to help protect your friends. I can’t wait to see what you are going to do next,” Princess Celestia said.

“Well, the next one I'm planning on learning, might cause everypony to faint from seeing what I will do with it. It will take some time before I'm ready to show it," said Blaze. He looked to the other and said, "Are there any more questions you would like to ask before Princess Luna ends this?”

Spike quickly said, “Can you show us some ki blast? I just want to see what those can do."

“I figured you wanted to see that when you saw that show. I am going to change the area again to one with things for target practice. Don’t panic over where we go as it is just an illusion.”

Blaze changed their location from the fields to a space environment with meteors in the distance. The guard ponies panicked, trying to hold onto their air for no reason. Everyone else laughed until they realized it was an illusion as the human had told them.

“Now that we had that laugh, I'll try to show some basic blast at the meteors over there. You'll understand why I won’t use these unless there was no other option.”

The ponies stood behind the human as he gathered the energy. A red aura started to appear around his body. Blaze raised his right arm as a red orb formed in front of his hands. He sent several them flying to the space rocks. Each one hit their target and blew them to pieces.

"Hold on," said Rainbow Dash. "These are red. We saw a blue one when you came here. Why is there a color difference?"

"Maybe it has to do the color of his pony form?" said Twilight Sparkle.

"But he is in this form!" the blue Pegasus shouted. "Shouldn't it be that, peach tan color then?"

"I don't know, sugarcube. Only one that would know is Blaze himself," said Applejack. The mare turned towards the human. "Well?"

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Um, yeah. I think I know what Rainbow Dash is talking about. I didn't realize at the time that I was using THAT technique. I'm just glad it was as weak as it was. Would of hated showing up and explain why the area was destroyed."

"How much destruction is thou speaking of?" asked Princess Luna.

The human lowered his hand and replied, "Umm, in the show, the main characters could destroy planets." Blaze raised both hands to the ponies and quickly said, "But they had a lot higher energy level! Nothing that I'm no where near."

Princess Celestia raised and eyebrow then waited a few seconds, before she said, "What levels are we talking about?"

"I don't have the device to detect mine. But, I'm guessing mine is around a couple thousand. They had power levels that were several million. They got there from very intense training and being part of a special race from another planet. I will never get to their levels"

"Okay then. Proceed with the demonstration."

Blaze bowed to her, before he turned around and faced the remaining asteroid. The human brought his hands together in front of him. Then, pulled them to his side as a bright blue orb formed in them.

"Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . ha!" Blaze said as he charged up the energy and released it to the remaining target. Upon contact, it grew big enough to engulf it and the remaining chunks nearby. It dissipated and nothing was left.

All ponies were again shocked at the devastation that they can cause. “Now you see why I won’t be using these unless they were the last resort. If there is nothing else, Princess Luna, can you end the dream share?”

The Princess of the night nodded her head. Her horn lit up and blanketed the area in white.

Back in the real world, everyone woke up from the slumber in the library. Blaze saw his clone was playing a card game with the other guards.

“Do you have any threes?” a guard asked.

The clone and other guard said, “Go fish.”

“I'm shocked you're not playing poker and taking their money," the real Blaze said.

The guards dropped their cards and went back to salute formation, not noticing the ponies were waking up.

“Sorry about that, Your Highness, it was the clone’s idea to play the game while we waited,” one guard said.

"Well, I can see I'm no longer wanted," said the clone.

He got up from the table and walked to the real Blaze. The clone whispered into the other's ear as he passed a full sack and a black, rectangular thing to him. With that, he was engulfed in a puff of smoke and disappeared.

Blaze glanced through the memories to confirm what his clone has told him. He said, "Well, I can see you two were not bored while everyone was asleep."

"What do you know?" asked a guard.

Blaze replied, "That's right. You don't know the specifics of the shadow clone. Well, when the technique is done, their memories are shared with me."

Both guards that had stood watch outside the dream took a big gulp. The second one had a bead of sweat rolling down his face as he said, "We did play a few card games. There's nothing wrong about that."

"Is there anything more you would like to share?"

"What are you getting at, Blaze?" asked Princess Celestia.

"My clone knew if anything were to happen, it would be his word against two Royal Guards. He grabbed a special device from my bag, for insurance."

"What would that be?"

"A video camera."

The first guard said, "We didn't see him lug down any big camera and set it up. Just that black thing he has."

"You see, technology where I'm from doesn't need to big anymore to do the same thing." Blaze pointed to the staircase going up. "Princess Celestia, would you please grab that silver box that is sitting on the stairs over there?"

The white Alicorn lit up her horn and used her magic. Once the object was in front of her, she said, "This is a camera? How do you get the film out?"

The human replied, "The camera is called a GoPro. It doesn't use film wheels. Humans have developed the method to take that out and capture it by, what it's called, digitally. A tiny piece of tech is in there that is acting as memory and placing what it records onto it."

"Then how the hay are you going to be able to watch it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Blaze looked over and saw Twilight was madly writing down notes on this discussion.

"We're wondering that too. Plus, how was your other self controlling it. You don't have magic," said Princess Luna.

Blaze held up the black rectangle object and said, “With this. It works like that tablet I showed earlier, just smaller. I’m able to remotely control that camera and see what it sees on this screen.”

The human tapped the screen for a few seconds. When he turned it back around, the screen was displaying what was broadcasting from the mini camera. Princess Celestia turned it around to have the lens pointed at her. The screen copied the movement path.

The white Alicorn looked at the two guards that stood watch while they slept. She had a look between pissed off and disappointed. The stallions getting the glare were sweating noticeably. Before they could say or do anything, Princess Celestia said, "Don't move or say anything until I have reviewed this. Also, the anti-teleport barrier is still up."

She turned to Luna and said, "Sister, have you and the other guards watch them."

"But of course," replied the dark blue Alicorn. "We shall make sure of it."

"Blaze, show me what transpired here."

The human nodded. So, with a swipe and a tap, the video playback started.

--------------------------------

It showed the guards standing still while the ponies went into the shared dream state. After a while, the guards were whispering among themselves about something. Blaze's clone had gone to retrieve a book from one of the shelves. He sat in a chair at the far end of the room, opposite from the camera. He placed the book where it was blocking what he could see.

The guards moved about while they looked at the human to see if he noticed. Once they were satisfied, each one used their magic and picked up Rainbow and Fluttershy. These Unicorns made the sleeping Pegasus fly around the room. After a few laps, they gently placed them back down where they were laying. The Royal Guard switched their magic grip onto the two unconscious guards. They manipulated them to dance together in the waltz. After a while, the guards placed the other ones back where they were.

The ponies approached the clone. One guard said, “Hey, human! We have a question to ask ya."

The clone replied, “Hmm? Sorry, I was reading this interesting book on other creatures of this world. Did you want to read it?”

“No. We were wondering if your species ever played poker.”

“Yes, they have. I’m sorry to say though I'm not an expert on it.”

“It’s easy. Just need a deck of cards and some bits to wager. You do have some, correct?” the other guard said.

“Yes, I do," the human said as he lifted a medium size bit sack from his waist. "It was a gift from the Princess.”

They saw how big the bag was and huge grins showed up on their faces.

"Then play a few hands. We'll go easy the first few deals, just so you can get used to it," said the first guard.

"Alright. I could use the bits to get the supplies for the house I'm planning to make."

"Don't dream too early, or you might find yourself with no bits at all," the second guard replied.

They went to a table and set up as the clone went to get the cards. A guard was dealing first and explained the rules as he shuffled the deck with his magic. After a couple hours the guards’ side of the table was empty of bits and the clone had them all.

“Guess today was my lucky day,” the clone said as he shoveled the bits into the bag. “Want to play a game of Go Fish?”

The guards nodded.

-------------------------------

The video clip ended. Princess Celestia looked at Blaze and sent a telepathic message to him, Blaze, why didn't your clone stop them from what they were doing?

Blaze replied in the connection, He could have. But, if he did, he thought the guards would have called ones outside and say that the human was doing that. He would have intervened if it got too far out of control. The other reason is the clone felt that you should deal with them. The camera was going to be proof of whatever actually happened.

Very clever. Did the clone lie about playing poker?

The human smiled as he replied, I was the online poker state champ for two years.

The Princess let out a small chuckle. The white Alicorn regained her composure before she looked at the guilty Royal Guards

“What did these guards do, Princess?” Twilight asked.

“Blaze did capture what these two did and will be punished.” She looked at them and said, “You have been found guilty of conduct unbecoming of a Royal Guard. This also includes what has been shown to me. I won’t go into detail in front of these ponies. But, it will be recorded in your personal files. You will be stripped of your ranks, down to private. Finally, you will be sentence to one year in the dungeons of Canterlot, as set in the Equestrian Code of Military Conduct.”

“But Your Highness, we can explain. You see . . .” a guard started to say.

“ENOUGH!" shouted Princess Celestia in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

After a few seconds, the white Alicorn, at normal voice levels, said, "I thought I could trust you to protect me and my subject. But instead you did this foolish thing. This device has seen everything you did. It’s a good thing the human tricked you in getting all your money. You have shamed the Royal Guard name and what it stands for."

Both guards started to beg the Princess, “Please, Your Highness! We're sorry for what we did. We promise to never do anything like that ever again. Please don’t kick us out of the Royal Guard. We'll do anything!”

Blaze stepped up next to the Princess of the Day and said, "Excuse me, Princess, I don't mean to step in, but I think I might have a better suggestion. Being kicked out and tossed into jail seems to be a little extreme. I mean, no harm came to you, Princess Luna, or anyone else. They were just acting childish. This method won't teach them to do better."

She was thinking upon what the human said. Her reply was, "You do have a point. What do you have in mind, Blaze?"

"They first must agree to this option before I say it. If they back out of it at any time, they will be still kicked out and be sentenced to five years in the dungeons of Canterlot."

"Interesting proposal. I'll consider this option."

Princess Luna looked at the guilty ponies and said, "Time to choose your verdict. Do you want our sister's decreed of punishment? Or, do you want to go with Swift Blaze's mystery option with the added condition of failing?"

They whispered between them quietly for a few minutes. Once they made their mind, the accused Unicorn guards turned toward the Princesses. "We'll choose Blaze's decision," said the first guard.

The second one said, "Yeah, anything is better than dishonorable discharge."

Everypony turned to me to hear what they will be getting.

Blaze smiled and said in a game show voice, "Congratulations! You two colts have won the following. You'll work on Applejack's farm, starting tomorrow, and do it for one year. The mare and her brother, Big Mac, will be your bosses. Your pay will be half of what you would normally get for working there. If at any point she thinks you are not going to cut it, you will go to the dungeon for five years with the discharge."

Before the guards could respond, the human also said,"But wait! There's more. During the time there, you'll wear magic inhibitors the entire time. Basically, you will be Earth ponies with horns the entire time. After completing the time on the farm, you'll go back to magic school and relearn your spells. Finally, once magic school is done, you'll go through basic training, two times. If you pass both times, then and only then, you can return back to your current positions. If at any point you fail or back out, it is straight to the dungeon."

"We would have never agreed to those terms! One year in the dungeon is better than that!" shouted one guard. The other nodded his head.

"Just remember, if you back out, it will be five years," said Blaze. "I choose this so you can actually learn from your mistakes and be better in the future. So, will you continue with my choice? Or, are you going to the dungeons?"

They whisper to each other some more with an angry tone that could be heard. They turned to the Princess of the Sun. The second guard asked, "Do you promise that we'll be allowed back into the Royal Guard if we do what Blaze said?"

Princess Celestia turned to Blaze and said in his mind, You're right. They were acting childish. I do think this will teach them how to better behave. It's a little scary you came up with this in such a short time.

He replied in his mind, Kicking them out and throwing them into the dungeon would cause them to hate you over time. Maybe even do evil deeds if they follow that path. This will get them back on the right path and teach them to not abuse the power they have.

I agree. She turned back to the guards and said, "Yes, you'll be allowed back in. Only when you meet all the points in Blaze's choice."

The guilty guards started to bow repeatedly as they said, "Thank you, Your Highness! We are truly sorry for what we did and thank you for giving us another chance.”

Blaze turned to the orange mare and said, "Ok, Applejack, you have two new workers for you. You know the condition of their employment. When you get back to the farm, just tell my clones you're all set with them and can release the jutsu."

The Earth pony replied, "Why don't you tell them? Aren't ya coming back to the farm?"

"I need Swift Blaze to come with me to Canterlot. It's just to fill out some forms so he can be a true citizen of Equestria," Princess Celestia said.

All the ponies accepted that reasoning.

Blaze said, "Seeing we are done here, Shall we get going?”

“Very well. Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Blaze will return tomorrow morning.”

All the ponies bowed to the Princesses as they started to leave. Before they exited, Princess Luna used her magic to remove the armor from the two temporally suspended guards. Then, she placed a magic inhibitor ring on their horns. Finally, a binding spell so they couldn't come off by any means, except by the Princesses.

Blaze followed them out and joined the Alicorns in the carriage. Soon, the carriage was off and flying back to the castle.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Chapter 12: The Whole Truth, Oh God . . .

High up in the afternoon sky of Equestria, a carriage being pulled by four Pegasus Royal Guards was heading to Canterlot. Inside, sat a white Alicorn, Princess Celestia, a dark blue Alicorn, Princess Luna, and a human, Swift Blaze. Blaze was looking outside the window next to him. He saw the ground below passing by and other Pegasi were moving the clouds about. When he turned his head to the interior, the human noticed that something was on Princess Celestia's mind.

“Two pennies for your thoughts?” Blaze asked.

The white Alicorn replied, “What did you say?"

"It's a human metaphor. I asked what are you thinking about."

"Well, I've only told the ponies in Ponyville and our personal Royal Guard about you. The rest of Equestria still thinks humans are a myth. Do you think you can go to your pony form? I don't know how the high society ponies will react. You will only have to do it until we are inside the castle walls.”

“Sure. I can see where you are coming from. You don't want them running for the hills screaming monster," Blaze said with a chuckle.

"We don't see how this is a laughing matter," said Princess Luna.

"It's another human saying."

"Hmm, thou must teach us these 'sayings'. Maybe they will allow us to get in touch with the modern times."

"I don't think human verbiage will connect with the ponies here. It will just fly over their head."

"Oh! We know that one. Our sister has said it several times when she talks about her day in court."

Princess Celestia said, "Luna, I don't think Blaze is interested in what happens during the royal court proceedings."

"We shall see," said Blaze. "Have you informed your guards about me, at least? Or, do I get to mess with them if they try to stop me from going with you?”

“I knew I was forgetting something. It's a little late now. Blaze, stay close to us for now. That should tell them that you are with us.”

“But, if we do get separated, I'll try not to harm your guards if they attack first.”

Princess Celestia smiled and nodded her head. Princess Luna had a tiny smirk, her smile showing. If Blaze had to guess, she wanted to see how he will deal with the Royal Guard. The human transformed into his pony form and got comfortable for the rest of the ride.

The castle in Canterlot was now close. The Pegasus Guards began their descent toward the front courtyard. Once the carriage came to a stop, Blaze stepped out and helped the Alicorns out of the vehicle, all gentlecolt-like.

The red Earth pony turned around. He shook the back legs, one at a time, and felt relief from the cramps subsiding. When he finally looked at the castle, the size and style of it was truly impressive. The human in disguise was amazed by how beautiful everything looked.

Blaze then noticed that the Princesses were at the top of the steps and entering the big front doors. He was still at the bottom of the stairs, next to the carriage. Great, I got sidetracked from sightseeing. he thought. The stallion moved his flank to catch up.

The Royal Guards at the front door stopped him in his path. “Halt! State your name and business here for coming to the castle,”one guard said.

“My name is Swift Blaze. I'm not from Equestria. The Princesses have invited me to come and fill out some paperwork to become a citizen here,” the red stallion replied back with a friendly tone.

“Hmm, you must be an outsider. No one from Equestria would wear that odd clothing,” the other guard said.

“Actually, this does have a practical purpose. Now then, if you would excuse me, I need to catch back up with them.”

Blaze stepped forward, but the guards nudged him back down the steps.

“No can do, we don’t let any outsiders in without orders from the Princesses,” said the first guard.

"You can go back into Canterlot and fill out the citizen forms like everypony else," said the second guard.

Blaze, getting a little aggravated, replied, “Didn't you see that I came here on their carriage? I got sidetracked from looking at how big the castle is. Can't you just let me through?”

The first guard said, “No can do. I don’t trust you. So, go back to where ever you came from, freak.”

Blaze eye started to twitch as he thought, Oh that’s it. I am no longer responsible for my actions. Did my best, Princess. “What did you call me? he said in an angry tone.

“You heard me. Now, leave the grounds or we'll throw you into the dungeons.”

"How about I show you a magic trick instead?” The red stallion had taken a few steps back down the stairs.

“Huh? What in Equestria are you bucking about?” one guard said with a confused look on his face.

“For my first trick, I shall transform my form into a creature you have never seen.”

Blaze released the shadow transform jutsu and returned to his human body.

“It’s a monster! Get it!” a guard yelled. Both of them started to charge down the steps.

Blaze said, “For my next trick, I shall make you tackle your co-worker.”

They continued the charge. Blaze hands shifted in different positions. This caused the area to be filled with smoke. Once it dissipated, an earth pony guard had pinned Blaze.

“Go get some guards so we can take this to the dungeon." The other earth pony nodded and headed inside. Blaze was fighting against the hold he was in.

“Get off me, you dolt! He performed some magic that caused me to look like him and him to look like me,” the Blaze lookalike said.

“Prove it.”

“Do you want me to go into detail about your date last week and of where I found you in the aftermath?”

He shook his head no and quickly got off his co-worker. The fake Blaze suddenly transformed back to his original body.

“Come on! We need to sound the alarm about the intruder! We need the Unicorn Guards to track him down as he has some sort of magic to make him look like a guard.”

They entered the castle and made their way to the courtroom where the Princess of the Sun spends most of the time. Mostly to hear whatever it was that ponies wished to complain about. They rounded the corner and almost bumped into Princess Celestia.

“Your Highness! There is a strange creature that can change its form running around the castle. We must get you to safety,” one guard said.

“That won't be necessary. Swift Blaze is my guest and will be staying in the castle for a while. I invited him here to fill the forms to give him citizenship.”

“You sure you can trust that creature? It performed something causing a guard to look like the creature and traded positions,” said the second guard.

“I'm sure he only did that so he would not deal damage to you directly. Did you provoke him somehow?”

The first guard replied, “I may have called him a freak. Mostly due to what he was wearing.”

“Then it's your fault for what happened. We don't treat any guest that way. You both are dismissed from duty for the day, without pay. Also, you can’t leave the barracks until tomorrow morning.”

Both guards lowered their heads and said, “Yes, Your Highness,” They turned around and left her sight. The Princess heard a whisper from one guard that said, "Thanks a lot, you dolt."

Princess Luna came around the corner and said, “Have thou found Swift Blaze? We heard that he was in the area from one of the guards.”

“I believe Blaze is closer than you think.” A puff a cloud formed around Princess Celestia and revealed Blaze in his human form.

“Blaze! Why was thou disguised as thy sister?” Princess Luna said with a shocked tone.

“I fell behind at the entrance and the guards wouldn't let me though. Stuff happened and caused them to chase after me. I needed something to cause them to stop.”

"Well, we should have told them when we walked by. Thy sister wanted to see what trickery you could have pulled off before getting captured," said the Princess of the Moon. With a smile, she added, "Looks like I won the bet as you were not captured by them."

“All of this for a little bet. I take it she didn't like the apple I threw through the peep portal very well."

"The apple in question impaled itself on thy sister's horn."

Blaze broke into full laughter after hearing that. Princess Luna joined in with a small chuckle. After a few minutes, the human had calmed down enough and said, "I think we should go see her now, before she sends more guards."

"Very well. Let’s go see thy sister.”

Blaze transformed back to a pony and followed the Alicorn through the halls. They stopped when the pair reached the big doors leading to the royal throne room. The Unicorn guards standing on either side used their magic to open the doors for them. Inside, Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne. She used her magic as a quill was moving about on some scrolls.

She looked up to see who entered and said, “Ah, Blaze, glad to see you were able to get in. How much trouble did you cause?”

“Nothing big, Your Highness. If you hear about two guards being dismissed by you and told to stay in the barracks tonight, just agree that you did,” said Blaze.

“Now why would they think I did that?” Princess Celestia said with a curious tone and a smirk on her face.

“Um, maybe because they were chasing me when I changed human and escaped into the castle.”

“Care to elaborate on what happened?”

Blaze told them what happened from when he exited the carriage to the point Princess Luna saw him looking like her sister. “I'm sorry for impersonating you. There are just certain words I don’t like being called. I can somewhat understand if they said that in my human form, as they’ve never see my species. But they shouldn’t have called me that for how I'm dressed.”

Princess Celestia was thinking about what Blaze said. Princess Luna had moved to stand beside her sister. The human remained at the bottom of the steps, waiting.

A couple minutes later, the white Alicorn said, “Thank you for being honest with me. Now then, shall we go over those things we discussed while at Twilight’s?”

Swift Blaze bowed and said, “Very well, Princess Celestia." He straightened back up before he continued with, "If you could please clear the room, except for you and Princess Luna, I shall go over it.”

The Princess nodded and told her guards to leave the room and that they did not wish to be disturbed. Once they left and closed the doors, she used her magic as different waves whooshed over the space. “The room is secured,” she said.

“Thank you, Princess. As I said when we were at Twilight’s, I gained my abilities from my God from two cartoon shows I liked to watch. There is another series I like to watch.”

"So what is this third show you only want the rulers of Equestria knowing of?” Princess Luna asked.

“The only way you can truly believe me is if I show you. Luckily, you don’t have to go into my mind for this one.”

“How are you going to do it?” asked Princess Celestia. "You didn't bring anything to help you."

“By doing this.” Blaze moved his hands together and said, “ Summoning Jutsu!”

The human placed a hand on the ground. A puff of smoke appeared and revealed his backpack that he left at Twilight’s. As Blaze dug into the back for the iPad, a trail of smoke came into the throne room and changed back into a scroll in front of Princess Celestia. She opened it and read it out loud.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Something tragic has happened. Swift Blaze’s saddle has disappeared! He is going to be so mad at me as I was the last one with it. We need to send out the Royal Guard to find the culprit and retrieve it. Please don’t inform Blaze about this as I could not handle him being angry with me. I expect your swift response.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

“I think you should write her a letter saying you used your jutsu to retrieve your bag,” Princess Celestia suggested.

“Yeah, seeing I'm the culprit that took it. Can I borrow a quill, ink, and a scroll?”

Princess Celestia used her magic and brought the items to the human. Also, she materialized a desk and chair for him. Blaze sat down and started writing.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

There is no need to send out the Royal Guard. I'm the one who summoned my bag to me. I shall explain how when I'm back in Ponyville, tomorrow.

Your friend,

Swift Blaze

P.S. I would have not been mad at you for losing my bag. I would have gone after the culprit and made them wish they never done it.

Blaze rolled up the scroll and secured the seal around it. Holding it toward the Princesses, he said, "It's done, Princess. Would you mind sending it to her?”

Princess Celestia used her magic and the scroll disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The human got up from the desk and said, “Now then, back to the third show. Please, don’t do anything rash when I show you the first episodes of the series. I'll explain everything after I play them.”

The Princesses glided down from the thrown and landed on the other side of the table. Blaze set up his device. A couple of quick taps, then he rotated it around so they could see the screen. The episode was the first one for My Little Pony. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were shocked and confused about how their world is a cartoon show in the human’s world. After the second episode finished, Blaze stopped the player and closed up the iPad.

“Ok, let me first explain that I had no idea how the creator of this series, Lauren Faust, was able to capture events here. Plus the fact is: this was first shown just over two years ago in my time,” he said with a cautious tone.

Princess Celestia looked at the human with a stern face and a raised eyebrow. After thinking about what she just saw, she said, “So, you knew about us before we even met?”

In a calm voice, Blaze replied, “Yes, Your Highness. I fell in love with this world when I watched the episodes. I started to read stories that were made by the fans. They gave a lot more detail that the show could ever dream of showing off how wonderful your kingdom is. But, nowhere, those words were never close in the beauty.”

Princess Luna’s face remained stern. A very small hint of a smile appeared on Princess Celestia, before it too had the same voice. The blue Alicorn said, “Please, explain why thou chose to come here.”

“I picked this world as it has shown how good and peaceful a race can be without war and destruction. I got tired hearing in the news of everything bad happening. It has gotten to a point where I’m numb to it and don’t care.”

“When you found out about that, test, your God did, was this place your first choice?” asked Princess Celestia.

“I think the best way to answer that is explain more about the fans themselves. The males are called Bronies and the females are called Pegasisters. In the fandom, there are a bunch of us that dreamed to come to this world and leave Earth with the influence of greed and power behind. They have even gone as far as to write fanfictions about this.”

“Is that what you think we are? A fantasy world you humans created?” Celestia asked with a little anger in her tone.

“In the beginning, yes, I did think that way. But now, I realize that whatever I watched or read, the life here does its own thing. This world truly exists and I’m still in love with all of its inhabitants.” Blaze went down to one knee. “I will do anything to protect everypony here. You may scan my mind to prove I am telling the truth. I only wish to live here and be a loyal subject. If I’m lying, may lightning strike me.”

…

Nothing happened.

After several minutes of both Alicorns looking at the human, they nodded their heads. The white mare used her wing to direct him to take a seat back behind the desk. He did so as they walked around to either side of Blaze.

“From what you said, the Summer Sun Celebration event was shown to you two years ago,” said Princess Celestia. She lower her head to his height, and closer. “Then, you may have more knowledge of any future events. Am I correct?”

He looked at her and said, “That’s correct, Your Highness. In the episode timeline, we were around sixty-five when I left my world.”

“Will thou share them?” Princess Luna said.

“This line of questioning actually reminds me about one. I’ll share this one, of what happened. Twilight was minding her own business when a flash appeared behind her. It was her future self came back in time to warn her about the future. The future one was a mess and could not deliver her message as the present Twilight was asking too many questions. Worried what might be happening soon, the entire town of Ponyville went into a frenzy of doing preventive maintenance from any disaster. Everything was made safe and nothing occurred. Twilight then stayed up several nights trying to spot the disaster that might be coming from the night sky. Nothing happens. What it turns out to be was that future Twilight was trying to warn her past self not to worry about the future. Do you still wish to know what might occur?”

“We see thy point.”

“I’ll help with some of the painful ones, so it will less tragic. The problem too is that I don’t know when they will occur. My knowledge is only of what the episode showed. I don’t even know if since I came here, will these events ever occur.”

Princess Celestia raised her head back to normal height. She said, “Thank you, Bob, for sharing this with us. I know it wasn’t easy as how it’s knowledge of possible events in our future. Seeing you wish to be a protector, I propose you join my Royal Guard to gain authority when disaster occurs. You will still have to go though the same basic training as any other new recruit.”

“Thank you, Princess. I must regret to decline the offer and allow me to explain. Your guards fight on the front lines and in the open. I feel what I’ve been learning won’t be effective in those situations. This style is more for small, counter mission, involving stealth. I’ll help when needed, but I can’t do it as a soldier.”

“Then allow me to propose a counter proposal. You offered to teach Taijutsu to some of my guards. But, you mentioned that you’ll need time to adjust it for a pony. How about you go through basic training in your pony form to learn how a pony can fight. Once done, I’ll hire you to be a drill sergeant to teach my guard in your style. Will you accept this one?”

“Let me think about it. I don’t want to rush into anything.”

“But of course. A lot has happened today.”

“Is there anything else you wish to know before we go and take care of those forms?”

“Yes, please show us the other weapons in your pack.”

“I figured you were going to ask that when I allowed you to scan my mind. May I have a couple targets and target dummies to demonstrate them?”

They obliged. Princess Luna used her magic and summoned them to one side of the room against a wall. The human went over to his pack and started to look through it.

The first thing Blaze pulled out were flat, metal objects with four sharp points on them. “Ok, these here are popular in the ninja world. They are called throwing stars. As you can see, they are small, easy to get them to spin as they fly towards your opponent, and can be deadly. Let me demonstrate on that target at medium range. Would you please get behind me?”

The Alicorns did so as Blaze moved into position and prepared himself. The human threw three of them, one at a time. The first one hit the outermost ring in the upper left corner. The second one punctured two rings from center, in the bottom right. The final one made bull’s eye.

“As you can see, they are very quiet. They are designed to either incapacitate your target, or kill them.”

“Interesting design,” said Princess Luna. “But we take it thou has more to show?”

Blaze nodded and went back to his bag. He brought out couple different knife weapons. “These are daggers and a hunting knife, or very short swords. They are easy to conceal and can also be thrown like the previous weapon.”

Princess Celestia said, “We are familiar with them. Most blades can be made by our blacksmiths.”

“I think I have one they haven’t seen before.” The human lifted a flap and pulled a sword with its sheaf out. He held onto that part with his arm stretched out to the Alicorns. “If you would, Your Highness, please draw out this sword and take a look at it.”

Princess Celestia’s horn lit up with her magic as she drew the blade out. The blade twirled in the air as they looked at the design.

“This blade is defective,” said Princess Luna. “The edge is on the wrong side. Why would thou have something like this?”

“The blade itself is that of a samurai style. A culture back on Earth had developed a method of folding the steel several times, sometimes up to twenty times. This allowed the metal to be stronger and hold a sharper edge.”

“But why is the edge of this blade on the back side?” asked Princess Celestia.

Blaze replied, “It’s because I had a company make a realistic replica from another anime. The character in that show was trained in a unique style called, ‘Flying Heaven Honorable Sword’. It uses super fast movements to take down opponents. If the character used a regular blade, no one could survive from the attacks. In the show, he joined the army at a young age. Once a new ruler came into power, he left and became a wandering samurai. To make sure he didn’t kill anyone in self defense, he used this Reverse Blade to mostly knock people out and break bones, if needed.”

“So, this blade can be used to subdue thy enemy, without having to take their life?” asked Princess Luna. “Pray tell, how this can be done?”

“I don’t have the same skill level from the show, but I do think I can demonstrate.” Blaze turned to Princess Celestia and said, “Would it be alright if you summoned the ponies who insulted me? I think they deserve a chance to redeem themselves. I'll promise not to injure them to need hospital attention. I will just disarm them, maybe bruise some of them limbs.”

“You sure you want to do this? The Royal Guard doesn’t hold back in duels like this,” said Princess Celestia in a concerned voice. “I know you have those ki and chakra to help you. I don’t feel that this is necessary. Can’t you do this with a clone instead?”

“I could, but that clone would know how I would fight and I would know his. That would be more of a battle of the mind to out think myself in tactics. I thought doing it against your guards would allow you get a better idea of how I stand against them. Plus, I can see how they do in a battle.”

“Ok, I’ll agree to this.”

The white Alicorn used her magic to teleport the two guards in question. Princess Luna had cleared the area for the duel match up. The Earth guard ponies looked around as they tried to figure out what was going on. They soon saw that they were in the throne room with both Princesses and the creature from before.

“Here’s what is going on, gentlecolts. I’ve convinced Princess Celestia to give you a chance to redeem yourselves. You are to engage, in battle, against me. The victor will be when the other side gives up. If you win, she will give you a bonus. If I win, you’ll just be able to go back to work, once you are well again. Do you accept the terms?”

“It is not really fair when he can somehow do magic spells,” one guard said as the other nodded.

“How about I promise not to use any chakra or ki ability to aid me in this duel, only my skills and knowledge. If I do, you may throw me into the dungeon for a week. Do you accept now, or do you want to go back to the training grounds for a week?”

The guards talked among themselves for a few minutes. Once done, the first guard said, “We’ll agree to the terms. Two on one and the first side to give up loses.” He turned to the human and said, “Prepare for a beating, you freak of nature.”

Blaze looked at Princess Celestia and said in his mind to her, See what I was talking about? Do you mind if I don’t hold back for calling me that again?

She replied, I can see how someone could get frustrated with that. Can you try to not break any bones?

A huge grin shown on the human face as he nodded to her. The guards were picking their weapons from a nearby rack. One went for a spear and had it connected to his armor. The other went to a sword and was holding it in his mouth. Blaze had secured his samurai sword to his belt.

Once both sides were ready, they entered a circle that appeared in the middle of the room. The human bowed to his opponents, without taking an eye off them. They looked confused at this gesture and just ready their weapons. Blaze pulled the sword out and held it in front of him. Celestia, with her magic, raised a gong and Luna used hers to bang the mallet into it.

The guards charged at the human as before. Blaze ran into them at a faster pace as he wasn’t wearing any armor. He dodged the spear with a twist of his body as he had his sword slam down on the shaft, causing it to snap. Against the guard with the sword being held with their mouth, the human took two whacks at it. The pony sword snapped into three pieces.

“You used your abilities!” shouted the guard with the spear.

The second spat the broke sword before he said, “Yeah! That’s the only way this could have happened!”

Blaze turned to the Princesses and asked, “Did you detect me using any chakra or ki?”

They both shook their heads no.

The guards were more angry at the human and charged again without their weapons. Blaze ran at them again. This time, targeting their armor. The Earth ponies tried to punch and kick him as he swung his sword. The human was hitting the armor plates, but the ponies hadn’t landed a hit.

Blaze jumped from out of the middle of them and landed on the edge of the arena. The guards turned to the human and were panting heavily. Their armor suddenly came off and broke into several pieces.

“Do you ponies give up, or are you thirsty for some more?” Blaze said calmly and not out of breath.

“Never!” shouted the first guard.

The second one said, “The Royal Guard never gives up. We would rather die than to give up.”

“Such courageous morals, but someone has to give up. Guess I’ll have to inflict pain now.”

They charged at each other one more time. The guards were going all out in trying to punch or kick the human. Some blows came close as Blaze felt his clothes get tugged here and there. He started to feel fatigue setting in. So, the human slammed his sword at different leg joints on their bodies.

The guards collapsed onto the floor in pain. They cried out in agony from it. Both were on their backs as the Earth ponies tried to cradle where the human’s blade had hit them.

The first guard shouted, “WE GIVE UP! WE GIVE UP!”

“WE DO! JUST DON”T HIT US ANYMORE!” shouted the other pony.”

Blaze sheathed his sword. Then he said, “Are you sorry for calling me a freak?

“WE’RE TRULY SORRY FOR CALLING YOU THAT! PLEASE MAKE THE PAIN STOP!” both said.

“I’ll accept your apology. Just remember to not call a pony names for how they dress.” The human turned around and said, “Princess Luna, would you mind taking them to a hospital? Tell the Doc that they should just need to pop their joints, back into place.”

“We don’t mind. We shall return shortly for your next demonstration,” the blue Alicorn said.

Her horn lit up with magic and teleported with the injured guards in tow. Princess Celestia walked up to Blaze as he placed the sword back into the backpack in its sheath.

“That was an entertaining show. May I ask, are these sword skills from another show from your world?” the white Alicorn asked.

“They are somewhat are,” said Blaze. He stood up and faced the Princess. “I trained while mimicking the samurai movements in the show back on Earth. It’s not perfect, but I’m up to the point I could defend myself with it. I did most of the practicing with a bamboo stick, just to avoid injury to myself. As you can imagine, if the sword edge was on the other side, I might have caused them to bleed when I struck their armor.”

“I’m pleased that you didn’t. Why did you do what you did? You could have finished the match sooner if you went for the injuries first.”

“Yes, I could have. I saw this as a comrade match instead of going against an enemy. Plus, like I said before, I wanted to see how a pony fights. So, I took away their weapons to force them to use their hooves. Then, their armor to see if it would work as it should, or was more for showing off. Finally, well, you know the rest.”

“You humans have definitely come a long ways from your medieval times, as you said. Putting strategy before a fight instead of charging in and see what happens.”

Blaze laughed a little bit after hearing that.

“What’s so funny?” asked Princess Celestia.

“Oh, it's not you, Princess. The second part of what you just said reminded me something from back home, of people who did that. They shout a name every time they do it.”

“And what name is this”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOMj7WttkOA

, said Swift Blaze in the best voice he could do.

The Princess of the Sun continued to look at the human as he laughed some more. “It’s probably for the best that I don’t know who this human is,” she said in a low voice to herself.

Once Blaze was able to compose himself again, he said, “As I said before, I would never cause harm to any of your subjects. I give them a chance to give up. This is so they can learn from their mistakes and maybe get back on the right path. I know these things as I’m human. My world had become a dark and dangerous to live in. I don’t plan to use these next weapons while here after showing them.”

Princess Luna teleported back into the throne room. “Sorry for our being gone longer than we planned,” she said. “The doctors and nurses had a hard time getting those guards to calm down long enough to inject something into them. So we summoned a small wooden hammer and knocked the ponies right out. We still find it odd that this method is no longer used.”

Princess Celestia said, “Sister, our medicine has improved so the old ways are no longer needed. It’s safer this way. You might have given them a concussion.”

“We did no such thing. We didn’t need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice.”

Blaze laughed quietly to himself as the Princesses talked to each other. He was getting the final demonstration ready. Once everything was in place, the human cleared his throat to get the Alicorns’ attention.

“Alright, these are the last weapons I have and are the most dangerous,” said Blaze. He pulled out a pair of handguns. “These are designed to either inflict serious damage or kill your opponent. I won’t be demonstrating this one because it’s too dangerous, as you have seen from my memory. I will explain, however, how they work.”

The human released the magazine from one and ejected the bullet that was in the gun. He explained how the blasting cap in the back ignites the powder inside to launch the projectile at super speeds. Then, he discussed how the guns worked, the purpose of the design and how it has been improved over the centuries.

“As you can see, these are too dangerous for this world. If I knew I was going to come here, I would have never brought them.”

“We agree the last ones are very dangerous for pony kind to know about at this time,” said Princess Celestia. “We would like to thank you again for showing them to us and being honest about what they can do. Seeing that it’s dinner time, we would like to invite you to dinner with us. Our chef can make anything you desire.”

“Thank you, Your Highness, it would be an honor to eat with you. Let me just back these back up in their hidden locations and we can head to the dining room.”

“Very well, Blaze. If you please excuse us, we need to lower the sun and raise the moon.”

“Even knowing about this world, I am still amazed at that ability to do that.”

“Why is that?” Princess Luna asked.

“I can explain during dinner. I‘m starving from talking all day.”

The Princesses, both nodded. They walked to a side door that led to a balcony. Once in place, the Alicorns channeled their magic into their horns. Blaze looked out a nearby window and saw the sun was setting. On the opposite side, the moon was rising. Once they were done, the group made their way to the dining room.

Inside the new space, Blaze saw the longest table he had ever seen. Over fifty feet long with fancy decorations properly places. The Alicorns and human sat down at the opposite end of the table from where they entered. A waiter came out caring some menus. He handed two green ones to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Blaze, for some reason, was given a red one.

“Um, Princess, can you explain why my menu is a different color?” he asked.

Princess Celestia replied, “Oh, when we first met, you said you were an omnivore. Here at the castle, we get special guests from other nations that also eat meat. We keep them happy by supplying some of their favorite dishes from their lands.”

Blaze blinked his eyes that were wide open as his brain processed what he just heard. I can eat MEAT here? OH GOD! SWEET MEAT! A very big grin had appeared on his face. He looked at all the choices, trying not to drool. So many choices, he didn’t know what to try first.

As he looked, the human noticed the muscles in his legs felt sore before the memories from the clones arrived. Wow. Those clones sure did a number on them apple trees. Glad Applejack is happy with the work. Man, I wish I could stretch my legs to get rid of this cramp that’s forming. I must look weird sitting and fidgeting in this seat across from the Princesses. With his breathing a little harder, due to the new level of fatigue, Blaze wanted to satisfy it with more meat.

The waiter came back to get our orders. He started with the Princesses’ choices. Then, the pony came to the human.

Blaze said, “Let’s see, I will first have some Manticore Meatballs. Then, let’s go with some Bourbon Hydra. Finally, I’ll finish with the Spaghetti with chunks of Quarry Eel.”

All the ponies looked at him with strange looks. The waiter then just shuffled back to the kitchen to get the orders going.

Princess Luna then asked me, “Swift Blaze, why did thou order that much?”

“Well, I was just going to get one dish. While picking it out, if you hadn’t noticed, I was fidgeting in my chair and breathing a little harder. The clones I created to work on Sweet Apple Acres just finished for the day They released the jutsu, which in turn, I received all their memories and their body condition. The other reason is that all these dishes sound like they are very good.”

The head waiter and a few other Unicorn ponies came from the kitchen with the first course of the meal. Blaze looked at what the Princesses ordered, some sort of cream-like soup. He looked at his dish of three juicy meatballs. Using the silverware, the human cut a piece out of one and ate it.

His mouth exploded with flavor as his mind processed it. OH MY! MEAT SO JUICY AND IT JUST MELTS DOWN YOUR THROAT! Blaze dug into the rest of the dish, while doing his best to have some table manners. Once done, the staff came and collected the dirty dishes.

Princess Celestia said, “So, Blaze, you said earlier that you still couldn’t believe how my sister and I could raise and lower the sun and moon. What do you mean by that?”

Blaze wiped his mouth with a napkin to get rid of the sauce from the dish. He replied, “Well, back on Earth, it was founded centuries ago about the properties of gravity on massive objects.”

The human continued to talk about the solar system and the different planets that encircle the sun and how the moon encircles the planet Earth.

“What about the weather?” asked Princess Luna. “Did thy humans have a way to control it?”

He said no and explained the weather was like what is over the Everfree Forest. Blaze then added that scientists have developed methods to predict weather patterns to warn the humans when dangerous weather approaches.

“It is amazing how your species were able to last without any magic,” said the white Alicorn.

“We adapt to whatever condition, we are thrown at.”

Shortly after some silence, the head waiter came from the kitchen again with the next course. Salads were given to the Princesses and the human got his steak bits of Bourbon Hydra. They ate in silence. As before, the flavors from the dish brought a smile to Blaze’s face as he enjoyed it.

Once they finished, the staff collected the dish again. The human’s smile started to go away as he thought back to his home planet. He thought about all of his friends and family that he left behind. He had no picture, no voice, nor any video recording. The only thing he had were his memories that he could recall.

The Princesses looked at Blaze and saw the troublesome face he expressed. They guessed that talking about his world might have rekindled some memories. Even with all their power, only time can heal someone who lost so much.

Princess Celestia broke the silence when she said, “So, Blaze, is there anything you wish to know about us?”

The human looked up to her and replied, “Hmm, well, I know quite a bit from the show. How about you tell me what your earliest memory you have is.”

“Ok then. Let’s see,” she said as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Well, my earliest memory is of our parents, Father Time and Mother Nature. They told us how they created all you see of the world and the creatures. As they created everything, it did not feel like a family. After discussing between each other, our parents decided to create one they could love. They wanted the child to be a female. That way they can share the love of the world. Father Time wanted their child to be immortal as they were. That way they can love her for a very long time and not have the burden of losing her to age or to illness.”

“When they tried to decide on the form, Mother Nature looked at all the ones they created. Out of all them, three were the most beautiful. They were the Earth pony, Unicorn pony, and Pegasus pony. Neither of them could decide which form to go with, so they combined the three. Mother Nature was the one that came up with the name to call the creature, an Alicorn. It was more towards how unique and beautiful the child would be.”

“They loved her every day and cared for her. After a few years, they decided to make another one so they can play together. Years past and the sisters were growing up. They had fun playing with the other creatures of the world and those that adored them. The time came for Father Time and Mother Nature to move on. Not to die, but they felt it was time for their daughters to rule the land. It was a big ceremony as me and my sister were crowned as Princesses and co-rulers of Equestria. All the subjects bowed to us. That was over two thousand years ago.”

“That was beautiful. Let me just say that you both don’t look older than thirty.” Blaze said with a new smile showing.

“Thank you, Blaze. Glad to see thou is smiling again,” said Princess Luna.

“Umm, if you don’t want to answer this next question, I understand. Being an immortal, you realize that you’ll lose your friends when they die. How are you able to handle it?”

Princess Celestia thought about it before she replied with, “That is a difficult question to answer. But, I think you should know, seeing you’re going through something similar. It’s true that we’ve lost many friends over the centuries. At first, we sulked, wanting them back. Our younger friends did their best to cheer us back up. They said our subjects were worried about how sad we were. We soon realized how we were making our friends feel. We also remembered that those that died are not really gone. They’re in our memories. We cherish them of the happy times that we shared. Once a year, we take a leave of absence for a day to honor our friends that died and to recall the memories.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me. I realize now how I was acting around my new friends and making them feel. Would you mind if I join you on that day you honor your past friends?”

Princess Luna replied, “It would be our pleasure.”

The waiter staff came in with the last course for dinner. The Princesses received a vegetable stir fry and Blaze got his spaghetti. They again ate in silence. The human was enjoying another delicious meat they had cooked amazingly well.

Once the last course was done, the Alicorns and human left the dining room. The staff came out and began cleaning the room and dishes. Blaze was feeling better now that he told the Princesses everything.

Out in the main hall, Princess Celestia turned toward the human and said, “If you would excuse me, Blaze, I must retire to my room. As you know, it’s been a long day of learning and I’ll be needed to get up early to raise the sun.”

“But of course, Your Highness. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” Blaze said with a chuckle.

“Bed Bugs! How in Equestria did they get into my bed!?” she screamed.

The human laughed at this and replied, “Sorry, Princess. It is a saying from my world we say to children when they are put to bed. What I was meaning was having sweet dreams and no nightmares.”

Princess Celestia blushed a little for the way she reacted. Princess Luna had a big smile on her face as she was laughing on the inside.

As the white Alicorn headed to her room, the dark blue Alicorn turned to the human and said, “Would thou like to see thy room”

“Lead the way, Princess of the Night.”

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Happy Thanksgiving! Don't have too much Scootaloo.

*WACK! WACK! WACK!*
Ow! Sorry!

Chapter 13: ‘Twas a Beautiful Night

Princess Luna and Swift Blaze walked down the hallway to the guest wing. She walked to a door and led the human into the room. “This is thy room for the night. Hope it is to your liking,” said the Princess.

Blaze replied, “Wow, I’ve never had this level of luxury in my life. Thank you for the hospitality.”

“You’re welcome. We shall take our leave.” The Alicorn turned around and headed for the door.

The human raised his hand and said, “Wait, where are you going?”

She turned her head to him and said, “We must get ready for Night Court.”

“Do ponies come and discuss their problems with you?”

“Sadly, none have come since we’ve returned. We think they are still afraid of us because we were Nightmare Moon.” Her head hung low after saying that.

“I don’t know what you did, but that was over a thousand years ago. When you came back, Twilight and her new friends were able to save you before it got worse.” Blaze walked up to the Princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Give the ponies some time to get to know the real you. How about tonight, during night court, I’ll help you with bringing your speaking up to the current times. Would you like that?”

The blue Alicorn looked at the human’s face and said, “But doesn’t thou need thy sleep for tomorrow?”

“Oh, I’ll get my sleep too, just it will be done by a shadow clone.”

He place his hands together for the jutsu. A puff of smoke appeared next to him, revealing the copy.

Princess Luna walked around the pair as she looked at them carefully. “Thy duplication is very impressive. We don’t see any flaws,” she said.

“I didn’t expect there to be any,” said the Blaze on the left.

The other Blaze then said, “Typically, from what we know from watching the show, a clone jutsu is an illusion that can move.”

“They can’t do much but distract your opponent,” said the first human.

“These shadow clones are a higher level as they get physical bodies,” the other one said.

“We believe it doesn’t matter who the original is.”

“If anyone of us either releases the jutsu on their own or gets too damaged by the opponent, the other will get the knowledge.”

Princess Luna shook her head a bit after getting a dose of twin talking syndrome. “We take it that thou likes to do this speaking to cause confusion.”

“Sometimes,” said the first Blaze. “More to demonstrate how our minds are the same at the time of the jutsu. We do have to plan ahead before we do this.”

The other Blaze nodded his head.

“So, which of thou will come with us to the throne room?”

“I will!” both humans said. One was slightly faster than the other.

“Damn, looks like I’m stuck getting the sleeping for the both of us,” the second Blaze said.

“Remember, no dream training tonight. Had enough in that space today already.”

The other human saluted the first. Then, he hopped into the bed. The other followed out of the room with Princess Luna. They made their way back to the main hall that lead to the throne room.

Standing outside, the likes of the Unicorn Royal guards were now replaced by that of the Lunar Guards. As the Princess and human approached, their horns lit up and opened the door. Inside, the Alicorn made her way to the throne and sat on it.

Blaze stepped in afterwards and walked to the bottom of the steps. He kneeled and said, “Good evening, Princess Luna. Would it please the court if you allow me the honor of teaching you the modern ways of speaking?”

Princess Luna let out a slight chuckle, but quickly regained her composer. “Thou may, Swift Blaze. On two conditions,” she said.

“Name them, Your Highness.”

“First, thou shall do so in thy pony form. This is to not scare any of our subjects.”

“But of course, Princess Luna.”

“Second, thou shall call us, Luna,” she said with a smile on her face.

“As you wish, Luna,” Blaze said.

He stood up and transformed to his pony form. They spent the first part of the night on volume control. The human went over of when to use the booming, Canterlot Voice, how to talk in royal events, and how she can talk when with her friends. After an hour on that, they move to the next subject, to stop referring to herself as ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. Blaze believed this topic was going to take a couple sessions to break the habit. After an hour on that, the pair moved onto the final topic. Well, more of an overview of some new ways of saying things to allow her to understand modern speaking.

“I think that will do tonight, Luna. We’ve made some good progress,” said Blaze.

“We, I mean I, wish to thank you in helping me,” Princess Luna said.

“You’re welcome.”

“Tell me, Blaze, why are you helping me? Everypony else fears me for what I did as Nightmare Moon.”

“It’s true, I know what happened. But only based upon the first episodes of the show. I can somewhat relate.”

“How’s that?” Princess Luna asked with a questioning look.

“You see, you felt lonely because no pony did anything during the night. They worked and played in the daylight and slept under the moon. You did not get any recognition for the nights you brought. Honestly, you had a tantrum that made you change into Nightmare Moon. It’s sad you were punished by being sent to the moon for a thousand years. But, I’m happy the Elements of Harmony brought you back to yourself.”

Princess Luna started to shed a tear from recalling those events.

“For me, I was lonely for a while. It’s because no one wanted to be my friend when I was younger. During school time, I was picked last at games and told to sit on the sidelines. I ate by myself during lunches, did projects by myself, and came to and from school by myself. I was in a very sad state. Then one day, I was on my computer play games online when one of the people I played found out we went to the same school. We scheduled to meet the next day. Turns out, he was the classmate I sat next to. We talked for a while and found out we had several things in common. Soon, I made more friends and started to smile again. I realized you can make friends in the unlikeliest of places and always talk to your friends when you are sad about something.”

She shed another tear for hearing his story.

“So, Luna, I would like to offer my friendship to you. That way, you are never alone. If you need somepony to talk to, I will be available. I’m up late most nights before I do that sleep training. These calm nights help me with it.”

“You (sniff) want me to be (sniff) your friend? We, I, don’t know what to say but, yes. I would love to accept your friendship. Now, you said you like my nights because they help you sleep?” she said with a smile and happy tears forming on her face.

“I don’t like them, I love them. Back on Earth, I stare into the night sky and watch with wonder at what’s out there. But here, the nights are far more beautiful. With all the advances in technology, the city lights blocked out from seeing the stars at night. Even in the countryside, they still affect the view. Here, I see so many beautiful stars and constellations that I just want to spend each night staring at them. I can see that they get their beauty from you.”

All of a sudden, Luna dived from the throne and flew into the human. She gave him a big hug and several kisses. “OH, THANK YOU BLAZE! YOU ARE THE FIRST TO LIKE MY NIGHTS!” Luna said in the Royal Canterlot Voice next to my head.

OWW MY EARS! My ears started to ring from being too close. “Princess Luna,” Blaze said painfully. She looked at me with wonder in her eyes. “Please lower the volume. I think you might have popped my ear drums.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Blaze!” Princess Luna said in a whispering volume. “Do you want me to use my magic to heal them?”

“I think it would help.”

Princess Luna’s horn lit up and Blaze felt the ringing was going away. He felt warmth being flown into his ears. Once done, she said, “That should do it. Is there anything I could do to make it up?”

The human said, “How about you invite me to the garden and show me the beautiful night sky.”

“Blaze, would you honor me in taking you to the garden to stare at the stars and the moon?” Princess Luna asked in a joyful tone.

The human bowed and replied, “The honor is all mine.”

They left the throne room and made their way to the garden. The guards that were posted outside the room put on a confused look on their faces. Blaze imagined they were thinking where did that pony come from and where did the other creature go. Halfway though the hallway, he looked behind and saw the guards were following them.

Once at the entrance to the garden, the pair walked slowly through it. Everything was so quiet and peaceful. The guards stayed at the entrance, but were still keeping an eye on them.

Luna started to tell Blaze about each constellation that could be seen and what it stood for. Each one was more impressive than the last one she talked about. The Alicorn and human soon returned to where they started and made their way back to the throne room.

“Thank you, Luna, for showing and explaining the constellations that are in your sky,” said Blaze.

Princess Luna replied, “No, no, thank you, Swift Blaze, for telling me how much you appreciate my nights.”

“If you would excuse me, I think I shall return to my room and join the other me. Need to get ready to start the training exercise I do before dawn.”

“You exercise before dawn? What for?”

“I do it to keep my body in shape and get ready for the day.”

“Very well. You have my permission to use the training grounds to do your morning exercise in. If you can, please don’t get into any fights with the Royal Guards.”

“As you wish, Luna,” said Blaze as he bowed to her again.

He rose back up and released the clone jutsu. A puff of smoke around him and he disappeared from Luna's presence.

Author's Notes:

Edited by Izanagi and Biker Dash

Huzzah! The chapter post has been doubled!

Chapter 14: Ready, Fight!

After releasing the clone jutsu in front of Princess Luna, Blaze returned to his sleeping body in the guest room. The merger didn't disturb his sleep, but he did wake up in the pre-dawn hours. As he stretched in bed, he thought, I could get used to this if I wanted to. Have one of me sleep while the other stays up. Twilight would love to do this. I can see it now: she reads a lot more books and doesn't get fatigued from staying up late. Blaze laughed at the idea.

The human got out of bed and made his way to the attached bathroom. He was amazed again by the size of it. The living room at his place on Earth was not as big as this. There were a few different toilet designs and sizes. Must be for the different species that come, he guessed. There was a huge tub with jet nozzles and a big separate shower stall on the opposite side from where he was. Blaze undressed and got into the shower to clean up.

After drying off and taking care of other bathroom tasks, he walked back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He summoned his backpack he left in a corner of the throne room. He then used the jutsu to get a fresh gi, blue with black trim, and some undergarments. Blaze put them on and packed the used ones in the backpack. When he opened the door to head out, there were two Unicorn guards standing on either side.

The human said, "Good morning, gentlecolts. Would you mind directing me to the Royal Guard training grounds?"

"No can do, sir. Those are for the Royal Guard use only," the guard on the left side of the door responded.

"Princess Luna gave me permission not too long ago."

"She gave permission to a red Earth pony in a black outfit, named Swift Blaze," the guard on the right said.

"But, that’s me."

"You’re clearly not a pony," the left one said and the right one nodded to agree.

"Let me prove it then."

Blaze walked to the other side of the hallway. He turned around, placed his hands together, and said, "Shadow Transform Jutsu!" A puff of smoke engulfed his body. Once it dissipated, his pony form was standing there with a smirk on his face.

Both guards, like everypony else, dropped their mouths wide open with a shocked look on their faces, but they quickly regained their composure.The guard to Blaze's left said, "Sorry about that, sir. Didn't know your species could change into other forms.”

The right guard said, “We’ll escort you to the grounds."

They turned and started to walk down the hallway. Blaze changed back and followed them.

As they walked down the hallways, the human was between the two Unicorn guards. He broke the silence when he said, "About before, it’s alright. You couldn’t have known that I can do that. Also, enough with the sirs. You can call me Blaze."

"Ok, Blaze. Could you tell us how you’re able to do that transforming thing you did? We didn’t detect any magic coming from you. Also, is it something that can be taught to a pony?" the one on the right asked.

Blaze replied, "I'm sorry, but ponies won't be able to learn these. As to how I can do it, that is classified. Both Princesses know how I can though. That is why I can walk freely instead of being in the dungeon."

"Can the others of your species do what you can do?" the other one asked.

"My species is called human and no, they cannot do what I do. Before you ask, I’m the only one on your world."

The guard on the right asked, "Then how did you get here?"

"That's classified."

"Are you ever going to answer our questions without saying 'classified'?" the left guard said in an annoyed tone.

"That will all depend on the question you ask," Blaze said with a smile.

They both snorted their noses as they did not like the smart-ass response. The group soon exited the main castle as the sun was starting to rise. They stood there for a bit as they watched the process.

When they moved again, the human asked, "Mind if I ask what your names are? I don't want to be a jerk and keep calling you 'guard'."

The left guard said, "My name is Iron Shield, but you may call me Iron." He had a light gray coat with a dark gray mane. His cutie mark was covered up by the armor he wore.

The right guard said, "You may call me Dead Eye." He had a white coat with red mane. His cutie mark was also covered up by the armor.

"Nice to meet you Iron and Dead Eye,” said Blaze. “You’re actually the first guards that have not tried to attack me."

"We heard a rumor of a strange creature showing off some skills for the Princesses and had badly beat up some guard ponies in the process," said Iron.

"I wouldn't say beat up. Just some joints got dislocated, but no broken bones," the human replied, sheepishly.

"That was you?" Dead Eye asked with a surprised look on his face again.

"I gave them three chances to give up. Plus, they had it somewhat coming to them."

Iron asked, "How in Equestria did you beat two guards at the same time?

Blaze retold the event from yesterday of how he disarmed, removed the armor, and finally disabled the guards. He didn’t go over the exact techniques he used, just how he read their movements to see the openings.

Iron asked, “You managed to do that with your bare hooves? You must have gone through some intense training where ever you come from.”

“One, these are not hooves. These are hands,” the human said as he moved them about. “Two, no I didn’t. I used a non-lethal sword I brought with me from my world. And three, that part is classified.”

Iron Shield facehoofed himself after getting another classified block.

“How can a non-lethal sword be able to destroy armor and weapons?” Dead Eye asked.

“It’s the technique in combo with the material properties of the sword. The outcome would have been different if I used a standard edged weapon.”

“Let me guess before asking the question, you can’t teach these techniques as they are classified.” Iron said.

“Now you’re catching on.”

They finally reached the Royal Guard training grounds. Blaze could see a track, an obstacle course, a target range, and some practice dummies. “You guards have a nice setup to practice and train. I might be coming here more often for my morning exercises,” he said.

“What are your exercise routines that you do?” Dead Eye asked.

“Instead of me explaining it all, how about you two join me in them? You might actually enjoy it.”

“We have been ordered to keep an eye on you, so we might as well. Plus standing around all shift really stiffens up the muscles,” Iron said.

“Wonderful. To begin, we shall do some stretches. I’ll make it easier for you to follow by copying my pony form while my human form takes a jog around the track.”

“How in . . . wait. This is another one of your abilities you can do, correct?” Dead Eye asked.

“They are called jutsu, and you are right on target.”

The human stepped forward a bit and turned around. After a couple hand signs, he said, “Shadow Clone Transform Combo!” A puff of smoke appeared to his right. His pony form was now standing next to the human Blaze.

Iron and Dead Eye did not go all shocked face this time.

“Bye human me. I’ll teach them some good stretches before we go to the next part,” said the pony Blaze.

“Be mindful to not push it. They haven’t done the training we did. Go easy on them,” the human Blaze replied before he started to jog to the track.

Pony Blaze looked to Iron and Dead Eye and said.“Ok then, the first stretch we are going to do is the rear hooves.”

The red Earth pony demonstrated with his body. The Unicorns followed slowly as they eased into it. Blaze heard a couple pops from Iron.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you were stiff,” said Blaze. After a minute, he then said, “Time to switch to the front ones.”

The guards repeated the actions each time as the Earth pony did them. Both of them had fallen at one point or another. After 15 minutes, the three ponies had stretched all the important parts.

Dead Eye to a moment from doing those poses. He then said, “So, if these are basic, what are the ones you've been doing?”

Blaze replied, “Ok, I’ll show you and you can try to copy me. Just don’t blame me if you get injured. The next level is balance control stretches. It helps increase tone on your muscles as you balance yourself on one hoof at a time.”

The Earth pony stood on his back hooves. He then made the bottom of his fore hooves touch each other at chest level. For the next step, Blaze extended one leg to his front while maintaining a balanced posture, and did thirty squats. He repeated the process for the other leg. The Earth pony did a similar stance with his fore hooves, but only for a ten count.

Once done with that, he went back on all hooves and said, “Does anypony care to try?”

“Yeah," - Iron said as he rubbed the back of his head - "thanks, but no thanks. We don’t have that level of balance you demonstrated.”

“I agree. How in Equestria were you able to get your pony body to that?” asked Dead Eye.

Blaze replied, “I’ve been working to that count since I got my pony form. When I first started, I could only do five on the back and one on the front before I fell on my face.”

“So what’s next in your regimen?” Iron asked.

“The next thing is sparring with myself. I don’t have a dummy stand like you have, nor another pony to spar against. Let me get the human Blaze over here.”

The Earth Pony went over to the human and chatted with him. The guards saw the creature put his hands together as before. Seconds later, two puff clouds appeared, revealing another human and pony. Everyone moved to an area where there was a half dozen circles painted on the ground. Blaze’s humans paired up with their pony clones in two of these areas.

“Before you start, mind sharing with us as to why you’re paired up like that?” Dead Eye asked.

A human Blaze replied, “Of course. I’m training both forms of different scenarios. One pony is going to be on the offensive while the other is going to be on the defensive.”

“Would it make better sense to do a pony vs. pony?”

“Good idea, thanks for the suggestion.”

Blaze performed the jutsu and made four more ponies of himself. They paired up and went to two other sparring rings.

A pony Blaze turned to the guards and said, “Would one of you mind starting the matches? The rules are no ki or chakra. First to submit or blackout loses.”

Iron Shield walked into the middle where the matches were, and looked at each pair to see if they were ready. “Ready . . . FIGHT!” he shouted and the matches began.

All of Blaze's clones went at each other, almost like the other was the enemy. After fifteen minutes, a pony in a pony vs. pony match got bucked right in the head and flew across the grounds, then burst into a puff of smoke as he landed.

“That was some hit,” Dead Eye said to the victor.

“He put up a great fight,” - Blaze breathed heavily - “The other just made a slight mistake, which gave me that opening.”

“How can you fight yourself when you know how the other you will fight?” Iron asked.

“It’s true we all have the same knowledge and style, we are just choosing different scenarios to fight and that is the unknown in these fights.” Suddenly a human got a pony into a submission hold. The pony tapped out and disappeared into a puff of smoke, the human dragged his feet as he came over and let gravity help him sit down.

The clone wiped the sweat from his brow as he panted, “Man! That defensive scenario the other chose is very effective. I had to go through several to find out how to beat it. I think I shall release myself so you can review the battle.”

Dead Eye watched the clone as it disappeared, then turned to Blaze, “So, you’re able to learn from all of these matches from both sides?”

The pony Blaze nodded.

“This method is really impressive. You are pretty much getting a week’s worth in one session.”

“While the knowledge is a plus, it comes with a catch. I also get the painful memories they received. I’m grateful it’s only that. If the minus of this jutsu was you get the actual injuries, I would have never learned it.”

Iron asked, “So, if you made an army of you, what would more than likely happen?

Blaze replied, “Let me put it this way. Say I make a thousand of me, my strength and energy will get divided among them. I would be as strong as a kitten as it were. This jutsu was never designed to create an entire army, more for intelligence gathering and secret missions.”

Both nodded at his explanation, then resumed watching the other two fights. Both sides had picked up speed in throwing their fist and hooves, but it was unclear who had the advantage. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke surrounded all the remaining fighters as they all disappeared.

“Blaze, what happen? I lost track of what was going on,” Iron said.

When the Unicorn guards looked at the pony version of Blaze, they saw he had changed back into a human. He said, “It was a draw. Neither side was making headway, so I ended the jutsu. Let’s head back to the castle. All that fighting has given a big appetite.”

“You go ahead. Our shift has ended so we are going to return the barracks. I’m sure you know the way,” Dead Eye said.

“Alright, I shall see you two some other time. If you get some leave coming up, come to Ponyville so we can hang out. I should have my place ready by then.”

As the guards headed to the barracks, Blaze thought about trying the Teleportation Jutsu. It was more about moving at fast speed to one’s destination instead ofwhatever they used in Star Trek. From what he read, the caster needed to visualize the path to the destination instead of the end point itself.

The human performed the hand signs and recalled the path to end up right outside the dining room. Once the jutsu activated, his vision changed from seeing the grounds to the dining room's big doors. Blaze check himself over to see if he lost anything, and was happy with how it performed. Definitely better than a Unicorn’s method, if one wanted to be stealthy.

Blaze then noticed the Unicorn guards on either side of the door. They looked angry as they charged up their horns. He started to run and dodge the beams as the guards gave chase. The human didn’t know what spell they are trying to hit him with, but he knew he wasn’t going to wait and find out. He picked his speed up by channeling chakra to his feet.

As he opened the gap from the two chasing him, Blaze turned the corner and saw that six more Unicorn guards were headed towards him. OH YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! he shouted in his head. Getting tired of this, the human swapped to ki energy and flew over the inbound squad. He continued to dodge all the beams, with the total now to eight.

As the human flew through the halls, he spotted an open window that led to the outside. He turned and shouted, “See ya suckers!”

Blaze saw the Unicorn guards at the window, still shooting beams at him. As he turned his head forward to fly away, the human saw a dozen Pegasus guards were headed his way from the castle wall.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PONIES!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

They were still flying at him, without stopping. Blaze decided this had gone on long enough, and he needed to escape. He flew higher into the sky so everypony could see him, then turned around and channeled ki into his hands. He position them on either side of his head with his fingers flared out as he shouted, “SOLAR FLARE!”

A pure white light shone down on everything and everypony, blinding them. Blaze quickly performed the Teleportation Jutsu to appear inside the dining room, this time.

Both Princesses were seated at the table when the human appeared across from them. They were surprised to see him appear like that. As were the staff, as they ran out of the room into the kitchen.

Blaze breathed heavily as he spoke, “Excuse me, Princess Celestia, did you forget to inform your Royal Guards about me ... again?”

“I was going to do that this morning after breakfast. Princess Luna did inform some of the guards when she offered you access to the training grounds. Did something happen?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Oh, nothing happened with Iron Shield and Dead Eye. There was a slight miscommunication as she only told them about my pony form, not the human form. I quickly resolved that by showing I can change into that form. At the training grounds themselves, nothing happened as I was able to get my morning exercise in. It was when I came back, via teleport jutsu. I appeared just outside the doors down there like how I have done now. The Unicorns just started to fire their magic beams at me, so I ran instead of fighting back. Six more came around the corner as I thought I was getting away. I started to fly at this point and flew straight out a window. The eight unicorn guards were still firing at me, but then I saw a dozen Pegasus guards flying towards me.”

“Care to tell us how you escaped capture?” Princess Luna asked.

“Do you recall a bright flash of light that came through those windows?”

They both nodded.

“I performed a ki-based attack called ‘solar flare’ and temporally blinded everypony that was looking at me. I then performed the teleport jutsu to get here.”

The dining room doors burst open and a battalion of both Unicorn and Pegasus guards were flowing in. Blaze started to channel his chakra to defend himself.

“HALT!” said Princess Celestia who used her Canterlot Voice.

All the guards and the human stopped in their tracks.

A Unicorn guard wearing a different colored armor walked in front of the others. He said, “Your Highnesses, pardon us for our intrusion, but we’re here to stop that creature from trying to assassinate you. Please step away from it so we may capture it.”

The white Alicorn replied in her normal voice, “You may stand down. He is our guest.”

“But, Princess Celestia, if that is so, then why did it run away from the guards and why was I not informed yesterday?”

Blaze interrupted the chat and said, “Excuse me, I’m not an ‘it’. My name is Swift Blaze and I’m human.” His tone switched to an angrier one. “The reason why I ran is your guards just started to fire their magic at me without letting me explain. As to why Princess Celestia did not inform you, she was in a private court session till sunset discussing certain things with me.”

“That’s correct, Captain Armor,” said Princess Celestia. She looked at the human with an annoyed look, then looked back at the captain, “I was going to inform you this morning after breakfast. Looks I should have done that before the commotion.”

The captain replied, “But Princess, how can you trust him with the havoc he caused in your castle?”

Blaze interrupted again as he moved over to a chair at the table to sit down, “I didn’t cause havoc. Your guards were shooting beams at me without allowing me to explain why I was there.”

“ENOUGH!” Celestia shouted again. “He’s a guest here and has been staying in Ponyville for the past week. I shall explain more to you later.”

“As you wish, Princess Celestia.” The captain ordered the others back to their posts, and they closed the doors as they left.

Blaze turned his head to the Princesses Celestia. She was giving him a stern look.

“What?” he asked.

“I didn’t appreciate how you talked to Captain Shining Armor. He was only doing his duty, as well as his guards. I realize it’s somewhat my fault for not informing him, but you can’t go running around without a guard escort. You are considered a guest from an outside nation. So, you need an escort everywhere you go.”

Blaze felt sorry for blowing up at the captain, “I am sorry Princess for causing the commotion. Please don’t blame Iron or Dead Eye for leaving me after their shift. I had no idea I was to have an escort. It won’t happen again.” He bowed to her after he spoke.

“Then, after breakfast, let’s fill out those forms so you can be a citizen. We will also schedule you to go through the Royal Guard's basic training next month. Once you complete the training, you won’t need an escort while inside the castle grounds.”

”Sounds like a plan your Highness. If you can summon a waiter, I already know what I would like to have. This morning’s exercise and events gave me a big appetite.”

Celestia rang a bell and a waiter came out of the kitchen. She directed him to the human to get his order, which was a twelve-egg omelet with cheese, onion, and bell pepper; a side of roasted potato chunks; and two tall glasses of orange juice. The waiter headed back to the kitchen, and soon came back with the glasses of OJ. Blaze downed the first drink without taking a breath.

“A little thirsty there, Blaze?” Princess Luna chuckled.

He replied, “Just a little bit, Luna. I did not plan on a playing tag after my exercise routine.”

She started to laugh and he joined her. Soon, Princess Celestia joined in with a chuckle. A few minutes later, the human’s breakfast came out of the kitchen and he dug right into it. Just like the meal last night, the flavors he tasted were better than anything he had. Blaze cleaned the plate of the food and leaned back in the chair.

“Well, I’m stuffed like a turkey on Thanksgiving,” he said.

“Shall we go and take care of that paperwork, then?” Princess Celestia suggested.

The human nodded his head and stood up, but suddenly fell back down into the seat.

Princess Luna asked, “Blaze! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am. I just realized my legs were a bit more worn out from this morning’s events. Would you mind if I fly to follow you, Princess Celestia?”

She replied, “Not at all. I’m glad it was nothing serious.”

“Well, we- I mean I'm, going to head to bed. Goodbye, Blaze. I can’t wait for the next lesson. Good day, Tia. I will see you this evening,” Princess Luna said. The blue Alicorn got up and started to head to her room.

“Sleep well, Lulu. Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” Princess Celestia said with a smirk. Princess Luna chuckled from the comment, as she recalled what happened last night. “Ready to go to the throne room, Blaze?”

He replied, “Yes, your Highness. The flying will be good for practicing precision control.”

The human channeled his ki to hover out of his chair and follow the white Alicorn.

He tried different flying positions, mostly to see how he needed to direct his energy. Some of them caused him to lose control and descend to the floor. The Princess smirked each time he fell, and at the odd poses he tried as he flew. They finally arrived in the throne room. Inside, Blaze saw a table on one side with a stack of about a hundred pages worth of legal documents.

“Are those the forms I need to legally become a citizen here?” he asked as he pointed to the table.

“Yes, they are,” said Princess Celestia. “I’m sorry we did not get to this yesterday. I don’t think you will be able to make it to Applejack’s award ceremony this afternoon. It takes some almost two days to fill out everything.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I have an ace or two up my sleeve.”

Blaze summoned his backpack to him and began digging through it.

“What are you looking for? I have everything you need to fill the forms out: A few quills, some ink wells...”

“It is another technological advancement that humans created. BEHOLD, THE MIGHTY PEN!” Blaze exclaimed as he pulled it out of the bag.

“How does it work?”

“It’s like a quill, but the ink is stored inside and the tiny metal ball rolls it out as you write.”

“That is quite impressive. I take you are going to use your clones to speed the process up too?”

“Now you are catching on.”

Blaze made two clones and all three went straight to work. One clone read the pages, the second would mark where we had to fill, and the original did the filling in. They made good process with this assembly line. The Princess just watched as Blaze and his clones were not talking, but were in sync while they filled out the forms. After one hour, they finished. The human released the jutsu and reviewed the clones' memories.

Once he was satisfied, Blaze said, “All done, Princess. Every part of that document has been read and filled in correctly. If you would please excuse me, your Highness, I would like to head back to Ponyville and see my friends.”

“Very well, Swift Blaze. I shall review this and see if there are any mistakes. If there are, I will summon you. If not, I shall send you a letter to let you know your citizenship certificate can be picked up at Ponyville City Hall,” said Princess Celestia. “Shall I get you a royal carriage to take you back, or are you going to fly?”

“Neither, I am going to teleport. I’ve gotten down short distances. I have to see what the range of it is. Goodbye, Princess Celestia. I shall see you next month, if not sooner.”

“Goodbye, Blaze. And please try to stay out of trouble with my guards.”

“I will if they don’t harass me.”

Blaze put his hands together in a sign, and visualized a flight path to his destination, back to Ponyville, his new home.

Author's Notes:

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. The real world can get very busy.

Enough of that. This story was proof read and edited by: Rubahhitam and Biker Dash.

Chapter 15: For My First Trick . . .

In the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight Sparkle finished writing the note cards for the speech she will be giving at Applejack’s Award ceremony. Even though she had not known the orange Earth mare for very long, she filled out two hundred note cards, and The Unicorn was stacking them with her magic when Swift Blaze appeared behind her. The human was a bit woozy and accidentally knocked a big book off the table, which slammed loudly as it hit the floor.

Twilight screamed and launched all the cards into the air. She shouted, “Spike! How many times have I told you to not scare me when I’m working!”

When the mare turned around, instead of seeing her assistant, she saw Blaze standing there.

“Twilight, I’m surprised you jumped to blaming Spike. I’m sure he knows when not to bother you,” the human said.

“Blaze? When did you get back? And how did you get in here?!” Twilight asked in a panicked state.

“Calm down, Twilight. I just got back. As to how, I teleported here.”

Now in a calmer state, Twilight said, “I would have recognized if you were teleported by the Princess.”

“Princess Celestia did not teleport me here, I did.”

“When did you learn how to teleport? Also, how in Equestria could you teleport all the way from Canterlot? Only the Princesses are able to do that.”

“I shall answer them in order. Number one, I taught myself that a couple nights ago. Number two, I didn’t know if I could until I tried. Granted, it took a lot of energy and left me a bit lightheadedafterwards. Number three, now you know someone else that can do it.”

“Seeing you are in a explaining mood, mind telling me how you were able to get your bag?”

“Can I show you instead?”

Blaze did a few hand signs. He place his palms on the ground and said, “Ninja Art, Summoning Jutsu!” A puff of smoke appeared in front them. Once dissipated, it revealed the human’s back pack.

Twilight’s eye shone with glee of these new skills, “Well, I’m happy you made it back in time for the award ceremony. Pinkie Pie is currently decorating City Hall. I have sent Spike to remind Applejack to come at 3pm.”

“Then, I’ll go and help Pinkie with the decorations. See you there,” said Blaze.

Twilight replied, “Bye, Blaze.”

The human grabbed his bag and placed it back in his room at the library. Afterwards, he headed out to city hall. Blaze soon saw Pinkie Pie in front of the building. The mare was directing ponies on what to do. He went up to her and said in soldier style, "What are your orders, General Pinkie!"

Pinkie laughed for a quick second, then said in drill sergeant style, "Blaze! I want you to go and hang the banner flags in front of the building!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" he replied.

The human pulled the banners from the box and started to hang with precision at Dash speed. This continued on until all decorations had been put up. Pinkie then started laughing once the others left and it was only her and Blaze.

He said to her, "I take it you enjoyed the acting around while we decorated, Pinkie."

Pinkie replied, "Oh boy, did I ever! I can't wait for you to help me again with decorating for a party again."

"Anytime, Pinkie. Just let me know when and I will be there as quick as a rabbit."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said. The mare then went and hopped to some place.

Blaze saw he had some time to kill before the event. As he tried to think of what to do, his stomach started to growl. The human looked around for a place to settle the beast called hunger. He headed over to a cafe and take a seat outside at an empty table. A waitress came over and gave him a menu.

The mare said, “Good afternoon sir, may I start you off with something to drink? Maybe an order of hay fries? We make the best.”

Blaze replied, “No thank you, on the hay fries. My body can’t really digest some of what you ponies eat. I will take a glass of water.”

“OH MY! YOU’RE HIM! THE HUMAN!” She screamed in a happy voice.

Blaze looked up from the menu. He saw who the waitress, giggling with joy, was: Lyra Heartstrings. He decided to play ignorant of knowing her, to avoid another possible chase event.

“Umm, excuse me, miss,” he said. “Your reaction is not what I expected from a pony seeing me. Most would run away while others charge at me as they thought I was a threat.”

“I saw you at the welcome ceremony. That was an amazing trick you did. None of the ponies, nor I, could tell who was the real Princess.”

“Thank you, miss. I’m glad there are some ponies that aren’t afraid of me.”

“Please, stop with the miss. It makes me sound old. My name is Lyra Heartstrings. You may call me, Lyra. I'll be back to take the rest of your order.”

She went back inside to get his drink. As Blaze was looking over the menu, he thought of how the mare was nice. He did hope she doesn’t bug him every meeting with questions about humans. A short time later, the teal Unicorn came out with a glass of water that was held by her magic.

Blaze said, “Thank you, Lyra. I think I’m ready to place my order.”

The mare brought out a note pad and quill with her magic. “Ok, so what are you having today?” she asked.

“I’ll just have a fresh garden salad with dressing.”

“Very good, I’ll bring that out very shortly.”

Lyra left to place the order. As the human was waiting, he looked around to see what was going on in town. Blaze saw ponies walking around the nearby shops. Over in another area, merchants were selling their products. Up in the sky, the Pegasi flew about to move clouds around and make some disappear. Over in the park, little fillies and colts were playing.

Blaze did noticed that some ponies were whispering to each other as they look at him. Their were even a few guards nearby were keeping an eye on the human. Probably because he has yet gained their trust.

“Here is your salad, Swift Blaze!” said a mare behind him.

The human turned around and saw Lyra was there, with his meal.

“Thank you. It looks delicious. May I have a fork?” he asked.

“But of course! I forgot you don’t eat like us ponies. Be right back.” The mare went inside and came back quickly with the fork. “Here you are.”

“Thanks, Lyra,” replied Blaze.

He took the fork from her magical hold. After a couple bites, the human noticed Lyra was still there, giggling to herself. He place the utensil down and looked at the mare with a raised eyebrow.

“Um, Swift Blaze, would you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Lyra said with puppy dog eyes.

“Call me, Blaze,” said Blaze. “Won’t your boss be mad you are not attending to the other customers?”

“I said I was taking my lunch break. So, may I?”

“Ok, but realize if I say I’ll not answer that question, please don’t ask why.”

A big smile formed on her face. The Unicorn sat down across from the human. She pulled out a scroll now and a quill. She then said, “Oh goody! Is it true that humans eat meat?”

“Yes I do, but I won’t eat any ponies, griffins, or dragons, any other talking creature, and creatures Fluttershy take care of.”

“How exactly are you able to use each of those fingers?”

“I’m not a biologist from my world. So, I don’t have the exact answer to that. Next question.”

“Can you tell me about what your world is like?”

“No. The reason is because it’s something I promised myself I would not share.”

Lyra started to do a pouty face with the big eyes look. Blaze could tell by her eyes how much she wanted him to give in and tell her.

Feeling defeated, he said, “Listen, if you really want to know, come to my place next week when you have a couple hours. I will tell you about my planet. I’m going to warn you now, it’s nothing like what you ponies have here.”

Lyra said,“Ok! Wait, I thought you didn’t have a house yet, only a piece of land. It takes several weeks to get a house built.”

“I have my ways. If you want to see how, come to the hill just outside of town at noon, tomorrow.”

The mare nodded and returned back to work. This allowed the human to finish eating his lunch. Once Blaze finish, Lyra returned to the table.

He said to her, “Thanks for the meal, how much do I owe?”

The Unicorn replied, “Five bits.”

“Here’s ten bits. Keep the change. Also, thank you for not being afraid to talk to me. See ya tomorrow.”

Before Lyra could respond, Blaze did his teleport jutsu and disappeared. He reappeared back in the library, in front of Spike who was carrying a tall stack of books. The little dragon walked into the tall creature and toppled his stack onto the ground.

"What the?” Spike said as he looked at what he ran into. “Blaze, where did you come from?" He bent down and started to stack the books back up, again.

The human replied, "Sorry about that. I just got done having lunch at a cafe. Here, let me help you with that." Blaze lowered himself down and joined in.

"Thanks. Wait, I didn’t hear you come in from the door. Did you use a new jutsu?"

"Yep, a teleportation one."

"Oh cool! That can be very useful. Like when you need to get somewhere quickly and don't want to be exhausted when you arrive. Twilight has taken me on a couple teleports. The problem is sometimes it’ll singes my spikes. Are you able to take others with you? What is the furthest you have traveled in one move?"

"Whoa, easy there Spike. I can see Twilight's curiosity has rubbed off onto you. For your questions, I have yet to try taking others with me. More than likely, they will need to hold onto me in order for them to come. The furthest I have traveled from is from the castle to here."

"What? Even Twilight can't go that far. I only know the Princesses are the only one who can pull it off. This is so amazing! What next, cool move are you going to learn?"

"I have something planned for tomorrow. I will practice it tonight some more in my sleep state.” Blaze looked at the clock and saw it’s getting close for the ceremony. Shall we head to City Hall?"

"Oh! Can we use your teleport to get there?"

"I don't see why not." The human turned and yelled upstairs, "Twilight! Time to head to the ceremony! You want to go with us?"

"Be right there! I need to get a box for my note cards," Twilight replied.

The mare soon came down with a small box in her magic hold.

"I’m ready!" she said with joy.

Blaze said, "Just need to do one more thing before we leave."

He picked the little dragon up and placed him on Twilight's back.

"What are you doing, Blaze?" Twilight asked.

"One sec,” the human replied. “Spike can you hold onto a piece of my clothing?"

The little guy reached out with his claw and grabbed the bottom of Blaze’s shirt. He had a huge smile on his face.

The human said, "Ok, now we’re ready."

"Blaze, this is a little awkward to be walking there like this," Twilight said.

"Who said about walking there? We don’t need to walk.”

The Unicorn’s eye’s opened wide as she realized what is about to happen. Before she could protest, Blaze had put his hands together and said, "Ninja Style! Teleportation Jutsu!"

Their vision was blurred during the transition. The group soon arrived just inside City Hall. Spike and Twilight were looking each other over to see if anything was missing.

In a panicked state, Twilight said, “My note cards! They’re still at the library!” The mare shoved a fore hoof into one of Blaze’s upper legs. “Now I have to go back and get them.”

The human rubbed where he was kicked and said, “Wait a sec, I think I can retrieve them.”

He performed some other signs with his hands. A quick puff of smoke later and the box that contained her note cards was revealed in his hands.

The Unicorn used her magic to grab it. She opened the lid and was happy to see they were there, in the same order she placed them. The mare closed the box, looked at the human, and said, “You’re lucky none are missing, Blaze. Warn me next time you want to teleport. I could have done it myself and my cards would have come with me.”

“Sorry about that, Twilight. I wanted to show you I could do it. It was more to test if I could take others with my jutsu. Turns out, I can, but only by contact. I knew if your cards were going to be left behind, I could use my summoning jutsu to bring them here.”

“Well, I can see why you did it. It was kind of nice to experience your jutsu, very safe and silent. Everypony would recognize when teleport magic is used.”

“Glad you enjoyed the ride.” The human looked at the little dragon. “What about you, Spike?”

He had a big smile on his face as he said, “That was amazing! You’re really getting the hang of this jutsu! I even did not get my spikes singed this time.”

“Don’t expect me to use it every time I’m with you. This was just a test. I also wanted to make sure we did not arrive late. You two go on and find a place to watch the ceremony. Need to check with Mayor Mare if she got something for me from the Princess.”

“Ok, Blaze, we’ll see you soon.” Twilight said as she headed outside. Spike was still riding on her back.

The human made his way to the mayor’s office and knocked on the door.

“You may enter,” a voice said from the other side of the door.

He did so and made his way in. The mayor was going over some paperwork on her desk. She looked to see who came in. “Oh, Swift Blaze, what can I do for you?” Mayor Mare asked.

He replied, “I have a question and a small request for you if are available to hear it.”

“It will have to be quick as the award ceremony will be starting soon. What is it you wish to know?”

“First, I was wondering if Princess Celestia has sent you the approval for my citizenship in Equestria.”

“I’m afraid I have yet to receive any letter from the Princess today.”

“Ok, I guess it is too soon as I just filled out the forms this morning. About the request, I know it takes time to get the permits, plans, and contract to build a house. Would it be possible to send a couple ponies with plumbing and electrical wiring to that hill Princess Celestia gave me tomorrow at noon?”

Mayor Mare had a confused look on her face. “There’s nothing on the hill. I don’t know what you are planning, but I’ll see what I can do. Do you have bits to pay them for the rush job you wish them to do?”

“Yes, I do have bits. The Princess also gave them to me to help until I get a job.”

The mayor smiled and said, “That was very generous of Princess Celestia to give you land and money. She must have taken a real liking to you.” She got up from behind her desk and walked around. “Now then, let’s get to the ceremony.”

The two left the office and made their way to the stage that was set up outside. Twilight was on stage, stacking her note cards in her magic. Blaze watched from the left side of the crowd as the Unicorn to give her speech, but kept getting interrupted by her friends. Soon, Mayor Mare insisted to wrap things up. She launched all the note cards into the air and walked off furiously.

The mayor walked behind the podium and did her speech. When she called out for Applejack, the entire crowd cheered for her. Blaze looked around for her to walk up, but couldn’t see her anywhere. He couldn’t believe that Earth pony hasn’t shown up. Even after getting her help she is still late. The human decided to help stall as he made his way to the stage.

Blaze stood next to the podium and said, “Hi everypony! I know I’m not Applejack, but she informed me she was going to be running late. So, she ask me to do some magic tricks for you.”

The ponies whispered among themselves as they wonder what’s going on. Twilight was with her other friends and they were doing the same.

“For those who didn’t see me at my welcome party to Ponyville, I’m going to do some repeat abilities. First, I’ll change myself to that of my pony form ”

One shadow transform later and the red Earth pony form was now there. A few ponies gasped at this while some others in the middle were cheering. He was happy that some of the townsfolk were warming up to him.

“Now then, I said in my introduction I raced a certain blue Pegasus.”

Rainbow Dash shouted from the crowd, “And you owe me a rematch later!”

Several ponies laughed a little bit. Blaze continued with, “You may be wondering how as I don’t have wings. It’s because of my abilities that allow me to fly another way.”

The red stallion started to hover off the stage. He did some simple aerial maneuvers in place he learned from that Pegasus.

“Hey, Rainbow, would you care to help me with the next trick?” he said out loud.

The mare replied, “Sure thing, Blaze!” She flew from the crowd to where he was above the crowd. “So, what is this next trick you want to perform?”

Blaze whispered, “Clone mirror movements.”

Her eyes opened wide with a big smile forming on her face. The Earth pony released the shadow transform and did a normal transform jutsu into Rainbow Dash within the puff of smoke. All the ponies were cheering loudly at the sight of them. Blaze mirrored all the flight maneuvers the blue mare was doing. They crossed path so many times, the crowd lost track which one was the original and the other was Swift Blaze.

The pair landed on the stage. A Rainbow Dash said, “Aw yeah! That was Awesome!”

The other replied, “You know it. I wonder if the crowd can tell which one of us is the original.”

“Only one way to find out.” Both turned to the ponies. “So, which one is the human, in disguise-”

“-and which one is the one and only Rainbow Dash.”

The ponies discussed with their neighbors as the two Pegasi watched. Suddenly, a voice shouted, “I know! I know!”

All eyes turned to who said it, Pinkie Pie. The pink pony hopped through the crowd and made her way to the stage. Once there, she said, “It’s obvious who the fake is.”

Rainbow Dash on the left said, “Then who is it?”

Pinkie pointed to both of them.

“Wait a sec,” said Twilight. “How in Equestria can both of them be Swift Blaze?”

“That’s easy,” the pink mare replied. “Blaze did that clone thingy during the flight show. The real Rainbow Dash is up in that cloud over there.”

Where she pointed to, a blue Pegasus head popped out of the cloud. Rainbow Dash flew down and joined the others. “How could you tell both were fakes and where I was? I thought we pulled the stunt off,” said the mare.

Pinkie replied, “Blaze was slightly off on your eye color. I found which cloud you were in because you had a tiny bit of your tail showing out of the cloud. Other than that, I couldn’t tell when he did the switch.”

Both fake ponies got covered in smoke. Blaze had returned to his human form. The crowd cheered at the show.

Blaze said to Pinkie, “I don’t even want to know how you could tell the slight difference.” He turned to Rainbow Dash and said, “Thanks for helping out. At least we fooled everyone else.”

With that, the two mares walked off stage. The human looked around again for Applejack. Still no sign of her. Blaze figured that she must be dealing with those ponies and lost track of time. He couldn’t keep stalling forever.

“For my next to final trick, how about I bring the pony of the hour onto the stage,” he said.

The human did a couple hand signs, slammed them to the ground, and said, “Ninja Art! Summoning Jutsu!”

A puff of smoke appeared that later revealed Applejack.

“What in tarnation is going on? I was just on my farm and now I am here,” the orange mare said in a confused state.

“Applejack, welcome to your award ceremony,” said Blaze. “You’re here for being a Pony of utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. The citizens of Ponyville and I wish to award you the Pony of Ponyville Award.”

He placed the trophy next to her. All the ponies started to cheer for Applejack and chanted her name. The Earth pony started to blush and walked to the podium to give her thank-you speech.

“Thank you kindly for giving me this award. Sorry for running late, new employees at the farm were being a handful,” she said.

Blaze interrupted and said, “Applejack, before you finish your speech, I would like to do my last trick so you can have the entire stage.”

She nodded and walked to the edge of the stage. The human turned back to the crowd, “Now, for my final trick, seeing I made somepony appear, I will make myself disappear off the stage. See you ponies later. Sim Sim Sala Bim!”

The human teleported and disappeared off the stage and appeared behind city hall. The ponyfolk cheered loudly from where he could hear. He was glad they were warming up to him. Blaze hoped soon, that none would be afraid.

He then recalled what Applejack said as to why she was late. Maybe they need a refresher to get them straight if they don’t want the alternative. He made a clone and it teleported to the farm. Blaze transformed to his pony form and walked back around.

Applejack just finished thanking everypony again. The town was now cheering for her. Mayor Mare walked onto the stage. “Hold on folks, we have a surprise award to give out,” she said.

Everyone, including Swift Blaze was wondering what the award is and who it is for.

“Now then, it is not really an award per say, but it’s an achievement he rightfully deserves. Would Swift Blaze please come to the stage, if he is still here.”

“I’m here,” he shouted as the red stallion made his way through the crowd. The ponies continue to whisper as he got on the stage.

“I know you’re all wondering what kind of achievement he has earned as he has only been in Equestria for a week. This afternoon, I received a letter from Princess Celestia declaring that Swift Blaze is now a citizen of Equestria. So, I hereby give you this certificate of citizenship in Equestria.”

All the ponies started to cheer once more. Blaze himself had a small tear of joy in one eye and a big smile on his face.

The human turned to the crowd and said, “Thank you, Mayor Mare, and thank you ponyfolk for accepting me as a citizen now.”

The crowd dissipated back to their normal lives. Twilight and the gang came up to Blaze to give personal congratulations.

“Congrats there, Blaze. I knew you were going to get it,” said Twilight.

Rarity then said, “I knew you were going to have no issue in getting it, darling.”

“That was so awesome how you allowed me to help with your jutsu demonstration! Oh, and congrats on becoming a citizen. I think you are 20% cooler now,” Rainbow Dash said.

“It was lovely of the Princess to get you included in the ceremony,” Fluttershy added.

“OhnowIhavetothrowyouBecomingACitizenParty! Youareonepopularponytogettohavesomany parties,” Pinkie Pie said at hyper speed.

Applejack came along side Blaze. Then, the mare hoof slapped him on the back of the head.

“OW! What was that for?” the human asked Applejack.

“That was for using that jutsu on me and scaring me half to death.” She then gave him a kiss on the cheek. “And that was for making sure I got to my award ceremony.”

Everyone there was shocked at what Applejack did.

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he said, “It was nothing, Applejack. I knew you deserved that award. Plus my gut was telling me that those new employees of yours were giving you a little trouble.”

“Oh Shoot! They’re all alone in the apple orchards. I need to get back there right away.”

Before the orange mare could run off, the human replied, “It’s ok, Applejack, I sent a clone to keep an eye on them. If you are really concerned, then let’s all go and see if they have been behaving. I’m sure your friends would like to help with the applebucking for the rest of the day.”

The ponies and dragon nodded in agreement.

“I appreciate it, partner. Let’s get going as they were complaining up a storm about how sore they were. Even you, Blaze, didn’t complain when you helped out.”

He replied, “What can I say, I’ve know when to shut up and push through the pain. Like a saying back on Earth, ‘No pain, no gain.”

The group started the trip to Sweet Apple Acres, under the afternoon sun.

-------- Meanwhile --------

The human clone arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, in their orchards. He looked around as he walked to find where trees have been bucked and the ones that haven’t. He soon found a patch in the east field where a quarter was done. Blaze shifted into his pony form and made his way there. If the guards were not working like they should, they were about to get a rude awakening.

As the red stallion approached quietly, he could hear the guards were complaining up a storm. He listened as he moved closer

“This sucks, Silver. Why did you convince me to do that to those ponies? Now we have to do this or go to the dungeon for five years,” one guard said.

The other guard replied, “If I didn’t suggest it, you would have, Crimson. Just be happy we get to become guards again after this, and at the level we were at. You know we would haven’t been able to get a job after the time in the dungeon. We would be a laughing stock of being the first guards to have been kicked out of the Royal Guard.”

“I know, I just wonder where Applejack went. She went to get some more buckets for us and she has not shown up yet.”

“Let’s continue knocking the apples out of the trees. This would be a lot easier if we had our magic. I can see why the unicorns hate these rings when we put it on them.”

“I think the reason we have them on our horns is because we abused our magic by doing what we did.” Crimson said as he bucked another tree. Several apples fell down and onto his head. “Son of a bitch! I’m going to have a melon-size bruise when we get done with this.”

“Quit your complaining. I have been hit by those apples too. How does the Apple family handle this all by themselves? They must be super ponies.”

In all his life, Blaze had never heard a pony, nor human, complain so much before. He figured these stallions must come from rich families that pampered them as they were colts. He wondered how in Equestria did they ever make it through basic training.

The red stallion came out from behind a nearby buck tree and said in a drill seargent voice, “Why am I hearing talking and not enough sounds of trees being bucked?”

“Who in Equestria are you and where did you come from?” Silver asked.

“Names Speedy. I’ve been working in the barn packing up the apples. I came here to relieve Applejack as she had a prior engagement to get to,” Blaze said.

“Well, Applejack went to get more buckets as we were close to filling these up,” Crimson replied.

“Then how come you did not deliver them yourself to the barn when they were filled?”

Silver said, “That wasn’t part of the job description.”

“Oh really? I believe your job here is to help Applejack here on the farm for a year, not just to buck the trees. Now pick up those buckets and bring them to the farm. We don’t have all day.”

They moaned as they each took a bucket. The red stallion picked up two and placed them on his back. “Let’s go Greenies.”

The group made their way back to the barn. Blaze was in the lead and the guards were having a hard time keeping up. The human in disguise believed this should help strengthen them better. They got to their destination and dropped off the full buckets and picked up the empty ones to return with.

“Applejack did not tell me your names this morning. Mind sharing them, or would you prefer I keep calling you Greenies?” Blaze said on the way back.

“My name is Silver Weight and he is Crimson Bristle,” Silver said.

“Hello, Silver and Crimson. Now how about yourself and why you joined the Royal Guard?”

Crimson replied, “Well, Silver and I grew up together since our families were neighbors. We went to the same schools and enjoyed doing the same things. One thing is we were picked on in magic school as our magic was not as powerful as others. We decided to join the Royal Guard to get respect from the other ponies.”

Silver added, “Our families pulled some strings when we signed up. It was so we didn’t have to go through the basic training and went to being Royal Guards. It’s an easy job as we just had to guard the Princess and the country. Nothing ever happens as everything is peaceful. Just break up a few bar fights and catch the occasional thief.”

“Sorry to hear about what happen when you were younger,” said Blaze.” But, I’m sorry to say that your reason to join the Royal Guard is a stupid one.”

“What do you know?” asked Crimson. “You’re only an Earth pony and work on a farm. Yes, you do grow the food other ponies eat so you get respect that way, but Royal Guards earn more respect.”

The red stallion stopped in his tracks and turned around. He replied, “You don’t get respect based upon the position you have. You must earn it like any other pony. It was wrong for your parents to do what they did so you could skip the basic training to be a Royal Guard. If you went through it, maybe then you wouldn’t have done what you did.”

Silver stomped his fore hoof and said, “What do you know about being in the Royal Guard? Also, what their basic training is like?”

Blaze simply replied, “Well, it’s true I don’t know exactly the Royal Guard do in their training. But, I do know what a military unit will put recruits through. They put them into the basic training to toughen up their spirit and know how to endure pain. The new guards get stronger through it and prove how loyal they are by not quitting. They’re taught combat techniques and the courage to put their lives ahead of their country if it will save it. By skipping these lessons, if you ever experienced battle, and your magic wasn’t working, you would probably run away and leave your other guards to die.”

“How dare you talk to us like that!” Crimson shouted as he also stomped a fore hoof. “If our magic was not blocked, we would be teaching you a lesson right now.”

“But, your magic is blocked. This only proves my point that you rely on your magic too much. A proper guard would have started fighting me with their hooves.”

“How is it you know so much about the military when you are just a farm pony?” Silver asked.

“Oh, I only have been working on the farm for a few days to help out. I‘m not related to the Apple family in any way. In fact, I’m not even an Earth pony,” Blaze said with a smile.

Both Unicorns were confused as to what the Earth pony just said.

Crimson asked, “What are you talking about? Even with this ring on my horn, I can still detect illusion magic. Right now, I don’t sense any on you.”

“Then, I shall prove it.”

The red stallion was engulfed in smoke as he released the jutsu. Once the smoke cleared away, the guards’ faces went to full fear as they realize who he was.

The human just stood there with his arms crossed on his chest as he said, “Hello, boys.”

The stallions dropped their empty baskets. Each one went into different begging positions.

“Oh, Celestia!” said Silver. “Please don’t send us to the dungeon. We didn’t mean to back talk you.”

Crimson said, “Yeah, we promise we’re working as best we can. It’s just we aren’t use to this lifestyle.”

“We promise to continue to work, without complaint,” Silver added.

Blaze said, “Oh, I heard some of the conversation you had before I revealed my pony form. I don’t mind the complaining about how I tricked you to do this, but you will have to earn my respect by not disobeying Applejack when she gives you a task. You are to go above and beyond what she asks you to do. If you see something needs to be done around the farm and you know how, take care of it. Her brother is still recovering from an injury. So, I don’t want her to try to do too much by herself. I know she can easily do more than you two put together. Consider this part of the basic training you seem to have missed. Following orders of your boss without goofing off. Basic training has it far worse and with you rich boys, you would have not lasted a day.”

“How is it you know so much of the training? You’re not even from Equestria,” Crimson said.

“That’s because back on my world, what your Royal Guard skill and training they go through is the level of police force of mine. Protect the citizens in the town and take care of local disturbances. The military on my world are on a whole other level. I did not go through it myself, but I had friends and family that did and they shared their stories with me.”

Silver asked, “Why did you compare the Royal Guard to police on your world?”

“Let me answer by asking you a question. When was the last major battle where armies took part in and creatures died on both sides?”

“That would probably be the Griffin Wars which were several centuries ago. Well before our time.”

“That is why I did the comparison,” said Blaze. “The Royal Guard is great at what they do, but they are not ready for a full-on battle with another nation or major enemy. On my world, there are battles of different nations every week. My nation going against terrorist from two other nations where they would even set traps for anypony to set off and suicide bombers to kill innocent victims.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know how anypony could live in such a dangerous place,” said Crimson.

Silver asked, “How were you able to handle hearing about the deaths of people you may have known?”

“I’m sorry, but that is a story for another time. Let’s get back to work.”

The guards nodded and picked up their baskets and moved them to the next tree’s in line to be bucked. The human watched and gave a little advice on technique as he waited.

On the outskirts of the farm. Applejack lead her friends through the trees. The mare trotted quickly to where she last left the guards.

”Relax, Applejack. They’re not going anywhere. My clone will make sure they’re still working,” said the human.

The orange mare replied, “I know, it’s just that I didn’t tell them I left. I do like having some extra hooves to help around the farm, I just think these two never worked hard a day in their life. I think they’re from rich folks in Canterlot by their attitude. Not royalty, but definite upper class.”

“I just can’t understand why Princess Celestia agreed with your decision for punishment,” said Rarity. “It’s unheard-of to treat ponies like this. Mind sharing with us as what they did Blaze?”

“I’m sorry, but Princess Celestia has ordered me to not to share for the safety of you and for them. All I can say is they didn’t touch, nor harm any of us.”

The group finally reached their destination. Everyone saw the stallions were still working hard with Blaze’s clone leaning against a bucked tree. The clone looked at the other human and gave a nod. In a puff of smoke, he disappeared. Blaze closed his eyes as he reviewed the memories. When the human opened his eyes, Applejack was there standing in front of him.

The mare asked, “So, did they behave while I was gone?”

“They did, Applejack. You’re doing a fine job teaching them work ethic and they will appreciate it in the end. Shall we go and help out till sunset?”

They all nodded and split into groups to tackle the task. With all of them working together, they made quick work on the eastern fields before sunset. All the ponies were exhausted from the work once they finished. Blaze could see Silver and Crimson were about to collapse where they were standing. They human did believe these stallions need this kind of training, if they expect to survive actual Royal Guard training.

Blaze turned to his friends and said, “I think we should get Silver and Crimson to bed, before they collapse out here.”

The guards nodded as best they could to that idea. Applejack led them to the barn where she had them sleep the night prior. Everyone else followed and waited outside. The orange mare came back out and closed the big door before she turned around to face the others.

“Now that the south and east fields have been harvested, I feel better with the working arrangement,” she said. “Where shall we go for dinner?”

“Where ever we decide on to go, I’m buying. I will not take no for an answer,” said Blaze. “You all have taken me into your homes and provided food for me. It’s the least I can do to repay.”

They accepted this and headed back into town.

Author's Notes:

WHAT?! Another story update already?
Yep. Enjoy.

This story was proof read and edited by: Rubahhitam and Biker Dash.

On another note, I'll be attending BabsCon 2016 this weekend. If you're there, I would like to meet up and get your honest opinion of what you think of the rewrite of my story. Best way is to message me here to arrange where and when (if I'm not busy then). It's a Brony Convention after all.

Chapter 16: How In . . . What?

The ponies, human, and dragon arrived back in town and looked for a restaurant to have dinner at. The group soon came across a pub.

Rainbow Dash said, “Hey, let’s go here. They have the best drinks this side of Ponyville.”

“I agree,” said Applejack. “And their food is good too.”

Everyone else nodded and headed inside. The place is what you would expect, a nice size bar with different kinds of alcohol on the back shelves. A waitress directed them to a long table that could accommodate them.

Blaze said, “So, Rainbow and Applejack, how do you know this place?”

“Me and Rainbow here come here once or twice a month after a long work week to relax,” the orange mare said.

“We come here more often than that,” the blue Pegasus said. “We also come here to get buzzed and on occasion, have ourselves a drinking contest. I won the last one.”

“Yeah, you did. But I won the two before that.”

“Girls please, let's not get into an argument and get kicked out,” the human said.

The waitress came by and collected the drink orders. Rarity ordered a glass of red wine. Spike got a glass of juice, as he was still underage. Twilight and Fluttershy ordered some tea. Pinkie and Rainbow each ordered a pint of hard apple cider. Applejack ordered a pint of a local brew beer. Blaze only ordered a glass of water. The waitress thanked them and said she’ll be back soon to get their entree orders.

“How come you ordered water, Blaze?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Thought you were old enough to drink?”

He replied, “Oh, I’ve been able to drink alcohol for the past 6 years. I just choose not to. I was never interested in trying it.”

“Oh come on, you don’t know what you’re missing. Loosen up and try one. It won’t hurt you,” the mare said as she tried to convince him.

“Not interested.”

Applejack butted in and said, “Come on Rainbow, Blaze said he doesn’t want to. Let’s honor his choice.”

“Choosing not to drink because they’re not interested makes me think they’re hiding something. What’s the real reason Blaze?” Rainbow said as she slammed a hoof down on the table. “I know that Twilight and Fluttershy don’t drink because they can’t hold their alcohol. Come on and spill!”

The human looked at the blue mare and said, “I don’t want to drink and that’s that.”

“Please, drop it, Rainbow,” said Twilight. “We’re here to have fun and enjoy ourselves. Not everypony has to drink like you.”

The waitress came back with their drinks. Then, after everyone told the mare what they wanted to eat, she thanked them and returned to the kitchen.

Blaze spoke first to avoid Rainbow Dash interrogating him on why he won’t drink alcohol. “So, Applejack, what do you think of those guards after seeing them work for the first day?”

The orange mare replied, “They’re definitely rough around the edges. Neither of them are very strong, and you wouldn't believe how much they complained when they started working.”

“That sounds awful,” said Fluttershy. “I never realized working on your farm was such hard work, until today. I hope you’re not pushing them too hard.”

“I was going easy on them while they’re learning the ropes of farm work. It’ll take some time, but I think I can get them straightened out and break their bad habits. Honestly, I think they never did any hard work in their lives. Yes, they might do some weight lifting, but they don’t have the energy to use it all day,” The Earth pony looked at the human. “What’s your opinion when you saw them working, Blaze?”

He replied, “Well, when I, meaning my clone, got to the farm, I snuck up in my pony form to see if they were working. They still were. Also, you’re correct, they do complain a bit. They never saw my pony form. So, when I introduced myself, I called myself Speedy. They said you went to get some more empty buckets, but never came back. I figure that was when I used that jutsu to bring you to the stage. I told them you had forgotten to be somewhere else and I relieved you of watching them.”

“Now why in Equestria would you lie about yourself, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Sometimes, a person, or a stallion in this case, won’t open up to someone they know. They might with a stranger. We chatted for a bit as we continued to work. I found out they do come from rich families. They had pulled some strings so they didn’t have to go through basic training. I think that’s why they’re acting like this. By not going through that experience, it would’ve straightened them out and toughened them up at the same time. I then revealed my human form. The fear on their faces was priceless. They panicked and started to beg.”

“Oh my gosh! I wish I was there to see that!” said Rainbow. “You definitely know how to pull pranks, Blaze. I wouldn’t have been able to pull some of them off.”

“Well, you’re not me and have access to my jutsu moves,” the human said. “That’s the only way I could pull these off. Now, back to the story. I told them what I was expecting them to do while on the farm and we went back to work after the begging. Some time later, you all showed up. The moral of this story is that you should never take shortcuts in your work. You may lose what that hard work and training will teach you. Their families are at fault here for letting them skip the training. I plan to look into this when I go for the basic training next month.”

“YOU'RE JOINING THE ROYAL GUARD?!” everypony at the table shouted at the same time.

“Hold it!” Blaze said as he held his hand in front of him. “I’m not joining the Royal Guard. I have an agreement with Princess Celestia to teach the guards some Taijutsu. But, I need to go through the basic training in pony form to get an idea of what they know and how ponies fight. I was never planning to join as these skills were not intended to be used on the front lines of battle. They’re more for secret ops and stealth missions.”

“That’s great. You’ll probably see my brother.” Twilight said.

“You have a brother in the Royal Guard?” everypony again said.

“I might have met him already. Mind telling me his name and what he looks like?” the human asked.

“His name is Shining Armor, and he’s a Captain of the Royal Guard, Unicorn Division.”

“Your brother is not only in the Royal Guard, but a Captain?” Rarity asked as she was about to faint. Fluttershy grabbed her to keep her upright.

“Yes. He's a Captain because he can cast a shield spell big enough to cover all of Canterlot, and powerful enough to protect it.”

“Damm Twilight, I knew you had some powerful magic, but your brother can cast a shield around a city? That’s awesome!” Rainbow said.

“It is impressive. Now, as for his looks, he has a white coat, a two-tone blue mane, and his armor is purple.”

Blaze was correct of who he pissed off this morning. The stallion will probably going to kill him if he found out that he’d been hanging out with Twilight and her friends. The human hoped he wasn’t going to be doing the training when he goes.

“Um, I think I might have met him this morning. Would you mind if I transform into him so you can verify who I think it is?” Blaze asked.

The mare nodded her head. A quick jutsu later, Blaze now looked like her brother.

“Oh my, you did meet him! I have to go and write him a letter right away and find out what he thinks about you.”

Blaze changed back and said, “You might want to hold off on that. At least until after I tell you what happened this morning. Please don’t scream or freak out.”

They all nodded and paid attention to the story the human was about to tell. Each one realized this was going to be an interesting one.

“Ok, so every morning since I arrived here, I woke up before sunrise. I do a morning exercise in the land Princess Celestia gave me before it was mine. Seeing I was in Canterlot last night, Princess Luna offered the Royal Guard training grounds to let me do my routine. I was led to the grounds by two Unicorn guards named Iron Shield and Dead Eye. They participated in stretches with my pony form while my human clone went for a jog on the track. After this, I decided to do some different scenarios of combat so six more clones were made, one human and the rest were my pony form. Some of the matches lasted for at least an hour while the shortest one was 15 minutes.”

“Why on Equestria would you fight yourself instead of some practice dummies?” Rarity asked.

“I learned a few days ago that by doing this, I can practice both offensive and defensive techniques at the same time. Plus, dummies don’t fight back.”

“So, what happend next?!” Pinkie Pie asked, while eating popcorn.

Blaze wasn’t even going to think where she got it.

“After the matches, I was pretty tired,” said the human. “The guards were also tired because it was the end of their shift. I didn’t feel like walking to or flying towards the dining room, so I decided to test out the teleportation jutsu for the first time since I learned it. This is where it gets interesting.”

Applejack asked, “What in tarnation did ya do?”

“None of it was my fault as I didn’t know at the time, but I was suppose to have escorts wherever I went in the castle. So, I did the jutsu and arrived just outside the doors to the dining room. As I was looking myself over to see if anything was missing, there were two Unicorn guards standing at the door. They were charging up their horns when I realized they were there. So, I did what anyone would have done. I started to run away and avoid being hit by their magic.”

Rainbow started to laugh. Applejack soon joined in with a chuckle.

“The guards normally don’t shoot their magic unless there was a threat,” Twilight said.

“Let me ask you this,” replied Blaze. “How would you react if you didn't know anything about me and I appeared right in front of you?”

Twilight started to blush, “I would probably scream and then try to hit you with magic spells to trap you.”

“My point as to why I ran. I didn’t know if they were going to capture me, or kill me. I almost got away from the two guards, until I went around a corner. I saw six more Unicorn guards coming at me, so I switched to flying and flew right over them as they were shooting their magical spells at me.”

“You must have been doing some impressive aerial maneuvers to dodge those spells,” said Rainbow Dash. She started to pay more attention to the tale.

“I didn’t even think of which ones to use. I just let my instincts take over and guide me. I saw an open window and flew through it to the outside. The Unicorn guards were still sending their magic spells at me from the window. I thought I'd gotten away by then. That was until I looked towards the castle walls.”

Pinkie asked, “What did you see?” The mare now had 3-D glasses on and was still eating popcorn.

“There were at least a dozen Pegasus guards flying towards me from different directions. I was getting pretty frustrated at this. I came to the conclusion of one move that would get me out of this. I flew high up into the sky so all the guards in the area would be looking up at me. The move I used is ki-based and is called solar flare. The name explains what it does. I cast a pure and intense white light. It caused everyone that looked at me to get blinded, temporally. Those few seconds allowed me to teleport out of there without them seeing it.”

“I saw the flash from the farm. Thought it was a new firework they were testing to use during the day,” said Applejack.

“That flash woke me from my sleep cause it lit up my entire cloud house,” Rainbow said in a slightly angry tone.

Fluttershy asked, “So, where did you teleport to this time, if you don’t mind?”

“I teleported this time to inside the dining room. I startled the staff and they ran into the kitchen. Both Princesses were surprised by my entrance. I quickly explained what was going on as I have told you. All of a sudden, the dining room door burst open and a platoon of Pegasus and Unicorn Guards came in, charging at me. I prepared to defend myself when Princess Celestia ordered everypony to stop in the loudest voice I ever heard.”

Blaze turned to Twilight and said, “This is where your brother comes in. He stepped forward and told the Princesses that they were trying to capture me because they thought I was an assassin.”

“Well you do kinda dress like one,” said Spike. Twilight gently hit the back of his head with her hoof.

“After Princess Celestia explained that I was a guest, your brother and I kinda went into a blaming contest of who was at fault. Princess Celestia dismissed the guards and explained to me that since I wasn't a citizen, even if I was trusted to some degree, I was supposed to have an escort wherever I went in the castle, either one of the Princesses, or a couple of guards. I apologized for my attitude and will acknowledge those rules when I’m in the castle,” the human said.

The orange mare said, “Whoo-whee, that sure was some excitement you had.”

“And that was before I had breakfast and after my training exercise. I was full-blown exhausted and starving. So, Twilight, I feel I’m not on good terms with your brother, being someone who evaded several guards and embarrassed them in the process. If he comes to visit, please warn me so I can hide.”

All the girls laughed at how the human was afraid of Twilight’s brother. “I’m sure my brother will accept you once he gets to know you like I have,” said Twilight. “He will love how much you care about us ponies.”

The food arrived and they dug in. The mares all got some flower-based dish. Spike was able to order some precious gems. Blaze had steamed veggies over rice.

As he ate, the human thought about he would have to do some home cooked meals to get some meat. He then wondered if Princess Celestia will allow him to take some uncooked meat from the castle’s kitchen and store it at his house. Finally, Blaze figured Shining Armor was going to give him some trouble for successfully evading his guards. He was pretty sure that, right now, the stallion was sending more guards to Ponyville until he could trust the human.

“So, what your plans for tomorrow?” Blaze asked.

Rainbow Dash replied, “Applejack is going to help me with some of my aerial moves.”

“I’m sorry, partner, but I won’t be able to,” said Applejack. “Them guards need supervision to help me with the applebucking. Big Mac isn’t well enough to do it. I also won’t be able to help either Pinkie or Fluttershy. There’s still a lot of apples to harvest if we want to sell them all.”

Blaze spoke up and said, “Hey um, if you want, I could help you out with what Applejack was going to do. It’s only right, seeing I’m the one who injured Big Macintosh.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Blaze,” the orange mare replied. “Like i said before, my big bro was being overprotective. I’m just glad he didn't hurt ya.”

“But it only seems right I help out, seeing as you have those Greenies on your farm.”

“Greenies? What does that mean, sugarcube?”

“It’s a nickname we give to inexperienced individuals. It actually became popular on a TV show in my world. The full name they used was Greenhorn, but I didn’t feel comfortable calling them that.”

They all laughed again and the human joined in. Once everyone was done, Blaze paid the bill and the group left the pub. They walked to the town square, enjoying the night sky.

Twilight spoke up, “So Blaze, where are you going to sleep tonight?”

“I wasn’t really thinking of where to sleep tonight,” he replied. After a few minutes, he said, “I think I’ll go to my plot of land and sleep underneath the stars. The air isn't too cold tonight so I won’t get sick from it. I have some intense training I need to do to for the next jutsu I’d like to get down.”

“What’s the next thing you’re going to do? Skin color changing jutsu? Limb creating jutsu? Oh! I know! Balloon animal jutsu!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

“Um, not any of those, that’s for sure. It’ll be something with a good purpose. I’ll be putting it to use at noon, tomorrow, on my land if you’d like to see.”

Rarity said, “Oh, I can’t wait to see what spectacle your jutsu is going to do.”

“You’re not going to give us a hint as to what it is, are ya?” Rainbow asked.

“Do I ever tell you what jutsu I learn next?” Blaze asked her. The blue Pegasus shook her head no. “Then you’ll just have to wait. Good night my friends. See you tomorrow.”

They all said their good nights and headed to their homes. The human went to the hill and laid down in the most comfortable position he could. With his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and woke into his mind space. With the new style being wood jutsu, he realized this was probably going to take all night. Combining the two elements for this would be difficult, even with clones. But, it had to be done if the human wanted to get the skills down for a house-level jutsu. So, for the rest of the night, a hundred clones went at it to master wood-style jutsu.

Dawn came and Blaze was still in the sleep realm. He looked over at the structures he’d progressed in making. Off in the distance, the human heard his name being yelled. A hovering screen popped up in front of him. It displayed text stating the caller was Rainbow Dash.

The human decided to have some fun. He exited the space back to the real world, peaked one eye open and saw the blue mare, staring at him. Her head was directly over his, with her body off to one side.

Blaze stretched his arms above his head and let out a big yawn. He then rolled over to Rainbow Dash and grabbed onto one of her front hooves, while still pretending to be asleep.

The mare panicked and tried to brake the hold the human had. She flapped her wings and dragged him around on the ground. When that didn’t work, Rainbow took to the sky and tried to fling him off through the staggering number of g'se staggering number of g's she was pulling.

Blaze held on as best he could on each sharp turn. Soon, the blue Pegasus grew tired and landed back on the ground. The human released his grip, sat up, and stretched his arms out to the side.

He opened his eyes and let out a big yawn, then said, “Morning Dash. You need something?”

“Uh, yea,” said Rainbow Dash as she rubbed the back of her head. She put her hoof down before she continued. “You said you were going to cover for Applejack’s promise that she would help her friends today.”

“Yes, I remembered. So, what do I need to help you with your stunts?”

“See that wood contraption over by the town square?” The mare said as she pointed with her hoof.

The human nodded, then asked, “When did you have time to put that together? It doesn’t look safe.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” the Pegasus replied. “All I need you to do is get up on the platform. Then, wait for me to get onto the far end of the seesaw. When I give you the signal, you jump onto the other end. That will catapult me faster into the air, which, in turn, boost my speed for my new stunts, and really impress the Wonderbolts!” Her tone was that of a giggling school filly.

“A seesaw launch? Really?” Blaze said as he thought it over. “I don’t think you’ll get the speed you want. The wood will either flex too much, or break from me landing.”

The human was thinking of something better she could try. Once he had it, he said, “I know of a faster way to launch you. The coolest thing is, we can do it right here, right now.”

“REALLY! WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? LET’S DO IT!” The mare was flying around the human with excitement.

“Calm down, Rainbow Dash. Now then, stand in front of me, about three feet away. Get yourself into your ready stance, as you’re about to take off.”

Rainbow did so with eagerness pumping through her veins. She asked, “Now what?”

Blaze waved to her and said, “Bye, Rainbow.”

The mare looked confused for a bit. Then it went to shock as the human placed his hands together and said, “Earth Style! Rapid Stone Column Jutsu!”

A pillar of stone suddenly formed from the ground underneath Rainbow Dash, accelerating her to over a hundred miles an hour before it stopped at a height of twenty feet, and launched her into the air like a living bullet. She continued to fly upwards at that speed and began to do her stunts.

Blaze heard her say, “That. Was. AWESOME!” at the top of her lungs. She flew back down and landed in front of the human. While out of breath, she said, “I ... never ... launched ... that fast ... before. WHERE DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT?!”

“That was based on a ride from my world. It’s designed to where humans are strapped into seats that are on a machine that launches them up like that. They get to experience freefall in a safe environment.”

“DO IT AGAIN!” Rainbow said. She already was back into position.

Blaze said, “How about I join you and learn some more moves?”

She smiled and nodded. He went over and stood next to the mare. The human braced his legs for the Gs. One jutsu later, the pair were launched into the air. The Gs were intense at launch, but the thrill was worth it.

They flew all over Ponyville as Blaze was mirroring Rainbow Dash's moves. Once the adrenaline rush was finished, he said goodbye to the blue Pegasus and stated he needed to get something into his stomach.

The human flew toward Sugarcube Corner. He landed and went inside. Behind the counter, there was a yellow, thin, stallion. It was Mr. Cake. With a wave of his hand, Blaze said, "Good morning."

The Earth pony looked up from what he was doing to greet the new customer. His eyes went from happy and calm to full-blown scared. Mr. Cake screamed, “AHH! A MONSTER! GET OUT OF HERE HONEY WHILE I HOLD IT OFF!” After that, he picked up a broom with his mouth. He swung it wildly in atempt to shoo the human away.

Blaze just pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked down. He wondered when these ponies will stop being afraid of him. The human released his nose and looked up the stairs. “PINKIE PIE!” he shouted, “Can you please tell them who I am before they call the guards on me?”

The pink mare came running down and jumped halfway towards Blaze. He caught her as she hugged him. “Blazy,” she said, “you’re here early! I thought you were going to help Rainbow Dash first?”

He replied, “I did. Just got done helping her with her stunts. I came early so I can get something to eat before I help you. Now, would you mind telling them who I am before this gets out of control?”

“Silly Mr. and Mrs. Cake! I told you I made a pony friend and was going to help me instead of Applejack.”

“That's not a pony, Pinkie! Get away before it hurts you!” Mr. Cake said while still holding the broom in his mouth.

“He’s right, deary! Come over here and we’ll go and get the guards!” Mrs. Cake said as she poked her head out of the kitchen.

“I am hurt, Mrs. Cake, that you don’t recognize me, even by my voice. Would this help you?”

Blaze gently place Pinkie down on her hooves. He put his hands together performed the Shadow Transform Jutsu. Once the smoked cleared, they saw his pony form.

Mrs. Cake said, “Oh! It’s you, Swift Blaze. I didn’t realize you could change your form like that. Dear, put that broom down, he’s a friend of Pinkie I met a few days ago.”

Mr. Cake placed the broom back where it came from. He said, “Sorry about that. That form surprised me. I didn’t know what creature you were. Why would you go around looking like that?”

Blaze replied, “Um, maybe because that is my real form. I take you both haven’t been to my introduction, party, or Applejack’s Ceremony?”

They shook their heads side to side. The human wondered how many more times he will have to explain his species. So, after another explanation, the Cakes nodded in understanding.

“I’m so sorry, Blaze, for thinking that human form was a disguise and not the other way around,” said Mrs. Cake. “You said you came to get something to eat, so what can we get ya, deary?”

“I think I’ll take two of those blueberry muffins and a tall glass of orange juice, if you have some.”

“Coming right up.”

Blaze went to a small table and sat on a cushion. The blue mare went into the kitchen as her husband hoofed out the two muffins out of the display onto a plate. He brought it over to the table. Mrs. Cake shortly came with the glass of OJ being held by her tail and placed it on the table without spilling it.

Seeing that level of control, the red stallion wanted now to do some training for that in the future. He picked up the glass with his hoof to get a quick drink. “That is some fresh orange juice.” He turned to the mare and asked, “So, how much do I owe you?”

“It’s on the house. You’re going to be helping Pinkie Pie while we go and make these deliveries,” Mrs. Cake said.

“Then I shall pay with a recipe I know from my world I think you might like.”

Pinkie Pie moved quickly into the stallion’s face.“OH, YOU CAN BAKE TOO! Why didn’t you say you can do that?” the mare said with excitement in her voice.

Blaze pushed her back before he said, “You didn’t ask. Once I finish with my breakfast, I’ll go and make up of a batch for you to try.”

Pinkie hopped away and went behind the counter with clear joy on her face. Mr. and Mrs. Cake left shortly afterward with several boxes on their backs. As the red Earth pony was eating the first muffin, which he thought was delicious, the front door burst open. A pony shouted, “MUFFIN!”

Blaze saw a grey blur coming toward him. In quick action, he grabbed the plate and glass with his hooves and flew up to the ceiling. The blur object slid across the table and continued on into the wall. He looked to see what it was that came at him. The object was a grey Pegasus with a blond mane and yellow eyes.

The stallion came back down and placed the plate and the glass back on the table. “Are you ok?” he asked.

Her eyes were spinning around as she was regaining consciousness. She then looked to him as he held a hoof out to help her up. She grabbed it with hers and got her back on all four. “Sorry about that mister,” she said. “I get carried away when I smell my favourite muffin.” Her stomach started to growl. “Hee hee, kinda skipped breakfast as I was running late to get to work.”

“What do you do for work?”

“She delivers the mail in Ponyville and is the best!” Pinkie said from behind the counter.

“That is an important job, but you should never skip your breakfast. How about you have my other muffin so you can subdue that stomach of yours?”

“But that’s yours. I wouldn’t feel right taking your breakfast,” the mare said.

“I insist. Plus, I already had one and that filled me up more than expected.”

“THANK YOU, MISTER!” The Pegasus went and scarfed it down in one bite.

“Enough of the mister, please. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. All my friends do.”

“Ok, Blaze. My name is Ditzy Hooves. Thank you again for the muffin. It was delicious. I’m curious though. Normally when this happens, I collide into a pony with the muffin. How were you able to dodge me?”

“My reflexes kicked in and I flew up to the ceiling.”

“But you don’t have wings! How was that possible?”

One of her eyes started to wander looking off into another direction. The mare shook her head with her eyes closed. When she opened them, they were both looking in the same direction. “Sorry about that,” she said as she lowered her head a bit.

“Don’t be ashamed of yourself. To answer your question, I have an energy source inside of me called ki which I can regulate out of me to give me lift,” Blaze said. He started to levitate above the table.

“I have never heard an Earth pony getting the ability to fly!”

“Technically, I’m not a pony.”

“Thank you again for the muffin, but I have to go and finish delivering this mail. I’m having a hard time with this one as there’s no address. It only has of what I can believe to be the description of who it’s suppose to.”

“Maybe I can help you with that. What does it say?”

The Pegasus pulled the letter out of her saddle bag. She cleared her throat and read,

To the new creature in Ponyville that walks on two hooves and is hairless.

“Hey! I do have hair, just on my head, compared to ponies.”

“But, you look like a pony. You have a fur coat and mane. I don’t think this is for you.”

“I was referring to my original form. Please don’t freak out or scream.” Blaze released the jutsu and went back to his human form.

“I saw you yesterday at the ceremony! Your tricks were great!”

“Why, thank you. Now may I have that letter as it is clearly for me?”

Ditzy hoofed him the letter. The human opened it and it read:

Greetings Human,

Congratulations on becoming a citizen. Princess Celestia has informed me you’re going to participate in the Royal Guard basic training in your pony form. I’ve been approved to handle the actual training session. I look forward to seeing what you are capable of. Just a reminder, you’re not to be using your abilities to give you an advantage in your training. Failure in this will result in punishment. See you next month.

Captain Shining Armor.

(Gulp) “Ok, I think he has it in for me for evading his guards,” Blaze said. He was now thinking it’s going to be college hazing and boot camp, all rolled into one.

“Oh you are just overreacting, silly,” said Pinkie Pie. “Now, let's get started on those treats you said you were going to make from your world.”

She dragged the human into the kitchen. Ditzy waved goodbye and flew back out the door.

In the kitchen, Blaze saw every equipment that a typical baker would have. They also had a couple of fridges and a walk-in freezer. He went through what they had to determine as he worked on what he’s going to make.

Once the human founded what he needed, he said, “Ah, I think I’ll make that treat.”

“What are you going to make, Blaze?”

“I’m going to leave that as a mystery. I think I hear customers coming in. How about you take care of them and I’ll handle anything in the kitchen that needs to get done.”

Pinkie headed back to the counter to attend to the customers. The human went straight to work gathering the ingredients for the treat he planned to make. Throughout the morning, Pinkie called out orders to come from the kitchen.

Blaze wasn’t prepared for the volume of orders. So, to help out, he created a human and a pony clone. The human clone would do the work as he wasn’t adapted to delicate things with his pony form. The only purpose for his ponified self was to bring the orders out. Blaze didn’t want to scare any more ponies, nor explain who he was.

Once the brunch crowd was done, he had finished the first batch of the new treat. The human said out the kitchen door, “Pinkie, you ready to have your taste buds explode?”

“I’ll be the judge to see if they’re as good as you think they are.” Pinkie said as she walked in.

Blaze picked up a cookie and handed it to her, which she licked off his hand. The mare’s eyes went as big as they could get. Inside them, you could see like fireworks were going off. She smiled with the biggest one the pony could do.

The human said, “If I’m reading your face correctly, I would say you like it.”

The pink Earth pony regained her composer and replied, “Blaze, I don’t like them . . . I LOVE THEM!”

Pinkie then blitz charged him into a great bear hug, She squeezed the human as tight as she could. As the mare did this, she asked, “What are these devilish creations you made?”

Gasping for air, Blaze said, “Devil’s Chocolate Drops. Can you let go of me so I can breathe?”

Pinkie quickly released and he took in a deep breath.

“Sorry about that. I just couldn’t control myself, they were so delicious. I’m sure they’ll be a hit. If you don’t mind, with Mr. and Mrs. Cake approval, I think we should sell these as a weekly special.”

“Not a problem, Pinkie. I don’t mind sharing the recipe. I’m just glad they turned out good from what I remember.”

“Well you better write it down before you forget it. You have been filling your head up with lots of stuff.”

“I’ll do that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should get going to my land. It’s almost time to build my new home in Equestria.”

“I’ll join you shortly once Mr. and Mrs. Cake get back. Have fun!”

Blaze left the kitchen and went out the front door. Outside, he turned back around and did a wood jutsu that made the broken door fix itself and reattach to the frame. Satisfied with the work, the human continued his trek to the patch of land he owned.

Walking through town, the human saw ponies were starting to wave to him as he went by. Blaze waved back to those that did. As he approached his destination, he saw other ponies were already there, waiting for him. Scattered about, he saw Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, Spike, Rarity, Applejack, Mayor Mare, Lyra Heartstrings, and other ponies whose names he hadn't learned yet.

Twilight saw the human first and said, “There you are, Swift Blaze! We were wondering if this was another prank you were pulling. I don’t see how you can build a house in a day.”

He replied, “Come on Twilight, I would never joke about something like this. Seeing how I asked Mayor Mare to get some ponies with electrical and plumbing skills. I’ll be providing the foundation and the wood for this.”

“I still don’t see how when there is no material here for you to use.”

“I’ll explain later of how.” Blaze turned his attention to another pony. “Now then, Mayor Mare, did you get those ponies I asked for?”

She replied, “They’re right here.”

She pointed to two ponies that were several feet away.

“I have the same opinion with Twilight Sparkle. Just how are you going to make a house appear out of nothing?” the Earth pony asked.

“All will be revealed in time. With this deal, I’ll also make the trenches for the plumbing and electrical to connect to the main lines.”

“Don’t keep everypony in suspense for too long.”

Suddenly, there was a bright flash behind the human. Blaze turned around and saw both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were there. All the ponies bowed to them and he did the same.

He straightened back up and said, “Good afternoon, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I take it you’re here to see my latest jutsu style?”

“We are, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “We also brought Captain Shining Armor. He requested to see first hoof the human’s abilities that helped him successfully evaded the Royal Guard.”

The human cleared his throat after he heard that. The white stallion came out from behind the Princesses. He wasn’t wearing his armor. The Unicorn had a smile that expressed enjoyment in causing pain to new recruits.

“Hello, Captain Armor,” Blaze said as he did his best to supress his fear. “I got your letter this morning. Let me say that it will be an honour to be trained by you when I attend the basic training next month.”

Before he could respond a voice shouted from behind the human, “ Big Bro! You Came!”

Blaze turned his head and saw Twilight ran to her brother and gave him a big hug.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to come?” she asked.

“Sorry Twily, it was a last minute decision. I only had a brief intro with this, Swift Blaze. So, I decided to see this magic skill he’s going to pull off.” Shining Armor said.

“Um, not to be rude, but I have no magic control,” Blaze corrected. “What I use are energy sources called chakra and ki. Once Pinkie Pie gets here, I’ll begin with the latest I’ve learned.”

“I’m right here!” Pinkie shouted.

The human turned his head towards the voice and spotted her standing next to Rainbow.

“Ok then, if you would excuse me Princesses, I shall begin with the new style of jutsu.”

He walked to the top of the hill and turned to address the crowd.

“Thank you all for coming. I know some of you are still trying to figure out where I’m going get the material to build my house with. Well, the wait is over. I’ll begin the construction. If you would all please wait at the bottom of the hill and hold your comments and questions till after. This is going to require a great deal of concentration to pull off.”

They all complied and made their way to the bottom. The Pegasus and the Princesses instead flew up above for a bird's eye view. Blaze focused the chakra for the first jutsu. His hands did various signs before he said, “Earth Style! Earth Elevator Jutsu!”

The ground around him flatten out and lowered itself into the ground. Once done, he was in a rectangular pit that was 12 feet deep. The next one the human called out was, “Earth Style! Stone Floor Jutsu!”

This caused the dirt around to shift to a dense stone, black in color with a few other colors in tiny amounts. Once the floor had changed, Blaze shifted his hands and said,, “Earth Style! Stone Wall Jutsu!”

At the edges of the stone floor, walls sprouted up of the same material. They rose up just higher than the ground around. When the last wall leveled out with the others, the human flew out of the newly created stone pit. He landed just on the other side of the foundation for his house’s. Blaze looked over his before he turned around to the crowd. He saw happy expressions as some clapped their hooves together.

“In case you all are wondering, this isn’t the new technique. I can’t build a house without a good foundation. Now onto the new technique. Please, remain silent as this is going to be difficult."

The human turned back around. He crouched closer to the stone and started to gather all the chakra he could get for this final jutsu. He focused on the design in his head of where everything needs to be. Once ready, he place his hand in a different sign and shouted, “Wood Style! House Structure Jutsu!”

Wooden beams emerged out of the stone foundation. They were popping up everywhere. Each one stretched and connected to one another. Soon, the first floor and outer wall structures started to take their shape. Then, the framing of the inside walls sprouted from the floor and nearby walls.

Once the first floor was set, Blaze focused to create the staircase to the second floor and repeated the process. Finally, he had a wood shingle roof take shape above the second floor. Once the last shingle grew into place, the human release the position of his hands had been in for the past fifteen minutes. He collapsed forward to the ground and landed on his hands and knees.

“Blaze!” he heard several ponies shouted behind him as they came running up.

He waved his right arm around sluggishly as he replied, “I’m alright. Just a little exhausted from the jutsu.”

The human twisted his body around to take a seat on the ground.

“Mayor Mare,” he said while breathing a little heavy. “Can you have those ponies get to work on wiring and getting water to my house? I’ll be in a bit to show where the kitchen sink will be. Also what I’ll need for the bathrooms.”

She nodded. The mare pointed her hoof to several ponies with hard hats. Then, towards the house. The group understood and headed inside.

“That was amazing, Blaze!” said Twilight. “Who knew you could make such an impressive building, plus all the details in the necessary support structures.”

Rainbow Dash said, “You read a book about building a house, didn’t?”

“I did last night,” the purple Unicorn replied.

The blue Pegaus quietly said, “Egghead.”

Blaze said, “Well, just don’t ask for an encore performance right now. I feel I’m totally out of chakra.”

“So,” said Shining Armor. “You do have a limit of what you can do.”

The human turned his head to look at the stallion. He replied, “At this time, I’ve reached it. But, this was a very complicated jutsu as I was creating an entire house. With more training, I should be able to increase my reserve. As to the jutsu’s themselves, I still have lots I could learn. I’m just glad I was able to finish the structure before my chakra ran out.”

“Do rest, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “You’ve managed to surprise my sister and me with what you’re capable of, again. We must now return to Canterlot as we still have a schedule to keep.”

The ponies bowed to them while human lowered his head. Then, as quickly they appeared, they left the same way.

“That was truly impressive how you can manipulate elements and grow wood right out of the ground,” said Rarity. “I was more intrigued with the stone you had come out of the ground. I’ve never seen stone so cleanly cut and beautiful. What kind of stone is it darling?”

Blaze replied, “I’m no rock expert, but if I had to guess, I think it’s granite. I wanted something heavy and dense to support the house.”

“Are you able to grow precious stones from the ground too?” She asked. Spike started to drool thinking that I could get him gems whenever he wants them.

“Probably not grow them. I think that would require knowing the element structure of them. With training, I could possibly be able to find them and manipulate the gem’s themselves.”

“Anyways,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “THAT WAS AWESOME! You keep on getting cooler with each jutsu. Soon, you might even be as cool as me. Do you think you can do that launch again that you did this morning? I want to show our friends my new stunts.”

“Sorry, but I’m out of chakra at the moment. Maybe tomorrow we can show them.”

Rainbow was a little sad she could not show it off, but understood.

“Oh goodie! I can now throw you a housewarming party! I need balloons, ribbons, streamers, food, drinks, . . .” Pinkie continue on rambling.

“Pinkie. Let’s wait till the house is finished and furnished,” said Blaze. “That should be sometime tomorrow.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!”

“I can help ya with the furniture stuff tomorrow if you want, Blaze.” Applejack said.

“What about the apple harvest?” he asked.

“Like you taught me, we need to not overwork ourselves. Plus, tomorrow is the day of the week we take off. Well, I better get back to the Greenies and see how they’re doing. I’ll see ya tomorrow Blaze.”

Applejack then headed back to her farm and we all waved to her as she left.

“Um, excuse me, Swift Blaze,” said Mayor Mare. “I overheard you say you were out of the energy source that you used to do this. How are you going to make the trenches?”

“I said I was out of chakra, but I still have my ki energy that I can use to make the trenches.”

“Didn’t you say that energy is destructive and only used in attacks against enemies?” Twilight said.

“That’s true, but as you can see, I’ve used it to gain flight,” the human said. “I’ll control the energy like a laser beam and cut the trench. I take it they’re ready for me give them their trench, Mayor?”

“You’re correct. Do you need help getting up?”

“I’ll just float on over. I don’t want to look like a fool and fall on my butt if I tried to get to my feet.”

Blaze rose off the ground to a floating, upright style, position. He followed the Earth pony to two other ponies that were standing by the road. One was a red stallion with a short, black curly, mane and a straight black tail. His cutie mark was a monkey wrench. The other was a bright yellow mare with white zig zag mane and tail. Her cutie mark was two lightning bolts in opposite directions.

“Allow me to introduce you Sparky, the electrician, and Mario, the plumber,” Mayor Mare said.

Upon hearing the names, the human thought, Really? Mario? Does he have a brother named Luigi?

He extended his arm and said, “Hi there. Nice to meet you. As the mayor had informed you, I’ll take care of making the trenches for you. Just need to know a few things, where to start, where to end, and how deep I need to go.”

Sparky replied, “Sure thing.”

“The main lines are bellow us, about five feet feet deep. And just need to go to a corner of your house.” Mario said in an Italian accent.

“No problem. We’ll just need to clear the area so no ponies will get hurt.” Blaze said.

“Why’s that?” Mayor Mare asked.

“Because I’m going use a small explosion to clear the dirt away.”

Upon hearing that, They ran to get the other ponies clear of the area. Once they were a good distance, the human shouted, “Fire in the hole!”

He did this three times, each one in a different directions. Blaze gathered a tiny bit of ki into his hand. He pointed the palm to the ground and fired energy balls. It created a ‘v’ shape trench up to the house.

He shouted, “All clear! You can all come out of hiding.”

The ponies that stayed poked their heads from behind the trees and rocks at the edge of the nearby forest. They saw the dust cloud of dirt had almost dissipated. The human was covered in tiny bits of earth and grass. Sparky and Mario came up and was impressed at his handiwork.

“You weren’t joking when you said you were going to make the trench by explosions,” said Sparky. “Thanks for the warning.”

Mario added, “Now then, all that’s left is to get a couple of holes in that stone. After that, point us to us where the bathrooms and kitchen area.”

“Sure thing,” Blaze replied. “What size holes do you need?”

“I need a six inch for the drain and a one inch for the water main.” Mario said.

“I need a one-and-a-half inch for my power,” said Sparky. “The problem is I need it several feet away from his point of entry into your house. Water and electricity don’t like each other.”

The human nodded and went into the new trench. He focused his ki into a finger tip and made a long energy beam and went to work cutting the holes. Once done, Blaze went inside and explained the layout as to where he was planning to place everything. The contractor ponies thanked him for saving them lots of work and would send him a bill once they were done.

He stepped outside and saw his close friends had stayed around. They were all together, chatting away. Blaze headed over to join them.

Rarity saw him approach and shouted, “Oh My! You are covered in all that dirt. You must come with me and Fluttershy to the spa and get cleaned up.”

“It’s alright, Rarity,” he replied.” I’ll just take a dip in that pond over there to get cleaned up.”

“I insist. You’ve worked hard these past several days. A nice afternoon at the spa will do wonders for you.”

“I really don’t need it. A quick dip and some sleep will do for me.”

“You’ll thank me after you have it.”

Her horn glowed and an aura surrounded the human. He was being pulled to her as she and Fluttershy made their way back to town. Blaze thought, Guess I don’t have a choice.

Chapter 17: An Afternoon at the Spa

In this beautiful day, Rarity and Fluttershy were heading into town. Behind them was Swift Blaze. He was engulfed in Rarity’s magic and being carried in the air. The human felt embarrassed at being dragged around as other ponies were looking at him.

He thought about the situation, Rarity definitely doesn’t like anything dirty. And here I am, in one of the outfits she made, covered in dirt from the aftermath of the trench-making.

Blaze cleared his throat and said, “Um, Rarity? You don’t have to use your magic to bring me to the spa. I can easily walk or fly there.”

Rarity replied, “I know, darling. But you’ve worked very hard lately. I just wanted you to relax as we head there.”

“You do realize I could break this magic field you have me in.”

“But, you haven’t.”

“Because I didn’t want to cause harm to my friend. I’ll go with you to the spa if you release me from this.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?”

Blaze looked confused as he said, “A promise I make with my pinky finger? How do I do that with your hoof?”

The ponies in turn were confused as to the reply.

Fluttershy asked, “You have a finger called Pinkie?”

“Let me give a brief explanation as to what they are technically called.”

The human held out one hand with fingers spread out and used the other hand to point and call out what each one is called and some quick details about each one.

“Um, could please explain that forth finger of yours?” asked Futtershy. “You went pretty fast in explaining them when you got to that one. If, you don’t mind.”

Blaze rolled his eyes before he said, “I went fast for a particular reason. Let me explain it like this. You know when a stallion loves a mare, they get her an object to enter matrimony. Mind if I ask where you ponies place it?”

Rarity replied, “Well, Unicorns get a horn ring and the Earth and Pegasi ponies get a bracelet for a hoof. That does not answer why you call that finger . . .” The white mare finally put two and two together of what the human was getting at. Fluttershy blushed at the thought.

The Unicorn cleared her throat and said, “I now get why you went a little fast. But you don’t have to be shy with us.”

“I know that. Each one of you are my friends,” said Blaze. “There are still some things I’m not ready to share with, as they are personal to me. So please, as a friend, don’t ask to know what I’m hiding. Now then, could you release me from your magic spell?”

“Well, you haven’t done the Pinkie Promise. The one we know was created by Pinkie Pie.”

“Care to share the process with me? Or do I have to hunt down that pink mare and ask her?”

Fluttershy said, “We can teach it to you. That part is no problem. All you have to do is repeat what we say and do. Please be careful on the last part.”

They both nodded to each other and say it at the same time as they did the motions, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

With a smile, the human said, “I Pinkie Promise to go with Rarity and Fluttershy to the spa. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," repeating the steps and avoided poking his eye out.

“Very good, darling. Just a fair warning, you don’t want to know what would happen if you decide to break it,” Rarity said.

The Unicorn released her magic spell and Blaze landed on his feet as they hit the ground.

He stretched his limbs out before he said, “Shall we get going?”

The group soon arrived the spa and went inside. As the human looked around, he saw two Earth ponies behind the counter, Aloe and Lotus Blossom. Aloe had a pink coat and blue mane. Lotus had a blue coat and pink mane. They both had similar cutie marks and a white hair band.

“Hello, ladies! The usual for Fluttershy and myself,” said Rarity. “I think the deluxe for our friend here, Swift Blaze.”

Blaze asked, “Before we do anything, can you please tell me what that includes?”

Lotus Blossom spoke up and said, “The deluxe is one hour in our steam room, followed by a mud facial.”

Aloe then said, “We then give you a massage followed by a seaweed mud bath.

“Finally, a special bath to relax in and finish with hooficure. It's simply luxurious!” said the blue mare.

“It does sound great, but let's skip the mud facial and hooficure,” said Blaze. “I have no interest in them. Plus, I don’t have hoofs for the second part. Do you have a robe that will fit a human?”

Aloe replied, “I’m sorry, but we only have robes for ponies.”

“I was afraid of that. Do you at least have a big enough towel to wrap around my waist?”

“I think we do,” said Lotus. “We can also wash your clothes so they will be clean when you are done.”

“Ok, but I’m keeping my underwear on. I’m not going to explain why.”

They all nodded, but Blaze could feel their eyes looking down there wondering what he was hiding. The ponies and human were led into the locker rooms by the Earth ponies. As he was taking the top part of his gi off, Fluttershy and Rarity were putting on their personal robes.

Lotus went to a storage closet in there. She dropped a big towel off next to the human and said, “You can leave your clothes on that bench. My sister will go and get them washed.”

Blaze said, “Thank you. I’ll be ready shortly.”

Lotus walk away with a big smile on her face. Rarity and Fluttershy were in the next row of lockers, chatting away about something. The human sat on the bench and removed his shoes and socks. He then got up and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around my waist. Satisfied with how it looked, Blaze then pulled the gi pants down while still wearing the towel. He stacked the clothes onto the bench and left the shoes underneath.

As Blaze went around the corner, Fluttershy saw how he looked. Her face sparkled up as she said, “Oh... my...”

Rarity turned her head to see what Fluttershy saw and her face did the same deal, “I can see another reason why you wear clothing, Blaze. You look handsome with all those muscles,” she said.

What they were looking at was his chest that had been under clothing since his arrival. From the training and exercises, the human had developed some hard pecks and a six-pack abs. There were other muscles around his chest to enhance the look. Even his arm muscles helped compliment his chest.

“If you two are done looking, shall we go to the steam room?” the human asked to break their daze.

They closed their eyes and shook their heads to regain their sences.

“Oh, but of course,” said Rarity. “Follow us, Blaze.”

He followed them down the corridor to the steam rooms. They went inside the first room and sat down on the benches next to the walls. Fluttershy and Rarity were on a bench on one wall and Blaze was on the next wall. Lotus came in shortly with a bucket of water and a ladle. She went over to the hot rocks and poured some water over them, steaming up the room.

The girls were busy chatting away about something. The human closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. He did enjoy taking in the heat and steam. A few minutes later, he bent down and rubbed his lower leg muscles. It helped in getting the some of the soreness out from the training sessions.

As he did this, he then heard Fluttershy shout, “Blaze! What happened to you!”

He sat up straight and looked at them. He replied, “Just working some sore spots from my training sessions. Nothing to worry about.”

“Not that, what happen to your back!”

“What?”

“There are several scars on your back! How did you get them?!”

When the yellow Pegasus said that, Blaze knew exactly what she was refering to. He thought they couldn’t be seen anymore. The human guessed the steam must have made them visible. Because of that, an early childhood memory he thought he had forgot was coming back in full force.

Blaze’s face went from a happy mood to a sad and angry one. “It’s nothing, Fluttershy. Something that happened a long time ago,” he said. “Let's just enjoy the rest of the spa.”

“Please, darling, it’s good to share what happened with your friends,” said Rarity. “You don’t have to burden yourself with the memories. What happened that caused you to get those scars on your back?”

“I had completely forgotten the memory until you brought it back to the surface,” the human said in an angrier tone. “This is one of those I do not wish to share so please, drop it.”

The white mare replied, “We understand and will comply with your wish. If you ever want to talk about it, we are here for you.”

“Thank you girls. Let’s just finish enjoying the rest of the spa in a happy mood.”

Blaze showed a fake smile to keep them happy. But, in the back of his mind, he hoped that those memories were really gone forever. He then realized the nightmares he had as a child were probably going to return.

The group finished the time in the steam room, talked about other stuff, and headed to the next part. Rarity and Fluttershy headed over to their mud facial and Blaze was taken to the massage room by Lotus. Once inside, the blue mare realized the human was bigger than a pony. So, she pushed two of the massage tables together, longways.

Once ready, she said, “Ok, Swift Blaze, hop on up and lay on your stomach. My sister will be in shortly to give you your massage.”

Just before the Earth pony left the room, she lit some of the candles in the room. The fragrance from them was very relaxing. The human was working on getting comfortable when he heard the door open and close. He turned his head and saw Aloe had entered the room.

“Hello Blaze, I’ll be your masseuse today. Just relax and I will take care of you,” she said.

He replied, “The candles are already helping with that.”

Aloe came over to the table and placed her fore hooves onto his back. She moved them in circular patterns, getting out any knots she found. Blaze couldn’t believe what he felt. Any stress melted away. The human thought that he might have to come once a week to relax from training.

“So, Blaze, I’ve never seen your species before,” said Aloe. “Would you mind telling me about yourself?”

He went and told her about being a human and about some of his abilities he could do. The human said he wouldn’t mind doing a demonstation on another day. At that point, the pink mare moved to massage his right arm.

She said, “I imaginethose hands of yours are very useful in many ways.”

“They kinda have to because in my world, we have no magic there, so we had to use our hands to make things to help us live our lives better. The dexterity we have with each finger allowed us to have finer control in holding objects and other things.”

“Did you have masseuses where you were from?”

“We did. I heard that some humans who got massages from them, said they had a magic touch in relieving the tension in their bodies.”

“I would love to have experienced that feeling. It must feel luxurious.”

“Don’t plan on me doing it. I’ve been training in fighting styles for defense. I might cause harm, instead of whatever you’re doing. Just don’t stop.”

Aloe moved to the left arm for a few minutes, then went to work on his legs. All the knots and tension went away with each movement of her hooves. At some point, Blaze fell asleep from being so relaxed. But, instead of going where he usually went for training, he was sent to what he dreaded.

----------------The Memory----------------

Bob was a young kid, playing with his toys in his room. It was dark out and he had his door closed. Suddenly, the little boy heard glass breaking from down the hall. Being a curious child, he opened the door and went down the hallway.

Bob reached the end of the hallway and arrived in the living room. He saw his Mom was sitting on the couch, crying. Her hands were covering her face and he saw some blood dripping.

“What happen, Mommy?” he asked.

His father was there, standing, holding a broken bottle of liquor by the neck upside down. He turned toward the kid and said, “Get back to your room, boy.” What he didn’t know at the time, was that his father was drunk and they had been arguing. This had been going on for months.

The boy didn’t move from where he stood. He turned his head to his father and asked, “Why is Mommy crying, Daddy?”

The father looked angry and went right up to the child and yelled, “GO TO YOUR ROOM!”

Bob started to cry, still standing where he was. The father’s face looked even angrier. He grabbed the kid’s arm and spun him around. Still holding on, he shouted, “STOP YOUR MOTHERFUCKING CRYING!”

He raised his arm with the broken bottle and began to swing down at the child’s back. It cut the shirt and Bob’s back. He screamed out in pain at each slash.

The pain he recalled was so intense, it woke Blaze up from the memory.

----------------The Real World----------------

The human woke up on the massage table, screaming, “NOOOOOOOOO!”

He sat up and recalled where he was. Blaze looked around and saw Fluttershy and Rarity were on the other massage tables. Lotus and Aloe were there, giving them massages. All the ponies were scared from his scream.

“Swift Blaze, what happened?” asked Fluttershy.

Blaze wiped the cold sweat from his face and replied, “It’s nothing, just a nightmare.”

“I don’t think it’s nothing. You were twitching all over. Your face looked like you were in pain. Does it have to do with those scars on your back?” Rarity asked.

“It’s nothing. Now drop it.”

Before they could say anything, Blaze got up from the table and left the room. He entered the locker room and saw his clothes were neatly folded on the bench. The human put them on and sat back down on the bench. He rubbed his temples as he thought, Why did that memory have to come back? I was happy here with nothing bothering me. Now the memory is back and it is affecting my relationship with my friends. I wish I could forget it ever happened.

Blaze’s train of thought was broken when he heard the door open and and several sets of hooves came in.

Rarity said, “Blaze, are you in here?”

The human didn’t want to talk with them in his current state. So, he mustered what chakra he could get to teleport out of there. Just as he cast it, the white Unicorn saw him almost gone in the puff of smoke. She might have seen that the human had a couple of tears on his face.

Blaze appeared just outside and flew away before the ponies came outside. He didn’t carewhere he was going, at the time. The memories bought back so much pain, he just could not handle sharing it. The human soon spotted what looked like castle towers, poking out of the forest. Realizing where he was, he decided to land there as no pony would find him here.

Inside the ruins of theCastle of the Two Sisters, Blaze saw the same layout from that episode. He went over to the sculpture where the Elements of Harmony were once kept, and sat next to it. The human buried his face into his knees as he held them close.

Being all alone, he started to cry and shed more tears from the painful memories. Bob hated his father since that day and was lucky for still being alive. In his mind, he believed that was his darkest day in his life.

Hours passed and Blaze had not moved. The sun had set, the stone floor grew colder, and he could hear the howl of animals outside, which quickly rose in volume. The human picked his head up to try and determine the direction. When he looked at the front doors, they burst open to reveal what was making the noise. It was a big pack of Timberwolves.

Blaze couldn’t believe his run of luck. From the awakening of past trauma to now having to deal with bloodthirsty animals looking for their next meal. Well, they chose poorly. He stood up and stared at them.

“Get out of here if you want to live,” Blaze said with a death stare.

They all continued to advance on the human as they stared with their green, glowing eyes. They soon surrounded him. The Timberwolves’ fangs were showing and looked sharp. There were at least 30 of them in the room, all around Blaze. He looked at each of them, and saw none of them intent on backing down.

“Guess you all have signed your death warrants,” the human said with an evil smile.

He powered up his ki to a destruction-causing level. A red glow appeared around him. His anger was raging from the feeling for his father, plus having to deal with these animals. The cutie mark on his upper arms started to change. The white faded away and became a black circle. The anger and rage took over as he continued to charge up. Blaze no longer cared about balance as he just wanted to be left alone. Whch meant the wolves had to go.

One of the Timberwolves lunged at the human. He grabbed the creature by its throat. Blaze then used his other hand and sent an energy beam right through its chest. It crumbled into tree limbs and other forest debris. The others were surprised at this, but did not back down.

The human charged up energy balls into his hands and sent them into the nearest wolves. This caused them to burn. Blaze laughed evilly as he worked to kill each Timberwolf with a single blast. They kept trying to attack him, but he killed a creature each time he countered or deflected. Suddenly, the remaining wolves gathered together and he saw as they merged into one. The Mega Timberwolf stared at their prey.

“My, you are a big one,” said Blaze. “You know what they say, the bigger they are . . . the bigger they explode!”

He brought his hands to the front of him. Then, he moved them to his side as he said, "Ka . . . me . . . ha . . . me . . . ha!"

The human sent the blue energy beam toward the creature’s head. It was engulfed by it and continued going up into the sky. When Blaze finished releasing his ki, the remains of the Mega Timberwolf's head had been burned clear off, leaving the neck as nothing more than a stump of smoking embers. Its body then crumbled back to forest debris.

The human sent another wave of energy balls at the remains. He did it to set them on fire for the fun of it. Blaze flew through the ceiling, literally, and smashed into the top wall of a high tower. The rage and anger was still pent up inside of him. So, he fired energy shots at everything in the room. Soon, no walls or ceiling were left.

Blaze stood next to the edge as he looked over the tree canopy. Soon, there was a bright flash that came from behind him. He twisted around with his palms out in front of him. The human had the intent to attack on his face. What appeared was Princess Celestia, Captain Shining Armor, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

An energy ball formed in one of Blaze’s hands, ready to fire. “Leave. Now,” he commanded.

“We cannot, Swift Blaze. You need to calm down and come with us,” said Twilight. “Please, let us help you with this. We are your friends, and don’t want to lose you.”

“You don’t know anything about what I went through. None of you can comprehend what happened!” the human shouted.

“Then tell us,” said Applejack. “You cannot keep it buried within you. It is destroying yourself.”

Tears started to form around Blaze’s eyes. He replied, “No parent should have done what he did to me.”

“What did this human do, darling?” Rarity asked.

The human shook his head, “No, I don’t want to relive that memory again. I never wanted to remember that night.”

Rainbow was looking him over and noticed his cutie mark, “Hey guys, doesn’t Blaze’s cutie mark look different? It’s just a black circle now. How can somepony change their mark?” she asked.

Twilight replied, “He said he thought it stood for balance. I think recalling that terrible event has gotten him unbalanced, causing it to shift, as well as his personality.”

“So, he is a danger to us and himself if he’s not thinking straight,” Shining Armor said.

“I am afraid so. Shining Armor, restrain Swift Blaze,” Princess Celestia ordered.

All the girls gasped at the command and pleaded with the Princess to reconsider. Fluttershy was not in the argument the others were having. She started to walk toward the human, calmly. He saw this, moved his arm, and pointed the energy ball at her.

Pinkie saw this and shouted, “Fluttershy! What are you thinking?! GET AWAY!”

The others started to beg her to come back. Shining Armor was about to use his magic to fire at Blaze. The Princess put a wing on his shoulder and shook her head no.

The human shouted at Fluttershy, “GET AWAY FROM ME!”

Fluttershy stopped where she was and closed her eyes. She then opened them up quickly. How they looked was unforgettable. The timid Pegasus was giving Blaze, the STARE. It struck a nerve in him as he stumbled back a bit. The yellow mare started to walk forward again. He continued to aim his arm at her. The others remained silent and prayed Blaze wouldn't fire it.

Fluttershy then started to speak to him softly, “It’s ok, Bob. You can calm down and relax. Nopony is going to hurt you. We want you to come back with us. Please come back to us.”

It was like she spoke to his soul, which calmed him down. His cutie mark started to change back. More tears flowed from the human’s eyes. As swiftly as he could, Blaze pointed the arm away from everypony and launched the energy ball into a nearby tree, where it caught on fire. He then fell onto his knees in front of Fluttershy, and cried.

The Pegasus sat directly in front of him wrapped her wings around his body. The mare softly said, “Shhh. Shhh. It’s ok. Let it all out. We‘re here for you.”

The other mane six joined in the hugging as Blaze cried, even Shining Armor joined in the hug. When the shedding of tears finished, the ponies backed away and the human sat down, and crossed his legs. The rest of the party sat across from him.

Blaze looked at each of his new friends, except for Shining Armor. He saw that they too had cried a little bit as tears were in their eyes. He thought, Man, I’m really an idiot for running away from my memories when they came back. I’ve been alone for most of my adult life. I’ve never had anyone like them who actually cared so much to find me.

He wiped away some tears and said, “I am so sorry, to all of you, for my outburst. The memory I thought I had forgotten. It was a moment in my past that was very painful.”

Rarity asked,“ Do you think you’re ready to share it with us, darling?”

Blaze nodded and replied, “I think I am. The only ones who knew of this were my close family. I’ve never told any of my friends back on Earth.”

The human looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “I knew there was a reason I didn’t want to drink that time, but I couldn’t recall what it was. This memory contains the reason.”

He then looked at the others and asked, ”Are you ready, to hear my tale?”

They all nodded and stayed quiet.

“As you know, alcohol is a good way to relax and loosen up after a hard day of work. It’s also there for times of celebrations. Back on my planet, it was used for another reason, on top of those. It’s when humans were depressed. They drink because they were sad about something and the drinking sometimes made it worse. I had to live through one of these.”

All the mares had sad looks on their faces. Rainbow had it worst. She felt like a jerk for trying to push him that night.

“I’m sorry, Blaze,” said Dash.” I had no idea.”

“It’s ok, you couldn’t have known. I didn’t know either as this happened over twenty years ago.” He looked at the white Unicorn and yellow Pegasus. “I also don’t blame you, Rarity and Fluttershy, for bringing up the memory.”

Each mare showed a small smile.

Blaze continued his tale, “This was back when I was six years old, just a child. I was playing with my toys in my room when I heard the sound of glass breaking. I was a curious kid at the time and left my room to see what it was. In the living room, my Mom was sitting on the couch with her hands on her face, crying and bleeding. My father was standing there, holding a broken alcohol bottle by the neck. I asked what happened and why Mom was crying. My father was really drunk and angry and tried to order me to my room. I was afraid of his tone and started to cry. He then grabbed me with his free hand, spun me around, and then slashed my back with the bottle several times.”

All the ponies gaps at this. Shining Armor turned away towards the edge and blew a few chunks.

“As I said, it wasn’t pretty and something no parent should do to a child. I was crying out for the pain. My Mom saw this and her mother instinct took over. She pushed him out of the way into the coffee table, picked me up, grabbed the car keys, and left the house. She took me to the hospital as I was bleeding pretty good and in lots of pain. Once there, I was taken to the emergency room so they could save my life. I was put under to ease the pain while they went to work. When I woke up a few days later, I looked around and saw my Mom was by my bed with bandages on her head and face. She was happy I woke up. I tried to sit up, but the pain was intense. She told me not to get up as some of the cuts hit my spine. I could still move my arms, but my legs I could not move at the time. I still had feeling in them so that was a good sign that I had a chance to walk again. My father was arrested and charged with assault and attempted murder. He was found guilty from the weapon in his hand, the injuries to my Mom and I had, and my Mom’s testimony. He was sentenced with twenty-five to life with no chance of early parole.”

The ponies were happy to hear that justice was served. Blaze saw in some of their eyes that they wanted to give his dad a good thrashing.

“So, I spent the next two years in the hospital, working on regaining control of my legs and building my strength back up. I had nightmares of that night while in the hospital for the first year. I would wake up with a scream and start to cry myself back to sleep. Once I was out, we left the state so we didn’t have to be anywhere near my father again. I joined several martial art classes because I never wanted to be defenseless again. I trained hard, kept my studies up in school and vowed to never be like my father.”

“Thank you for sharing that, Swift Blaze,” said Princess Celestia. “That was a very dark point in your life. How do you feel now that you have shared it?”

He looked down at his chest for a moment, then looked back up and replied, “I don’t know how, but I feel a great burden has left my heart and mind. I feel at peace.”

“That is good to hear. I hope you never have to act that way again.”

“Don’t jinx me, Princess. Saying stuff like that normally means trouble will come.”

All the mares laughed at that. Blaze joined in, followed by Shining Armor. Once they had a good chuckle, the ponies stood back up. Blaze shifted his legs around into a baseball catcher stance. When he placed his hands on his knees to help push up, he actually flew up pretty high.

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

The human used his ki and landed safely. He looked himself over and moved his limbs about. He replied, “I don’t know. I suddenly feel lighter and maybe stronger. The only thing I can think of is because I just got rid of the emotional baggage that has been weighing me down for the past twenty years and never noticed it was there.”

Twilight asked, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

Blaze rubbed the back of his head as he replied, “Funny thing, I’ve actually seen that kind of training from the show where I got my ki power from.” He brought his arm down and explained some more details about weighted and gravity training.

“That’s what I need to increase my training!” Rainbow Dash said in an excited tone.

“That could help you, but you’ll need to work into each weight level until it feels natural to how you feel now. If you do too much weight, you can injure yourself badly.”

Rainbow nodded with a big grin still on her face.

Blaze looked to the others and asked, “Now then, shall we get back? I’m so hungry right now. I haven’t had lunch. Also the fun time dealing with that emotional baggage. Oh, and I had to kill over thirthy Timberwolves.”

“YOU KILLED THIRTY TIMBERWOLVES!” the mane six and Shining Armor shouted.

“It was that, or let them eat me. I wasn’t in the mood to be eaten,” replied Blaze. “I take it that you found me from my ki blasts. Why did you think I was firing them off?”

The ponies shrugged their shoulders. Princess Celestia just gave the human a concerned look.

“Where are their bodies?” Fluttershy asked with a little hint of fear in her voice.

The human didn’t get how she could be afraid of almost everything, yet the mare was brave enough to walk up to him, with an energy ball in hand, and give that dreadful STARE. He never wanted to experience that again.

“I’m sorry for killing them, Fluttershy. I tried to get them to leave me alone so they wouldn’t get hurt.” Blaze pointed to the main hall area and said, “Their bodies are in that fire down there.”

The ponies looked and saw the remains of embers in a big pile where Blaze had pointed. Fluttershy looked back to the human and said, “You don’t need to be sorry, Blaze. Timberwolves have never been nice to anypony. I’m just glad you weren’t injured.”

“Seeing Princess Celestia and Shining Armor are going back to Canterlot, how about I carry any pony who wants it back to Ponyville, via flight,” he said. “Even you, Rainbow Dash. That way you can feel the rush from Mach Two, or higher.”

“I actually think teleporting will be safer instead of flying,” Twilight said.

“Ok, my teleport method or yours Twilight?”

“Has your chakra built up enough to take us all?”

“It has. I also think I could get everyone without having holding onto each other.”

“When did you think of that?”

“For a while. I was thinking of how the Unicorns must be using it. They focus on the area around them and what they want to teleport. How close am I to the theory?” Blaze asked.

Twilight replied, “Let’s just leave it at a theory level, for now. I’ll use mine as I have more experience with it.”

He nodded, then turned to the white Alicorn and said, “Goodbye, Princess Celestia.” Blaze then turned to the white stallion next to her. “I’ll see you next month, Shining Armor. I expect you are not going to hold back because of this sob story you heard.”

The Unicorn guard replied, “I’m actually going to push you harder than any recruit I’ve ever trained.”

“Just don’t try to kill me on the first day,” the human said.

Princess Celestia used her magic and the two of them vanished in a bright light.

The purple mare said, “Let’s get going too.”

With that, her horn lit up and a magic field engulfed everyone else, as they headed back to Ponyville.

Chapter 18: PRANK WARS!!

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay for this chapter. I've been dealing with some real life stuff, related to work. I should be getting better on track again to edit the written chapters and get them posted so I can finally write the new ones.

A flash later and the group teleported to the town square. As the ponies got their bearings, Twilight was rubbing her horn. Group teleports, over any distance, can severely drain even a skilled or powerful Unicorn’s magic.

Blaze looked to the others and asked, “Are we ready to get some grub?”

“Heck yea!” Rainbow Dash replied. The others nodded.

As they entered the diner, the hum of conversations continued on as if Blaze was invisible. The waitress led them to the same table from last time, took their orders and turned them in. They all turned their heads toward the human, waiting for something.

Blaze looked at them confusedly, “Ok, now what’s going on?”

“Mind telling us about that Wood Style Jutsu you did?” Twilight asked.

“That’s one of the combination jutsu styles I’m able to learn. It’s a fusion of Earth and Water styles. It’s difficult to learn, and the fact it takes more chakra to use just makes it even more difficult.”

“So, you can make anything out of wood pop out of the ground?” Applejack asked.

“Not just out of the ground. I can grow it out of existing wood like trees or chairs, and even out of my own body.”

“That’s where that new door at Sugarcube Corner came from!” shouted Pinkie. “You popped a new one from the frame. I was trying to figure out how to explain to the Cakes why the front door was busted.”

“How did the door get busted in the first place?” Twilight asked.

“Ditzy had one of her mad muffin cravings when she smelled Blaze’s breakfast muffins.”

“I’m surprised you were still able to do the jutsu after she crashed into you,” said Rainbow.

Blaze replied, “She didn’t crash into me, or my food.”

“How’s that possible? When she’s like that, she can even hit me.”

“Then I guess I’m just faster than you. But actually, knowing how to dodge things is part of my training.”

Rainbow decided to test him. As Blaze continued to explain how he dodged Ditzy's airborne assault, the mare tore a tiny piece off her paper napkin with her mouth, grabbed the straw from her drink and launched a spit wad straight at Blaze’s forehead.

The human saw what she was doing out of the corner of his eye, but continued the explanation as if he hadn't noticed. Just before the wad hit him, Blaze snatched it in mid-air and launched it right back at Rainbow Dash, hitting her right between the eyes.

At first the others were surprised by the prank she'd tried to pull, before laughing at how it'd backfired on her. The mare swiped away the wad as she looked at the human.

Blaze smirked, “You satisfied with my reflexes now Rainbow Dash?”

“Well, I expected you to dodge it. I didn’t think you would send it back at me,” replied the mare. She then smiled, “That was impressive. But don't think I won't get you back for turning my own prank against me."

“We shall see if you can prank me.”

Barely a moment later, their food arrived, with Blaze taking almost half the plates for himself. While the girls continued chatting, the human was content to just listen as he shoveled the food away like snow on a sidewalk. When everyone was done, the six ponies were astonished at the five empty plates their friend had emptied.

“How in tarnation were you able to eat all that?” asked Applejack. “I’ve never seen a pony eat that much, even at an eating contest.”

“I agree. Please pardon my straightforwardness, but I think it is uncouth that you ate so much.” Rarity said.

“I pretty much drained my chakra today and used up a good chunk of ki on those Timberwolves. The food will replenish my energy and strength. You try thinking straight on an empty stomach,” the human said as he continued to pick his teeth with a toothpick.

Each of them paid for their own meals, with Blaze generously tipping the waitress. He was eager to finish his house, the thought of cooking with actual meat constantly sizzling in the back of his mind.

They walked together through the town under the starry sky, discussing what they would do the next day. Blaze saw Rainbow happily smiling as she whispered into Pinkie Pie's ear.

Rarity asked, “So, wherewill you be sleeping tonight, Blaze?”

He replied, “Are you offering to let me stay the night at your place?”

The white mare blushed for a little bit, then regained her composure, “I was only asking as I’ve been working on your two tuxedoesfor the Gala, and need to see how they fit on both of your forms.”

“I think that would be a great idea. Then I can go with Applejack to get some furniture and paint for my house.”

So everypony headed to their homes and Blaze followed Rarity to hers. They went inside and the Unicorn closed the door quietly.

She said in a quiet voice, “I’m afraid you’ll have to sleep down here on the couch. My little sister is sleeping in my guestroom.”

“Have you told her about me?” Blaze asked.

“I’m afraid I haven't had the chance. She arrived just after I left the spa. I told her I’d be home late because a friend needed help,” she said looking at the human.

“Then I better change into my pony form so she won’t scream monster,” he joked.

“That might be for the best. I'll go get you a blanket and pillow.”

"Would you please leave it on the couch? I'd like to freshen up before hitting the sack."

"Very well. You'll find the bathroom upstairs, the first door on your left."

"Thanks, Rarity. Good night."

"You're more than welcome. Good night, Blaze."

As Rarity went to the back of the her boutique, Blaze went upstairs to the bathroom, careful to be as quiet as possible. Once he'd cleaned up and taken care of some other needs Blaze headed downstairs and transformed into his pony form, eagerly snuggling up to the soft pillow Rarity had left for him. Not even a minute later, he'd entered the world of dreams.

Blaze found himself standing as a human in the middle of a field. Not wanting to waste time, he quickly began thinking on the next style he should learn. Let’s see . . . the other three basic elements are wind, fire, and lightning. Each of them have their upsides and downsides when it comes to training. Screw it! I'll just go in order.

Blaze imagined the Ninjutsu computer and pulled up the chart, which showed the next style to learn was fire. So he pulled up some fire-style scrolls and began creating clones to start practicing. He stopped after a few hours, feeling a need for more sleep after what had happened that day.

Sadly, Blaze didn't get to wake up on his own. For some strange reason, a filly's scream has the capacity to interrupt anybody's sleep.

“RARITY! THERE’S A BURGLAR SLEEPING DOWNSTAIRS!”

The stallion fell off the couch and got wrapped up in his blanket. As he tried to get out, Blaze felt a little body jump on top of him.

“What’s going on?” the red Earth pony asked, before realizing who'd jumped on him. “Please get off me, little filly. You might get hurt if-”

“You’re not going anywhere. The guards are going to take you to the dungeon,” the filly replied.

“Sweetie Belle! What are you doing?”Rarity said from the top of the stairs.

The white filly shouted back, “I caught a burglar sleeping on the couch! Go and get the guards!”

“Oh! No no no no, he’s not a burglar. He’s a guest and a friend,” Rarity said as she quickly descended the steps.

“You’re not a burglar?” She asked him.

“No, I’m not,” Blaze replied. “A burglar wouldn’t break into a house just to sleep on a couch. A homeless bum might, but I’m not that either. Can you please get off me now?”

She quickly hopped off and said, “I’m sorry mister for thinking you were a burglar, mister.”

“It’s alright. I probably would've done the same thing at your age.”

He got out of the blanket and stood up on his hooves. “Let’s forget about this incident and start all over. Hello there. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze.”

“My name is Sweetie Belle and Rarity is my big sister. Can I ask you why you were sleeping on the couch?”

“Well, my house is currently being built so your sister offered me her couch last night.”

“I haven’t seen any construction going on in Ponyville. Where’s your house?” Sweetie asked.

“It is just outside town. Should be done by tomorrow.”

“That can’t be true! I’ve never seen a house built by ponies so fast! There must be lots of ponies working on it.”

Blaze rolled his eyes, recognizing the need for yet another explanation. “Well, I’m the one that did most of it yesterday. I’m not actually a pony. I’ve already explained this to your sister, her friends, the Princesses, and several others.”

“Then what are you? You sure look like a pony to me."

“My species is called, human. I have these abilities that allow me to do things similar to magic. I’m going to do one right now to return to my original body. Please, don’t scream or freak out.”

The small Unicorn had a confused, yet scared look on her face. She went and stood by Rarity and waited.

“It’s all right, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “It might look scary when you first see his human form, but he’s very friendly. Also, those abilities are dazzling.”

This put a smile on the filly’s face as she waited for Blaze to change. He released his Shadow Transform Jutsu and his human form appeared out of the puff of smoke.

He saw the small Unicorn take a deep breath, but she stopped herself by placing a hoof over her mouth. She uncovered it and said, “You are definitely a creature I haven’t seen before. Where are you from and how did you do that magic?”

So Blaze went on to explain himself, his planet, not having magic, and how he could do things similar to magic with chakra. She was really focused on listening, while Rarity had gone to the kitchen to get some breakfast for everyone.

Once Blaze finished telling his story, the white filly asked, “So, you’re still learning these jutsu things and do it all within your brain?”

“Yep. Even though the scrolls are in my head, I have to read them and practice the moves.”

“That’s amazing! You also said you can fly with that ki stuff. Can you show me?”

“Sure.”

The human gathered the same amount of ki he usually used to make him hover off the ground. When Blaze forced it down, he flew straight up and hit his head against the ceiling. He landed back on his feet and rubbed the back of his head from the impact. Rarity came rushing in from the kitchen.

“What was that noise?” the white mare asked.

“Sorry about that. Sweetie Belle wanted to see me fly,” said Blaze. “So I gathered what I normally put out to hover. Instead of hovering, I flew into the ceiling. Guess I need to readjust my control some more, since I feel lighter from losing that emotional baggage last night.”

"What's emotional baggage? And why did you lose it?" Sweetie Belle asked.

The human got down on one knee, so he was at her eye level. “You see, it was a repressed memory from my childhood. I’d totally forgotten about it until it resurfaced yesterday. Your sister and her friends helped me take care of the feelings that memory brought back and take away the strain those memories were having on my body.”

“What was the memory?”

“Let’s just say some bad stuff that was doing bad things to me. I won’t go into details as this world is too peaceful to know about it.” Blaze turned and looked at the Unicorn mare and asked, “So, Rarity, is breakfast is ready?”

“It’s ready. Go and eat up,” she replied.

Sweetie Belle quickly went into the kitchen to start eating. Blaze stood up and made his way there.

Rarity stopped him for a moment by ushering him to get closer. He did and she whispered, “Well done! You explained just enough to have Sweetie Belle understand the situation, without delving into topics she doesn't need to learn about yet. I was afraid if she was told everything, she would get nightmares.”

“You and the others are going to be the only ones to know about that part of my past. It’s too dark for any other pony to know about,” Blaze whispered back.

Rarity smiled and headed into the kitchen. The human followed and saw what she made waffles. He sat down at the table and grabbed a few of the waffles before spreading some butter and syrup on them. Again, he was amazed at how fresh everything was. Nothing had any of the preservatives or chemicals like the food back on Earth.

They finished the breakfast and Blaze took care of the clean up. Rarity started to get ready for him to try on my tux for both of his forms. Sweetie went off somewhere and he doesn’t know where.

The human entered Rarity’s workshop and saw both tuxedoes. They looked amazing. They were the standard design for a tux, but Rarity had a red vest on the inside of the jacket and a bola tie with his cutie mark on it. The human had pants and the pony didn’t.

“Rarity, these are just amazing! You’ve really outdone yourself,” he said.

“Why thank you, Blaze. Let’s get them fitted for you to make sure everything will look good on you,” the Unicorn said.

“Ok, do you have a changing room I can change in for the human one?”

“Yes, that door to your right. Typically for those ponies who are shy.”

Blaze grabbed the hanger of the human tux and entered the room. He took off his gi and put the tuxedo on. The human stroked his hair back before stepping out for Rarity to see.

He then said, in a James Bond accent, “The name’s Blaze. Swift Blaze. I’ll take my drink shaken, not stirred.”

His cool demeanor and smooth-talking, coupled with his devilishly attractive new clothes, almost caused Rarity to faint on the spot. “Oh my! Monsieur Blaze, don’t you look dazzling tonight. Would you mind standing on this platform so I can make adjustments?”

“Of course, Lady Rarity.”

The mare giggled when he called her that. The human got on the platform and stood still as she used her magic to make adjustments to the tux. Once she was done, the white Unicorn ushered him to get the tux off and go into his pony form. Blaze went back into the changing room, took the tux off, and put it neatly back on the hanger. He put his gi back on before performing the Shadow Transform Jutsu. Now as a stallion, he walked out with the human tux laying on his back.

“Ok Rarity, ready to try on the next one,” said Blaze.

She used her magic to pick up the human tux and then used it to swap his gi with the pony tuxedo. He looked at himself in the mirror, gazing in wonder at the rich pony staring back.

“Rarity, you still amaze me with how easily your clothes can change a pony's looks. If I wanted to, I could act like one of those fancy ponies in Canterlot and I’d probably fool them.”

“It’s true that the right ensemble can make anypony appear more sophisticated. They will not, however, change a pony's personality. I’m glad you allowed me to make these for you.”

“Well I didn’t want to dress like an idiot when I escort my friends to the Gala. I’ll be on my best behavor while there. If anything bad happens, you know I’ll do everything I can to fix the problem.”

“Of course I know you will. Nothing bad ever happens at the Gala from what I've heard. Now get up on the platform so I can adjust the tux.”

Blaze let her make the adjustments where they were needed. Once she was done, Rarity used her magic to put his gi back on. The stallion got off the platform and changed back into his human form.

“Rarity I have a question, and I think you'd be the best pony to ask."

“What is it, Blaze?”

“Is there a spell to change the weight of an object, like clothing, to make them lighter or heavier?”

“I believe so, yes. Twilight might know the spell you’re looking for. Why do you ask?”

“Well, since I lost that emotional weight I was carrying around, I feel any trainning I do isn’t going to be effective. I literally won’t feel the burn. I’m thinking if Twilight does know of a spell, I‘ll ask her to increase the weight on some clothing. That way I can continue my training. Do you have some bands that can go around my wrist and ankles?”

“All I have are hoof bands, but they are stretchable so they should fit where you want them to.”

“Cool, I’d like eight of them, please. Half for my human form and the other half for my pony form. How much for those and the two tuxedoes?”

“Let’s see, sixteen bits for the hoof bands and two hundred for the tuxedoes.”

Blaze reached into the money pouch tied to his waist and pulled out two hundred and fifty bits.

“Here you go.”

“Blaze, you don’t have to leave me a tip. I enjoy doing the work.”

“I insist. Well I’m off to get with Applejack to get some furniture. See you later, Rarity.”

The human left the boutique, after putting the hoof bands on both his forms. He made his way to Applejack’s farm. As he rounded a turn to see the farm, Blaze saw the apples were different colors and patterns.

Realizing what was happening, the human hid in the forest nearby. He heard a couple of giggling ponies coming up the road from Applejack’s fast. Blaze saw Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash running by. Once the area was clear, he finished making his way to the farm.

The human saw the orange mare sitting next to the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. She was having a small chuckle, then looked up to see all the apples in the nearby trees painted.

Blaze asked, “Hey Applejack, what’s with all the new apples?”

“Pinkie and Rainbow pulled a prank on me and painted all these apples with water-based paint,” she replied. "I got a good laugh, but now I gotta wash off all these apples, and that's going to take a while."

"What would you say if I got you a raincloud to wash off all the painted apples?"

"I'd say that'd be mighty impressive. But you ain't a Pegasus, and there's no clouds out. How in tarnation are you gonna pull it off?"

“I can make a raincloud from that barrel of water and manipulate it over the trees.”

"I guess you learned something new, huh?"

"Yep."

"Well, I'd much appreciate that kind of help if you can pull it off."

"I'll get right on it, then we can go buy some furniture for my house."

Applejack nodded and stood back as Blaze walked up to the full barrel of water. He did a couple of hand signs and said, “Water Style! Rain Cloud Formation Jutsu!”

A dark rain cloud started to appear over the barrel. Once it was a good size, he stopped applying the jutsu.

"That there was amazing, Blaze! Now, how're you gonna make that thing rain on the apples?"

"I'm going to fly over the trees and squeeze the cloud like a sponge full of water."

Learning from his encounter with Rarity's ceiling, he slowly brought his ki out until the human started to float and rise to where the cloud was waiting. Blaze channeled chakra into his hands to grab hold of the cloud. Once everything felt good, he flew around and spread the rain over the painted apples in the trees until all the paint washed away. The human took what was left in the cloud and squeezed it back into the barrel.

“Thanks for your help, sugarcube. Let's head into town and do some shopping.”

“Sure thing. Let me just change into my pony form. I want to test a theory that's been simmering in the back of my mind.”

“Ok, Blaze. I’ll wait by the entrance when you’re ready,” Applejack said and started to walk in that direction.

The human switched his form and started to channel his ki to his hooves. He was trying to use just enough to hover above the ground without it being noticeable, pretending to walk as he skimmed over the earth. So the stallion ‘walked’ up to Applejack and said, “Let's get going.”

“Ok. So what were you thinking of trying out?”

“I’ll explain later or when you notice.”

Applejack looked him over for something different. Seeing nothing, the pair started to head towards Ponyville. As they rounded a corner, Blaze saw something further down the road. There was a big patch of leaves in a circle in the middle of summer. The red Earth pony looked and listened for something that might be in the forest. He heard the faint sound of a giggle.

The stallion moved closer to the orange mare and whispered into her ear, “Applejack, act naturally for the next few minutes. Up ahead, I think Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash have set a prank for me in the middle of the road. Please walk along the edge of the road and act like you don’t notice it.”

She nodded and made her way to the edge. Blaze continued to slightly hover off the ground and mimic walking. They got to the trap and he just went right over it. After the pair were several yards away, there was a sudden scream from behind. The Earth ponies turned their heads around and saw Pinkie Pie. She was hanging upside down by a piece of rope tied to one of her hooves from a tree limb by it. Rainbow Dash was trying to help her down. The orange mare and red stallion laughed and continued toward town.

“Ok Blaze, how did you not set that trap off when you walked over it?” Applejack asked.

He replied, “Who says I was walking?”

“You look like you were.”

“I’m actually hovering and pretending to walk.”

“That explains why I wasn’t hearing your hooves hitting the ground. I thought you put on some silent horseshoes on, or something.”

“Nope. Just barely hovering off the ground.”

Blaze soon heard something fast was coming up from behind. He didn’t turn around, but guessed it was Rainbow Dash. She probably wanted answers to that backfire, and she wasn’t slowing down. The stallion wanted to truly test the speed he’s at now. He killed his ki hover and prepared himself.

The Pegasus continued to get closer and Blaze acted like he hadn’t noticed her approach. She was probably a foot away when the red Earth pony made his move. For that spit second, everything seemed to slow down with the speed he was pushing his body to go. Blaze dodged out of Dash’s path as she flew by. He saw her expression, thinking she got him. Once by, the stallion went back to where he was, acting like nothing happened.

Rainbow Dash soon realized she didn’t get him. She looked behind and saw the red Earth pony in the same spot. The blue mare looked forward, just in time as she crashed into a pile of bundled hay. Applejack and Blaze ran up to her to see if she was ok.

“You ok there, Rainbow?” Applejack asked.

The Pegasus shooked the dazed look she had and replied, “Yea, I’m fine. Care to explain yourself, Blaze?”

“What did I do?” he asked.

“Explain how you avoid that trap prank Pinkie and I set for you. Then how I missed grabbing you just a few seconds ago.”

“That trap in the forest was for me?” Blaze said, innocently.

“YES IT WAS!” Dash shouted. “I was trying to get you back for backfiring that spit wad last night! That trap had a hair trigger so even a slight touch with your hoof would have set it off. How could you not set it off when you walked right over it!”

“Here’s my secret.” He got close to her ear. “I wasn’t walking, I was flying just above the ground.”

Blaze backed away quickly before she responded.

“WHAT? How could you be barely off the ground when you were clearly walking?”

“I concentrated on my ki control and pretended to walk. Plus the fact I saw the trap when it came into view. The pranker just got pranked,” he said with a big grin on his face.

“Ok, then how did I miss grabbing you when you didn’t move?” the Pegasus asked.

“Oh, I heard you coming, so I thought it'd be a good time to see how fast I could move. Turns out fast enough for you to not notice.”

“Then prove it. There’s a guard post with a guard on the north side of town. I want you to take his helmet, put it on top of the flag pole by the school house, and then come back here. You've got three seconds.”

Applejack stepped in and said, “Ya don’t need to prove anything, Blaze. She’s just being a sore loser for her failed pranks. I don’t want ya to get tossed in jail.”

Blaze replied, “I don’t mind. It sounds like a fun prank to pull. Besides they won’t see me coming. I’ll be ask quick as the Flash.”

“Who?”

“Forget it.” The stallion turned to Rainbow Dash. “I’m ready when you are.”

The blue Pegasus said, “Ready . . . set . . . GO! . . . One-”

“Done.”

“How can you be done?” Applejack asked. You haven’t moved.”

“Take a look at the flag pole.”

They both looked at it in the distance. Sure enough, there was a royal guard helmet on top of the pole. Soon, the group heard a pony shout, “Who took my helmet!”

The group started laughing. Once that was done and everypony calmed back down, Blaze said to Rainbow Dash, “Thank you for the awareness exercise, I needed that. Now I have a better understanding of how my abilities have improved.”

“So, you’re not mad at me for trying to prank you?” Rainbow asked.

“Of course not. I'm just tougher to prank. Lots of watching Looney Toons skits.”

“I take that’s another show thingy from your world?” Applejack asked.

Blaze nodded.

Rainbow smiled and said, “Well, don’t expect me on giving up on pranking you. I’ll leave you alone for now. I have some weather duties to take care of.”

The blue Pegasus flew off, as fast as ever.

“Whoo-whee, you weren’t kidding when you said you feel lighter,” Applejack said.

“The downside is I need weighted clothes if I want to continue my training, or I won’t feel the burn. My body has been used to that weight, and I still weigh the same, but I don’t feel the same. I’m happy I got rid of it, I just need to replace the weight to continue my training.”

“So ya going to do that type of training from that show of yours?”

“Yep, I am going to see Twilight to see if she has a spell so I don’t actually have to wear weights.”

“First, let's get you the furniture for your house.”

Chapter 19: Extreme Makeover, Ponyville Edition

Applejack and Swift Blaze soon arrived at the furniture store in Ponyville. Inside, he saw the place pretty much had one style, but came in different colors. They started to look around when a brown Unicorn stallion with black mane came from the back of the store.

“Good Afternoon! Welcome to Furniture ‘R’ Us,” he said. “What can I get for you happy couple?”

“Woah woah woah!” Blaze spoke up. “We’re not a couple. Applejack is a friend helping me pick out furniture for my new place.”

“What he said,” Applejack added.

“Sorry about that,” the brown stallion replied. “Normally it’s a single pony or a new couple that comes into my store. So, what furniture are you looking to get?”

Blaze said, “Well, pretty much everything. I have a brand new house that’s getting the wiring and pluming done today.”

“Fabulous! I wasn’t aware a new house was being built. I would have stopped by sooner to offer my service to design your home. How many more months before you expect to move in?”

“It should be done by tomorrow. That’s why I am shopping for the items to furnish it now.”

“That fast? I must say, you must have some fast and strong working ponies to get a house built that quickly and without me hearing about it.”

Applejack snickered a little bit. The red Earth pony just looked at her and rolled his eyes.

“You can say that. By the way, my name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. We’ll take a look around to see what you have.”

“By all means. My name is Home Design and you can call me Homie. Just come and get me if you have any questions.”

“We will, thank you Mr. Design.” He nodded and headed back into the back room, with a slight skip in his walk.

Upon seeing this Blaze thought, Ok, am I the only pony with gaydar and was having it spiked being near him? Must be my Earthly thinking. It must be more common here.

They walked through the place and pointed out the chairs, some tables, a couch, different appliances, and pretty much everything else that would be needed in a new home.

When they got to the beds, Blaze saw they only had them in pony size. He called for Mr. Design to come over. He did so quickly and asked, “ So, what do you have a question on?”

“Well, do you have beds in a bigger size?” the red pony asked. “I like to sleep in a big bed.”

Blaze could see in the brown stallion eyes were looking him over. “I can take a guess why. It will have to be custom made and I can have that done by next week.”

“Do you have at least the mattress and sheets to fit it? I can make the frame for it myself If I have to.”

“Yes, we do have those in stock in the back. You really want to move into your house tomorrow then I take it?”

Blaze replied, “Nothing you’re implying.”

“What, it's not just for you two?”

The yellow mare pulled her head back at the surprise comment. “It ain’t anything like that. I’m just helping a friend,” she replied with a little blush on her cheeks.

“It’s true. I just want to live in a place that I can call home since I got here just over a week ago.

“Well, welcome to Ponyville. You mind if I ask where you came from?”

“You wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you. Shall we continue with the rest of the items I’m thinking of getting?”

“Right away sir!”

So, they spent the next half hour going over all the items and he noted them down on an order pad with his magic. Once all the items were on the pad, Home Design went behind the counter to total the order up.

“Let’s see, the grand total, with expedited delivery fee, comes to fifty-five hundred bits,” the Unicorn said.

Blaze asked, “How much did you charge for the expedite delivery fee?”

“That was twenty-five hundred bits for that. I would have to reschedule all my planned deliveries tomorrow if you want it then.”

“That’s a might steep for it. How long would a normal delivery take, plus how much would it cost?” Applejack asked.

“Normal delivery, I would charge five hundred bits and the earliest I could deliver the items is in a couple weeks,” Home Design replied.

“How about no delivery and I’ll pick them up to bring them to my place,” said the red stallion.

“That would take you over a day to do with many loads. I know you’re an Earth pony, but no pony is strong enough to do it alone. You would more than likely put yourself in the hospital if you do that. I have to have a crew of at least six to make the deliveries for me.”

Blaze replied, “I have my ways of doing things. Stuff you wouldn't quite grasp at the moment.”

“If you say so. The new total with you picking them up is three thousand bits.”

“That is still rather high. How about we make a deal to take one thoushand off the price. You said you have seen plenty of ponies come and go. I’ll show you three things I can do that you’ll probably have never seen. If you get speechless, faint, or scream, you will take that amount off. If you don’t do any of them, you may charge me another thousand bits. Do we have a deal?”

Home Design thought it over in his head. Blaze took a guess that this pony wouldn’t pass up a chance to make another thousand bits.

The Unicorn stuck a fore hoof out and said, “Alright, you have a deal. So what are these three things?”

The red Earth pony shook it and said, “For the first one, how about seeing an Earth pony fly without using magic or any mechanical means?”

“It’s true, I haven’t seen that. So let’s see if you can do it, Mr. Blaze?”

He channeled his ki and began to hover in the air. Home Design’s eyes opened wide. Seeing this, Blaze moved to the next trick.

“Now, I’ll make glowing orbs appear at the end of my hooves.”

The stallion channel enough energy to make them appear. Just for fun, he juggled with them for a bit before allowing them to dissipate.

Home Design now has his mouth wide open. “The only thing I can think this is possible is that you are some hornless Unicorn. Am I correct?” he asked.

“Nope, this body is just an Earth pony. But, it’s not my original body. This leads to the final thing to show.”

“What do you mean that is not your original body? What are you then?”

Blaze floated back down to the ground. He then released his shadow transform and returned to his original body.

“Say hello to a human!” he said as he appeared out of the puff of smoke.

Home Design babbled something, then did a girly scream, and fell over and fainted. Applejack laughed out loud and said, “Boy, Blaze, you sure do have an interesting effect on meeting new ponies.”

“I can’t help how they react to me. They either do this, attack me, or on the rare times, ask me lots of questions,” he replied. “How long do you think he’ll be out?”

The orange mare replied, “Do you want to make another bet?”

They waited in a set of chairs nearby for Home Design to wake up. It took a good fifteen minutes for him to do so. He got back to his hooves and said, “Ow, what hit me.”

“That would be the floor,” Blaze said. “Sorry about that. I’ll have to say you handled it better than some other ponies.”

The Unicorn turned his head to him and said, “Thanks, I think. I guess the bill is now two thousand bits.”

“Thank you for holding up to the deal.”

The human dug into the pouch and pulled out the proper amount of coins and placed them on the counter. “I’ll come by tomorrow to pick them up. I might have another trick to show how I’m going to carry everything.”

Applejack and Blaze waved goodbye and left the store. The orange mare said she had to head back to the farm to see how the new workers are doing with Big Mac in charge. He told her good luck and she left.

Right now, the human figured it would be a good time to head to Twilight’s place. He needed to see if she had that weight spell to cast on clothing. He walked through town and made his way it to the library. Blaze entered and saw Twilight and Spike were working on something.

“Hi Twilight. Hi Spike. What are you doing?” he asked.

“Hi Blaze. Just cleaning up an experiment,” said the purple Unicorn. “I tried to write down the results, but a couple of ponies switched my ink with invisible ink.”

The dragon replied, “I just got rid of my hiccups that Pinkie and Rainbow gave me.”

“Yea, they seem to be in a pranking mood today,” Blaze said. “Might be because I backfired the one Rainbow tried last night.”

“That was an amazing feat. How you were able to grab that wad and launch that back at her. I would like to get a reading how fast you’re able to go,” Twilight said.

“That’s why I came to see you. It seems that losing that emotional weight has allowed me to go faster than I would like. I need that weight back if I want to continue my training. I feel too light right now. I won’t feel the burn from my morning routines. Do you think you may have a spell that can be applied to clothing to make them weigh more?”

“Give me a moment to scan my books. I do recall such a spell.”

Twilight used her magic and caused the books on her shelves to levitate and get in a line to go past her. After a few minutes, she found the book and released her hold on the ones causing them to fall to the ground.

“Twilight, should you use your magic to put those back where they came from?”

“Sorry about that. It’s a bad habit of mine when I’m doing research. Spike doesn’t mind it though. It’s good for him to keep his skills up to keep the place clean and organized.”

“But it's also good for you to pick up after yourself so you won’t be a burden on him. He might be able to get more things done if he didn’t have to pick up these books off the ground after these massive book-searches.”

“You’re correct, Blaze. Give me a few minutes to get these back where they belong.”

“How about I take care of it? It will be a good excuse to show you why I need these weights.”

“That will be impressive. But do you know how to organize a library?”

“I helped out in a library during high school. I manage to pick up how the Dewey Decimal System worked and made quick work on returning books to where they belong.”

“That would be great. Just let me get a watch so I can time you. It normally takes me three minutes to put this many books back. Let me know when you’re ready,” Twilight said.

The Unicorn used her magic and grabbed it from a drawer and handed it to Spike.

Blaze said, “Just let me stretch for a sec. Also, if you could please stand in the middle of this room. I don’t want to run into you.”

The human stretched his limbs for a bit while the pony and dragon moved to the center. He gave a nod to Twilight to say he was ready. She said go and Blaze moved very fast. Just enough to be safe inside this room.

He was a blur in their eyes as the human was making a small rotating wind in the room. Blaze was picking up one book at a time and placed it on the shelf where it belonged. When finished, he stopped right in front of them.

“That was amazing! You got that done in under a minute,” Spike said as he held the watch out for everyone to see.

“I wasn’t even going at max speed. If I did, your place might have been destroyed.”

“I appreciate that. You’re right, you do need this spell,” said Twilight. “We don’t want you to overdo what you’re doing.”

“Thanks, Twilight. Let’s apply the spell to the hoof bands here and to the top of my gi.”

Blaze removed the bands and the shirt. He placed them on the floor between them.

“Let's start with ten pounds on the bands and fifty pounds on the other.”

Twilight’s horn glowed as she channeled the spell onto the articles of clothing. Once the spell was cast. The human picked them up and put them on. He could feel the difference, but he wasn’t feeling the same.

“How does that feel Blaze?” Twilight asked.

“My limbs and body do feel heavier, but I don’t feel at the weight I was with the emotional weight I use to have. Can you double their weight?”

“That’s the beauty of this spell. The owner can do it themselves. They just need to call out the name of the clothing and what weight to change it to. No need for a Unicorn to cast the spell again.”

“That’s awesome! I can increase the weight as I continue my training. Let’s try it out. Change all bands weights to twenty pounds each and change the top to a hundred pounds.”

The clothing emitted a glow by themselves. Blaze could feel their weight increasing. He was very happy to have this now. It was just like what Goku used on his way to the planet, Namek. The glow faded away and the human felt he was back to his familiar weight. It was somewhat a shock that the emotional baggage was close to doubling what he actually weighed.

“So how does that weight feel, Blaze?” the Unicorn asked.

“Like I’m back to my normal weight. Let me get my other clothing so you can cast the spell on them too.”

He quickly summoned his backpack and pulled out all the tops of the gi and set them out.

“I’ll just apply the spell to them. They’ll still weigh the same as they are now.”

“Sounds like a plan. Once done, mind if I use your bathroom and changed my clothes. These are getting a little smelly.”

The mare nodded. Twilight once again cast the spell onto the clothing. As she was, Blaze changed into his pony form. The Unicorn realized what he was going to ask. She extended the spell and magically touched the gi and hoof bands that were on his stallion body.

Once the mare was done, Blaze transformed back and picked up the green with black trim gi and made his way to the bathroom. He changed the top part of his gi back to the normal weight before removing it. The human then put on the clean gi and had the weight set back to one hundred pounds.

The human headed back downstairs where Twilight was putting away the book that had this spell. “Thanks again, Twilight, for helping me with this. It’ll come in handy.”

“Not a problem, Blaze. Just be on a lookout for those pranksters. I’m sure they will try something on you,” Twilight said.

He replied, “They already tried, twice.”

“What prank did they do?” Spike asked.

So, the human told them about the morning events and how everything they tried backfired on them. Both Spike and Twilight laughed and Blaze joined them. Once the laughing was done, he packed the clothing back into the backpack and left. He headed to his home.

Blaze arrived to the open frame house with the finish wiring and plumbing. There was a note nailed to the front entrance. He pulled it off and it said,

Dear Swift Blaze,

Your house has been fully wired and plumbed to the main lines. Enjoy your new house. We shall be by in the morning with the bill.

Sincerely,

Sparky and Mario

As he looked around, the human saw they did a nice job, for being a rush job. One thing Blaze hoped for was that they won’t charge too much. He entered the house and made his way to the master bedroom. He placed his backpack down and looked around the space.

Looking at all the open framing, Blaze guessed he should start covering these walls. He went outside and saw the trench he made earlier was still there. The human performed a simple Earth Jutsu to fill it in. He turned around to face the house to began work on the outer walls.

Blaze decided to go with stone wall feature. He thought they will add a nice look to the house, plus it’s free to do. He performed the same Stone Wall Jutsu he’s done a couple days ago. Beautiful stone walls came out of the ground on all sided of the building. The human reversed the technique where the outer doors and windows are.

As soon as he thought about them, Blaze realized he forgot to get glass windows. He wondered if there might be is a jutsu that will allow him to make his own. That will have to wait for another time.

The human walked up to the front door opening and used his jutsu to made a nice door come out of the inner wooden frame and temporarily have it connected to it. This is until he gets some hinges to properly secure it. For now, it will only open via jutsu. Blaze headed to the back and made another one for back there.

The human went into each room and had wooden walls come out of the wall frame and ceiling frame. This is a cheaper method instead of looking into seeing if they have drywall and plaster. He made sure to leave openings for the outlets, switches, windows, and doorways.

When Blaze entered the kitchen, this one was going to take longer. He had to make cabinets from his wood jutsu. For the design, the human went with a sliding door method. He didn’t have the hardware to make the doors swing open, at this time. He can always change it later.

Blaze was happy to see that Mario was kind enough to put a makeshift sink stand for the time being. That way, everything is already in place. He continued working the jutsu till all the cabinets were in place. The top of the counters were a butcher block style.

The human went to the master bathroom and saw they installed a full shower for his height and toilet. He will just need to cover the walls where the shower wasn’t and create the cabinet for the sink. Blaze chose a nice maple top. He repeated the style for the other bathroom.

Once all the walls and ceilings were covered, the last thing was the floor. The human went with oak flooring style and cast the jutsu to get them to grow from the nearby wood surfaces.

This pretty much wiped out most of his chakra. Blaze went to his backpack and dug out an MRE to have tonight. While looking over the house as he ate, the human realized he’ll need primer and paint to make these walls better.

After the meal, he saw the sun was setting on the horizon through his glassless window. Even though he had electricity, there were no light fixtures, or bulbs to supply him light to work into the night. Blaze could use his powers, but that would just drain him more. So, he pulled out a sleeping bag and rolled it out in his bedroom. The human got comfortable as best as he could and fell asleep.

Now, Inside his mind space, Blaze went over the list of the things he needed to learn for tomorrow. The first thing was to practice on performing a sealing jutsu that would store something into paper and scrolls. The next thing was to figure out what jutsu elements he’ll need to make glass. It was either that, or find the shop in town to buy it. The final thing he think he should so is probably train on another full element style.

As Blaze had a group of clones work on the first task, he looked into glass properties on the internal computer. It will involve a custom of earth and fire style. Earth to gather the minerals that make the glass and fire to melt and form the sheets. It wouldn’t be an easy task, definitely not feasible to do in the mind in one night. This will have to be tabled for another time. He finished the mind sleep cycle with some element training.

The human woke up from his sleep and looked around. He saw the sun had started to peak out. He got ready in a clean gi and exited his house. Blaze went for a jog to the town square and back. When he got back, the human increased the weight of the clothing by ten pounds and began to do stretches and fighting styles. This went on for two hours, until his stomach started to growl very loudly. Blaze reset the clothing back to the previous level and headed to Ponyville to get some breakfast at Sugarcube Corner.

The human entered the pastry store and got in the line to place his order. Mrs. Cake was taking them and Mr. Cake was getting the items together for the pony. He could hear Pinkie was humming from the kitchen as she worked. When it was his turn, Mrs. Cake gave him a big smile when she saw the human.

“Good morning, Blaze. That recipe you gave has been selling well. We’re having a slight issue keeping up with the demand. I wonder if you know any more goodies?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“I do, but we can discuss that for when you’re not so busy,” said Blaze. “I would like to order a dozen fresh doughnuts to go.”

“Right away, dear. It will be on the house.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t mind sharing recipes from my world for no charge.”

“But we insist,” said Mr. Cake. “I’ve never seen ponies so happy when they bite into that chocolate creation you called Devil’s Chocolate Drops. We renamed to Blaze’s Chocolate Drops in honour for you.”

The orange stallion gave a box to Blaze that had his order.

“I’m glad ponies like them. I guess I’ll see you later,” he said as the human exited their establishment.

He headed back home to wait for Sparky and Mario to come and see him with their bill. As Blaze approached it, he saw those same ponies looking over the finished outside of the house. As he got closer, the human could see from their faces they were impressed with how quickly he put the exterior up.

Mario was first to see him coming up the road. “Morning, Swift Blaze. That ability of yours does some fine work in finishing this place up,” he said.

“Why thank you. And thanks for supplying all the covers for the electrical components and have the sinks in place for me,” Blaze said. “That way I don’t have to ask you to come back later to finish. Would either you care for a doughnut?”

They each snagged one and scarfed them down. “Thank you for the treat. Shall we go inside so we can finish our business?” Sparky asked.

Mario nodded and said, “Yea, thanks for the doughnut.”

Blaze opened his door and led them inside. Their eyes widen when they saw the finished work the human did the night prior. They headed to the kitchen as there were no chairs, nor any other furniture to offer them to sit on.

“You can really have a nice design to your house, now that I see it in a finished state,” Mario said.

“You’re able to make the walls solid with no cracks. They look perfect,” Sparky said.

“It’s almost finished. Once we’re done here, I’m going back into town to get some paint to decorate these walls and get the furniture I bought yesterday. I also need to find someone to make some windows for this place. Do you know where I can get these items?” Blaze asked.

Mario replied, “There is a hardware store next to the furniture store in town. Across the street is a window shop.”

“You definitely work fast in getting your place finished,” said Sparky. “Finish work typically takes two weeks to do. I just don’t know how you’re able to come up with the design and energy to get this done.”

Blaze was happy he can hit all the places at once. “So, what do I owe you?” he asked.

“For the plumbing, fixtures, and two finished shower stalls, the total is three thousand bits,” Mario said.

“For the wiring and lighting, my total is only one thousand bits,” Sparky said.

Blaze dug into his money pouch and pull the coins out equal to what they asked. The stallions took them and placed them in their saddlebags. The human thanked them for their rush work and that they did an awesome job. They left his place after accepting the compliment.

Blaze ate the rest of the donuts while he listened to the nature outside and the wind blowing through the windows. He enjoyed it instead of hearing all the noise that took place back on Earth. He feels he made the right choice to come here.

Once done with the meal, the human snagged some blank papers he found in a side pocket of his backpack and a pen. He left his home and headed back to Ponyville. Blaze saw the stores right where Mario said they would be. and entered. Inside was what you would normally see in a hardware store.

A blue Earth stallion with yellow mane came up to him and said, “Good morning, stranger. My name is Mr. Spots and welcome to my store. What can I get you?”

The human replied, “Hello Mr. Spots. I’m Swift Blaze and I need some primer and paint for my new home.”

“We have plenty of that. How many rooms are you going to be painting?”

“There are twelve.”

“Then you are going to be needing lots of paint and supplies.”

They went over the amount of primer Blaze was going to need and the color choices he wanted for each room. The human also picked up two dozen brushes and some drop cloths. There was a nice pile of painting supplies sitting in front of the counter. Mr. Spot was adding up the items behind it.

“Ok, Mr. Blaze, the total of the supplies here is five hundred bits,” the stallion said. “It will be an additional one hundred if you want it delivered to your home.”

“That won’t be needed. I have a way of caring this with a single hand.”

Blaze reached into his money pouch and placed the coins on the counter.

“So what is this way of carrying these with a single ‘hand’?”

The human took out a piece of paper out and his pen. He drew a sealing circle on it and placed it on the pile. Once Blaze did the hand signs and applied the chakra to the paper, it caused the pile to be covered in smoke. When it cleared, all that was left was the piece of paper with a new symbol in the center.

“That’s impressive. I’d heard of a creature that was not a Unicorn that was able to perform things similar to magic. I take it you’re this creature.”

“Yes, I am. My species is called human,” he said, then picked up the piece of paper.

“Well, it was nice meeting you. Looking forward to do business with you in the future,” Mr. Spots replied.

Blaze left the store and headed next door to get his furniture. As the human entered the establishment, he was greeted by Home Design.

“Good morning, Blaze,” said the stallion. “I take it you’re here for your things?”

“Yes, I am. Was in town for other supplies so I thought to check to see if you were ready.”

“Everything is all set. They’re in the back in a nice pile. I still don’t know how you are going to carry it without a cart. Do you have super strength or something?”

“It is more of a something.”

Home Design led the human into the back and he pointed to a pile with his hoof. “There is everything you purchased. So, how in Equestria are you going to carry it?”

“Like this.” Blaze pull out another blank piece of paper and his pen again and drew another sealing circle. He placed the paper onto the pile and repeated the actions from before. The pile disappeared in a puff of smoke. All that was left was that piece of paper. The human picked it up and turned to Home Design, who had his mouth wide open again.

“It’s a good thing you showed me some of your abilities yesterday. I would have probably fainted just now. Well then, you have a nice day. If you need a hand in decorating your place, you know where to find me.”

Blaze left and crossed the street to now shop for some windows for his place. He spotted the place easily as it had the most windows installed in the building. A door chime made of crystals went off as he entered the place.

A pink Unicorn mare with a white mane and tail walked up to the human from behind the counter. She waved a forehoof and said, “Welcome to Windows Emporium. I’m the owner of this establishment, Shiny Glass. My friends call me Glassie. Now, my unique customer, what can I help you with?”

The human replied, “Hello, Mrs. Glass. I’m Swift Blaze, and I’m in the need of some windows for my new place just outside of Ponyville.”

“I’ve heard the rumor of someone new to our fair town. They didn’t do justice in describing you.”

“I can only imagine as I’m the only one of my kind on this planet.”

“Really? We might have to fix that later,” the mare batted her eyes as she looked the human over. “But back to business, exactly how many windows are you going to be needing?”

Blaze facepalmed his forehead. “I knew I forgot something when I left the house,” he said. “Well, do you mind coming to my house? Going to have to get the count and measurements for them anyway.”

“I think I can spare some time to check out your place,” she said with a smile. “Before we go, shall we go over what style are you looking for?”

They discussed about the different designs. Most were single pane type. Blaze was hoping they had the double pane style, like back on Earth to have insulation. When he inquired about the possibility of doing that, the mare said that won’t be needed as they will have a magic spell that could do the same thing. Save on glass and all.

The human went with a basic design with the magic spell addition, which costed extra. The pair left the Unicorn’s store and headed back to his home outside of town.

Glassie chatted away about the town and each pony as they walked by them. Blaze nodded his head as he partially listened. He was more focused on planning where to place the furniture and what color to use for the room.

They soon arrived at the house. The mare said, “Oh my! How in Equestria did you afford such a lovely home? Let alone how quickly it was put up. I walked this road last week and this was definitely not here.”

“It did cost something, but not in bits,” Blaze replied.

“Really? Maybe I should think of getting that kind of payment from you,” she said with a big smile. Glassie batted her eyes as she looked the human over.

“I’m sorry, but we already agreed on a price in bits per window. I already said that I would take care of the installing of the windows.”

The mare’s smile shrunk down a bit. She said, “Alright. Let’s get these measurements so I can get started on the work. I can already tell that it’s going to take me longer as you have lots of window. I should charge you extra for that. But, I think it will work out in the end.

The Unicorn pulled out a tape measure from her saddle bag and started getting measurements for each window. Once done, Glassie said goodbye and headed back into town.

With the mare gone, Blaze could get started on painting the house. He released the seal jutsu on the supplies and made a dozen clones to get to work. It did not take long to apply the primer. Once the human released the clones, he started to get dizzy from the paint fumes.

Blaze made his way outside for some fresh air. As he was breathing in the fresh air, the human looked towards the EverFree Forest. A faint sound was coming across the wind of something shouting a line he thought he would never hear in Equestria. Blaze could barely make what was said but it sounded like, “LLLEERRROOOY JEEEENNNKIINNNSS!!!!!”

The human searched with his eyes to see where the sound came from. At the very edge of his vision, he thought he saw an outline of a human flying towards the grounds several miles away. The object was way deep in the Everfree Forest.

Blaze thought the paint fumes were making him see things. There was no way another human could come to this world. So, he headed back inside and made only a few clones to get started to paint the rooms in color where the primer has already dried.

They went from room to room painting it the color he wanted. Once all the rooms were painted, the humans went back outside. The original released the jutsu on the furniture and they started to bring them inside. Blaze released the clones when the las last piece was in place. Now, he looked over the now, furnished home.

The human’s stomach made a roar for food. He knew the next thing is to get food for his place. Maybe check on his friends at the same time. He closed the front door and made his way back to Ponyville.

Chapter 20: Enter The Griffin

Blaze was making his way back to town when he heard something falling. The human looked up and saw Pinkie on her flying contraption. He bolted into the sky to catch her. It was no problem to make it and bring everything and everyone down safely.

“Hey there, Pinkie. Are you trying to fly like the other Pegasus and me?” Blaze asked.

“Of course not silly,” replied Pinkie. “This does work. It was Dashie’s old friend that caused it to break.”

“Which friend is this?”

“Gilda the Griffin.”

Hearing that name brought back the memories of what happened in the episode. The human kept his composure as he recalled the details. Today was going to be interesting dealing with her.

“Hmm, a Griffin,” said Blaze. “I have read about them in one of Twilight’s books. How about you join me for lunch and tell me about her.”

She nodded and started to hop by him as they entered town. The pair made it to a café and sat outside at a table with an umbrella. Both placed their orders and Pinkie started to tell him everything that has happened this morning up to the point where Blaze caught her from falling. The food came and the pair dug into them. Blaze had a salad and Pinkie had her shake.

While the pair were waiting, Blaze heard a scream by an old pony. He turned around and saw Granny Smith trying to run away at her pace. Gilda was behind a food cart and her tail was moving around like a snake. The human hated how Gilda was a bully to everyone she didn’t like.

“See what I’m talking about? I was right that she was a meanie mean-pants,” Pinkie said.

Blaze added, “And now she just stole an apple from that food cart.”

He looked down the street and saw Fluttershy was escorting a duck family through town. This was one scene that he didn’t want to happen.

“Excuse me Pinkie, I would like a word with that Griffin.”

Blaze placed money on the table and quickly made his way to Gilda. He transformed into his pony form along the way there. He stepped in front of Gilda in time before she ran into Fluttershy.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, dude,” Gilda said in her angry tone.

Blaze replied, “I saw what you did back there and what you were about to do.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You scared that old lady with that prank, took an apple without paying, and were about to bump into my friend as she was leading a duck family through town.”

The griffin was getting angry and said, “You better back off doofus before I make ya.”

“If you would just pay for the apple and apologize to Granny Smith, I will not bring harm to you.”

“That’s rich! A mere Earth pony standing up to a Griffin. You do have guts, I’ll give you that. Now back away before you get hurt.”

“The thing you don’t understand is that I’m no normal Earth pony,” said Blaze. His tone gets serious. “Please, do what I ask before this has to get rough.”

“No pony tells me what to do, especially one that is a freak.”

Gilda pulled her head back and then let a loud roar right in my face. Blaze didn’t move an inch from his spot. The ponies nearby were watching what was going on and wondering what was going to happen.

The stallion got onto his hind hooves and stood in a fighting stance, waiting for the griffin to make the first move. Before Gilda attack, Rainbow flew down to us.

“Hey Gilda, I see you met my new friend here, Swift Blaze,” said the blue Pegasus. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things he can do. Hey, you mind showing us one?”

“Sorry Rainbow, but I just realize I forgot to do something for my house,” he replied. “I’ll see you later and show you then.”

The Earth pony got back on all four hooves and walked back to where Pinkie was. He could see the mare was happy that someone stood up to the griffin.

“That was amazing of how you went and stood up to that meanie mean-pants. I don’t think anypony here had the courage to do that,” she said.

“Remember, I’m not a pony. How about we throw Gilda one of your parties to lighten her mood and maybe pull some pranks on the partiers. I’ll talk to Rainbow so she can actually set the pranks. See you at Sugarcube Corner in a few hours for it?”

“That sounds like so much fun. I can’t wait to see how Gilda likes nice pranks going off.”

Blaze thought, If everything goes the same way, there’s going to be a face on Gilda that she does not want Dash to see.

The stallion left Pinkie Pie so she can get the party ready. He looked around for Rainbow and Gilda and saw them in front of the Pegasus’s house. Blaze walked up under them and shouted, "Hey, Rainbow Dash!"

They looked down and saw the stallion below. "Hi Blaze, come on up," said Rainbow.

"How can an Earth pony get up here?” asked Gilda. “They can't fly."

The stallion could wait to see the look on the griffin after seeing this. He channeled his ki and flew up to them. Blaze looked at Gilda when he got to her level and her mouth was wide open.

“I told you I wasn’t an average Earth pony,” he said.

“How are you able to do this?” asked the griffin. “Are you pulling my paw and a Unicorn is using her magic to levitate you?”

“It’s nothing like that G, said the Pegasus. “Blaze is not even a real pony. Come on and show her what you really look like.”

He thought, If my flying shocked her, this will have her mind explode. He released the shadow transform jutsu and went back to his human form. Before the smoke could dissipate, Blaze jump out of it and said, “BOO!”

Gilda screamed and flew straight up for a few seconds. Dash and Swift Blaze were laughing at her reaction as she flew back down to where they were. The griffin’s mood was not happy for being the one getting pranked.

“Oh my, Blaze, that was another clever prank you pulled! Priceless!” Rainbow said.

“Yeah, hilarious,” said Gilda.

“Thank you, thank you, now I’ll show you something I have just learned,” the human said.

He channeled the chakra and did the hand signs, but did not call out the move as this was going to be a ‘Shocker’. A small dark cloud formed behind Gilda and Rainbow saw what he was doing. She was holding in her laugher, waiting for it to go off.

“Well, what is the new thing you lea . . . OUCH!!” Gilda said as a lightning bolt hit her behind from the cloud.

Rainbow laughed harder than before. Blaze could tell Gilda wanted to attack him, but not in front of Rainbow Dash. He looked at Gilda with a small evil grin and thought, Maybe next time you should take my advice.

Once Rainbow calmed down, she said, “Again, priceless. So you can create clouds and control them?”

He replied, “I learned-water style jutsu a few nights ago. I combined it with the wind-style to manipulate clouds. It’s a little easier to manipulate than wood-style.”

The human snapped his fingers and pointed at the griffin. “Gilda, before I forget, Pinkie wants to throw you a party. She'd like Dash to come by and help with the decorations, since she should know what you'd like.”

“Sure thing. I will head right over.”

The Pegasus flew off to see the pink mare. Once Dash was out of sight, Gilda charged at the human. Blaze dodged her claws with ease and got onto her back. He put his arms around her neck and put the griffin in a submission hold. She tried to buck him off like a bull, hoping he would release the hold.

The human decide to change tactics and released the grapple. He made three shadow clones and began to fly around her in different directions. Blaze saw Gilda’s eyes trying to find the real one. The griffin soon was getting dizzy and fell onto the cloud.

All the humans went down to her and said at the same time, “Do you see why you won’t be able to beat me? I’ve been training in combat and can predict your movements. I did no harm to you as you are Rainbow’s friend. But, if you do cause harm to any of my friends, don’t think I won’t hold back next time.”

The original Blaze created a small ki ball and sent it into a cloud. He channeled the ki to cause it to explode. Gilda now looked a little afraid from seeing the destruction this creature could put out.

She sat up on the cloud and said, “What are you?”

“I’m a god damn human from a different planet!” Blaze shouted.

He released the clones and flew back to his home. He hoped that the griffin would behave now. Blaze decided to get cleaned up and make some adjustments to some wood features of the home. Once he was satisfied, he left and head to Sugarcube Corner to attend the party.

The human arrived as the other ponies were starting to show up. He entered and Pinkie greeted him in her style, “Hiya Blaze! Welcome to the party! Rainbow went to get the guest of honour so they should be here soon.”

“Thanks, Pinkie Pie. I think we’ll see the good side of Gilda during the party, if she knows what is good for her,” Blaze said with a wink.

“Did you beat her up?”

“Oh no, I would never do that to one of my friend’s friends. I just showed her what I was capable of after Dash left to help you here.” He leaned closer to her and whispered, “Did Rainbow Dash set up pranks at this party for Gilda?”

Pinkie nodded and he gave her a wink to confirm that he won’t go and tell anypony about them. Blaze left the pink mare to mingle with the other ponies. He went over by where the food was and picked up some cupcakes and cookies, including the chocolate drops that he supplied the recipe.

The human found an empty seat near a table and went to it to enjoy the goodies. As he started to bite into a cupcake, Blaze saw a cup with punch levitated next to him and placed on the table. He looked around who brought it over and saw Lyra Heartstrings, with a big smile.

“Hi Blaze!” she said. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I like to attend parties Pinkie throws. They’re always fun,” he replied. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see the griffin that everypony was talking about. Supposedly, she almost got into a fight with a red Earth pony.”

“Oh, I know all about that.”

“How?”

“The red Earth pony was me. The griffin was acting rather rude in the market and I was about to teach her a lesson.”

“I should have recognized that was you from your intro ceremony. Do you think she will behave while at the party?”

“We shall see.”

“So, what have you been up to, Blaze?” Lyra asked. The mare pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

He finished eating the cupcake and grabbed a cookie. “Well, I just got done having my house built and furnished.”

“It was amazing how you were able to cause that wood come to out of the ground like that. Your jutsu keeps on getting cooler and cooler to watch when I can. Can I ask you a few more questions?”

Blaze knew this was coming. He replied, “Sure, but the same rules still apply from last time.”

“Ok! Which type of pony do you like?”

The human almost choked on the cookie. Oh, this is going to be fun, he thought.

After clearing his throat, he said, “Well, I don’t have a particular. I like them all, equally.”

“How was the food back on your world?”

“Most of the stuff we had, chemicals were added to it to preserve it to last longer as we had no magic. So, some of the things had an odd taste, but we did have some very good things that were made fresh, like this cookie here.”

“What’s it called?

“The original name was called Devil’s Chocolate Drops. But, Mr. and Mrs. Cake renamed it to Blaze’s Chocolate Drops.”

“Why would they name the cookie after you?”

“Maybe because it was a recipe from my world.”

“That is from your world! I have to try it! May I?” the Unicorn asked as she pointed to one of them on his plate.

Blaze allowed her. The mare used her magic to pick it up and bring it to her mouth. She bit it in half and started to chew. Her face went to pure enjoyment as she continued to chew the treat and ate the other half. He saw a small teardrop come down her cheek when she finished.

“That was beautiful. I got to taste a treat from the human world. I can’t wait to try others,” Lyra said as she wiped the teardrop away.

“I’ll let you know when I share another one to the Cakes.”

At this point, the human heard a buzzer go off. He turned his head and saw Pinkie just shocked Gilda with a hoof buzzer. Lyra went off to get some more cookies as Blaze stayed seated. He watched what was going on as Gilda continue to set off each prank. Her face was getting annoyed by being the joke of every prank in front of the ponies.

The time came to play pin the tail on the pony. The human watched the griffin get spun around by the pink mare. She thought it was another prank, so she turned herself around and walked the opposite direction of the target. The result was the same thing that happened on the episode.

Gilda blew her cool and yelled at the other ponies. Rainbow Dash stepped up and took credit for all the pranks. After the argument between them, the griffin stormed off and the blue Pegasus apologized to all the ponies and her friends. Blaze snuck away to confront Gilda one more time.

He teleported out of there and flew to Gilda. She was leaving Ponyville at a fast pace. When the human got in front of the griffin, they both stopped in the air.

“How were you able to catch up with me? Only Rainbow Dash was the only one able to keep up with me,” she said.

Blaze replied, “Well I should be able to catch up to you. I’ve already beaten Rainbow in a race. Plus being able to break the sound barrier, twice.”

The griffin wasn’t caring how this creature was bragging. “So, what do you want?”

“You still have not learned to let it go when you are the one on the receiving end of a funny prank. You like to dish them out, but some of them are not funny. Just plain rude and cruel. Why do you act so mean to others?”

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE WHEN YOU ARE ALL ALONE WITH NONE OF YOUR KIND!” Gilda yelled directly at Blaze’s face.

He just stood there. After wiping some spit off his face, he replied, “Oh, but I do. I’m the only fucking human here on this planet. Mine has been destroyed due to greed and violence. The only reason I’m still alive is because my God saved me. He allowed me to come to this world. You still have other griffins on this planet that you can go and see. I’ll probably never see another human ever again!”

That hit Gilda hard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I never would have imagined I would meet someone who can relate to me.”

The human calmed back down. “Look, I know Rainbow still wants to be your friend, but maybe you should give her some space after that incident at the pastry shop. Go see the other griffins of this world and think who you want to be with.”

They both flew away in separate directions. As Blaze was soaring through the sky, he hoped Gilda will make the right choice. Just then, he realized with everything that happened today, he forgot to do something. That was to buy some food for his home. He will just have to figure something out later. For now he should go help his friends clean up.

The human arrived back to the dead party as his friends were all working together to clean up. He grabbed a broom to help and swept the floor debris into a trash can. Once the place was clean again, they all left the establishment.

The group was walking through town when Twilight asked, “How’s your place coming Blaze?

He replied, “It’s coming along. All the painting and furniture is in place. Just a few more other things before I would say it’s complete.”

“That was fast, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “Would you mind showing us?”

“Not a problem.” Then, Blaze’s stomach releases a big growl. “Umm, can we do it after dinner? Stomach is craving for food and I have none at my place right now.”

They all laughed as the group headed to the diner. After sitting down and placing their orders, the group chatted among themselves. Fluttershy was sitting next to the human.

The mare turned to him and said, “Um, thank you Blaze for what you did. I heard that roar that griffin used. I don’t want to know how that would have affected me.”

“It’s no problem, Fluttershy. I saw Gilda was not going to stop as you were escorting that duck family. That griffin needs to get her head straight if she wants to hang with Rainbow and her friends.”

“I wouldn’t mind if she does return. Just not with that attitude she was showing off.”

“I think she’ll turn over a new leaf if she does return.”

Twilight spoke up and asked, “Blaze, how is that weight spell working working for you?”

“It’s working great. I feel at my normal level right now. Plus it will allow me to increase it more when I do my training. Thank you again for casting it on the bands and the tops of the gi.”

“What weight spell are you talking about?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, since I lost that emotional weight I have been carrying. I’ve been feeling lighter. Actually, too light to do any training. So, I asked Twilight to cast that spell on those clothes so I can get back to normal. Pretty much I’m doing the training regimen I told you about from that show.”

“How fast do you think you can go?”

“I would roughly say Mach 3 with no issue, maybe Mach 4.”

“THAT FAST?” Rainbow shouted for everypony in the diner could hear it.

“I don’t know exactly as I won’t need to travel that fast, unless it was an emergency.”

“Have you learned any more jutsu, Blaze?” Rarity asked.

“Both Applejack and Rainbow have seen some of the new things. I can show one right here. Care to see?”

They all nodded their head. The human channeled the chakra, did the hand signs, and said, “Water Style. Water Spout Jutsu.” The water from the glasses jumped from one glass to another in a fun pattern. The ponies clapped their hooves together for the fun entertainment. Blaze stopped the display when their food arrived.

The group ate in silence. Ponies ate flower and hay related style of food. The human had a simple spaghetti with steam veggies on the side. Everyone paid for their own meals and left, heading to Blaze’s home.

They got to the edge of town as the sun was beginning to set. When his house was in view, the sun shone on it. The light caused specs of gem in the outer stone to sparkle.

“Oh my, Blaze! Your house is very dazzling the way it sparkles in the sunlight,” said Rarity. “It looks like you live in an expensive stone castle.”

Blaze replied, “I just had stone walls come up from the ground. I did not realize I got some gem fragments at the same time.”

“Well, you did an amazing job in finishing the outside. Would you mind showing us the inside?” Twilight asked.

“Right this way, ladies.”

Blaze opened the door and turned on the lights. The ponies dropped their mouths open from the sight of the finished interior. They walked in and looked around. No pony was saying anything. He was happy that he got them to speechless level. After a while, the others stood in a half circle around the human.

“Well, is anyone going to say anything?” he asked.

The ponies looked at each other. Then, at the same time, they shouted, “WE LOVE IT!”

“Ow, my ear.” He stuck a finger in one of them to get rid of the ringing. “Well, let me give you all the grand tour.”

They followed as he showed them the kitchen, dining room, first floor half bath, and the living room. On the second floor, there were two regular bedrooms, a bathroom, and the master suite. The group returned to the living room and all sat down.

“You did a fine job in decorating your home, Swift Blaze,” said Rarity. “The colors and furniture go well with each other.”

“I can’t take all credit as Applejack helped me in picking out the furniture,” he replied.

The orange mare said, “But you picked the paint colors by yourself and did a great job.”

“Um, Blaze, you built a lower floor than this. Where is the entrance to that?” Rainbow asked.

“Sorry Rainbow, but that area is off limits to all ponies unless Princess Celestia says so. I’m to keep my Earthly possessions down there, away from any ponies. I also created a barrier jutsu so nothing can get through it without my blessing. The actual door doesn’t exist until I make it when I need to be down there.”

“So, you have some secret items in a secret space that only you can access. Are you a spy? What do you have in that backpack that you don’t want anypony to know?”

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna do know the contents of it and they agree with me it’s too dangerous to leave out. I can still summon them if and when I need to. But they will stay down there.”

“If Princess Celestia agrees they are too dangerous we shall honor their decision,” said Twilight. “It’s getting late. We should be getting back to our homes.”

“You can’t go yet. There’s one last thing I want to show you. It’s more of a fun thing I did with my friends once a month.”

“Oh! I like fun stuff!” Pinkie exclaimed. “What is it? What is it?”

“Now hold your horses there, missy,” said Applejack. “Let him tell us.”

“We’ll have to go outside and do it,” said the human.

They headed outside and gathered around Blaze.

“Give me a moment. Just need to bring one more friend who should not miss this.”

He performed a summoning jutsu that caused Spike to appear.

“Huh? What? Where am I?” the dragon asked as he was holding a blanket.

“Evening Spike. I brought you here because I think you will like this new jutsu. But first I need some material.” Blaze gather the chakra and said, “Wood Style. Wood Tower Jutsu.” A tower of wood stacked in a grid with around them rose from the ground. The others were wondering what the human and ponies were doing. “Ok, you might want to stand back so you don’t singe your hair.” They began to back up. Once again, he gathered the energy and perform different signs. Blaze then said, “Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!” Blaze. breathed fire onto the wood and set it a blaze.

“That was amazing! You can breath fire like me!” Spike said.

“I thought you might like it. It’s not true fire breathing, like a dragon. It’s channeling the chakra into my hands, force air through them, and ignite the energy.”

“Still, it was sweet to watch.”

Blaze turn back to the others. “What I did with my friends back on Earth is we set up a bonfire, like this, and just enjoyed it. Sometimes we cooked marshmallows and made s'mores.”

“Well, that was kind of ya to do this. I was definitely surprised with that fire coming out of your mouth,” Applejack said.

Blaze asked, “Does any of you know where we can get supplies to make s’mores?”

“I do!” replied Pinkie. She went over to a hollow tree and pulled out a bag that had all the supplies.

“Why did you keep that in there?”

“This is one of many emergency stashes for s'mores I have around Ponyville.”

“Anyway, pass them over and I will start making them.”

Pinkie gave Blaze the supplies and he went to work, cooking the marshmallows and assembling the treats. Each pony got one and loved the fluffy, chocolaty, morsel. They sat around the fire and told stories of funny things. Some were about something the human did.

They all laughed and enjoyed the time till the fire started to die out. Fluttershy fell asleep so Rainbow picked her up to take her to her cottage. The other ponies left on their own and said they had fun and would see him tomorrow. Blaze said goodbye as he used earth style to cover the fire embers with dirt.

The human entered his home and made the way upstairs. He got cleaned up with a warm shower. He put on a fresh set of gi clothes, the red with black trim. Blaze got into his new bed and went into his mind space. He needed some more practice with some of the jutsu styles. So, after a few hours of that, He exited to get some sleep.

As Blaze drifted off, he hoped that tomorrow would be quiet. He needed a nice, quiet day where nothing bad happens.

Author's Notes:

Been quite a while since I last posted. I'm going to try better to get these processed and re-post all the old chapters so I can finally get to the new material I want to put down.

Chapter 21: I Can Do Anything Better Than You

Swift Blaze woke up at his usual time for his training routine. After the jog, he went into a quick one-on-one sparring match with a clone. He only altered the weights on himself. The human increased them by ten pounds on each piece. The match went for an hour as the sun finished rising.

He went back into his home and cleaned himself up. When Blaze came back outside to head to town, he realized the market would not be open this early. Looking around, he saw the yard area needed some attention from the construction.

The human used his chakra to make a simple wooden fence around the front yard with a wood gate that was about body height of an average pony. Then, he created a stone path form from the gate to the steps of front door and around one side of the house to the back. Blaze moved to the back that was facing the forest. He thought about what should he have back here that would make him happy. One idea he liked was a zen garden. It would good and be useful to help maintain balance of oneself.

The first thing that went up was a taller fence in the back for privacy. Then, he channeled the energy to have a deck come out of the house. Rails formed around it and a staircase to the ground. The human had the stone path from the front continue to the staircase.

Satisfied with how that part looked, Blaze moved to the first feature for the yard. Something that would showcase water. He used Earth-style to create a small mound made of various rocks. Then a small, stone bed stream that would flow into the forest. With Water-style he was able to create a spring from underground that flowed into the rock mound. The clear liquid flowed from the top and down onto the stream bed path.

To showcase the air, Blaze thought it would be better to buy something in town instead of creating a bad tune of wind chimes. So, he moved onward to the earth element. He went down to the edge of the forest to create a rock garden. The human first created the outer frame to hold the sand in.He then forced some polished stones to come up from the ground. Finally, with Earth-style, he altered the ground to sand and have it make wave patterns. He noted he needed a sand rake as well, and would look for it in town.

Blaze headed back up to the house. With the stream going through the middle of the yard, he made a small bridge over it so he could work on the space for the last element, fire. With more Earth-style, he created a patio with a fire pit in the middle. Then for some flair, a couple gems that would sparkle from the light of the flames.

The human worked up a sweat again from using so much chakra, but was worth it. He cleaned up again and finally left his home and headed to town. After he stepped onto the road, he saw a familiar Unicorn coming up from town, Shiny Glass. She was pulling a wagon that looks to be carrying his order.

“Good morning, Mr. Blaze,” she said. “Here’s your order. Are you sure you don’t want me to install it? It won’t cost you bits, but I will take another form of payment.” The mare fluttered her eyelashes with a big smile.

“No, that’s ok,” he replied. “I can take care of that. I would prefer it that way so I can make any adjustments needed to make them fit.”

“If you’re going to do it now, may I watch you work?”

“Actually, I’m heading into town as I have some other errands I need to take care of. If you could, please place them next to the house and I’ll take care of them when I get back.”

“Alright. I look forward to seeing them in place so I can marvel at my creations.”

With that, Blaze walked away as the Unicorn started to unload her wagon. Once he was out of sight, he transformed into his pony form to not get rusty with it. Also to maybe not scare any ponies he hadn’t met yet when he bought food and some other items on his list that was growing.

As the stallion was approaching town, there was a crowd forming around a wagon that was not there yesterday. It felt very familiar to him. It was one thing he didn’t want to deal with. Blaze joined the crowd and found his friends were in the front.

He walked up next to them and asked, “Morning. What’s going on?”

“A travelling Unicorn mare came into town and says she’s the most powerful Unicorn in all of Equestria,” Applejack said.

Blaze thought, DAMMIT! Why did Trixie have to come today? I hope she is not as big of a showoff as she was on the show. “I would think Twilight is as her special talent is magic. We have all seen some of the magic she can do,” he replied.

“I would agree. Being powerful does not mean you can brag about it and show it off. You’re similar, Swift Blaze. Your abilities make you powerful, but you don’t go around and show off to everypony. Unless they ask you of course,” said the white mare.

“Thank you, Rarity. I believe with great power comes great responsibility. I use mine to protect my friends and all ponies.”

Spike and Twilight soon joined them as the wagon opened into a stage setup. A pony’s voice was broadcasting, trying to entice more ponies to come. There was a small puff of smoke and the light blue Unicorn mare appeared on stage, Trixie Lunamoon. She went on and started boasting about herself. The girls had a discussion of what they thought of the showoff pony, thinking she was better than others. Rainbow ranted how she was already better than anypony. The others glare at her, causing the blue Pegasus to retract her statement. Which she follows to boo Trixie.

“Well, well, well, it seems we have some neighsayers in the audience. Who’s so ignorant as to challenge the magical ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do they not know that they're in the presence of the most magical unicorn in all of Equestria?” asked Trixie.

Blaze shouted out, “I would not call you powerful. All I’ve seen so far are simple magic tricks.”

“What would a simple Earth pony know about magic?” Trixie replied as she looked at the red stallion.

“Plenty. I know several ponies who use their magic to help others instead of going around showing it off.”

Twilight comes up to him and whispered, “Blaze, what the hay are you thinking of doing?”

He replied back in whisper to the purple mare, “It’s alright, Twilight. Back in my world, we had magicians that used sleight of hand to create illusions. I know real magic exist here, but she's using the same concept.”

“Does the Earth pony need advice from a Unicorn?” the blue Unicorn asked. “I would understand if they realize they knew that the Great and Powerful Trixie has magic strong enough to vanquish the dreaded Ursa Major!”

Fireworks went off and several ponies ahhed at the sight. The mare went on telling the story of how she did it. Two small, Unicorn colts went to the front and tried to convince the crowd that Trixie is the most powerful. None of the other ponies made a sound of a cheer.

“Don't believe the Great and Powerful Trixie? Well then, I hereby challenge you, Ponyvillians -- anything you can do, I can do better. Any takers? Anyone? Hmm? Or is Trixie destined to be the greatest equine who has ever lived!?”

Not one pony first stepped up to take on the challenge. Trixie was able to entice Applejack to go first. Applejack showed off some rope tricks with her tail and snagged an apple from a nearby tree, catching it with her mouth. Trixie stepped it up by causing the rope to first act like a snake and then hogtied Applejack and placed an apple in her mouth.

Rainbow didn’t like how her friend was treated, so she went up next. She performed her move that caused a rainbow to appear just above her when the rain water caught up to her. Trixie took the rainbow and made Rainbow Dash go into a mini tornado with it. Trixie then had a small storm cloud appear and shock Rainbow’s flank.

Blaze had enough of this. He wanted to show this mare what an alien from another world could do. As the stallion was walking around to get up onto stage, Spike was trying to encourage Twilight on to go and show her magic off. Twilight didn’t want to do it as the other ponies were not liking how Trixie was showing her magic off. The others joined in saying it would love to see another Unicorn go against this Unicorn. Rarity spoke up stating she was getting the hint but will not go down to the level Applejack and Rainbow Dash behaved.

Trixie replied, “Ooo, what's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?”

That really steamed the white mare. She started to make her way up, but Blaze stopped her. “Hold up, Rarity,” he said. “This Unicorn has been enticing ponies on that she has a magic trick for. I think she already has something planned to mess up your mane. Allow me to step in and take your place.”

She replied, “You don’t have to do that, darling. I’m sure she’ll do nothing when up against my grace and beauty.”

“I would just hate to see any more of my friends get hurt or humiliated. Please, let me handle this,” he said and gave her the puppy-dog eyes.

“Ok, Blaze, you win. Just go and teach this mare a lesson.”

The red stallion made went on the stage and stood face-to-face with Trixie. She was amused that she could humiliate this Earth pony that ridicule her. Blaze couldn’t wait to see what she’ll think when she sees he isn’t a pony. The crowd started to cheer and chant his name.

“It seems this Earth pony has a few fans in the crowd. What makes you so special that you think you can do better than the Great and Powerful Trixie!” The blue Unicorn said as more fireworks went off.

The Earth pony just yawned at the spectacle as he wasn’t amused. This aggravated Trixie as she charged up her magic. She fired it at him, but he was able to dodge it. The stallion avoided several other shots with no issue. Trixie started to get a little tired from firing several spells at him and missing.

“Do you think I can show you why I know could go up against you?” Blaze asked with a smirk on his face.

“Go right ahead. Whatever you can do, the Great and Powerful Trixie will do better.”

The Earth pony got up onto his hind hooves. Placing his fore hooves behind him, he created weak energy balls. He brought them to the front and started to juggle them. The crowd started to cheer for me. “You ready to give this a shot?”

“Piece of cake. Toss them to the Great and Powerful Trixie.”

He tossed one energy ball to her. Once the Unicorn touched it with her magic, it exploded and covered Trixie in black sulfur. All the ponies laughed at the sight, and his friends were laughing quite hard. That made the mare angry, but her flushed coat was hidden beneath the explosive ash.

“In case you were wondering, these are not regular balls, they are ki energy balls.”

Blaze launched the rest into the air and let them explode. The crowd started to cheer for him more. Trixie used her magic to wipe herself off. Then channeled it to formed some bigger dark clouds than before and have them appear above the stallion.

“Let’s see how you handle being struck by lightning!”

Oh shit, he thought. Then the command to return the clothes to their original weight as the blue Unicorn continued to charge up her magic. As Blaze saw the lightning bolt forming to blast him, he moved out of the way at imperceptible speeds. He maneuvered to hover just above Trixie, laying down on his side with a hoof supporting his head.

From what the crowd and Trixie saw, it looked like the Earth pony got hit by the lightning. They all gasp after the flash when his body was not there. Trixie started to panic, probably thinking she just killed the stallion.

A few ponies started to quietly laugh when they saw him and how he was acting. Blaze made sure to stay above Trixie as she ran around the stage, looking for his body. After a minute or so of her running about, the stallion did a whistle sound to get the Unicorn’s attention. She looked at him and her mouth went wide open.

Blaze said, “Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!”

He flew down to the mare and stole a kiss from her while she was still in shock. The crowd of ponies went into an uproar of laughter. The stallion was bowing to them up in the air above the stage. Trixie was getting tired of hi santics so she used her magic quickly to tie him up and secure him to the stage.

“No more tricks and games! The Great And Powerful Trixie wants to know how a mere Earth pony is able to do all this magic!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Trixie, there is no reason for you to shout. I would have gladly explained.”

“The Great And Powerful Trixie does have the right for you have humiliated me! This has never happened in all my travels that an Earth pony especially has outdone me!”

“That’s the thing. My friends and the citizens of Ponyville already knew about me and my abilities. Seeing that you’re new, I shall explain why I can do these things. Basicly, I’m not a real pony.”

“THAT IS BULLSHIT! I would have detected illusion magic as I’m great with it!”

“That’s the other thing, I can’t use magic from this world. I will now show you my true form.”

Blaze released his form and broke the ropes that tied him up. He looked at Trixie as fear now was on her face. She quickly ran away as fast as her hooves could take her. The human thought that the mare was getting really afraid of what he might do next. He turned to the crowd as they started to clap their hooves together or stomped them on the ground.

“Thank you everyone. It seems the show is now over. See you all another time,” he said and then got off the stage.

“You really showed her, Blaze!” Rainbow said.

Applejack said, “You really know how to bring the laughter out of us with your jokes and antics.”

“It was nothing. I was just getting tired of her humiliating my friends. Now if you would excuse me, I’m a just a little hungry from my morning exercise.” His stomach clarified as it growled at him.

His friends laughed and left to take care of their own things. The human made his way to the diner to get some breakfast. He entered and took a seat at the bar. The waitress behind the bar came up to him.

“Good morning dear. Now what can I get ya?” she asked.

Blaze replied, “I’ll have a nice tall glass of orange juice. Actually, make that two. Um, three cheese and veggie omelettes, and a side fruit salad.”

“Coming right up.”

The mare left to go and enter the order. The human sat there and enjoyed the silence while he could get it. The other ponies in the diner were having their own conversation and enjoying their meals.

A pony came up and sat down next to him. “Good morning, Swift Blaze. Are you enjoying your time here in Ponyville?” the mare asked.

He turned his head to see who was talking. It was Mayor Mare. “Greetings. I am enjoying living here. Thank you again for getting Sparky and Mario to help with my house,” he replied.

“So, when are you going to finish your house?”

“It’s almost done. The last thing I need to do is install the windows, which were dropped off this morning. I finished the interior work yesterday and work a little bit on the yard this morning.”

“You definitely work fast. I might stop by later to see how it looks.”

“My friends have seen the house last night and they were speechless when they saw everything in the house.”

“Well, I’ll see you later. I see your food has arrived.”

The waitress placed the drinks and food in front of the human. They all looked and smelled great. So, he dug right into it. As Blaze was eating the delicious food, the doors to the diner burst open. He turned his gaze just enough to see who was barging in. It was a couple Royal Guard ponies entering with their armor on. By the looks on their faces, they were on duty. He hoped they were not looking for him.

“We’re looking for a pony named Swift Blaze. We received word that he entered this establishment,” one guard said.

Blaze did a mental facehoof to himself. Several ponies pointed to the human at the bar. He continued to eat his breakfast. The guards came up to him.

“Do you know where we can find this pony, sir?” the first guard asked.

“Yep,” he said in between bites.

“Mind telling us?” the second guard asked.

“Sure.”

“Well? Where is this Swift Blaze pony?” the first guard asked.

“First, Swift Blaze is not a pony. Second, I’m Swift Blaze.”

“Please, come with us,” the second guard said.

“Mind if I finish my breakfast and pay for my meal please? I’ll go with you quietly.”

The first guard replied, “You can finish your meal.”

“Mind I ask what this is about?”

The second guard replied, “You have been accused of doing forbidden magic and we have to detain you till everything is cleared.”

Blaze thought, Gee, I wonder who would accuse me of this as everyone I have met so far has liked me.

The human finished his meal and payed the bill with a nice tip. He was then escorted by the guards out of the diner. They took him to their guard house and placed Blaze in a jail cell where they tried to restrain him, physically and magically.

They tied his feet together and his hands together with rope. When it came time for the magic inhibitor, they did not know where to place the ring that would normally go on a Unicorn’s horn. The human indicated to place it on one of his fingers. Out of all the ones they could put it on, they slid it onto his middle finger. The guards left him in the jail cell.

Before they were gone, Blaze said, “Back on my world, I would normally be allowed a phone call to contact someone. Seeing as how you don't have that level of technology, could you go ask a pony to come here? Her name is Twilight Sparkle and she lives in the library that is in a tree.”

A guard nodded and left to go and get her. The human lay down on the bed in there as he waited. A guard banged on the cell to wake him up.

“Swift Blaze, you have a visitor,” the guard said.

“That was fast,” he said. “I didn’t expect you to get here so soon, Twilight.”

He looked through the cell bars and didn’t see the purple Unicorn there. This one was blue. She had a huge grin on her face. “Well, well, well, this looks like this is the proper place for a monster like you who impersonated as a pony,” she said.

Blaze replied, “I should have figured you would do something like this. You must get satisfaction when you humiliate ponies.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie always gets her way. Even if that is getting a pony into trouble. Enjoy rotting in jail.” Trixie turned to leave.

“Hey Trixie, before you go, I want to tell you something.” She turned back to face the human. He pointed his index finger out of the cell at the mare and sent another weak energy ball into her face. “I like you better like that.”

“Guard!” Trixie yelled. He came quickly. “I thought you restrained his magic? Look what it did.”

“We did,” he said as he pointed to the finger with the ring. Blaze show off his middle finger with it so she could easily see.

“Then how was it able to do this to my face?”

“I already told you Trixie, I don’t have access to the magic you ponies use. My energy sources are call ki and chakra which reside in my body.”

“THEN RESTRAIN THOSE!” Trixie shouted.

“We can’t. We don’t know how those work,” the guard said.

“How about I promise not to use them to break out of here or cause harm to a pony?” Blaze asked.

The blue Unicorn ran off as she needed to clean her face again. The guard left too, with a slight chuckle after she left. The human went back to the bed and waited for Twilight to show up. A few minutes later, she ran to the cell in a panic.

“Blaze, what happened! Why are you in jail?” Twilight asked.

He replied, “Trixie accused me for doing forbidden magic. I think this is her way of getting revenge for me showing her up on stage.”

“I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia right away to get this all cleared up.”

“I’m glad the guard was able to get you. I’ll wait here like a good human. You know I could easily break out of here if I wanted to.”

“I know. I hope Princess Celestia isn’t too busy so we can clear you of these charges.”

“Don’t worry about it. All I had planned today was get some food and other things for my home. I’ll take a nap while I wait.”

Twilight left quickly to start the letter. Blaze went back to the bed to enter his mind space. In there, he look at the different types he could work one. One was lightning, which could have been useful this morning. He sent a few clones to start working on that.

Next on the list was healing jutsu, a very advanced technique. With him learning many combat style, he need to also get onto some support ones. The first one was to use chakra to increase the heal rate of an area of the body where the hands are over it. Blaze sent more clones to work on this in pairs.

After several hours, the world in his mind shook like an earthquake. He released all the clones in there and woke up in the real world. The human saw it was dark outside. He then saw a guard curled up in a corner just outside of his cell.

“Guard, what is going on?” Blaze asked.

“It’s an Ursa attack!” he said in a scared voice.

Blaze shouted, “THEN GET ME OUT OF HERE! I CAN HELP!”

“I can’t. I have orders to keep you in there until everything has been straightened out.”

“So, you would have the town get destroyed just to keep me in here? Just so you said you followed your orders. You are not even out there trying to stop it!”

“I’m scared that it will eat me.”

“Grow a set of balls. In case you are wondering, I chose to stay in here.” Blaze broke the rope restraints. “Now then, you can stay cowered in that corner while I go save the town.”

The human teleported out of there before the guard could do anything to stop him. He appeared outside and quickly looked around for the Ursa. it wasn’t hard to spot as it was in the town center. Blaze flew towards it and focused his chakra in flight. Once there, he performed the hand signs and shouted, “Wood Style, Creature Restraint Jutsu!”

The human held his position in the air as wood beam came out of the ground and started to wrap around the creature and pull it to the ground. It started to resist and began to break some of the wood. Blaze did some other hand signs and shouted, “Wood Style! Maximum Restraint Jutsu!”

The wood grew in size and pulled the creature back down. His chakra was draining quickly as he was trying to maintain the jutsu. In the corner of his eye, he saw Twilight running to the scene.

“Blaze, what are you doing!” Twilight shouted to me.

“I’m restraining the Ursa so it won’t do any more damage!” he shouted. “I don’t know how much longer I can maintain this jutsu!”

“Don’t hurt it! It’s only an Ursa Minor, not an Ursa Major!”

“I KNOW THAT! Just do something to calm it down. I know you can do it!”

Twilight channeled her magic and created a breeze over by the nearby pond. This caused several cattails to break and play musical notes that were calming the Ursa Minor down.

Blaze sofly said, "It's working, Twilight.”

The purple Unicorn then pushed herself to lift the water tower container nearby. She levitated over to where the cows were sleeping. It entered one side of the barn empty and came out on the other side, filled with milk. The top went back on.

Doing one more jutsu, the human said softly, "Wood Style. Creature Carriage Jutsu."

The wood that was restraining the Ursa released and changed to a carriage that could support it. Twilight brought the now creature the impromptu bottle, filled with milk, to the Ursa's mouth. It grabbed it and began to nurse from it. Blaze channeled his chakra to spin the wheels to bring the creature back to the EverFree Forest and back into the cave where it came from.

The human flew back down to the ground where Twilight was. He saw his other friends had shown up, as well a good-size crowd. They were cheering to Twilight and him. When he landed, a pony tackled him from behind.

"That was amazing, Blaze! You went right up to that Ursa with no fear!" Pinkie said while on his back.

"Thanks, Pinkie. Would you mind getting off so I can stand back up again?" he asked.

Pinkie Pie hopped right off and the human stood back up.

"Twilight told us you were in jail after she sent Princess Celestia a letter explaining what happened. Did she have you released?" Rarity asked.

"I actually just teleported out of there when I heard a creature was attacking Ponyville."

"Aw Yea! No jail could hold you, Blaze." Rainbow Dash said.

"They’re suppose to give magical creatures a ring that would inhibit their use of magic." Twilight said.

“Luckily I don’t use magic. Didn't feel a thing,” said Blaze as he pointed to the ringer still on him.

"Were you afraid of that Ursa, Blaze?" Fluttershy asked in her soft voice.

"I was afraid of it eating me. But I was more afraid it was going to hurt my friends."

The crowd of ponies did an aww after hearing that. A light blue Unicorn came bursting through the crowd and shouted, "How did you escape that jail? No pony can escape with that ring inhibitor on them."

The human again gave Trixie his middle finger that still has the ring on it. "You don't listen do you. Listen carefully. I HAVE NO MAGIC!"

"It’s your fault he was in jail in the first place. I should buck you to the next town!" said the orange Earth pony.

"She’s not worth it, Applejack,” said Blaze. “Word will spread how she lied about defeating an Ursa Major when she could not handle an Ursa Minor."

All of a sudden, several Royal Guards rushed through the crowd and surrounded the human. He thought, Really? You do this now? Even after I help save it. I get no respect from these guard.

“Halt, escaped prisoner! You have nowhere to run,” a guard said.

“You can’t arrest him! He just saved all of us! He is a hero!” A pony shouted from the crowd.

The others agreed and shouted several other things. Blaze looked to see where the blue Unicorn was. She wasn’t there anymore. He looked above the other ponies’ heads and saw her running out of town.

“Everyone, please settle down. These guards are only doing their duty as I did escape from custody. I was planning on returning one the crisis was taken care of,” the human said.

“But this is all wrong! You shouldn’t have to do this because you were falsely accused,” Twilight replied.

“I may have been, but I did escape and I need to pay for that crime. I’ll see you all later.”

“That will not be necessary,” a pony from behind Blaze said. The crowd turned around and saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepping off their royal carriage. Everyone bowed to them. “You may rise, my subjects,” Princess Celestia said.

They all did. Blaze said, “It’s good to see you again Princess Celestia, Luna.”

“I’m sorry I could not come sooner. I was in important meetings all day and could not step away,” said the white Alicorn.

“It’s not your fault, Princess. Just a showoff pony did not like being shown up. Nothing bad came of it.”

“I’m glad. Lieutenant, Swift Blaze has not done forbidden magic as he cannot use magic. He has my royal pardon from the charges and from freeing himself.”

“As you wish, your highness,” the guard pony said. The armored ponies stood down and went back to attention stance.

“I was actually planning to come and see you this evening. I wanted to inform you in three days, starting tomorrow, you’ll need to come to Canterlot take part in the Royal Guard training,” Princess Luna said.

“Wait, so four days from now is the beginning of the month? Mind I ask which month?”

The blue Alicorn replied, “It will be August, Blaze.”

The human looked down to his finger tips as he touched his thumb to each finger tip in some pattern. “Well, that’s interesting and funny,” he said.

“What is so funny darling?” Rarity asked.

“If the first of August is in four days, that would make today July twenty-eighth. I arrived here on the eighteenth it seems which is also my birthday.”

“I MISSED CELEBRATING YOUR BIRTHDAY? I NEED TO THROW YOU ONE RIGHT AWAY!” the pink Earth pony shouted.

“Hold a second there, Pinkie. The reason I didn’t think about is when I left my world, it was December twenty-first. I won’t blame you for missing my birthday as you did not know when it was. You can throw me a very big one next year.”

“Okie. Dokie. Lokie.” Pinkie Pie said and hopped away.

“Umm, someone might want to catch me soon,” said Blaze. “I feel the adrenaline I was having from the Ursa wearing off. I think it’s time for me to go nighty night.” The human fell backwards as blackness filled his vision.

Author's Notes:

Here's the next chapter. More on the way later.

Chapter 22: Auntie Em, Auntie Em . . .

Author's Notes:

Finally another chapter has been posted. Sorry for the delay. I do want to finish correcting what I had wrote so I can get into new content. Enjoy what's to come.

When Swift Blaze woke up sometime later, he found himself in a hospital bed. He wondered how long he was out. The human looked around the room and saw that no other pony was in there.

As he tried to get up, a sharp pain throbbed in his head. Blaze took a wild guess that no one made it in time to catch him as he blacked out. He soon noticed that his gi was on a chair over in the corner. The human quickly looked under the cover and saw his undergarments were still on his body. As he breathed a sigh of relief, the door to the room opened. He saw the six ponies step in. Smiles appeared on their faces as they saw he was looking at them.

“Morning, Blaze. Glad to see you’re finally awake,” Twilight said.

Blaze replied, “Morning everyone. How long was I out?”

“Just the night, darling,” said Rarity. “We took you here after you collapsed. Wanted to make sure that you were ok.”

“Yea, the only pain I feel right now is in the back of my head. Guess no pony made it in time to catch me.”

“Sorry about that,” said the blue Pegasus, “You surprised us how quickly you went unconscious.”

“It’s alright, the pain will go away soon. Mind if we get out of here? I feel like I haven’t eaten for at least for a week.” His stomach let loose a loud growl.

“A week?” asked Applejack. “With that noise, I would have guessed a month.”

They all laughed. Blaze was about to get out of bed when he realized that he was just in his undergarments. “Um, mind if I ask how I got undressed? I’m pretty sure my clothing still had the weight modifier activated.”

“It did,” said Twilight. “It took me and Rarity just to get that heavy top piece off after we teleported you here. The others took the hoof bands off you.”

The orange Earth pony said, “You weren’t joking that you released a heavy emotional weight after so many years. That hoof band almost made me fall face first into the floor when I pulled it off ya.”

He blushed as he asked, “Um, did anyone decide to remove anything else?

The yellow Pegasus replied, “None of us removed your undergarments. Rainbow was about to, but we stopped her. We respect your reasons as to why humans wear clothes all the time.”

“Thank you girls. Now then, if you could please leave the room, I’ll get dressed so I can get out of here. Don’t feel like scarfing down hospital food.”

They all giggled and left, closing the door behind them. The human got out of bed and put his gi back on with no issue. Thinking about it, he could have some fun with this if he tossed a hoof band and altered the weight.

Once he was all set, Blaze left the room and saw the mares were waiting outside. He waved goodbye to the nurses and doctors as he left the hospital. They nodded to him with a smile on their faces.

The group made their way to a café for some lunch as it was around noon time. They took a table outside as it was a lovely day. A waiter came and took our drinks and food orders. The ponies soon discussed the things that happened yesterday.

“We saw you really enjoyed your antics yesterday. When you were showing off against that Trixie,” Rainbow Dash said.

Blaze replied, “Like I said before, I didn’t like how she was humiliating my friends. So I turned it around so she got a taste of her own medicine.”

The purple Unicorn said, “I still hate the fact she had you thrown into jail under false accusations.”

“She just never knew how I was doing what I was doing. If you never knew me and you saw an Earth pony doing what I was doing, would you think I somehow performed forbidden magic?”

Twilight was thinking hard on the question. After a few minutes, she said, “I can see how a pony would think that about an Earth pony. Luckily, you can’t do all your chakra jutsu while in pony form. That would really scare the ponies that don’t really know you.”

The human wanted to perform jutsu in pony form. But he hadn’t figured out the method needed to mimic hand signs. He decided to look into this further.

The blue Pegasus asked, “So what did you do while in the slammer, Blaze?”

“Trixie visited to gloat. But I gave her another black dusting on her face before she left. I then just took a nap to enter my mind space to learn some more jutsu.”

“REALLY! WHAT DID YOU LEARN? CAN YOU SHOW US?” the mare shouted with excitement.

“Calm yourself. l’ll show one move, but you have to guess the last element I haven't learned yet.”

“Aw man, I hate taking tests. Any hints?”

“I have learned four of the the five basic elements. The last one will definitely surprise you.”

The mares were thinking of what the last one could be. Out of any of them Blaze guessed that Twilight would probably come up with the answer first.

“OH! I KNOW! IT’S LIGHTNING!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

The human didn’t see that coming. He replied, “She’s correct. The last basic element was lightning. It’s one of the most dangerous as you know what lightning can do. This move I’m about to show is dangerous so please don’t disrupt my concentration.”

He did the hand signs, then held held his right hand out while bracing it with the left. Blaze said, “Lightning Style! Chidori!” His hand was engulf in white light as small lightning bolts was sparking from it. The sound of a thousand birds was coming from it as it did from the show. Before loosing it, the human absorbed the chakra back into himself.

The mares were amazed that he could harness something that can be so dangerous. “Boy howdy, that might have have been useful yesterday morning when Trixie sent that lightning at ya,” said Applejack. “You could have sent it back to her.”

“I might have been able to. But, if I did, my chakra would have amplified it. The simple shock could have caused serious harm. The best course of action was sending it back to the clouds.”

“You really do care about not wanting to hurt anypony. Even though that Trixie should have been punished a little more,” the white Unicorn said.

“I’m surprised to hear that from you, Rarity. Yes, I could have harmed her and sent her to the hospital. But then, the other ponies might start to fear me and of my powers. I would rather gain their trust and give them laughter instead of that.”

“I now see why you acted that way. It was uncouth of me to think like that.”

“It’s alright.”

Their food arrived and ate it down. Blaze had several dishes, as he was starving. He believed he was getting the appetite of Goku. Soon, meals are going to be expensive when he ate out. They finished the meal and paid for what they ate.

Fluttershy asked, “So, what are your plans for the rest of the day Blaze?”

“Well, I still have to do some shopping in the market,” replied Blaze. “Plans were kinda put on hold from dealing with what happened yesterday.”

“Would you like me to help you with your shopping? You helped me with mine and sounds like you have several things you need to buy.”

“I appreciate that. Thank you, Fluttershy.”

The yellow Pegasus and the human made their way to the market. They visited almost every food cart and stand. After each purchase, Blaze created a clone to take them back to the house right away. He was buying a bushel of almost every veggie he liked, the same with fruit. The human also bought several bags of rice, as he planned to have it with almost every dinner.

Fluttershy offered him some of her chicken’s eggs and some fish, knowing that a human needed protein. Blaze thanked her for her generosity. When we came to Applejack’s apple cart, the mare gave him several bushels of apples, free of charge, for helping her out on the farm. He thanked her for them.

Once the shopping for the other items was done, the human offered the yellow mare to come over for dinner. He said he’d be making his stir fry again. She replied that she would like that and would bring over the eggs and fish when she does. They parted ways as she went to her cottage and Blaze went to his home on the hill.

His clones had already put the food away where they could and put the rest in the basement. It was acting like a fridge down there with all that stone. They took the initiative and made a walk-in fridge and freezer out of different stones. They also took care of installing the windows across the house.

The human started to prepare the meal by sharpening his new knife set for the kitchen. He got the rice cooking and chopped the veggies for the stir fry. As Blaze was cutting, there was a knock at the front door. He set the knife down, walked to the front, and opened to see who was here. Fluttershy was standing there with her saddle bags full.

“Hi Blaze. Hope Im not too early,” the mare said.

“Of course not,” he replied. “Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Are those the eggs and fish in the saddle bags?”

“Yes they are. Hope I brought enough.”

“It’s more than enough. Thank you again for offering me the fish you have for your animals.”

“It’s no trouble.”

Blaze took the Pegasus’s bags and brought them to the kitchen. He stored the contents in the fridge where he had room. He went back to preparing the veggies and some fish.

As the human was cutting, he asked, “Fluttershy, would you like something to drink?”

She replied, “Some water would be nice.”

Blaze got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water. He brought it to her where she was sitting in the living room. The human went back to cooking. First dish to make was the stir fry rice as he now had the eggs. He then brought out two skillets to cook the fish in one and the veggies in the other. Once everything was cooked, he plated the food and brought it to the table.

“Dinner’s ready,” he said.

Fluttershy got up from the living room and joined him at the dining table. “Blaze, this smells as delicious as last time,” she said. “You really do know how to cook.”

“Years of practice. The first several tries resulted in conditions of," he cleared his throat, "frequent bathroom visits. I did finally get cooking down and now can make dishes like these that I like.”

They ate the rest of the meal in silence as they savour the flavor. Blaze was enjoying eating meat again. Once everything was down in their stomachs, he gathered the dishes and brought them to the kitchen.

“Please, Blaze, you shouldn’t have to clean the dishes. Allow me.”

“Fluttershy, you are my first guest I've had over for dinner. Please enjoy yourself. It won’t take long. I do want to show you something once I get done.”

The mare nodded and went into the living room and waited. The human got the dishes cleaned up and put away in no time. He entered the living room saw her sitting on one of the cushions.

“What I want to show you is in my backyard. I think you’ll like it.”

Blaze took the yellow Pegasus to the back door and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she saw the finished backyard. The sun was setting and was adding a nice orange tint to the garden. They walked out onto the deck so Fluttershy could get a better look. She looked at everything the human had created the previous day. The mare had a big smile on her face.

“Blaze, this is beautiful,” she said. “I never knew you were this creative with your ability.” A small tear fell from her eye.

“I created this so I had a place I can retreat to if I ever get unbalanced again. This is called a Zen garden back on my world. It’s designed to restore order and balance to oneself.”

“Blaze, I’m sure you won't ever have to worry about getting that way again. It was a memory from your past that caused you to act out.”

“You’re wrong, Fluttershy. The memory brought back the pain that I received. I went to the castle to be alone and let my emotional state run out. I didn’t change into . . . that enraged thing until the Timberwolves showed up. They didn't leave me alone to deal with my state. I never wanted to act like that way ever again.”

“I don’t blame you for killing those Timberwolves. You were only defending yourself. Like I said before, I was glad you didn’t get hurt. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for what you did.”

Blaze moved over to the fire pit and lit it up with a quick fire jutsu. He stared into the fire as the yellow mare came over next to him.

“That’s just it. I don’t hate myself for what I did, I hate myself because I enjoyed it. That part of me is in every human. Anger, rage, and the enjoyment of killing. Yes, I killed them to protect myself. But, I could have easily killed you all when you showed up.”

“But you didn’t. You still had the good inside of you and that stopped you from hurting us. Please stop hating yourself Blaze. You’re a good human and how you dealt with that Ursa yesterday proves it.”

“Thank you Fluttershy. I wanted to show you this because you brought me back to myself that night. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t.”

"I was glad my STARE was able to reach the good you. I’ve never done that to a friend. I didn’t want you to get hurt anymore, or possibly hurt our friends. Promise me that I won't ever have to do that again."

"I promise. Now let me get some cushions from inside so we can enjoy the fire."

Fluttershy accepted the offer. Blaze went back inside and got the cushions. He placed them by the fire pit. The human sat down, indian style, on one. The Pegasus went to the other, but sat close enough to him so she could lean against his body. He wrapped one arm around her to keep her close. They watched the fire dance away and causing the gems to glimmer.

The human didn’t notice how much time has gone by. He looked to Fluttershy and saw she'd fallen asleep. The mare had a smile on her face as she slept. Blaze didn’t want to wake her, so they stayed that way the entire night. He used his wood jutsu to keep the fire going. At some point, he too fell asleep.

When the human woke up, it was just before dawn, as usual. But, as Fluttershy was still leaning against him, he couldn’t leave without waking her. Luckily, Blaze could make a clone to take care of the morning training. And that is what he did, as his copy left, it restarted the fire and added more wood. Soon, the sun was up. The light from it flickered into the mare’s eyes, causing her to slowly wake up.

"Morning sleepyhead," Blaze said when she looked at him.

Fluttershy let out a tiny scream as she jumped up from the cushion. "I’m so sorry Blaze for falling asleep like that,” the Pegasus said. “I was so comfortable that I dozed off. This has never happened before. I’ll leave right away."

"Fluttershy, calm down. I didn’t mind it. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn’t want to disturb you. Let's go inside and I’ll make some breakfast."

They headed inside and the human began to cook up some scramble eggs and cut up some fresh fruit. Fluttershy went to the living room to wait till breakfast was ready. While she waited, his clone came through the front door. The mare had a confused look on her face.
"Blaze, I thought you were in the kitchen?" she asked.

"I probably still am," he replied.

"Huh?"

"This morning, before dawn, the original Blaze you were sleeping against made a clone, that's me. I left to do the normal morning exercises."

"Ah, I keep forgetting your shadow clones can act by themselves."

"If you would excuse me, I need to let the other me know about something I agreed to this morning."

With that, the clone disappeared and Blaze received his memories. He continued to cook the eggs as he reviewed what my clone did. The human dished up the food and brought it to the table. He informed Fluttershy that it was ready and she joined him at the table.

“So, what did your clone do while exercising this morning?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’ll start when he left the house.”

-------- Early this morning --------

The Blaze clone left the house and began his jog to Ponyville town square and back. He returned to the front yard and worked on his Taijutsu fighting style. As the human was doing them for a couple hours, he heard a young voice calling his name.

“Morning Swift Blaze!” The young pony voice said.

He turned and see Apple Bloom coming up the road from the farm. He figured the filly must be going to school.

“Morning Apple Bloom. You heading to learn more things today with your friends?” he asked.

“Sure am! Miss Cheerilee is going to be teaching us about different cutie marks that ponies get. I told her about you, and she'd like you to sit in and answer questions about yours,” the filly said.

“That will be difficult as I’m not a pony. Plus, I didn’t get to know about mine the normal way.”

“That’s why she wants you to come. The other fillies didn’t believe I was friends with the human. Also that he was able to get a cutie mark. You just have to come!”

The Earth pony stared at the human with big puppy dog eyes. Blaze couldn’t resist saying no to her face. He figured it would also be a good time for them to see they didn’t need to fear him.

“Alright, I’ll come to your school. Please, stop giving me that look. I’ll be along shortly. Just need to get cleaned up after my morning exercise.”

Apple Bloom was excited that he accepted. She quickly left and continued on to school.

-------- Back to the present --------

“And that’s when my clone came into the house and chatted with you,” said Blaze.

“Sounds like you should get going before you’re late for the bell. This time, I’ll clean the dishes as you have a promise to keep,” Fluttershy said.

The human quickly finished breakfast and headed upstairs to shower and change clothes. He went with the black with white trim gi as the only other clean one was full black. He guessed that he’ll need to do laundry soon as he didn’t want to be running around in his undergarments. Once the was cleaned and dressed, Blaze thought about his pony form. He wasn’t sure if it too was cleaned when the human form was. He decided to not chance it when meeting the children.

He changed into his pony form, undressed, washed himself over the best he could, and got dressed again. Blaze was struggling with the pants, being all hoof. He thought about it and decided to keep them off. It wasn’t that odd as hardly any ponies wears pants, except for very fancy functions. Though most don’t wear anything at all, he could never go that far. Plus the fact that he needed the enchanted clothing he wore to move around normally.

The red stallion headed downstairs and said goodbye to Fluttershy. Not wanting to waste anymore time, he flew off to the school. He recalled where it was from Twilight’s tour. Blaze landed out of sight and finished heading to the school on hoof. As he made his way to the building, he saw all the young ponies were playing outside and chatting among themselves. Apple Bloom was talking to two fillies. The yellow filly seemed she was not liking the conversation.

The bell rang and the stallion saw Miss Cheerilee step outside and called her class to come inside. They all do and he continued his trot to the school. The teacher was about to close the door when Blaze caught her attention.

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” he said.

“Good morning, um . . .” the mare asked.

“My name is Swift Blaze. Apple Bloom asked me to come as you were going to talk about cutie marks today.”

“Ah yes, Swift Blaze. I was actually expecting to see your human form. Why are you here in this form?”

“I didn’t want to scare the young fillies and colts first thing.”

“I think that was a good idea. Come along so I can start the lesson.”

They went inside and the stallion closed the door behind them.

“Alright, class. Settle down as we have an important lesson to cover and a special guest to help with it,” Miss Cheerilee said to her students.

All the kids quieted down. Blaze saw Apple Bloom with a big grin on her face. She was happy that he came. He looked around and saw the other ponies with wondering looks at him, trying to figure out who he was. Snips and Snails were looking at the stallion for a little bit. Their eyes went big when they recognized him. But, the colts kept quiet so they did not get into trouble.

“Allow me to introduce you to, Swift Blaze.”

“Hello class. I’m sure some of you recognize me around town. I can go into more about me when Miss Cheerilee finishes her lesson. If that’s alright with her of course.”

“Please, Miss Cheerilee?” Apple Bloom asked with the big pony eyes, again.

“But of course. Now then, class, today we are going to go over cutie marks. Can you all see my and Swift Blaze’s cutie marks?” They all nodded their heads. “Like all ponies, I didn’t always have mine, my flank was blank,” Cheerilee said as she showed them a young picture of her.

Cheerilee continued telling the story of how she had received her and what it symbolized to her. Blaze watched the class as they paid attention. He then saw Diamond Tiara trying to get Apple Bloom’s attention. He recalled what the filly was planning to do from the episode and didn’t like it. A small change shouldn’t affect any future events.

So, the stallion quietly released the weight modifiers on his clothes. He waited for the right moment. As Diamond Tiara was beginning to pass the note, Blaze moved within a half a second and took the blank piece of paper from her and returned back to where he was. Diamond Tiara was confused where the paper went. She went and retrieve another one from her desk and began to pass it.

“Diamond Tiara! Are you passing a note?” Cheerilee asked.

The filly replied, “No, Miss Cheerilee,” while acting all innocent.

Blaze said, “Then can you explain this one I snagged from you?” He revealed it on his hoof.

“How did you . . .” Diamond Tiara started to say.

“So, you were passing notes. See me after class, Diamond Tiara,” the purple mare said.

Apple Bloom was happy that she did not get caught in that trap. Cheerilee came up to me and whispered, “Thank you for catching her in the act. I don’t know why she likes to pick on the others, especially Apple Bloom.”

Blaze whispered back, “Probably because Apple Bloom doesn’t have a cutie mark. So, Diamond Tiara thinks she’s better than her because of it.” He revealed the note to her and showed it was blank. “I think she was going to make a joke about Apple Bloom not having her cutie mark.”

“Thanks for letting me know. How wereyou able to determine this from just meeting the children for the first time?”

“Back when I was young, I was the one picked on. So I know what to look for.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Cheerilee turned to the class and said, “I think we should now hear about how Swift Blaze got his cutie mark.”

The kids cheered for it, except for Diamond Tiara as she didn’t like the stallion getting her in trouble. He got up and stood in front of the class.

“Well then, let me start by saying I didn’t get my cutie mark until much later. Probably the oldest than anyone else has ever gotten there. There’s a reason for that. I’m not actually a pony.” Blaze released his jutsu and returned to his human body. “I’m the human that came to Equestira just over a week ago.”

Most of the kids gasped at his human body. The few that didn’t just smiled. “Back on my world, no human ever receives these cutie cutie marks.”

“Then how do they know what their special talent is?” Twist said.

He replied, “We go to school to learn the basics of life, like how you are. Then we went to higher education to learn skills that we like to do or to do for a job we wanted to have. Some didn’t have a choice in what job they wanted if they wanted to survive.”

“That sounds awful,” a filly in the back of the classroom said.

“It was. I won’t go into details about the lifestyle there. Now, back onto topic, exactly how can a human get cutie mark? Do any of you know a pony name Twilight Sparkle?” Several of them raised their hooves. “Well, when I first arrived, only a select few knew I came here. I had to wait for Princess Celestia to introduce me to your town. But, I wanted to see the town before the event. Plus I didn’t want to be cooped up inside someplace. I just couldn’t go out in my human form. Twilight had used her magic to turn me into a pony and that’s when I found about my cutie mark. When I changed back, it stayed on me in my human form.”

Blaze lifted his sleeve and pointed to it.

“What does that symbol mean?” Silver Spoon asked.

“The symbols is called the yin and yang symbol. What it stands for is the belief I have for balance and that can be anything. From sun and moon, good and evil, harmony and chaos, and right and wrong. Everything needs to be in balance, not just the body and mind, but everything in nature and in space. I hold true to this belief ever since I started my martial arts training as a child.”

“You know how to beat up others?” Cheerilee asked.

“That’s not correct. I know how to defend myself and others I care for. I never start the conflicts.”

“Can you show us some of your moves?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It will have to be outside where I have more room to do it, and only if Miss Cheerilee is ok with it.”

“I’d like to see it myself. Alright class, the rest of the lesson will be done outside.”

They all cheered and quickly made their way outside. Cheerilee and Blaze followed them. The kids gathered in a half circle. The human stood the front and the purple mare stayed in the back.

“Ok, before I can demonstrate some martial art moves, I’m going to have to explain some other things I can do. Back on my world, we didn’t have anything like the magic you have here, humans have no sense of magic. So what I’m about to show it's not a magic spell. I’m a unique human that has other abilities that look like magic when I do them. They allowed me to change into my pony form whenever I want.”

Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and made another of himself. The colts and fillies all screamed when they saw the other human. Apple Bloom stayed calm as she had already seen it. He realized his demonstration was going to take a while.

“Please, calm down. This is called a jutsu and uses chakra to activate that resides in my body,” he said.

“That’s forbidden magic! The Great and Powerful Trixie said so!” Snips said.

“This isn’t magic, I can’t use magic. I use chakra and hand signs to do jutsu,” Blaze’s clone said in a little angry tone.

“You don’t need to be mean to the colt. He has only seen magic before. So, this is all new to him,” the original human said.

The clone replied, “But, Trixie was the one that had us get locked up in jail because we showed her up.”

“True, but Princess Celesita did pardon us. Plus we did have fun teaching her a lesson.”

The class was giggling as Blaze was arguing with himself. “Wait, what were we going to do?” his clone asked.

“I can’t remember, do any of you children know?” The original asked them.

Apple Bloom replied, “You were going to show some of your fancy martial arts moves.”

“That’s right, shall we begin, me?”

“Let's.”

They walked away from the children a little bit for some more room. Both humans went into a fight stance. When each moved in for the attack, each Blaze stayed slow so they could see all the hits and blocks. The humans only did this for a few minutes and then stopped in their tracks. The original Blaze released his clone and turned to the kids.

“Did you enjoy the show?” he asked.

They cheered and clapped their hooves together.

“Are there other jutsu you can do?” A colt asked.

“There are. If I had to guess the number I have learned so far, I would say at least a hundred and they can be used for different situations. One thing I noticed you did not have here is some playground equipment for when you go on recess. Let this be a gift to you Miss Cheerilee and for your students.”

Blaze headed to the back of the school and found an some empty space. The ponies followed and stayed behind him. Thinking about what he wants to create, it will require a lot of chakra. Just not the big amount that his house needed. He was doing lots of different hand signs. Then, shouted, “Multi Element Style! Playground Creation Jutsu!”

The ground shook a bit as the human pulled in several elements at once. Wood style came first and made a border of where everything was going to go. It then formed a jungle gym and playground fort. The last was the structure for a short climbing wall. Earth style came next and created a slide attached to the fort first. The slide part showed up as a polished and smooth stone. Blaze then made very colorful sea-saws out of a durable stone. With the last part, he had sand rise up from the ground in the boxed area.

Once it was done, the human collapsed to one knee as he caught his breath. He quickly got back up and turned around. The kids' faces were showing pure happiness at their new play equipment.

“Well, are you just going to stand there and look at it or are you going to go and play?” he asked.

It didn’t even take a second before the fillies and colts ran to the new playground. Cheerilee came up to Blaze as they watched the children having fun.

“That was a very generous gift you gave them. I don’t know how I can repay you,” she said.

“Seeing them happy is all I need. I wanted to show that they don’t have to fear me and they can come to me when there is trouble.”

“I saw what you did at Applejack’s ceremony and that was fun to watch.”

“I’m going to head out and get some lunch. If you need anything, let me know.”

The purple mare nodded and headed to watch the children. The human left and made his way to the cafe. He found a table outside and pulled up a chair that was leaning by the building. He saw Lyra come out and head towards him.

“Good afternoon, Blaze. You look exhausted,” the Unicorn said.

“I feel like it,” he replied. “Apple Bloom asked me to go to the schoolhouse to talk about my cutie mark and one thing led to another. Soon enough, I was building them a playground behind the school with my jutsu.”

“They must be loving it. You really do have a big heart for us ponies.”

“They were when I left. I just love how peaceful this world is. It’s the complete opposite from my world.”

“Sorry to hear that your world was so awful. Anyway, what will you be having today?”

“I think I will have the fruit salad and grilled veggies. Also three glasses of water.”

“Good choice, I’ll be back with your water.”

Lyra headed inside while Blaze watched other ponies in the town square going about their day. He saw several Pegasus were moving clouds in. He wondered if they were going to make it rain. The human quickly looked around for a certain blue Pegasus to see if she was working. He soon found her plugging a hole with a cloud.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Blaze shouted to her.

The mare looked around to see who called her, She then saw the human waving to her and flew down. “Hi Blaze, what’s up?” she asked.

“Well, you were just up.”

Rainbow started to laugh at the joke. “Oh Blaze, you are a riot. You really know how to tickle my funny bone.”

“You mean this bone?”

The human tickled at the bone’s location. The Pegasus laughed louder and fell from where she was hovering. He continued to tickle the spot as the mare was kicking about on her back.

“Blaze, please stop it. I need to breath,” Rainbow said while laughing.

He did and allowed her to regain her composure. “Getting back to what I called you, is it going to rain soon?”

“Yea, the weather team scheduled for a thunderstorm for this afternoon. Suppose to be a good one.”

Blaze nevered liked it when they said that about storms. It would usually cause them to become worse. “Well, I better get to my home soon.” The Unicorn came out with his drinks. “Lyra, sorry to do this, but can you make my order to go? I want to get home before the light show starts.”

“Sure thing. I’ll bring the check as well,” the mare said as she headed back inside.

Blaze turned back to the blue mare, “Rainbow, I know you Pegasi control the weather. How do the other ponies know what the weather is going to be?” he asked.

“Each day, the Equestrian Daily post today’s weather forecast for each town.”

“Where do I get a copy?”

“It get’s delivered each morning to every home.”

“By who?”

“A grey Pegasus named Ditzy Hooves.”

Blaze had a feeling it was her. “Ok, guess I should tell her where my house is so I can get a copy.”

All of a sudden, Blaze hear a faint sound from a pony. “Look out below!”

He looked up and see a certain grey pony coming in hot. The human got up and quickly performed a jutsu as he shouted, “Water Style! Dense Cloud Jutsu!”

He formed a cloud in front of them that was in the path of the gray Pegasus. He finished just before she collided with it. Blaze held onto the cloud as he slid back a bit from the impact.

Ditzy looked herself over for damage and realize she landed on a cloud. “How did this get here?” she asked.

The human replied, “I formed it to catch you. You're not injured, are you, Ditzy?”

“That’s probably one of the comfiest landings I’ll ever get. Nice job forming the cloud.”

“Thank you, why were you dive-bombing so fast?”

“I had to find you and thank you.”

“Thank me for what?”

“For the playground you made at the schoolhouse. My daughter came home on my lunch break and told me everything. She really loves it.”

“That’s nice. What is your daughter’s name?”

“Her name is Dinky Hooves, but I call her my little muffin.”

Dash was making the expression like she was going to gag. Blaze shot her a stern look and she stopped and flew back to finish getting the storm ready.

Blaze said, “You might want to head inside soon as the weather Pegasi are making a good storm from the looks of it. Also, could you put me on the list to get the newspaper in the morning? I was going to be out in this storm if I hadn't asked Rainbow about what was going on with all the clouds.”

Ditzy replied, “Sorry about that. You’ll get one in the morning. Where’s your home?”

“It’s the new one just outside of town with the outer walls made of stone on top of the hill.”

“That is a nice house, but I don't recall seeing it there last week.”

“That’s because I built it a few days ago with my jutsu.”

“That's cool. Better finish delivering this mail. Bye Blaze.”

“Bye Ditzy.”

Lyra came out with Blaze’s lunch packaged up. He payed the bill and started to head home. The human saw other ponies were doing the same. Some were even closing the shutters on their windows. Blaze thought if they were doing that, he’d better pick up the pace so he wouldn’t get struck by lightning.

He made it home as it started to rain. The human went inside and sat at the table to eat his lunch while the grilled veggies were still warm. Once the meal was done and the dishes were cleaned, he looked around the house. Blaze wondered what he should do while stuck indoors and not expecting any company. He figured this would be a good time to do some maintenance on his weapons from the human world.

The human faced an empty wall. On the other side of the house, there were the stairs that lead to the second floor. He placed his hand on the wall that released an illusion barrier jutsu. It revealed a door that went down to the basement.

Down there, Blaze used his jutsu to create an opening in a stone block that was in the corner. Inside were all the weapons hanging on stone hooks. The human sent out several ki energy balls and had them float to give off light for the room, the one space he forgot to run electricity and lighting for.

Some time later, Blaze heard his front door burst open. He quickly teleported upstairs to see who the intruder was. Laying on the floor entrance was Ditzy Hooves. The human ran to close the door first as the wind and rain was gushing through. He then went to her to check if she was alright. She was breathing, but looked exhausted.

“Ditzy, what were you doing out in this storm?” he asked.

“Storm grew out control because of another that rolled in from the Everfree Forest,” Ditzy said while out of breath.

“You braved the storm to tell me that?”

“No, I came to ask you to help us. No pony has seen a storm like this. I’m worried about my little muffin being stuck at the schoolhouse.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You stay here and rest. I’ll be back shortly.”

“You’re going out in this weather!?”

“No, I’m teleporting to the school. Be right back.”

Before the mare could object, Blaze teleported out and arrived at the school. He was met with a branch hitting him in the face. The human moved it out of the way and looked to see what was going on. Several of the windows were burst open, letting in the rain and wind. Blaze saw the children and Cheerilee huddled in a corner. He made his way over to them while climbing over the debris.

“Everything is going to be alright!” he shouted. “Stay close to me and I’ll get all of you to safety!”

Those who heard nodded and helped the other ponies get in close to the human. He teleported the group back to his house and appeared in the entryway.

“Dinky!” Ditzy shouted from the sofa in the living room.

“Mommy!” the little filly said as she ran to Ditzy.

“You’ll be safe here in my house. Cheerilee, there are some towels in the upstairs bathrooms you can get to dry everypony off,” Blaze said.

The purple mare replied, “Thank you for saving us. Where are you going?”

“Back out there to see if I can stop this storm.”

She shouted, “IT’S NOT SAFE! YOU MIGHT GET HURT!”

“I have to see what I can do. The Pegasi can’t stop this so I must try. Stay inside and away from the windows.”

Cheerilee nodded and backed away. Blaze reactivated the illusion barrier on the basement door. He then summoned his samurai sword. The human teleported just outside of his home. He had to hold his footing on the ground as the wind was blowing hard. The clouds were pitch black and lit up with every lightning bolt either staying up in the clouds, or struck the ground.

Blaze couldn’t believe how similar it felt to the ones that happen in the south central of the United States. The more he thought about it, the more he feared that something was coming. The human looked toward the horizon for the object that he hoped was not there. His hearing was picking up the sound from the stories of survivors. Way deep in the EverFree Forest is where Blaze spotted the weather monster, a tornado.

Guessing on the size, it was an EF3 or bigger. He first made several clones so they could help with rescues and warn the ponies. If the beast wasn’t stopped, it would destroy the town. The Pegasi were having a hard time flying in the wind and were busy saving other ponies.

Blaze thought, I’m about to charge into a storm with a metal blade and it has a tornado. This is really going to hurt.

The human flew into the storm to face Mother Nature’s beast. He kept his blade in its scabbard to avoid lightning strikes. He dodged as best as he could to get close enough. Once in place in the sky, Blaze drew the blade and channeled his chakra into it. Lightning was now hitting the blade, but his energy was holding it back from shocking him.

He thought me might as well use the storm’s energy against it. Each strike was being absorbed into the blade. It caused the metal to glow pure white. His weapon kept on getting brighter and brighter, which he had to put more of his energy to keep blocking it. Blaze held it to his side, ready to release it at the right moment as the tornado was coming closer.

When the time was right, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "LIGHTNING STYLE! LIGHTNING BLADE SLASH JUTSU!"

He swung the blade at an upward angle, sending all the lightning energy from the storm with his chakra addition at the twister. You could see the slash path as it was pure white. When it made contact with the tornado, they both exploded, releasing all their energy. It sent the human flying back several yards.

The tornado had disappeared, but the dark storm clouds were still shooting lightning. Blaze put his blade back into its scabbard and flew into the clouds. Even with the destroyer of land gone, it could come back. He realized that he had to get rid of the clouds. WIth his chakra running on fumes, he only had one energy source left. It looked like he was going to need to summon it all to clear the skies.

The human started to power up his ki as he flew deeper into the clouds As the energy was rising, he started to emit a red glow around his form. The plus side of it was that it was deflecting the lightning strikes. Blaze was pulling with all his might to get every bit of ki that he had. He went as far as doing the scream they did on DBZ when they went to the max. The red glow continued to expand out as more energy was gathered. Once he felt he had it all, the human released his ki shockwave. It went in every direction and broke up the clouds.

Because he used every last drop, he didn’t have any left to sustain flight. Blaze started to fall. He felt so exhausted, but he need to do one final jutsu if he wanted to save himself. He focused his thoughts and chakra into teleporting to Twilight's home. He closed his eyes as he hoped it would work. In a poof, the human was gone from his freefall in the forest. But, he crashed into the center table at the library. He was still barely conscious as Twilight ran up to him.

"Blaze what are you, OH MY! You're hurt!” Twilight shouted. “Blaze, stay with me! Rainbow go get the Doctor! Rarity, help me get him to the couch!"

The Pegasus bolted out the door. The Unicorns used their magic together and lifted the human off the table rubble. His clothes were torn and singed. He had bruises, cuts and burns over his body.

Rarity said, "What in Celestia’s name was Blaze doing out in that dreadful storm?"

He mumbled out, "Save school . . . children. Stop . . . tornado in . . . EverFree . . . Broke clouds up."

"Hold on Blaze! The Doctor is coming! Stay awake!" Twilight continued to shout. "Rarity, help me get these clothes off of him. Well, what's left of them."

He did his best to stay awake. His adrenaline was wearing out. Soon, the pain became noticeable. The human couldn’t feel the ponies tearing his outer clothing off. All of a sudden, a sharp pain came from his left leg.

"OWWWWW! MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!" Blaze shouted on reflex.

Twilight and Rarity jumped away when he screamed out from what he’s feeling.

"Please, hold on, Blaze. The Doctor will fix you up," the white mare said.

He was holding himself back from screaming out more in pain. The front door burst open and Rainbow Dash came in with the Doctor.

"Where is the pony that's hurt?" The Doctor asked.

"NOT A FUCKING PONY! THE HUMAN ON THE COUCH IS THE ONE WHO’S HURT!" he shouted as another wave of pain hit him.

"Calm down, Blaze. The Doctor didn’t mean anything about it," said Twilight.

The human closed his eyes as the pain was increasing.

The Doctor pulled out a needle with some liquid already in it and injected it into Blaze’s right shoulder.

"This will put you nighty night so you won't have to feel the pain," he said. “I’ll have you good as new when you wake up.”

The pain was dying off as Blaze lost consciousness.

Chapter 23: All Aboard!

When Swift Blaze started to wake up, he looked around to see where he was. By the decor and annoying beeping coming from a machine, it wasn’t hard to guess that he was back in the hospital. He thought to himself he should get a permanent room here if he keeps on doing this.

Blaze soon felt a headache was coming on. When he went to rub his head with a hand, he got hit with a hoof. Rubbing the bruise he just gave himself, he didn’t recall changing to his pony form. The door to the room opened and he saw the girls, Spike, several other ponies he knew, and finally the Princesses of the Sun and Moon came in. There was no room left anywhere for a pony to stand.

“Uh, hi everyone,” Blaze said with a confused look.

Twilight replied, “I’m happy to see you are awake.”

“Thanks. So, how long was I out?”

“About thirty-six hours. You were really banged up from the storm.”

Thinking on that and what’s planned, Blaze said, “So, tomorrow is the first of August. I’ll be starting the Royal Guard training.”

The white Unicorn asked, “Now why in Equestria would you even think of going to that now? You’re still injured!”

“I’ve started to teach myself some medical-based jutsu. It will help speed up the healing.”

“Is there anything you will not be able to do with your abilities?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Hmm, mime.”

All the ponies in the room started to laugh. Blaze did a slight chuckle as he felt his ribs were also banged up.

“Glad to see your humor has not been injured,” Princess Celestia said.

“How long do you think it will take you to heal yourself?” Twilight asked.

“Learning this style is harder compared to the others. I have to have a good understanding of what each cell, organ, and bone is capable of handling. From there, knowing what the injuries are.”

“I can answer that,” said The Doctor. “You broke your left, hind leg. It’s fractured in multiple spots. You have a couple broken and bruised ribs. There are several dozen cuts over your body. You also have several burn marks. Where, if I had to guess, is where lightning had struck you. Lastly, you have a mild concussion. A normal pony would be in the hospital for at least a month to heal.”

“Wow, and here I thought it turned out better.”

“So,” said Rainbow Dash. “How quickly do you think you can recover from that stunt?”

“There’s one slight hiccup in me being able to do that.”

“What’s that?” asked Fluttershy.

“I was studying this in my human form. As you can see, I’m somehow back in my pony form. I’m still trying to figure out how that happened.”

“I can answer that one,” said the purple Unicorn. “After the Doctor put you under, he couldn’t properly take care of your injuries. There was no one who knew your anatomy. So I use my magic to change you into a pony, again.”

“So, I will be stuck like this for two days. That won’t be bad.”

“Actually . . .” Twilight said bashfully, “I kinda super charged the spell in haste as I was worried about your health.”

“So how long will I be a pony?”

“Um, two weeks,” the mare said quietly.

Blaze shouted, “TWO WEEKS!”

“I’m sorry! I just wanted the Doctor to save your life,” she said as tears were showing up in her eyes.

“It’s ok, Twilight. I’m sorry for shouting. The amount I would be in this form just surprised me.”

“So Blaze will be bedridden for that time until he gets his human body back and heal himself. Doesn’t seem that bad,” said the blue Pegasus.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Princess Luna. “My sister and I came to thank you for saving the town and its citizens. Plus we wanted to make sure you will be well enough to attend the training. We’ve gathered these recruits and don’t want to delay it while you are injured.”

“Just like when you’ve crash landed onto our world,” said Princess Celestia. “We’re going to use our magic to heal you. It would be unfair for the instructor to deal with an injured pony.”

“Gee, thanks. I would hate for him to think I took on a storm so I can skip training.”

“Once you are out of the hospital, I have a big party planned for you,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Let me guess what it will be for. Saving the children, stopping a tornado, getting well, and a farewell trip to training.”

The pink mare said while surprised, “HOW DID YOU KNOW!”

“I’m starting to get how you think and that’s scaring me.”

The ponies in the room laughed again. If his ribs hadn't been, the stallion would have joined in the laughter.

The white Alicorn said, “It might be a blessing for the time you’ll be in the training. You were going to be a pony the entire time.”

Blaze asked, “How long is the training?”

“Two weeks.”

“Guess now I’m forced to stay in pony form. It’ll be an experience for sure. Living like a pony all that time.”

“It won’t be that bad. You already have done some time when you first showed up,” Applejack said.

“True, plus I won’t scare any of the other trainees right off the bat. At least I can still access the ki and chakra. The more complex Jutsus are going to be the problem though,” he said as he held up his fore hooves.

“Was there any more questions you wanted to ask?” Princess Luna.

“Just one more. Why are there so many ponies in this room?” the stallion asked when he looked at them.

“The children and I wanted to thank you for rescuing us from the storm,” Cheerilee said as the children around her nodded their heads.

“The rest of us want to thank you for stopping that out of control storm before it did any damage to Ponyville,” Mayor Mare said. The others nodded for the reason.

“You’re all welcome. I just felt what was right to do given the situation. I want to use these abilities for good and to protect the ones I care for. Thank you all for visiting,” Blaze said.

The ponies started to leave the room. Soon only the closest friends were left, the girls, Spike, and the Princesses.

“I can see in your eyes, Blaze, you have one more question,” Princess Celestia said.

“You’re correct. I would like to know where that EF3 tornado came from. I know the weather Pegasi would not have scheduled a storm if the Everfree Forest had one coming in.”

“EF3? Why did you call the tornado that?” the purple Unicorn asked.

“Back on my world, we have tornadoes too, but we can't control the weather like you can,” said the stallion. “A scientist developed a scale to measure the intensity of the tornado and called it, the Fujita scale. It has been since upgraded based upon better data collected from them. It is now called the Enhanced Fujita scale, or EF scale. It goes from EF0, which does minimal damage, to EF5, a tornado that will wipe a town off the map and leave nothing but destruction and death.”

Spike said, “It’s still amazing you humans can do so much without magic.”

“Back to the question, where did that one come from?”

The princess of the sun replied, “As you know, that forest is still unknown to us. No pony has gone to figure out why it is like that. I’ve sent a patrol to keep an eye on the area for anything out of the ordinary.”

“So, did any other pony get hurt from the storm?

“Just a few got scrapes and bruises. Nothing like what you received,” said Twilight. “I heard of reports of you also doing some rescuing in town during the storm. Were they shadow clones? During some of the rescues, they all suddenly disappeared at the same time. No ponies were hurt though.”

“Might have been when I used the last of my chakra to teleport to you Twilight. I actually forgot about them till this moment. Guess I really pushed myself to the limit this time.”

“Please don’t do something that dangerous again. I hate to see you in pain,” Fluttershy said.

“If I don’t do this, other ponies will get hurt. I can take the hits and survive from the training I put myself through. I promise that I’ll be more careful.”

The yellow Pegasus smiled and nuzzled the stallion. All the ponies, except the Princesses, left. They channeled their magic into their horns.

Princess Luna said, “During the healing, you’ll be put back to sleep so you won’t fidget while we heal you.”

“That’s fine. I’ll work on some things in my head,” the stallion replied. He closed his eyes as he drifted off

Inside his mind, Blaze was back in my human form looking over a grassy landscape. Now that he was going to be a pony during the training, he thought doing some practicing with that body would be good. He made some clones and they transformed into pony form and started to spar. He looked through the jutsu list to see what might be useful at some point.

After an hour of training, a clone started to scream in excitement. “I did it! I did it!”

The other all ran to the clone in question. “What did you do?” the human asked.

“I found out how we can do hand sign jutsu in pony form!”

“Release yourself so we can see the memory.”

The clone did and the others recalled what happened. Blaze couldn’t believe he hadn't thought of it sooner. What happened was the clone had his fore hooves together, bottoms touching each other. He thought of the hand signs in his mind for the jutsu. When that last hand sign was thought of, the jutsu activated.

Blaze exited his mind from the excitement and initially jumped off the bed. The stallion realized he didn’t have the magic weights on his body as he collided with the ceiling. He landed back in bed and began to rub his head, gently with a hoof this time. The door to the room opened and Twilight came rushing in.

“Blaze, are you alright?” the mare asked. “I heard a scream and a thud.”

“I’m alright. While I was under, I learned something that helps this pony form,” he replied.

“That’s good to hear. What did you learn?”

“I figured how to perform hand sign jutsu in pony form,” the stallion said in a singsong voice.

“How can you when you don’t have hands?”

“I can place my fore hooves together, like so. Then, think of the hand signs for the jutsu I want to perform. Finally, I shout out the jutsu and it goes. Here, let me show you.”

Blaze carefully got out of the bed and stood on his hind hooves. He placed his fore hooves together and shouted, “Lightning Style! Lightning Shock Jutsu!” The stallion’s body shout out weak sparks in random directions.

“That’s amazing, Blaze,” said the purple Unicorn. “I knew you’d find a way to use your jutsu in this form. Seeing as you’re better now, let's get you checked out.”

“Sure. Where are my clothes for my pony form?”

“They’re over on the floor over in that corner. Be careful as the spell is still active. We had to keep them off the furniture since the clothes kept breaking them.”

Blaze put the put on the undershirt, hoof bands, and the top of a pony gi. The enchanted clothing didn’t cause an issue. The two left the room and made our way to the entrance. The stallion waved goodbye to the Doctor and said, “Thanks for the patch-up. I’ll see you in a few weeks when I get injured again.”

“I‘ll have your bed ready then,” The Doctor joked back.

They stepped outside and Blaze saw what was left in the cleanup from the storm. Mostly everything was cleaned up. All that was left was a few branches that were being dragged out of town. The red Earth pony followed the purple Unicorn to who knows where as he just wanted to take it easy, for once. All the ponies were waving to him and thanking him for saving the town. He welcomed them and continue to walk. They arrived at Sugarcube Corner and entered.

The stallion saw Mr. Cake was behind the counter this time. When the yellow Earth pony saw who entered, he said, “Hi there, Blaze! Glad to see you’re doing better. Pinkie came rushing in and told us you woke up. Then she left just as quick. Couldn’t even ask her anything.”

Mrs. Cake walked in from the kitchen and said, “Oh, Blaze! I heard your name and had to see how you were doing. I fainted when I heard you took on that tornado. It's good to see you weren’t as injured as everypony was saying.”

“I was pretty banged up,” he replied. “The Princesses came down and used their magic to speed up the healing process. I’m glad no other pony was hurt.”

The stallion’s stomach let out a growl like a Manticore. He chuckled to himself as he placed a hoof on it to calm it.

“It seems you have a beast to feed. Let’s make you something special for saving us. It's on the house and I insist,” Mrs. Cake said

The pair headed into the kitchen to whip something up. Blaze went and sat by a table. Twilight joined him.

“So, how many ponies know what I did?” he asked the mare.

“Everypony in Ponyville, the Princesses, and the Royal Guard,” she replied. “But most only know of the name who saved them as they never met you.”

“Hopefully this puts me in good graces with your brother.”

“Oh, I wrote my brother and told him that you saved the town from the storm. I didn’t have details as you were still unconscious. He did reply back, thankful I was not severely hurt and wanted me to let you know that no amount of injuries are going to stop you from attending. He was willing to come down here and drag you to the training grounds.”

Blaze was somewhat happy that the Captain liked he saved her sister and the town. But he still wanted to break the red stallion’s body and spirit in the training sessions.

“Glad I’m almost back to myself. So, when do I head to Canterlot?”

“You’ll take a train tonight and arrive there just before dawn. They like to start early with the trainees.”

“Thanks for letting me know. I’ll be able to get some sleep and some more mind training in before I arrive.”

After a few minutes of silence, the swinging doors to the kitchen opened up and a cart being pushed came through. On top of it was a six-tier cake. The main cake was red in color and was decorated with small explosions. On top was a mini human of Blaze in a fighting stance against a nasty tornado. The red stallion smiled big as it was brought in.

"I hope you like it, Blaze. We started it yesterday and put the last touches just now. It was going to be revealed at your party this afternoon, but I couldn’t wait to show you," the blue Earth pony said as she walked from behind the cake.

"The cake looks awesome,” he replied. “I definitely like the figurines on top. Thank you for making it. I’m afraid to eat this entire thing and get as hyper as Pinkie."

"I can understand. So, what else can I get you?"

"How about two large cherry shakes and a dozen of my cookies?"

"Coming right up," Mrs. Cake said as she headed back to the kitchen.

"That’s an impressive cake. I wonder how Pinkie was planning on bringing the cake to the party?" Twilight asked.

"I think I’ll surprise them and bring it myself."

"How in Equestria are you going to manage that? You’d need a wagon to carry something that big."

"The same way I got my furniture to my place."

Blaze put his hooves together, thought of the hand signs, and summoned the saddle bags he purchased with the furniture. He dug through one of them until he found a piece of paper and a pen. The stallion drew a sealing jutsu circle on it.

"What are you doing?" the Unicorn asked as she watched.

"This is another type of jutsu ninjas used on that show when they wanted to securely carry something in secret."

The stallion placed the paper on the cake and stepped back. Twilight joined him by his side. "Now you see it . . ." He activated the jutsu and the cake disappeared, "Now you don't."

"What did you do with the cake?"

"It’s inside the piece of paper that’s laying on the cart."

Twilight picked it up with her magic and looked at it in detail. There was a shadow image of a cake in the middle of the circle. "This is amazing! Can you put anything in this?" the mare asked with a sparkle in her eye, wanting knowledge.

"Only objects can be placed into that seal, no living things. The other thing I have to consider is the weight and size. The bigger those are, the more chakra I have to use."

Twilight teleported a scroll and quill to her and began to write down notes. About ten minutes later, Mrs. Cake came out with the stallion’s order.

She looked over to him and asked, "Where is the cake, Blaze?"

"A pink blur came in and snatched it," he replied.

"Pinkie must be rushing around to finish getting your party ready."

"That reminds me, she forgot to inform the guest of honour where and when it is."

"It’s at your place in the front yard. Suppose to start at one o'clock."

"Thanks."

The blue mare placed the order down and went back to the kitchen. The red Earth pony began to have his shake and eat some of the drops. Twilight was focused on what she was writing. Blaze saw she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. He decided to have some fun with her.

The stallion transformed into Spike and continue to eat his food. After half an hour later, Twilight finally finished what she was writing. The mare used her magic and sent the items back to the library. She looked across the table saw saw the little dragon. The Unicorn then looked all around the shop for the red pony she was just with.

A worried look went on her face as she asked, "Spike, when did you get here and where did Blaze go?"

Blaze replied in the purple dragon’s voice, "I’ve been here for two hours, waiting for you to finish. Blaze left to go to his party and then the train."

"Why didn’t you tell me!"

"Because you told me not to bother you if you're deep in thought or writing."

Mr. Cake was behind the counter, watching the scene before him. He tried to hold his laughter in.

"I need to run if I want to catch up before he leaves," Twilight gets up and started to run to the door.

"Twilight! Wait! Blaze wanted me to give you a message."

"Make it fast."

The dragon got up and ran to stand in front of her. He struck a 'ta da' pose and said, "SURPRISE!"
He released the transform jutsu and reappeared in his pony body in the same pose.

"Blaze! What was that for! I thought you actually left before I said goodbye."

Mr. Cake was now laughing out loud.

"Just proving once again you’re not aware of your surroundings. Now let’s go back to the table and finish the treat."

Twilight went back to the table and snagged the other shake that hadn’t been touched. Blaze took the other one he’d been working on. As the stallion took a few sips, the Unicorn across from him never stopped glaring at him while she drank her own. When she grabbed one of the cookies and placed it in her mouth, the glare disappeared and enjoyment took its place.

"Mr. Cake, when did you create this tasty cookie?" the mare asked.

"I didn't. Neither did Cup Cake. Blaze gave us the recipe," he replied.

Twilight turned to the red Earth pony, now with a surprised look. "Where and when did you learn to bake?"

"For where, back on my world. For when, several years ago. Any other questions?" he asked.

"What are these called?"

"Blaze's Chocolate Drops" Mr. Cake replied.

"Back on my world though, they were called Devil Chocolate Drops for how 'devilishly' good they are. The Cakes decided to rename it after me."

"So these are the cookies I’ve been hearing rumours about. I can see why ponies are loving them," Twilight said.

They finished the treats and made their way back to Blaze’s house for the party. As the pair rounded the corner, they heard music playing a nice tune. The stallion soon saw his front yard and the surrounding area was filled with ponies. He wondered if Pinkie had invited the whole town. The two approached the crowd and got shocked when the pink party mare popped up in front of them out of nowhere.

"What do you think, Blaze! Everypony in Ponyville came to your party!" the hyper Earth pony said in her excited tone.

“Never realized there was this many living here,” Blaze replied. “I think I’ll go and mingle with some of the ponies I haven’t met yet.”

“I’ll come and get you when it’s time for an event,” said Pinkie. She then hopped back into the crowd.

“I’ll see you later Blaze,” Twilight said before she too entered the crowd.

As the red stallion made his way through, every few feet, he was thanked by a pony for saving them and their town. Blaze welcomed them and continue to make his way through.

He soon made it to the DJ pony that is cranking out the tunes. The one and only, Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ Pon-3. She was bobbing her head to the beat as the stallion walked up to her.

“Nice tunes,” Blaze said over the music.

“Thanks, got any requests?” Vinyl Scratch asked.

“I’m sorry to admit it, but I don’t know any of the music groups in this world.”

“OH! You must be the pony that saved the town from that storm! Thanks for doing that. Name’s Vinyl Scratch. My DJ name is DJ Pon-3.”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Swift Blaze, but you can call me Blaze. I just did what anyone would have done if they had my abilities.”

“It was really brave to face that tornado by yourself. I’m amazed you’re moving around so soon. Guess that explains why Pinkie woke me up to come and set up the music ASAP.”

“The Princesses came down and helped heal me. I would’ve been in the hospital for at least a month, if not longer.”

“That’s awesome. Go on and enjoy your party. If you want to see a list of the music and bands, let me know.”

“I’ll do that later. Thanks for the music.”

Blaze headed off and mingled some more with the other ponies. He soon came across a big empty table in a corner. He guessed it was where the cake is supposed to go. The stallion pulled out the sealed paper and placed it on the table.

The Earth pony headed in another direction to see who he would to run into next. He soon heard his name being called from behind him. Blaze turned around and saw Lyra was making her way through the crowd. Next to her was an off white Earth mare pony. She had a dark blue mane with a pink highlight.

“I told you I have met the human,” the Unicorn said to her friend.

“I have yet to see this human you keep talking about. Are you sure it was him that stopped that storm?” Bon-Bon asked.

“I’m very sure. He was the only one that could’ve stopped something like that. Oh! There he is over there!” the mint green mare said as she pointed to the red stallion.

“I don’t see a human from what you told me about them. All I see is a red Earth pony wearing some black clothing.”

“That’s him in his pony form. Hi Blaze! I have a friend I want you to meet.”

“Hi Lyra. Good to see you again,” he replied. “Thanks for coming to my party.”

Lyra and Bon-Bon finally reached where he was. “Blaze, allow me to introduce to my marefriend, Bon-Bon,” Lyra said.

“Hi Bon-Bon. It’s nice to meet you. How do you like the party?” the stallion asked.

“Pinkie throws the best parties, but this is for the human that saved Ponyville. You are clearly not human,” the light yellow mare said.

“I would show you my human form, but Twilight accidentally over casted a spell on me so the Doctor could fix me up after going toe to toe with a tornado.”

“Rumour is the human can do things no pony has ever done. Can you demonstrate?”

“If I’m going to show you, I might as well put a show on for everypony. Pinkie!”

Out of nowhere, the pink Earth pony popped out from a pony’s mane. She hopped to be right next to the red pony and said, “Blaze, you have a question for me?”

“I do. Where is the stage? I’m in the mood to put a show on for all my friends for accepting me.”

“It’s right in front of your house. What jutsu are you going to show?”

“How about you come and be my assistant?”

“Okie. Dokie. Lokie.”

The two made their way to the stage. Blaze went up to the microphone. Vinyl Scratch saw the red stallion on stage and turned down the music.

“Hi everyone and thank you for throwing me this party,” said the red Earth pony. “I can't really remember why I'm getting one. Guess that tornado banged my head pretty hard.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“This is for saving the children!” A pony shouted

“You also stopped that tornado from destroying Ponyville!” Another pony shouted.

“This is also for getting your health back, “said Pinkie as she walked up to his side.

“And this is good luck for going off to the Royal Guard training,” said Twilight said as she and the close friends walked onto the stage.

“A lot has happened while I’ve been here,” replied Blaze. “The only way I can show my appreciation is by putting on a show. Would you gals like to help out?”

They all nodded and he went straight to work. The stallion first sent several ki energy balls into the sky and let them explode like fireworks. The ponies enjoyed the spectacle as he prepared for the next feat. The pony summoned some small dark clouds in the sky. They started to shoot lightning between them. The bolts of energy were playing a rhythmic beat which Vinyl Scratch started to play some music that matched it. The ponies were dancing to the rhythm of the music.

https://youtu.be/m51qzRx8P0Y

Once the music was done. Blaze turned toward the orange mare and asked, “Applejack, can you toss some apples into the air?”

She picked them up from a nearby barrel with her mouth and began to send them into the air. The stallion sent several wind slicing jutsu with his fore hooves at the flying fruit and cut them into slices. The ponies ate the pieces as they fell from the sky.

He looked at the white Unicorn and asked, “Rarity, do you have some gems that I can borrow?”

The mare used her magic to find ones close by and pulled them out of the ground. She handed them to him. He saw they matched the colors of the other ponies on stage with him. Blaze placed them in front of each of his friends and instructed them to strike a pose. They do so in different styles. He performed a crystal jutsu on the gems and they grew into the poses of the pony that matched the color.

The crowd ooh and awe at the beautiful creations. Rarity was especially happy seeing a diamond matching her own size. Spike drooled at the site of the creations. Blaze changed them back to their original shapes and sent them flying to the dragon in the front crowd. He caught each one in his mouth.

The red pony turned to the party pony. “Pinkie Pie, don’t you normally have a big cake at your parties?” he asked.

“Oh my! I totally forgot to get it. I’ll be right back,” she said as she was about to leave.

“Hold it, Pinkie! Please stand here next to me for a sec.” The mare does so as she wondered what he has planned. “Now, please describe this cake you had made for this party.”

She went into detail describing every detail about the cake. A few ponies drooled from hearing the description. “Now Blaze, please let me go and get your cake.”

“Why? The cake is right over on that table,” he replied as he pointed to the empty table.

The ponies in the crowd looked in that direction, wondering where the cake was. The stallion released the seal jutsu and the cake appeared. They all cheered when they saw it. He turned to where Pinkie was standing and only saw a trail of smoke leading to the cake.

“Rainbow Dash, care for some lightning dodging?” he asked.

She happily nodded and the pair took to the air. Each one both easily flew around the lightning strikes between the clouds Blaze had made. The crowd was cheering louder at the stunt. They returned to the stage and Rainbow had a big smile on her face.

“Now for my grand finale.” Blaze gathered up the remaining chakra he had as it was to be a big one. Once ready, the Earth pony shouted, “Element Style! Five Element Dragons Jutsu!”

A Element dragon of Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Lightning formed from the nearby source they were made of. The stallion had them fly around and weave between them. At the end, they flew up high into the air and exploded in a bright white light.

The crowd applauded and cheered as he bowed to them. Blaze got off stage and dispersed the clouds he made. The red pony headed over to where Lyra and Bon-Bon watched the show from. They both had big smiles on their faces.

“Ok, you are the human Lyra was talking about. Loved the show by the way,” Bon-Bon said.

“Thank you for the compliment. Continue to enjoy the party. I need to go inside and pack for the training,” said Blaze.

They both wished him luck as the stallion walked into his house. None of the party came into the house so it was nice and quiet. Blaze headed upstairs for a shower to clean himself up. He then went to his room and realize something, the gi he was wearing was the only one for his pony form. So the stallion went back to the bathroom and packed up some toiletries into his saddlebag.

Blaze returned to the party and headed to where his best friends were. The Earth pony overheard they were discussing all the cool things he had done. Fluttershy saw the stallion coming and quickly flew to him.

“Blaze, that show was amazing. I really liked how you made those dragons not so scary,” Fluttershy said.

“I had fun doing it. I don’t think there’s no one in Ponyville now that doesn’t know me,” he said.

Twilight said, “I would agree with you there.”

The group was near the buffet table. Being parched, the stallion headed over and snagged some of the punch. As he started to drink it, Rainbow shouted out, “Blaze! Don’t drink that!”

“Why’s that?” he asked. “It tastes good.”

“That punch contains alcohol.”

He looked at his cup for a few seconds, then finished drinking it. The ponies gasped at what he just did. “Gals, please, it’s ok. Drinking a little alcohol won’t cause me to act like my father. I realize now that alcohol does not corrupt the drinker, it is the drinker that ruins it for everypony.”

“Glad to see you are doing much better with dealing with your father,” Twilight said.

“Though I still say I hate his guts and hope he’s burning in hell for what he did to me.”

Several were shocked at what the stallion just said. “Blaze, I do understand how you feel. But saying that about one’s parent is uncouth.” Rarity said. “Let me just say, changing the subject, that I really loved those crystal versions of us you formed from those gems. Too bad you didn’t let us keep them.”

“I’ll make you a smaller one when I get back. For now, let’s enjoy the rest of the party before I need to catch the train.”

They all nodded and did just that. They ate the food at the buffet, some of the cake, and danced and mingled. The party started to die down as it grew dark. Ponies headed off to their homes. Blaze helped his friends with the cleanup so his place looked good before he left. The stallion went inside and grabbed his saddlebags. The group walked together to the train station, enjoying the peaceful night Princess Luna brought.

They soon arrived and saw the train was already there. Twilight levitated the train ticket to him and placed it in the Earth pony’s bag. He turned to them and saw tears were forming in their eyes.

“This isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back, I promise,” said Blaze. “This is just to teach me how a pony fights to see if my Taijutsu can help them improve.”

“We know. It’s just you’ve played a big part in our lives in these past weeks and we hate to see our friend go,” Pinkie said.

“I agree, you helped me with my applebucking and taught me to rely on my friends when I need help,” Applejack said.

“You all have also helped me since I arrived,” he said, “That memory of my past and releasing that emotional baggage, I don’t know anypony else who would have gone those lengths to bring me back to myself.”

“Let’s just agree that we helped each other out. These tears are ruining my makeup,” said Rarity.

“Good luck, Blaze. I’m sure my brother won’t try and kill you on the first day,” Twilight said.

The stallion thought, Don’t count on that. He still has the grudge on me because I managed to escape his guards.

“Remember Blaze, you still owe me a rematch on that race. I’ll be training hard while you’re gone so expect a race when you get back,” Rainbow said.

“Looking forward to it.”

“Just don’t get too injured in the training, Blaze. I never like seeing you hurt,” said Fluttershy.

“I’m sure I won't get as beat up there as the storm left me. Plus, I’ve been practicing healing a pony body. No need to worry.”

The yellow mare smiled as the rest did. The stallion got onto the train and found an open seat by the window. He waved to them as the train started to pull out. Blaze thought, Onward to Canterlot, and the pain from Shining’s training. Oh God, I’m going to get close to death.

Chapter 24: Royal Guard Training, Part 1

Author's Notes:

I have new editor and will be mentioned in the next chapter. This is the last one done by Rubahhitam. I would like to thank him again for his help in all the previous chapters and wish him the best on his future endeavors.

Now then, onward to the Royal Guard Training!

The train ride was quiet. The only sound was from the train itself going along its tracks. Swift Blaze got comfortable in his seat to enter is mindspace. Inside there, he could still hear the sounds of the train. He changed the environment from an open grassland to an industrial warehouse. The stallion made some clones of himself as ponies and they went off practicing jutsu of every kind he had read about.

As the clones practiced, the original started to wonder what the other trainees were going to be like. Blaze couldn’t recall anything from the show that might have said anything about it. He could only recall some stories his friends back on Earth had told him about bootcamp. The others were rumours he heard about. The stallion didn't think it would be that extreme.

So, he went back to reading some more jutsu styles to be more prepared for any situation. Blaze came across the jutsu that talked about storing chakra in other parts of the body. He thought, That will come in handy. I think I know the perfect place to store it, behind my cutie mark. The stallion performed the jutsu and started to regulate very small amounts every few hours.

After an hour of jutsu training in his head, Blaze had the clones switch to sparring. He also increased the weights by five pounds each. They all noticed the change and worked on toning their muscles to the new weight. The sparring lasted for a couple of hours before he exited his mind.

The stallion looked outside to see where the train was in relation to Canterlot. He was about halfway there. As he still had a few hours left in his travel, he figured he might as well get some normal sleep in. Blaze laid down on the seat and got comfortable as he could get, mainly because of the rocking train going up the mountain. It did not take long before he fell asleep.

The sound of screeching brakes woke the Earth pony. The jerking of the cars caused him to fall out of his seat, onto his head. Blaze looked outside and saw we are still on the mountain path. A train conductor came rushing through the aisle.

“Excuse me. Why did the train stop?” the red stallion asked him.

“There’s been a rock slide that’s blocking the tracks,” he replied. “I’m looking for a Unicorn that can help us clear the path.”

“I think I can help.”

“Thanks, but it’ll take an Earth pony several hours to move all those big rocks.”

“Have you found a Unicorn on the train?”

“Sadly, no. You’re the only passenger. Can’t see any other choice.”

“Trust me. I’m not an average Earth pony.”

Blaze followed the train conductor outside and to the front of the train. When they got there, the red pony saw the size of the rock slide. It was a massive one, as tall of the train and the length of one of the cars.

“As you can see, it’ll take some time for all of us to clear this all out,” the train conductor said.

Blaze replied, “If you can please stand back, I’ll have this cleared quickly.”

He did and stood next to the steam engine. The red pony went to the front of the rock pile. He raised one hoof and pointed at them. The stallion gathered his ki and sent several energy blasts into it. They exploded and created a dust cloud. Once the ponies could see again, they saw the tracks were now cleared. The train conductor walked the track to look at the work.

“Dammit!” he shouted.

Blaze walked up next to him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“The rocks managed to bend and break the tracks. I take you don’t have anything to fix this?”

The red pony looked at the damage. Both tracks were bent and twisted from the force of the rocks. It was a longshot, but he believed it might be possible.

Blaze turned to the conductor and said, “Yeah, this is a big problem. I’ll see what I can do.”

The train conductor backed away. The red stallion stood on his hind hooves and drew some the chakra. The first jutsu was fire. He used it to heat up the metal to glow cherry red. Blaze walked to the stone wall and placed his fore hooves against it. This next jutsu allowed him to create stone armor around each hoof. This was so the Earth pony could rebend the hot metal and straighten it back into place. He reheated the metal a couple times until he was satisfied. Once good, he sprayed the track with a water jutsu to cool it back down. Blaze repeated the process on the other track.

The train conductor just had a surprised and shocked look on his face when the red stallion turned to face him. “I don’t know who you are, but thank you. I don’t think I know of any Unicorn that could’ve done all you did,” he said.

“Glad to be of service. Let’s get this train moving. I have Royal Guard Training I’m starting in the morning,” Blaze said.

“Right away! If you want, you can ride up in the locomotive. I’d like to know more about the pony that do miracles.”

“Sure. That way, you don’t have to think I did some sort of forbidden magic.”

They got into the locomotive and he started the process to get the train moving again. Blaze told his tale of not being an actual pony, how he couldn’t show him his human form, and finished with explaining about the chakra and ki abilities.

The conductor said his name was Smoky and thanked him again for what he did. They chatted about different things as the train moved along. They soon arrived at the station for Canterlot.

Blaze got off the train with his saddlebags and started the walk to the Castle. Smoky shouted from the train, “Hey Blaze, if you ever need a train ride. Just hop on, free of charge. You saved me by clearing and fixing the track.”

“Thank you for the offer. Glad I could help,” he replied as he waved goodbye to him.

The stallion walked through the dark town. He followed signs that directed to the castle. The sun was still down and all the ponies were still asleep. After some time, the Earth pony made it to the front gate and stood in front of the guards there.

“Swift Blaze reporting in for Royal Guard Training,” he said with a salute.

“You’re not suppose to be here until ten in the morning. That’s five hours away,” the guard said.

“Then why did Twilight tell me . . .” Blaze began to say as the reason popped into his head. He thought, Dammit Twilight! You didn’t have to help your brother. He was going to get plenty of me during the training.

After regaining his composure, the red stallion said, “Seeing I have time to spare, I would like an audience with Princess Luna.”

“Follow me.”

Blaze followed the guard into the castle and into the throne room.

“Swift Blaze, requesting an audience with you, Princess Luna,” the guard announced.

“He may enter,” she replied. The guard bowed and walked out and closed the door behind him. “So, what do I owe the pleasure of you coming to the night court?”

“Consider this the start of the hazing from Shining Armor for evading his guards. With the help of Twilight Sparkle,” Blaze said. “Nice to see that speaking lesson is helping you.”

“Yes, I’ve been warming up to the other ponies in the castle as they are able to understand what I’m actually saying. So, are you ready for the training?”

“I think I am. Do you think I can find out about the other ponies I’ll be training with?”

“I don’t see the harm. Let me have a guard bring the paperwork.”

Princess Luna used her magic and a guard came in through the main door.

“You summoned me your highness?” the guard asked.

“Yes, please bring the files for the Royal Guard recruits to the dining room,” the blue Alicron replied.

“Yes, your highness.”

The guard left and closed the doors once again. Princess Luna turned her head to the Earth pony and said, “Blaze, would you like to join Celestia and I for breakfast? She should be up soon so we can move the sun and the moon.”

“I would like that, Luna.”

The Princess of the Night smiled that he remembered to call her that. The Princess of the Day soon came strolling in. She soon realized the other pony was there too.

“Blaze, I’m surprised to see you here this early. You normally do your morning exercise in your front yard,” she said with a big yawn.

“So, you admitted you’ve still been spying on me each morning. Just be happy Ihaven't thrown anymore apples through that peephole of yours,” Blaze said.

“I only watch your training regimen. The rest of the time I leave you to your privacy,” the white Alicorn said.

“My sister is telling you the truth. We’ve only watched the morning events,” Princess Luna added.

The stallion said, “Et tu, Luna? I’m surprised.”

“What did you say, Blaze?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I paraphrased a line from an old, well-known play on my world. Et tu translates to ‘And you’.”

“If you would excuse us, Blaze, it’s time to raise the sun and lower the moon.”

He bowed to them and they channeled their magic. The Earth pony went to the window and watch the sceptacle of them controlling the massive objects in the sky. Once they were done, the stallion returned to where he’d been standing.

“Now then, Blaze, shall we go and get some breakfast?” Princess Celestia asked.

He nodded and left with the Princesses to the dining room. The three ponies all sat in the same spots as last time. The waiter gave them green colored menus. Blaze wished he go back to his human form to get some meat. Anyways, the stallion looked over the menu of pony style food. Ninety percent had either flower or hay in it. He figured he should get used to eating it as he would be a pony for the next two weeks. They placed their orders and the waiter returned to the kitchen.

All of a sudden, a big magic window device appeared over the table. Blaze looked at it to see what it was on the display. It was an aerial view of himself. The Earth pony looked in the direction of where the peep hole would be.

“I’m sorry, Blaze. I forgot to deactivate the auto spell I placed. As you can see, this is where we have been watching you,” said Princess Celestia

“I’m not mad, your highness, but I will get even. Water Style! Water Jet Jutsu!” he said.

He aimed the jet for the peep hole and made contact. From the magic screen, water shouted out and hit the white Alicorn. She was getting soaked and the blue Alicorn was laughing her flank off. The red pony stopped the jutsu after a few minutes.

Blaze looked where Princess Celestia was and saw how soaked she was. The mare looked like she just got out of a cold bath. The stallion joined in the laughter with the other Princess. The white mare spat out some water.

“Nice aim, Blaze. You caught me off guard,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to perform your jutsu in your pony form.” The Princess wiped some water off her face with a soaked napkin.

“I learned how to do it yesterday in my mind space. Would you like me to help you dry off?” Blaze asked. “I can create and hold a fireball in my hand.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Princess of the Sun activated her horn. Her body began to glow and the Earth pony felt warmth come from her. The mare deactivated it once she was all dry. “Comes in handy when you control the sun.”

“I can see. You promise not to spy on me anymore?”

“I promise.”

The guard from before came into the dining room carrying some paperwork with his magic. “Here are the documents you requested, Princess Luna,” he said.

“Thank you. You’re dismissed,” said the Princess of the Moon. “Here you go, Blaze.”

“What are these, sister?” the white Alicorn asked.

“Blaze asked if he could look at the list of ponies he’ll be training with. I don’t see the harm as he will meet them in a few hours,” she replied.

“That’s a reasonable request. Blaze, would you mind telling us why you are here so early?”

“Just like I told Luna, I believe this is the start of the hazing from Shining Armor before I start his training,” he said. “I believe Twilight helped him as she told me he likes to start very early with the trainees.”

“Did you get enough sleep so you won’t be tired on your first day?”

“I did some time in my mind and had a few hours of sleep on the train ride. I think I’ll be fine. I did have enough energy to go up against an Ursa Minor and a tornado on different days.”

“True. You have done things that no mere pony can do. I do realize you are not a pony.”

“So, let’s take a look at the ponies I’m going to be training with for the next two weeks.”

Luna gave the stallion the first folder and he read it over. The first pony was a Unicorn stallion. His name was Star Dust. The picture attached showed he had a blue coat and a black mane and tail with yellow at the tips. His eyes were yellow. His cutie mark was a shooting star. According to the file, he got the cutie mark when he was stargazing. He specialized in cosmic related magic. Blaze didn’t think his magic level would be on par with the Princesses. He couldn’t wait to see what he was capable of.

The Earth pony put the file down and the blue Alicorn slid over the next one. It was a Pegasus stallion. His name was Lightning Trails. His picture showed he had a black coat and white mane with several strips of black in a zigzag pattern. It looked similar to Vinyl Scratch’s hair style, from what he could tell. The color of his eyes were a light blue. His cutie mark was two lightning bolts that crossed like an ‘X’. The document said that as a small colt, he had been repeatedly struck by lightning during a nasty. He survived and his cutie mark appeared then. There was also a mention of something having happened during flight school. Though the record was sealed and didn't elaborate any further.

Luna gave him the next one and he started to look it over. It was another Unicorn stallion named Colorful Sparks. The picture showed he had a blue coat and orange mane and tail. His eyes were different colors. The left one was red and the right one was a dark blue. His cutie mark was multicolored sparks in a random pattern. Blaze thought it was an interesting one. The next section informed him why. It said he was specialized in light based illusion magic. Seemed he had been chased by some bullies and got it in a small lightning accident.

The stallion thought, Another cutie mark by lightning strike? What is so different about the lightning here in Equestria. It went on to say the lightning struck his horn and overloaded it. An illusion clone appeared next to him and the bullies tackled that one. They went through it and ran into a fire hydrant.

The Princess sent over three with her magic at the same to Blaze. He looked up to her with a confused look.

“These three are a special case and are all siblings,” she said.

The Earth pony spread them all out so he could see all the pictures. He realized now from them as they were Zebras. He picked up the first one and it said his name was Cancer. The first thing he noticed about the Zebra was that he had a horn. His coat color was white with red stripes and the mane and tail were the same pattern. The color of his eyes were a blood red. His cutie mark was a red pocket watch. There was nothing else about how he got it or what his special talent was.

Blaze picked the next one in line and notice similar things to Cancer. The Zebra’s name was Dragon and also had a horn. His looked identical to Cancer except one thing, Dragon had blue stripes and light blue eyes. The stallion thought they might be twins. As he continued to read, it said Dragon’s cutie mark was also identical to Cancer, except that his was blue. Again, nothing about how he got it or his special talent.

The last one surprised him. The Zebra was a mare and her name was Fang. She didn’t have a horn like the others. Her coat was black with white stripes. Her eyes were also blood red like Cancer. It said her cutie mark looked like a fang, but it blended in well with her stripes. Just like the other Zebras, nothing on how she got her cutie mark or what she was good at.

Luna pass over the last one and Blaze take a look at it. It was his file. The stallion looked it over and was surprised what it had. It has his name on it, but there was no picture of him. It also just listed him as a pony, no specific species. Everything else on the paperwork was listed as classified. Blaze looked up to the Princesses, expecting an explanation.

“As those Zebras have a special case why they are getting Royal Guard Training, you are also a special case,” said Princess Celestia. “The reason why we didn’t add a picture of you or add anything else was because you said you prefer stealth and secrecy. You don’t like to be out in the front lines when it comes to battles.”

“I do remember saying that. Of course, I was talking about how these abilities are normally used. I’ve been here for two weeks now and I’ve used these abilities for the opposite purpose,” he replied. “No secret or stealth type things, I was out on the front lines stopping a weather disaster, took on an Ursa Minor and Timberwolves, and had put on three shows for the ponies in Ponyville where I showed off my abilities.”

“What are you saying, Blaze?” Princess Luna asked.

“What I’m getting at is I’m reconsidering your offer. I still don’t want to be a soldier, but I feel like I do need to be on the front lines. I’m still going to go through the training and come up with some Taijutsu training for your guards. But, I would like to propose that I teach your Captains these moves and they pass them along. For the next part, I’ll need to explain this by telling you some more about my world.”

“Go ahead,” said Princess Celestia.

“Like I said before, the country I lived in had military divisions. One thing they also had in these divisions are specialized groups. They’re kept separate from the others and only report to the higher ups. They are given the near impossible missions and somehow able to carry them out. What I would like to propose is that I get placed in a group like this and only report to you.”

“I see where you are coming from and already prepared something like that. These ponies were originally rejected from becoming Royal Guards,” said the white Alicorn. “I’ve reconsidered them for the sole purpose of putting together a special ops group, as you would have called it, to handle any difficult tasks that might come up.”

“I take it you got this idea from my memories of my world?”

“I did and after recent events of the strange things happening to my kingdom, I realize now my Royal Guard are not prepared to go on the offensive when trouble arises. Depending on how you do in the training will determine if you should be made leader of the group. After the training, the others will find about this and which one will be in charge.”

Princess Luna said, “Whoever we think is the best of the best will get the position.”

“Thank you Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for allowing me to change the agreement we made.”

The waiter strolled in with the food and placed it in front of them. “After breakfast Blaze, I’ll have a guard escort you to the training grounds and meet the other ponies,” said the Princess of the Day.

The three ate breakfast in silence. Once it was over, the red stallion went with a guard to the grounds. They arrived and Blaze saw the other ponies from the files. He walked up to them and waved his hoof and said, “Hello there. I take it You’re here for the Royal Guard Training?”

The first one who spoke said, “Yep. Name is Star Dust.”

The red pony gave him a hoofshake. “My name is Swift Blaze. My friends call me Blaze,” he said.

“My name is Colorful Spark,” he said.

As Blaze went to shake his hoof, it passed right through an illusion. He put a confused look on his face as he didn’t want to give away that he knew some of their abilities.

“Don’t worry about it. He got us all with that illusion,” said Star Dust.

The next pony that came up was a black Pegasus. He said, “Hello Blaze, my name is Lightning Trails.”

As the red stallion moved his hoof to shake his, a thought came to his mind as he saw the other ponies expressions. Lightning Trails must have obtained the ability to control lightning. I take he has shocked some of the others. Two can play that game. Blaze channeled chakra into his hoof to block from being shocked. When their hooves touched, nothing happened. They all looked surprised as nothing happened.

The Earth pony said, “I take it he was going to shock me from your expressions.”

“How did you prevent it?” asked the Pegasus. “I know I made contact with your hoof.”

“You’re not the only pony that can control lightning.”

“And you're just an Earth pony. How can you control it?”

“Like so.” Blaze placed his hooves together and did the hand signs in his head. The stallion’s right hoof had a Chidori glowing from it.

Lightning Trails came over to him and touched it. He quickly jumped back and shouted, “Ouch! That is not normal lightning! What is that?”

“I’ll explain later,” he replied as he pulled the chakra back. “I see we also have Zebras joining us in the training.”

“You know of our species?” Cancer asked.

“Yes, I do. But, you’re the first one I’ve met face to face. Nice to meet you.” Blaze said as he held his hoof out.

The Zebra with red stripes went up and shook it as he said, “My name is Cancer. This is my twin brother, Dragon. Finally, this is our big sister, Fang.” The others waved at me.

Blaze said, “Looks like we have an interesting group.”

All of a sudden, a pony shouted from behind them. “Ten hut you foals!”

They all got in line and stood at attention. The pony that shouted was Captain Shining Armor. He was wearing his purple armor and looked serious.

“For the next two weeks, your useless lives are in my hooves. When I address you, you will add ‘sir’ to the beginning and end of what you reply.DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!” shouted the white Unicorn.

They all said, “SIR, YES, SIR!”

“You will eat when I tell you, sleep when I tell you, and follow all my orders while I train you. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”

“SIR, YES, SIR!” They said louder.

“Stow your bags in barrack twenty and meet me on the track field. You have five minutes. MOVE IT!”

The ponies ran to the barracks and each put their bags away. The red Earth pony realized they were sent to the furthest barrack to the track. Blaze didn’t want to deal with getting yelled at for being late. So, he stopped in his track and performed a teleport jutsu to the location. The stallion arrived arrived seconds later. Shining Armor was surprised that he appeared out of nowhere.

The Unicorn walked up to him and said, “Hello Blaze, did you get enough sleep last night?” There was a smirk grin on his face.

I knew it! he thought. The white stallion told his sister a lie to have him come extra early. The red stallion hoped the grudge would end soon, or it would be the death of him.

Blaze calmly replied, “Sir, I got plenty on the train ride, sir.”

“I thought you could not perform any hand sign jutsu while in pony form?”

“Sir, I learned how to yesterday, sir.”

“You are hereby ordered not to use your chakra or ki skills during training. Unless I authorize it. Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” the Earth pony replied with a salute.

The others soon arrived with three seconds left. They were out of breath. Several were surprised Blaze got there before them, and not out of breath.

“Get in line you maggots!” Shining Armor ordered. Each one did so very quickly. “Ok, I want twenty laps from each of you. But, for you Swift Blaze, you’ll have to do fourty as you somehow got through my magic barrier. None of you are to use your abilities. When you are done, you can go to the mess hall and get some chow. You have three hours to complete this. If you don't finished by then, you don’t get lunch. BEGIN!”

The trainees started to run the track course. The red pony had to run faster as he had twice as many to do. Cancer was somehow able to keep up with him.

He asked, “So, Blaze, how did you get here before us? The captain said you got through his magic barrier. That’s why the other Unicorns and I couldn’t just teleport from our barracks.”

“My abilities don’t use magic,” he replied. “Actually I have no magic in me at all. I can explain more during free time tonight.”

The red stallion picked up his speed as the zebra slowed back down and joined the rest of the group. Blaze had to go twice as fast as the others if he wanted to finish in the time limit. After two hours down, the others only had a few laps left. The red pony, still had fifteen left. He calculated in his head how long it would take him to finish. At his current speed, the stallion wouldn’t make it, and he was maxed out.

Blaze thought, Shining really has a grudge against me. It’s not my fault that his guards never expected to encounter me, a human with my abilities. You know what, screw the weights. I’m hungry. He said the command to his clothes to remove the enhanced weights.

What happened next, if one looked from the sidelines, was as if the stallion had activated some afterburner as he shot forward with flames hoof prints on the track. The Earth pony was struggling on the turns. At his speed, with no banking, he was pulling several G’s while just trying to stay on course. The others had moved to the outer lanes to avoid being hit by the red blur. Blaze finished with the requirement with fifteen minutes to spare. The other trainees had finished five minutes prior. When the Earth pony finished, he collapsed onto the ground. The other ponies came over to check on him.

“Dude! Blaze, what in the world was that!?” Dragon asked.

He replied while catching his breath, “I wasn’t going to finish in time at the speed I was going. So I deactivated the weight enhancement on my clothing.”

“Why are you wearing weighted down clothing?” Star Dust asked.

“Long story.”

“Do you need a hoof to get to the mess hall?” Lightning Trails asked. “I won’t shock you.”

“Nah, I think I’ll just float there.”

Blaze started to use his ki and floated off the ground.

“HOW IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU DOING THAT!” Colorful Spark shouted.

“Again, long story. Let's get something to eat before we run out of time.”

The group went to the mess hall and grab some of the prepared food from the buffet. Blaze had loaded his up to the max. When he sat down with the rest of the group, they were again surprised at the amount of food the stallion took. The trainees ate in silence and quickly before Shining Armor could show up. Every crumb that was on their plates was gobbled up and they ran back to the track. The Unicorn Captain was waiting there for them. Each one got back in line as they were once were before.

“Blaze! Step forward.” Shining Armor commanded. The red pony did so. The white Unicorn walked up right to his face. “Care to explain why you disobeyed my order on using magic and abilities.?”

He replied, “Sir, you said to not use them. But nothing about deactivating the magic spell that’s on my clothing, Sir.”

“What spell?”

“Sir, weight enhancement, sir.”

“Explain.”

“Sir, I asked Twilight Sparkle to add a spell to my clothes to make them heavier so I can continue my morning routine. Would you care to see how much weight I have been training with, sir?”

“Take them off and put them on that scale,” he said as the stallion pointed to one in the middle of the track field.

Everyone headed over and Blaze took off his gi and the hoof bands. The scale said their weight was about a pound. The others looked like they didn’t believe him.

The red stallion said, “Return to previous weight setting.”

The scale platform dropped down hard and re-balanced itself. It now said the articles weight were a total two hundred and fifty pounds. The trainees dropped their mouths open. Blaze went and put his gear back on and stood back in line. Shining Armor turned and faced the front of them.

“This afternoon, you’re going through the obstacle course until all of you can do it under three minutes, each. The pony who does not complete this by sundown doesn’t get dinner. Oh, and Blaze, increase your total weight to three hundred pounds,” the Captain said, with a smile on the last part. “This guard will keep track of your times and call them out as you cross the line.”

“Sir, yes, sir. Increase total weight by fifty pounds,” the red stallion said.

The new weight placed a good strain on his body, making it difficult to move. He realized that Shining Armor was trying to get him to fail. Just to gloat that it was not for everyone. It might have been a plus side of punishing Blaze. Well, the Earth pony would play the Captain’s game and beat it.

The trainees took to the course and went at full speed to get it done as fast as possible. Swift Blaze was dead last due to the increased strain on his body. But, he didn’t stop. The stallion was determined to show the white Unicorn he couldn’t break him.

Fang slowed down when she came up from behind to match the pace as the red pony. The mare asked, “So, what did you do to get on Captain Shining Armor’s hate list?”

He replied, “I stayed here once. I wasn’t aware at the time that I was suppose to have an escort. The guards thought I was an assassin when I did one of my abilities right in front of them. They were shooting their magic at me and I manage to evade two dozen of his guards.”

“You must tell us the tale sometime, Blaze.”

“Maybe tomorrow night. I think tonight we should get to know what each of us can do.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Fang sped back up and continued going through the course. From what his body was telling him, he’d be feeling the burn later on.

After two hours of training, the others averaged close to three and a half minutes. Blaze was at five minutes. He was getting used to the weight. Each run through showed proof. As the red stallion was halfway through the obstacle track, he heard a scream that came from the start/finish line. Lightning Trails was flying all around screaming,

“I did it! I got under three minutes!” the Pegasus shouted.

The others nearby congratulated him. Blaze continued working hard on the course to get his time better. The next pony was Cancer getting under the objective. The others finished in order of, Colorful Spark, Dragon, Fang, and Star Dust. The red Earth pony was at three minutes and fifteen seconds.

The other trainees started to cheer Blaze on as he was knocking a few seconds off each time he finished the course. There was an thirty minutes left and the stallion only had a few seconds to go. With twenty minutes left, he broke the three minute mark. They all cheered loudly for doing it. Then realized the red Earth pony didn’t stop.

“Blaze! You did it! You completed the objective! You can stop running!” Star Dust shouted.

He shouted back, “NO! I AM NOT DONE!”

Lightning Trails flew over to me and followed as he continued the course. “What else do you got to prove?” He asked.

“Tell me, what does that say over there for the course record?”

The Pegasus flew to the sign and said what it read, “Record time, two minutes and fifty-three seconds.”

“Now then, who set that record?”

“Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard. Are you going to try and beat this Blaze?”

“Eeyup.”

The others trainees heard what the stallion was planning to do. They cheered louder to push him on. At twelve minutes left, the time was two minutes and fifty-five seconds. Blaze was close and he felt he could do it. The stallion pushed harder and harder on his body. The pain was increasing, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

With six minutes left, it was two minutes and fifty-three point five seconds. “You’re almost there, Blaze!” Colorful Spark shouted.

The next lap was two minutes and fifty-three point zero five seconds. Last lap. the Earth pony said in his head. He pushed his body past its limit as the stallion wanted to beat the record. The finish line came into view. Blaze made one massive leap across it. He landed on his belly and slid on the dirt to a stop.

“That was awesome, Blaze!” Dragon said as he and Cancer picked him off the ground.

He replied, “Thanks,” while full blown exhausted.

The two Zebras took the red pony over to a bench so he could have a rest and let his hooves from stop aching. As the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain came knocking with a sledhammer all over his body. Blaze worked on it with his chakra to heal where it hurts. The others were about to start ask some questions, when they saw Captain Shining Armor heading to them.

“I take you all were able to get under the three minutes,” the white Unicorn said. He turned to the guard and said, “Soldier, read out the results.”

He cleared his throat and read the results, “First to finish was Lightning Trails, with the time of two minutes and fifty-nine point seven seconds. Next was Cancer with the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point two seconds. Colorful Spark had the time of two minutes and fifty-nine point three seconds. Dragon had the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point four seconds.”

“Hah! I beat you again, Dragon!” Cancer interrupted.

“Ahem, Fang’s time was two minutes and fifty-seven point seven seconds.”

“And I still beat you both, little brothers,” Fang said as she smirked.

“Star Dust had the time of two minutes and fifty-eight point seven seconds.”

“Now then, what time did Swift Blaze finished the course, barely?” Shining Armor asked. “He probably had the worse time.”

“Um, . . .” The guard started to say.

“What was his time on the obstacle course? That’s an order,” the white stallion commanded as was getting mad.

“Swift Blaze’s time on the obstacle course was two minutes and fifty-one point nine seconds, sir.”

The other trainees cheered after hearing that the red stallion broke the record. The Earth pony had a smirk on his face as he looked at the Captain.

Blaze turned to the other Royal Guard and said, “You can keep Captain Shining Armor’s name on that record wall. I would like to just be on it also. With a note that I had 300lbs of weights on me.”

“Congratulations recruits,” said the white Unicorn. “You’ve survived the first day of training. Go and get your dinner and get plenty of rest. We’ll get to the hard stuff tomorrow.” He then teleported away.

The group headed back to the mess hall. Blaze floated with them as his hooves were still aching. The red pony sat at the table before getting food as he wasn’t hungry, yet. He wanted to finish healing his body enough so it would stop aching. The others went and got their food and joined the Earth stallion at the table.

“You’re not going to eat, Blaze?” Star Dust asked.

He replied, “I’m working on healing the ache and pains my body is telling my brain. The food hunger is being overwhelmed by them.”

“Care to tell us how you can do all these things that no Earth pony has ever done before?” Colorful Spark asked.

The stallion let out a sigh. Then said, “You’re not going to believe it when I tell you. I can’t even show you as my body is under a magic spell. I ‘m not actually a real pony.”

“BULLSHIT!” Dragon shouted.

“Then how would you explain how I can fly without wings or do magic like things without a horn?”

The others started to think what would cause a Earth pony to get unique abilities. They looked him over and couldn’t see a sign of a broken or ingrown horn. No signs the stallion had wings at some point in his life and had lost them.

Once they realized they couldn’t, Blaze told his tale of being a creature called a human and how he came to Equestria. He covered the chakra and ki energy sources and demonstrated some of them. The red pony finished with the tornado and how he was stuck in pony form for about two weeks.

“Now I remember!” said Colorful Sparks. “I saw you in your human form at that Award Ceremony for the orange Earth mare.”

Blaze asked, “Then how come you didn’t recognize my pony form when I went back on stage to get the citizenship certificate and the gift from Princess Celestia?”

“I was in the back of the crowd.”

“Ok, I don’t recall seeing at other times when I was in Ponyville. Where do you live?”

“I’m on the northeast side of town. I used to work at the magic gag shop over there.”

The stallion smiled as he thought of two ponies that probably went there often. “I take it then you know a pink Earth mare and a light blue Pegasus mare then?” he asked.

“Oh, you mean Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash? I do know them as they shop there a lot. Last time, Dash said he had to pull a prank on a certain somepony for backfiring one of hers.”

“I can tell you they have yet been able to prank me.”

“That was you too! What was the prank she tried to do?”

Blaze told the story at the restaurant of how Dash tried to shoot a spit wad at him. The other ponies laughed after hearing what happened.

“My body is healed enough. So I’m going to get some food. When I get back, how about we go around and tell something about each of us. Seeing how I’ve shared.”

The red stallion got up and got some food. Again he filled the tray up with so much, it looked it would feed six ponies. He returned and started to eat as the pony waited for one of the others to start telling their tales.

----------Star Dust Backstory-----------

Star Dust wiped off his muzzle of food before he said, "I think I’ll start. Before coming here, I lived in Manehattan. I lived there with my little sister. Our parents moved away to Canterlot due to family problems."

"What kind of problems?" Dragon asked.

"I’d rather not discuss it. At the time, I was only a teenage colt and didn’t have my cutie mark. Our parents wouldn’t even send us money to survive so I had to take small jobs here and there to get by."

"Sorry to hear that,” said Blaze. “I kind of know what that’s like when I lived on my planet. I used to live with my Mom as a child, but I had to help out by getting a job to buy food and other things.”

"Thanks. One night, after I put my sister to bed, I stayed up and read a book I checked out from the local library. It was about the stars and how Princess Luna created them several thousand years ago. I loved the night sky each night I could view it. I remember my Dad telling me a tale of how each star up there was for a pony that died in the past thousand years."

The red Earth pony thought, Hmm, that reminds me of something from my childhood. Can't recall exactly what, but I heard something similar in a story.

"From working several odd jobs, I manage to save enough bits to buy a telescope. On the clearest night, I snuck out of the house after my sister was asleep. I went to the park and set the telescope up and in the biggest field there. I was truly amazed at what I saw through it in the vast depths of space. It seemed I was out there for a long time, when it was only twenty minutes."

"That must have been magical to see all the things in space," Colorful Spark said.

"You can say that. I started to get tired so I was about to put my telescope away when I saw something shimmer in the sky. I was seeing a shooting star! I quickly pointed my telescope to it and began to track it. I notice something was off. It was not moving side to side, like how you would normally see it. It was getting bigger. I realized then it was coming straight for me!"

"What happened?" Cancer asked with an anticipation look on his face.

“I’m getting to that. The shooting star flew right over me. I did not know how, but my horn started to use magic and emitted a bright light that covered the field. After a few seconds it faded out. I was amazed at what happened so I tried to see if I can recreate the light. I was able to, but not as intense as before. It looked like a tiny star was floating above my horn. I then noticed my cutie mark appeared. A shooting star with the cosmic tail. I ran home to my little sister and told her the great news. She was happy I got my cutie mark.”

“Such a touching tale,” said Lightning Trails. “It brought a tear to my eye.” He wiped away said tear.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is your sister name and where is she now?” Blaze asked.

“My sister’s name is Flower Dust. When I received a letter from Princess Celestia that I was finally accepted for Royal Guard training, I got worried for my little sister. I sent a letter to her asking if my sister could stay at the castle while I’m training. A few days later, a Royal Guard showed up at my house and said he was ordered to take me and my sister to the Castle in Canterlot. We were both happy that we quickly packed everything that we had and left Manehattan complete, never wanting to return there again.”

“That’s very kind of the Princess to offer. I can’t wait to see your sister,” Colorful Spark said.

“I told her to stay in the Castle and not to wander Canterlot. I don’t want her running into our parents.”

“They must have done something pretty bad if you never want to see them again,” Cancer said.

“I think I’ll go next,” Lightning Trails said.

----------Lightning Trails Backstory-----------

“I’m from Cloudsdale, The City in the Sky. Such a beautiful place. I lived there all my life and had many friends as a colt. My mom works in the weather factory in the snowflake room. My dad was a Royal Guard that worked the night shift. He was gone sometimes to do missions for Princess Celestia,” the Pegasus said.

“That’s cool that your father was in the Royal Guard,” Colorful Spark said. Everyone else nodded.

“At the time, I just finished basic school and was in Flight School to learn some unique flight techniques we Pegasus can do. We were getting a tour of the weather factory and how all the weather was made in Equestria. I got distracted by how to read the wind patterns in the sky and fell behind the group. I went to look for them and entered a room. I didn’t realize it, but I’d entered the testing room. I wandered around looking for them when the door to the room closed and locked. The lights went out and I heard thunder in the room. Lightning began to strike everywhere. I was struck by several of them and was knocked out.”

“What happened!” Dragon asked in an excited voice.

“I didn’t find out what happened until sometime later, when I woke up in the hospital. For a week, my mom was beside my bed and looked like she hasn’t slept the whole time. When she saw I was awake, she quickly gave me a hug. I don’t know how, but I somehow shocked her, literally. She jumped back quickly after receiving the jolt and assured me everything was going to be fine. She told me that I entered a test for a new kind of lightning that would be safer. I didn’t die, but it was painful. She also told me I'd suffered some after effects. I could harness lightning by absorbing it and dishing it out. She also told me I had my cutie mark. I quickly threw the bed sheets off to take a look and saw two lightning bolts crossing each other.”

“Shocking development,” Blaze said, trying to be funny. The others just rolled their eyes at him.

“I had to practice controlling since I didn’t want to hurt anyone. It was fun having this ability as I could shoot it out and disperse clouds very quickly. Years later, as I was half way through Flight School I received terrible news when I arrived home. My mom was crying on the couch as a Royal Guard Pegasus was standing there. She saw me enter the house and quickly pulled me into a hug. She told me that my dad got injured on his latest mission. I asked what happened. She told me he was on a mission in the Griffin Kingdom and something went wrong. I asked where is dad. She said he’s alive in the Canterlot hospital. But, he was severely injured. He can still fly, but won’t be able to use any of his hooves, ever again. At this point I joined my mom crying as we cried for who knows how long.”

“Sorry to hear that, Lightning Trails,” Cancer said. The others nodded also.

“Thanks. He’s still doing fine, but it was a little hard for him at first to not be able to do anything by himself. When I returned to Flight School after a week of visiting my dad in the hospital and bringing him home, word has spread about what happened. Some ponies said they were sorry for what happened to him. There were some that started to make jokes about him. I was very furious when they talked about him like that. I lost it one day, I sent lightning at that pony making fun at him and put him in the hospital. Before I could be disciplined by the Flight School, I dropped out as I don’t want to be anywhere near those jerk ponies. I made my decision then to join the Royal Guard to be like my dad. I submitted who knows how many applications over the years and get rejected. I learned enough to get a job to help pay the bills and buy food as my mom started to work part time as she was caring for my dad now. It was not till last week when I finally got the acceptance letter. I was excited that I sent off lightning in different directions.”

“So how is your dad doing?” Blaze asked.

“He still has his hooves, if you are wondering. The doctors said they are all healed, but the nerves are not making the connection to allow him to use them. They tried every magic to make them work and nothing so far.”

LIghtning Trails saw the red pony was a deep thought about this. He don’t know why he was interested in this.

“Can I go next?” Colorful Spark asked.

No pony objected so he cleared his throat as he was about to tell his tale.

----------Colorful Spark Backstory-----------

“Where shall I begin? Well, I was born and raised in Ponyville all my life. My years as a colt were not as fun as others. Because one eye color is different from the other, I was picked on by the other ponies,” the Unicorn said.

“As we heard so far, all of us had some trouble when they were young. None of will ever pick on what makes a pony unique to the others,” Dragon said. The others nodded in agreement.

“Thanks. I did make friends with a grey Pegasus filly. She too had a slight problem with one of her eyes, it would wander looking in another direction.”

“I know that mare,” said Blaze. “She’s Ditzy Hooves. That mare is nice to hang out with. Always full of fun and joy. Her filly is also cute too.”

“You know Ditzy? We have more friends in common Blaze than I ever thought. Getting back to my story, Ditzy and I hung out together in the whitetail woods so we were away from the meanies. One day, we were walking through town when we saw the school bullies. They liked to pick on us the most because of our eyes. They spotted us and started to head towards us. We started to run away and they followed, catching up. Ditzy flew off to get help from an adult. I ran all through town with them in tow. I was starting to get tired and stopped by a fire hydrant. They circled around me so I could not escape.”

“What happened next?” Cancer asked.

“As I was keeping an eye on them, I saw a dark cloud being pushed to me. Ditzy was pushing it and the bullies did not notice. When she was over, she gave it a hard kick to have lightning come out. What happened next I did not expect. The lightning hit my horn.”

“Ouch. That’s gotta hurt,” said Blaze, in a strange voice none of the others recognized.

“When it struck the tip, I got a magic overload and sent a bright light over the area. When I could see again. I looked around as saw everypony else was rubbing their eyes to see again. I then noticed to my left was something that looked like me. I decided to stand still like the thing and see what would happen. When they could see again, they thought they were seeing double, they argued for a bit then decided to lunge towards the fake. When they did, they flew right through it and collided with the fire hydrant that it was hiding.”

The ponies listening laughed at that. Colorful Spark joined them.

“Seeing my horn is drawn to lightning, can you, Lightning Trails and Swift Blaze, keep the lightning use under control? Don’t want to get another power boost by accident.”
“Sure thing. I don’t shoot my lightning off by accident, anymore,” the Pegasus replied.

“I have to supply chakra and do things called hand signs to make my lightning appear. I don’t even know how my chakra lightning will affect you the same way,” Blaze said.

“Let's not find out then. Getting back to my tale, so while they were knocked out, Ditzy and I got away. Once we were safe, Ditzy informed me that I got my cutie mark. I looked and saw several sparks of different colors on my flank. I was so excited, my magic with off again and more illusions popped up around us. That is when I discovered my talent was making illusions. I checked out books from the library that were about it and began to study. Ditzy helped me when I went to test to see how real the illusions are.”

The red pony asked, “So, did those bullies bother you and Ditzy again?”

“No, they didn’t. After running to that hydrant, I think they were afraid to run into something else and seriously get into trouble. Here are my thoughts on what I think about others. If somepony is mean to me, or mention something bad about my eyes, I no longer care what happens to them. If they are a kind pony, or says something positive about my eyes, I will be your friend for life.”

“Those are good things to believe in,” said Blaze. “Of course, there are some times when someone acts out in a bad way because they are also hurting on the inside from something. If I can get that pony to change their ways, they will be grateful for it.”

“When did you get so philosophical, Blaze?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Probably has to do with my beliefs about balance and restoring it on different levels,” he replied.

“So who is next to tell us about themselves?” Star Dust asked.

“I guess we’ll go next as we are siblings,” Cancer said.

----------Cancer, Dragon and Fang’s Backstory-----------

“Unlike the rest of you, except for Blaze here, Dragon, Fang, and I was not born within the land of Equestria. Our homeland is called, Zebrawbway. It is a beautiful place like Equestria. The only thing is we don’t have magic so abundant like here. I take you are wondering why my brother and I have horns then. Our mother was a Zebra and our father was a Unicorn. We were the first to ever receive a horn and were shunned because of it. It got so bad, our family left Zebrawbway and enter this land. We moved to a place outside of Dodge City so we don’t scare the ponyfolk. When it came time to go to school, our father used his magic to hide our stripes. The ponies were nice and friendly, but we hated hiding our true selves.” Cancer said.

“Sorry you got ran out of your homeland. Just like the rest of us, we don’t care about how everypony looks. It’s their actions that determine how they are liked,” Lightning Trails said.

“One thing my brother and I did quite often is we challenged each other. I have won most of them.”

“No, I won more than you!” Dragon shouted

“No, I did!”

“No, I did!”

“Hold it!” shouted Fang. “Do I need to put you in your place again?”

“No, big sis.” Dragon and Cancer said at the same time.

“Then stop making everything a challenge.”

“Yes, sister. Back to the story. We raced each other to and from school as twins always conflict with each other. On one day, it was raining when we left the schoolhouse. We ran as fast we did to get home. When we got into our yard, we notice something strange. The rain was no longer falling. It was suspended in mid air,” said Cancer.

“How is that possible?” Colorful Spark asked.

“We did not know at the time, but both our horns were emitting magic. We seemed to have stopped time. We cut our magic off and the rain started to fall again. Cancer and I were surprised at what happened. We then noticed the illusion spell disappear and showed our stripes again. There was something else that also revealed, our cutie mark. We both had a pocket watch, except it match our stripe colors. We began to work on exactly what our cutie mark stands for.” Dragon said.

“So what did you find out?” Blaze asked.

“We were correct that it was something time related,” replied Cancer. “Dragon has the ability to slow time around him making him look like he is going at super speed. I can speed up my own time to make myself go faster. The downside though now is our father’s illusion spell to hide our stripes was no longer working on us. We had to face the fact that when we go back to school the next day, we might get picked on.”

“What happened?” Star Dust asked.

“When we got to the schoolhouse, the other fillies and colts were happy we got our cutie mark, but were surprised we were also hiding the stripes. They all thought it was cool. Cancer and I were filled with joy that they did not think we were strange or freaks. Life became happier since as we could show our true selves freely without being picked on. We still continued having challenges every chance we got.” Dragon said.

----------Fang POV----------

“What about you, Fang. Tell us about yourself. Do you have some interesting talent like the rest of us?” Blaze said as he was across from her

“I would think so. You tell me.” the black Zebra said as she pointed one hoof at him.

Everyone was wondering what was going to happen. The mare focused on her hoof and sent out a blade that stopped mere inches from Blaze’s nose. Several gaspped, except for her brothers because they already knew about this.

“Yea, that’s an interesting skill,” Blaze said as he cleared his throat. “Can you retract it please?”

Fang did and it pulled itself back into her hoof. The pain of it returning was still there as it was when the first time it happened.

“Would you all like to hear my tale now?” she asked.

They all nodded their heads and paid attention.

“I was a filly when my brothers were born. I too was surprised they had horns. My family love out ruled the tribe’s beliefs. I was sad that I had to leave my friends behind in Zebrawbway. I soon was glad to leave them as I found out later how some turned against my brothers. I too received the illusion spell from my father so I could finish school. Times were a little tough living just outside of Dodge City. I took up being a privateer, somepony who gets hired to retrieve . . . things the client wants. Some of it was dangerous, but my original coat, after the illusion spell wore off, allow me to sneak through the night and blend in,” the mare said.

“Sounds similar to a group of people on my planet. Of course I think they were called something else. Can’t recall what though.” Blaze said as he rubbed a hoof against his head.

Fang glared at the stallion, hoping he doesn’t say the other name. “On one of the jobs, we were spotted by the enemy and had to get out of there quickly. I got stabbed in the hoof by one of them. When we were out of sight, I looked at my injury and saw a blade was still in there. There were no hospitals near by so we setup camp in the forest. The next morning, I did not feel the pain from the blade in my hoof. With the sunlight now, I got a better look at it. I saw that it was not stabbed into me, but came out of me. I thought I did not want that blade there and I started to retract back in. The wound healed up quickly where the blade came out of.”

“What was the object you were sent to retrieve?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Sorry, it’s classified. I cannot talk about any missions that I went on. I later found out that the blade was not tied to just that hoof. I could have it come out of any surface on my body. I began to train with it to understand how I can use it and how quickly I can have it come out. After I got a handle on it, I returned home and found about these two getting theirs. Years later, as we were hanging around the house, we received a letter from Princess Celestia inviting us to be trained in the Royal Guard. We were all shocked at this. Then, filled with joy about what this could bring, we quickly packed our stuff and left the next day.”

--------------End of backstory---------------

“It begs the question though, why she would have only us train together? They normally have several dozen doing it each month.” Star Dust said.

“Well, it’s getting late and I would like to get plenty of rest before Shining Armor has me do something overboard again,” said Blaze.

They all laughed at the thought, knowing it will probably happen. The trainees returned to our barracks and headed off to sleep land.

Chapter 25: Royal Guard Training, Part 2

Author's Notes:

Sorry it took so long to get a new chapter posted. 2019 was a busy year for me. Plus what's going on with 2020, I glad to still have a job.

I'm healthy and following the mask up policy at public spaces. I hope my followers are doing the same.

I've got a new proofreader to help me with my stories. It is Faded Echoes. Please check out his stories as well.

More chapters will be coming along as we get them rewritten. Thank you for continue to follow me.

The next morning, Swift Blaze woke up at his usual time. The stallion didn’t want to disturb the others, so he stayed in bed and went into his mind for some quick training. He started with muscle training as he expected that Shining was going to over push him again. He had one clone spend some time going through medical healing scrolls

After hearing what happened to Lightning Trail’s dad, Blaze thought there might be something in these about advanced nerve repair. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to learn, but he felt he should look into it, if there was a chance. This went on for an hour until a horn went off. It shook the mind space and caused the red pony to exit to see what’s going on.

Captain Shining Armor was standing at the entrance to the barracks. He had a big smile on his face. “Get up you foals! Time for some more training,” he shouted.

The ponies shot out of their beds and stood at the front of them. Blaze was wondering what this Unicorn had planned for them today. Shining Armor walked down the middle of the room as the trainees stood at attention. He looked at each of them as he went by. When he looked at the red Earth pony directly, his smile grew bigger. Blaze instantly thought he was going to be in pain again.

“After breakfast, report to the track for another session of running. You have thirty minutes to get ready and have breakfast.”

He left and the group quickly went and made their way to the mess hall. They grabbed some food and ate in silence and quickly. Once done, the ponies ran to the track and made it with a few minutes to spare. They stood in line and at attention, waiting for their orders. Shining Armor teleported in front of us when the time was up.

“Now then, yesterday when you ran the track, it was to see how you do. You’re going to need to improve your time quite a bit. Everypony’s average time to do one lap was around five minutes. Now, you will run this track until you are under one minute.”

They knew this was going to suck as the Earth pony saw it in their facial expression. Shining Armor then turned toward the red stallion.

“Blaze, you’re to increase your weight enhancement spell to three hundred seventy-five pounds. Have fun. NOW START RUNNING YOU MAGGOTS!”

He thought, I really hate you, Shining Armor. I don’t care if you’re the big bro to Twilight. You give me a chance to fight you, I’ll make sure you’ll feel the pain for the next week!

The red pony said the command and increased the weight. Blaze struggled just to stand. This is much of a strain on the body he didn’t expect to have to deal with. Each hoof felt like they were in concrete shoes covered in lead.

The other ponies had started to run. They saw how Blaze struggled to get going, but he had determination in his eyes again to beat this challenge. It took the stallion half an hour to do one lap. At this rate, he realized this is going to be a long day.

Three hours later, Colorful Spark, Cancer, Dragon, Star Dust, Fang, and Lightning Trails had got under the one minute mark. The only one that was left was the red pony. His time was down to ten minutes. Shining Armor showed up and informed those who finished to go and get lunch and then do three hours on the obstacle course. After the other trainees had left, the white Unicorn ran alongside the last pony.

“You having fun here, Swift Blaze? Or should I call you, Slow Blaze?” Shining Armor said.

The Earth pony didn’t answer him as he was focused on the task.

“What? No back talk like the morning you evaded my guards. I guess you wished you had never done that now, do ya.”

“Sir, permission to speak freely, sir,” Blaze said with an angry tone.

“Sure, why not. There’s nothing you can do anyway to hurt me if you want to stay here.”

“I really did respect what you do here and that you are Twilight’s brother. But that all changed when you turned into a complete motherfucking asshole! I know you were embarrassed that I evaded your guards that morning. Just realize no pony on this goddamn planet ever saw a human in over a thousand years, let alone one that can do these crazy things I can do. You only have me do these ridiculous things harder than the others because you are hoping I would break down and give up. I got some news for you, we humans NEVER GIVE UP! WE PUSH THROUGH THE HARD TIMES. LET ME TELL YOU THE SECRET THAT HAS LED ME TO MY GOAL. MY STRENGTH LIES SOLELY IN MY DETERMINATION!”

Blaze gained a burst of speed and ran faster. Shining Armor couldn’t believe this guy wouldn’t give up. The Unicorn teleported away and left the Earth pony alone with the guard that was keeping track of his time. It took several more hours before the stallion finally got under the one minute mark.

When he crossed the finished line, the red pony activated his ki flying so he wouldn’t fall face first into the ground. As he floated to the guard, he informed Blaze that he can go have dinner and turn in. The stallion nodded and made his way there.

He entered the mess hall and saw the others were eating their dinners. They were talking among themselves, but stopped when Blaze entered. He went and got his massive pile of food and joined them. As he was starting to eat, the other ponies were just staring at him.

Blaze swallowed the food he had eaten and wiped his muzzle before he asked, “Is there something you all want to ask me?”

“Remember when I asked you why you were on Captain Shining Armor’s hate list? You said you would tell us exactly what happened,” Fang replied.

“I do remember saying that. I take it you all are dying to know?”

The trainees all nodded their heads.

“Then let me tell you the tale as I eat as I didn’t have lunch today.”

So, Blaze told them about the morning when he woke up and was led to these training grounds. He told them about the nice soldiers who escorted him and about the sparring matches the pony had with himself. The stallion went on how he used a teleport jutsu and scared the guards outside of the dining room where the Princesses were having breakfast. He went into the details of what happened in the chase all the way to where he performed a ki move called ‘Solar Flare’ to blind them and teleported to the Princesses.

“No wonder Shining Armor has a grudge against you. I would too If I was embarrassed like that in front of the Princesses,” Star Dust said.

“His guards were never trained to deal with something like me and the abilities that I have. He shouldn’t make me suffer for it.” Blaze replied.

“I agree. You should go and tell the Princesses of what he is doing.” Dragon said.

“Then they will think I’m weak and couldn’t cut it. I just need to find a way for him to treat me as an equal and not the enemy.”

“What about challenging him to a match?” Lightning Trails asked.

“What?”

“My dad told me about it when I was young. A recruit can challenge the training officer if he or she believes they are being singled out from the rest of the group. It doesn’t happen often, but that’s there so the pony does have something they can do instead of quitting.”

“Lightning Trails, YOU ARE A GENIUS!” Blaze shouted and started to leave.

“Where are you going?” Fang asked.

“Going back to the barracks to get ready,” he said as he left.

Blaze entered the barracks and headed to his bed. He made two clones to help him out. The first clone will go into the mind space and train. The second clone will go into their mind space and focus on healing the body. Blaze will watch over them to make sure no one will disturb them. When the others finally came to the barracks, they all did a double take at what they were seeing.

“Um, is the fatigue from today finally getting to me, or do I see three Swift Blaze?” Cancer asked the others.

Lightning Trails replied, “I see the same thing you are seeing.”

Blaze spoke up and said, “I can explain why you see three of me. Come on in and I shall tell you about this jutsu.”

They entered and came to the foot of his bed. Blaze told them about his shadow clone and what this had allowed him to do since I came to this world. He could tell they were amazed at something new they had never seen before.

“So, you’re getting some healing done, while another of you is training on something, and you’re here to keep an eye on them,” Star Dust said.

“That is pretty much what it sums up to. I’m going to tell you right now. Don’t try to enter my mind. There are some sort of barriers in place, not of my own doing, to protect the knowledge I have. I don’t want any of you getting trapped in them.”

The Unicorns nodded to him. The other trainees headed to their own beds for some sleep. The only pony that was left awake was the one of Blaze that was watching over the others of himself.

The next morning, just before Shining Armor would enter, Blaze woke up the other two of his clones and released the jutsu. He quickly went over what they did and prepared himself for the fight.

Shining will regret what he has done by the end of the match. I won’t hurt him, much.Blaze thought.

The Earth pony saw the Captain come in. He was surprised to see that the red pony was already awake. He blew the horn in his magical grasp to wake the others. “Alright you sleepy heads, you know the drill. See you on the track in thirty minutes,” the Unicorn said and then teleported away.

Blaze left for the mess hall as the others took care of their morning business. He grabbed his normal amount of food he eats and sat at the usual table. The others shortly joined him at the table with their breakfast.

“Are you ready to challenge Shining Armor today, Blaze?” Colorful Spark asked.

He replied, “As ready as I’ll ever be. This is going to be a match for the books.”

“Maybe all the other guards and the Princesses will come and see the match,” Cancer said.

The red pony looked in the direction where the magic pinhole would be, if they were still watching him. “I think they might if they want to see some new jutsu I’ve come up with.”

“What are you looking at, Blaze?” asked Lightning Trails.

“Oh, thought I heard a fly buzzing around somewhere in that direction.”

“Let's get going before we are late.” Star Dust said.

The group finished their breakfast and arrived at the track with a few minutes to spare. When time was up, Captain Shining Armor teleported in. Before he was going to tell us what to do today, Blaze interrupted him by shouting, “CAPTAIN SHINING ARMOR! I HEREBY CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH FOR SINGLING ME OUT DURING TRAINING!”

The Unicorn strolled up and faced him, face to face. “So, you are going to invoke the challenge. What are your conditions for the challenge?” he asked.

“It will be a no holds barred match. Anything can go. I will be allowed to use my chakra and ki and you can use your magic. We can use weapons, but cannot kill the opponent. First to lose consciousness, loses the match. If I win, you will treat all of us fairly like you would normal recruits. If I lose, I shall drop out of the training and leave Ponyville, forever.”

“I accept your terms. Follow me to the battle arena.”

They followed him to another part of the training grounds the trainees haven’t seen before. The ponies entered and stopped at a stairway.

“The rest of you can go up these stairs and watch from the seats around the arena. Blaze, follow me to the arena itself.”

They all complied and followed the instructions. The captain led him to a double door and opened them. A bright light shone through the opening first and then revealed the field. The pair soon heard lots of ponies cheering. They looked around and saw the place was filled with lots of guards. Both spotted Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the Royal box to watch events from.

Blaze took a guess they were still watching him. They wanted to see how he was handling the training. He looked over to Shining Armor whose eyes were widened in shock at the massive crowd of guards that filled the seats of the arena.

The Unicorn turned to the Earth pony and said, “Did you have something to do with this?”

“How could I? I have been on the training grounds,” Blaze replied. “There hasn’t been any contact with anyone from the outside. I’ve only chatted with you and the others I am training with.”

“I think this will be good now. When I humiliate you in front of those I command, they’ll know who’s the best.”

“Don’t think having your guards here will help you win.”

“I was going to kick your flank no matter what.”

“Then let’s stop chatting and head to the center of the field.”

The pair made their way and stood in the center. Blaze whispered the command to take the weight enhancement off so he’d be at top speed. Princess Celestia stood up and walked to the balcony just outside of the royal box.

“Good morning everypony! We’re all here to watch the challenge match between Captain Shining Armor and Swift Blaze. They have set the terms among each other and are ready to fight. Let's cheer for both as these are two great stallions,” the white Alicorn said using her Royal Canterlot Voice.

The crowd cheered louder after the speech. Shining Armor and Blaze turned and faced each other and got into a battle stance. Both had a serious look on their faces as they stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

The red stallion said, “You can still back out and just accept to treat me better like the others.”

The white stallion replied, “You can also back out before being humiliated in front of all these ponies. I have yet to lose a challenge.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Enough chat! Time for battle!” Shining Armor shouted.

The Unicorn charged his horn up quickly and fired a spell at the Earth pony. He had let it hit to see what it would do. It was a barrier spell that surrounded him. Blaze touched it and saw he couldn’t pass through it like the others.

“Too easy. What are you going to do now? That’s my strongest barrier spell. Nothing can break it.” Shining Armor said as he was gloating.

“Guess you did not hear me,” Blaze replied. “I said there’s a first time for everything. Let me show you how easily I can break this barrier of yours.”

Blaze started to charge up his ki. The Captain watched to see what he’d do. The red pony was soon emitting a red glow around his body. The barrier started to buckle as he charged up higher. When the stallion was ready, he released the energy and shattered the force field to nothing.

Shining Armor was first surprised, then got furious. He fired another spell at Blaze, but he easily dodged it with his new speed. From the Unicorn’s point of view, it looked like the spell shot right through him.

The crowd gasped at what happened and couldn’t understand how it happened. He took a guess there might have been one pony that could have possibly seen what he did. Blazed scanned the crowd quickly looking for his team. He soon spotted them. They all had surprised looks on their faces, except for one, Cancer. His horn was glowing so he suspected he activated his ability to speed himself up. Blaze knew he'd like this next attack.

As Shining Armor was charging up another spell, Blaze moved at full speed to him. Time slowed down as he ran. When the Earth pony was close to the Unicorn, he quickly placed a hoof band on his horn. He then stood next to him a distance away. When time went back to normal for Blaze, Shining Armor thought he disappeared. The red stallion whistled so he would look in his direction.

The Captain turned his head with a confused look. “How did you get over there?”

Blaze replied, “The weight training, remember? Want to know what it feels like? Increase left fore hoof band back to previous weight.”

The Unicorn’s head suddenly took a nosedive and his horn penetrated the ground. The crowd was cheering and Blaze heard some laughter too. Shining Armor pulled his horn out of the ground and shook the hoof band off. He now looked pissed.

“ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES! COME AND FIGHT ME LIKE A STALLION! IF YOU HAVE THE BALLS!” Shining Armor shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Fine then, let’s get serious.”

Both charged at each other and started to throw hooves at each other. Each was blocking the other. Blaze had no trouble with his speed to read the Captain’s movements. The red stallion was amazed how the Unicorn was keeping up with blocking him. Kicks were also exchanged. This lasted for several minutes and neither of them was making headway. Blaze jumped back as this was getting boring. He wanted to change the fighting style.

The Earth pony gathered some chakra energy, thought the hand signs in his head, and shouted, “Fire Style! Rapid Fireball Jutsu!” He shot out several fireballs at Shining Armor. The white stallion activated his horn and had water shooting out and hit the fireballs. They made contact and burst into steam. Blaze decided to play with this and covered the field in a fog. He then summoned his samurai sword to him and started to sneak around the fog.

Shining Armor was getting frustrated with the environment change. “You call this fighting! You are hiding in a fog, afraid to attack!” He cried out.

A soldier would think it’s useless. But a ninja has an advantage with it. Blaze ran by the Captain several times in different directions. Each time, he had his sword touch him in a spot that would be fatal. But it didn’t do any damage as this was the reverse blade sword. He was hitting him with the blunt edge. The Unicorn fired spells in the directions Blaze ran away, but missed. He finally sent an energy wave of heat and that cleared the fog.

“You want to play with swords now? Let me show you what I can do.” Shining Armor pulled four swords off the arena walls with his magic and held them next to them. “Can you dodge all these?”

The white pony swung them at the red pony. He used his blade to deflect and block each swing. Blaze had to pick up his speed as the magic was allowing the Captain to swing them faster, at the same time he was doing this with four blades. The Earth pony was getting pushed back as he was defending himself. The crowd was now cheering for Shining Armor.

Ugh, they cheer who is winning. I need to change this up before I get diced up. Blaze thought.

He sidestepped and rolled out of the way. The stallion energized his sword with electricity and launched a wave at the Captain. He pulled up a barrier shield to deflect the wave. As he did this, Blaze performed another jutsu and gave himself some stone armor.

When the white Unicorn swung the blades at the Earth pony again, he let them hit him. The impact caused the blades to get stuck in the armor. Blaze’s sword was still energized, so he sent another wave at his opponent. The Captain was too close to bring up some protection. It made contact and got the jolt pretty good. Shining Armor lost control of the blades as the magical glow around the handles disappeared. The red stallion took his armor off so he could move again at the faster speed.

As the white Unicorn was recovering, Blaze performed an ice jutsu that encased all of his opponent’s hooves to the ground. Shining Armor tried to pull them out, but no such luck.

“Last chance to concede before we go to the next level,” Blaze said.

The Captain replied, “SCREW YOU YOU MOTHERFUCKING FREAK!”

“I really didn’t want to cause you severe pain, as I still respect you, but you leave me no choice.”

The Earth pony quickly backed away as the Unicorn used his magic to free himself. He then fired rapid shots of magic at the red stallion. Blaze dodged them the best he could, but the rapid fire caused several to hit him. Where they made contact, the pony felt a burning sensation that wouldn’t go away. Blaze countered by sending water jet streams at bullet speeds. This rapid fire also made several hits on the white stallion.

Blaze could feel his energy levels were getting low. He knew this would have to end soon if he wanted to stand a chance, so he played a desperate play and launched a ki ball at Shining Armor. The Unicorn brought up a barrier to block, but it just went right through and exploded. The Captain got knocked back several feet. The red pony stumbled toward his opponent as he too was now barely standing. They both looked at each other. Bruises were all over them and were really hurting.

“I will never give up. You can’t make me lose consciousness. You’ll have to kill me,” Shining Armor said.

“Guess I have to pull out the final technique to make you lose,” Blaze replied.

The red stallion stepped back a bit and performed the massive shadow clone jutsu. Hundreds of him now filled the arena. Shining Armor looked around and chuckled.

“So, you plan on beating one pony up with many of you? Only proves what a monster you are.”

“No, I’m not going to beat you up physically. I’m going to do something you would never expect on the battlefield.”

Blaze could tell that the crowd was wondering what he was going to do. Time to show my favorite funny jutsu that Naruto does, with a slight modification. He thought.

“NINJA ART! SEXY LINGERIE TRANSFORMATION JUTSU!” All of the red stallion’s shouted. A big puff of smoke filled the space. When it dissipated, everywhere you look you could see different pony mares wearing lingerie of different styles. All the stallions shot blood out of their noses and fell over due to the overload. Shining Armor too fell from this. Blaze had several clones look like Princess Cadance next to him. He released the transformations and clones so he was the last pony standing, literally.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flew down from their box to him.

“Well, that was an unexpected way to end the match. Not only did you knock out Shining Armor, but the rest of the guards that weren’t on duty,” Princess Celestia said.

“Why would you come up with a jutsu like that?” asked Princess Luna. There was a little bit of blood still on her nose.

“I actually didn’t come up with it, originally. The main character did something similar to his superiors as he was a kid. Being human, we wear clothing all the time so his version was of naked women,” replied Blaze, as he was catching his breath while sitting on the ground. “Seeing ponies are mostly the other way, I took a chance that some clothing is used for those special times between lovers.”

“Well, you do have an interesting imagination. You are clearly the winner today so you can go and rest yourself. Shining Armor will honor the agreement between you two,” Princess Celestia said.

“Thank you, your highness. The guards should be waking up soon so I’ll take my leave.”

Blaze went and picked up his loose hoofband and sword. The stallion placed the clothing object back on and sent his weapon back to his basement. He then teleported out of there and reappeared at the barracks.

He entered the washroom to take a look at his injuries. He had several bruises and cuts over his body. The sliced openings had stopped bleeding and had closed up. The impact marks were starting to blacken up.

Blaze thought, Man, Shining Armor knows how to dish it out the pain. A normal pony would be knocked out five times over. He knew this would take a while to fully heal, even with the basic medical jutsu knowledge he had.

The stallion then heard the doors to the barracks open and several ponies walked in. He poked his head out of the washroom and saw his teammates. Several of them had tissues plugging their noses.

“Wow Blaze, you sure took a beating. I’m surprised you’re still standing,” Colorful Spark said.

“What in Equestria was that last move you did?” asked Lightning Trails as he breathed through his mouth. “I’ve never seen something like that in a fight.”

Blaze sat on his bed and replied, “I had to come up with an ace in the hole that would make any stallion fall over and be out for a while. That was the best option as it would not cause major damage.”

“Well, it was super effective. All the stallions, including these ponies, fell over with blood coming out of their noses,” Fang said as she laughed.

“Can you warn us next time before you do that thing again?” asked Cancer. “I fell and rolled over several ponies till I stopped at the bottom of the section we were in.”

“I don’t plan on using that unless I need to evade some ponies.” The red pony replied.

“It was impressive how fast you dodged that second spell,” the red striped zebra said.

“He didn’t dodge it,” said Star Dust. “it went right through him. Never saw anything like that.”

“Right, none of you can see super fast movement.”

“Huh?” The other asked in confusion.

“I’ll explain what happened as I did it,” said Blaze. “You know I have these on to actually continue training and so I don’t run too fast. I had deactivated all 375 lbs so I felt super light. My body could move so fast, that I did that dodge within a blink of an eye.”

“That’s fast!” Dragon said.

“Yea, I would show you my speed. But the pain is now getting to me so I really don’t want to move for a while. It’s going to take a while to heal these wounds.”

“If you want, I can use some healing magic on you to help you out,” Colorful Spark said.

“That would be great. Any help in relieving the pain will be good.”

“Ok Blaze, hold still as I’m a little out of practice.”

The blue Unicorn activated his horn and the same glow formed around the red Earth pony’s body. He started to feel a nice, warm, wave go over him as the pain was lessened. He looked over his body and the injuries had started to disappear. Soon, the pain was gone and his body looked healed.

“Thank you, Colorful Spark. You saved me many hours of trying to do that myself.”

“Anytime, Blaze.”

A loud rumble was heard in the barracks. They all looked around to where it came from. Then, the ponies turned their eyes to the red one as his stomach went off again. He chuckled a bit and said, “I think my stomach is telling me to get some food.”

They all laughed and the group made their way to the mess hall. Each one grabbed some food and started to eat. As they were, the doors to the mess hall burst open. Standing there was Captain Shining Armor, all healed. He walked over to our table.

“Congratulations, Swift Blaze. Very few have beaten me in a challenge. *Cough* Let alone in that method,” said the white Unicorn captain. “I’ll let you have the rest of the day off to recuperate your strength back. The rest of you, after lunch, I want you to go to the sparring area and pair up. A guard will be there to give you the rules. Also, I would like to have a chat with you, Blaze, after lunch. I’ll be by the track.” He left before we could get a word in.

“Wonder what he wants with you, Blaze?” Star Dust asked.

“Do you think he’s going to use a surprise attack on you?” asked Lightning Trails.

“I don’t think he will do anything like that,” replied Blaze. “I think he would like to know more about these jutsu and ki abilities I have.”

The group finished eating their lunch and parted ways. They went to spar and the red stallion went to the track to see what Shining Armor wanted to talk about. He was hoping the Unicorn wasn’t going to ambush him. Blaze got to the track and didn’t see the Captain anywhere.

The Earth pony felt this wasn’t good. He focused on hearing what’s going on around him to stay on alert. He heard a twig snap behind him. The stallion quickly spun around and was about to launch a ki ball at what was there. Blaze held it as he saw it was Shining Armor. He was surprised at Blaze’s reaction.

“It’s ok Blaze, I’m not here to fight you. You proved that you are on another level with your skills,” the Unicorn said.

The red stallion pulled the ki back in and lowered his arms. “Sorry about that. Being called to an area and no pony was there, my instincts kicked in to prepare for anything. Good thing I looked before I launched that blast, “ he said.

“Yea, I want to talk about those abilities some more, but I have something else on my mind I need answers to. When you did that last move that knocked me out, mentally, you had several of you turn into Princess Cadance. I checked with Princess Celestia and you have never met her. How were you able to look like her, let alone getting them exact?”

Blaze did a mental facehoof. He knew that was going to bite at him later, which is now. He took a deep breath, then said, “Shining Armor, I think we will finish this conversation with Princess Celestia. She’ll understand why.”

“Alright, but I do want an explanation when we get there.”

The two left the track and made their way to the castle. When they entered the throne room, Princess Celestia was sitting there on the throne and only guard ponies were in the room. The pair walked up to the white Alicorn and bowed. Shining Armor stood up first and Blaze followed.

“Your highness, Swift Blaze said he’ll tell me about Princess Cadance, but only in your presence. Will you honor us with a court session so we can understand how he knows her?”the captain asked.

She looked at the Earth pony and he felt her mind reaching for his. Does this have to do with your knowledge of future events of Equestria, Blaze? She asked with her mind.

He replied the same way, Yes, your highness. I would like to include Captain Shining Armor in knowing the real truth about me.

“Very well Captain. You guards may leave us and close the doors. I wish not to be disturbed.”

“Yes, Princess Celestia,” the guards said. They left and closed the doors. The Alicorn used her magic and sealed the room. She gave the red stallion a nod when it was done.

“Captain Shining Armor, what you are about to hear does not leave this room,” he said. “Only Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and yourself are the only ponies I have told this to. You cannot repeat this to anyone that I have not mentioned. That includes Twilight Sparkle.” He finished with a serious face.

“What could be so secretive that you have only the Princesses knew about before me?” Shining Armor asked.

“I told a partial truth to your sister when I informed her and her friends of how I came to this world. I said I wanted to go to a world that has not seen war and greed of the human kind. The real truth is I chose this world specifically by name.”

“How can a human know about this world when they have not been here for over a thousand years.?”

“Like this.” Blaze summoned his iPad. “Back on my world, we had created things called TV shows. They are made about anything. Don’t freak out about what I am about to show you.”

He started to play the first episode. The Unicorn’s eyes grew wide to what he was seeing and couldn’t believe it. Once it was over, he sat down and looked like he saw a ghost or something in that nature.

“How’s that possible? I chatted with Twilight about that day and that is exactly what happened. Is this just a show for you and we don’t really exist?”

“Shining, listen to me. This place is real as I have realized when I arrived. I keep this a secret for the exact reason to how you reacted. I don’t know how to explain it either but I have knowledge of future events. I have now found out the episodes are not in chronological order so I really don’t know when they are going to happen until I recognize something from the episode. Before you asked as the Princesses have, I will not show you what is coming as I don’t know when it would be. So, when I say to trust me, believe me in what I say that I know what is going to happen.”

“Swift Blaze does speak the truth as you have seen in that device he has shown you,” Princess Celestia said.

“If what you say is true, then tell me something only Twilight Sparkle and I would know,” said Shining Armor.

“Very well. You have a nickname for your sister. You call her Twily. She has one for you too. She calls you Shiny. Twilight’s foalsitter was Princess Cadance. They did the ladybug song whenever they saw each other.” Blaze performs it in front of them.

“Ok, you have convinced me that you know more than you let on and how you know Princess Cadance. Why did several of your clones change into my marefriend?”

Blaze had a slight panicked look as he was thinking of the best answer. “Umm, she made an appearance on an episode and you two are friendly with each other. That is all I can say,” he said in one breath.

“Ok, can you go over some of those moves you did in the arena? I feel I should know how to block some of those in case you do lose yourself again.”

“I agree. Blaze, each day during training, you shall go over some style of jutsu with Captain Shining Armor so he will have a better understanding of how they work,” Princess Celestia said.

“Of course, your highness. I wish I would never have to experience all that rage ever again,” said the Earth pony. “I had no control over what I was doing. It was the worst feeling.”

Shining Armor and Blaze left the throne room and returned to the training grounds. When they were getting close to the sparring rings, both could see the pairings and them fighting.

Star Dust was going against Dragon in the first ring to the left. They were throwing hoofs and buck kicks at a good pace and blocking them too. In the next ring was Colorful Spark and Cancer. Colorful Spark was dodging Cancer’s attack with no issue. Blaze then saw Cancer get hit with a roundhouse kick to the chest, sending him out of the ring. In the third ring was Lightning Trails, trying to avoid getting hit by Fang. As the pair got closer, they could hear some shouting from Fang.

“Come on Lightning Trails and FIGHT ME!” Fang shouted.

“I can’t hit mares. It’s wrong,” the Pegasus shouted back.

“STOP USING THAT EXCUSE! NO PONY TAKES ME SERIOUSLY BECAUSE I’M A MARE!”

Blaze was thinking that Fang could use a better sparring opponent. He felt healthy enough to stick to normal hoof fights. Shining Armor walked up to the guard standing there taking notes on the fights. The red stallion headed over to the third ring to have a quick chat.

“How’s it going, Lightning?” he asked.

“SHE IS TRYING TO KILL ME!” Lightning Trails screamed.

Fang replied, “I’m not trying to kill you. If I was, you would be dead in 5 seconds.”

The Earth pony heard a big gulp go down the Pegasus throat after hearing that.

“Why don’t you hit her?” he asked.

“Because she is a mare and I don’t hit mares,” Lightning Trails said.

“Do you think she’s acting like this because you are treating her like a mare? She’s here to join the Royal Guard. If she doesn’t get this combat training. She would get hurt in a fight. So get your balls out of your flank and hit her!”

Lightning Trails agreed to what Blaze said and faced Fang. He charged at the Zebra to throw a hoof into her face. It didn’t make contact. If you blinked, you would have missed it. Fang easily blocked the hoof, grabbed it, and tossed Lightning Trails over her. She followed through and pulled him straight to the ground, landing on his back as she pinned him.

Blaze walked up to where the stallion’s head was and said, “Of course, she could have prior knowledge before coming here.” All he could hear was a moan coming from him.

“Great, now I got no pony to spar against,” Fang said.

“Hold it for a second. How about I be your spar partner?” Blaze asked.

“You? Are you sure you are up for it? You did go against Captain Shining Armor and barely won.”

“Colorful Spark healed me and I have relaxed this afternoon so far. Yea, I think I’m able to do it. Just need to know the rules.”

“Ok, don’t blame me if you get hurt again. The rules are simple. No use of abilities, must stay within this ring, and no killing your opponent.”

“Those are simple rules. I’ll keep my weighted clothing active to make it a fair fight.”

“Agreed. Now then, will you give me a challenge, or whimper out like Lightning Trails?”

Blaze charged at Fang and tried to do a roundhouse kick to the chest. She dodged it and stepped back. “Does that answer your question?” he asked.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Fang said with a big smile.

The ponies got into a fighting stance, waiting for the signal to start. Shining Armor came over to observe and judge the match himself. Lightning Trails was levitated out of the ring and placed on a bench nearby.

Shining Armor looked at both of them and said, “Ready?” Each one nodded without taking the stare off the other. After a few seconds, which seemed minutes, he then said, “FIGHT!”

They two charged at each other and began to throw and dodge hooves from both ends. She was able to block the stallion’s hits and he blocked the mare’s attempts. They danced around the ring in the style of fighting, not ever making hits.

Blaze focused on the Zebra’s movement, trying to find an opening. He decided to change up tactics. The red pony ducked down and did a leg sweep. He made contact with one of the Zebra’s hind hooves. As the mare was starting to lose balance, the stallion went for a grapple hold. Blaze was successful and got her as they fell down. Fang then managed to lift her opponent, while he was holding her, and reversed the grapple.

Argh! Didn’t see that coming. Fang really knows her moves. The stallion struggled to get out, but the mare had a good grip.Ok, this looks bad. I’m going to feel this if I don’t break the hold. Blaze thought.

With all the strength he could muster, the Earth pony pulled on the grapple to break free. His shoulder was crying out in pain until you could hear it popped. Blaze twisted his hoof out and broke free. The stallion was down one hoof as he backed away on his other three hooves.

“Why did you not give up, Blaze?” Fang asked as she was surprised at what the pony did to his body.

He replied, while in pain, “My determination to win drives me to do anything within the rules of engagement.”

Blaze stood on his hind hooves, knowing what he was about to do would cause even more pain. The stallion swung his arm from having it on his side to out as far as he could take it. Another pop was heard as his shoulder went back into its socket. There was a sharp pain in the beginning, but soon subsided a little bit. The red pony saw that Fang didn’t like that sound.

He rotated it around a bit to make sure it was back in place. Once ready, Blaze went back into a battle stance and waved a fore hoof in front of him. This notified her to come for some more. She acknowledged by charging the Earth pony. The stallion changed tactics and how he was going to fight.

Blaze managed to land some hits while Fang also got some in. The pair did this for several minutes. Fatigue was starting to get them as both had started to slow down. Each one landed more blows as they blocked less. In one last move, they both gave each other a hard upper hoof. It sent both of them flying out of the ring. Neither got up as they just laid there. Blaze wanted to recover his strength a little bit before he tried to get up again.

Star Dust and Colorful Spark came over and stood over the stallion as he looked up to the sky.

“Blaze, I don’t know what got in your head to get into another fight,” said Colorful Spark.

Star Dust added, “Yeah man, that was crazy. I’ve never seen a pony take two beatings like that in a day.”

“One, Fang needed a sparring partner that could match her. Two, not actually a pony, remember? This is a human thing,” Blaze replied as he breathed heavily.

“Guess I should go and heal you again,” Colorful Spark said.

“No, go and help Fang. I think I can manage this one,” the red stallion replied as he got himself back up.

Over by Fang, the mare was being looked after by her little brothers.

“Damn sis, I’ve never seen you get into a fight and end in a draw,” said Cancer.

“Usually the other pony is on their flank before a crowd could gather. Is he that strong?” Dragon added.

“I imagine he’s stronger,” Fang replied. “Neither of us was using abilities and he sure wasn’t at the top of his game. I was expecting this guard training was going to be boring. He has brought excitement back to me. Now then, how about you help your big sister up?

The Zebra twins did so and got her back onto her hooves. Blaze walked over to them.

“That was the most difficult match I had in a long time. I can’t wait for another round when we can use our abilities. Thank you for sparring against me,” Fang said.

“You're welcome,” Blaze said. “I have to admit, that was difficult for me too. I’ve been so used to using my ki and jutsu, that I now see I need to strengthen the fundamentals some more. I’m looking forward to our rematch.”

“I’m glad to see you’re going to get something out of this training, Blaze. I’m sorry again for being a little harder on you these past few days,” Shining Armor said.

“It’s water under the bridge.”

His stomach let out a big growl for all the ponies around to hear.

“Dude, when are you never hungry?” asked Dragon.” I’ve never seen a pony eat so much and never get any fat on them.”

“I have a fast metabolism.”

The group headed to the mess hall for dinner. Shining Armor actually joined them that night. Each one discussed what they were thinking in the matches today. The group laughed at all the fun parts that happened. The ponies also critique about them so they knew where they needed to improve on. After dinner and the discussion, the trainees made their way back to the barracks. The others went to sleep and Blaze went into his headspace to learn some more healing jutsu and work more on my basic fighting fundamentals in his pony form.

Chapter 26: Royal Guard Training, Part 3

Author's Notes:

I hope all my readers are staying safe out there. As you have to be indoors, why not catch up on some reading. Here's the next chapter.

Proofread was done by Faded Echoes.

The next morning, Swift Blaze woke up at his normal time after going to bed just around midnight. The stallion headed just outside the barracks he was in. Not knowing what Shining Armor had planned, he worked on his stretch positions, balances, and strength endurance movement. The Earth pony wobbled a little bit on the balancing positions as he had never done them at his current weight level. As he was in the middle of one of them, when Blaze saw the Unicorn Captain walking up to him.

“Good Morning, Shining Armor,” he said.

“Blaze, what are you doing up already? I thought you needed more rest to help heal those injuries from being in two fights,” the white stallion said.

“I did some healing jutsu last night for a couple hours and then went to sleep. I’m normally up at this hour, every day. Can’t explain it.”

“Ok, then how about explaining what you are doing in that strange position? Don’t you get enough pain from the training regiment I put you through?”

“Oh, this? I’ve been falling behind on my morning routine that I normally do since I’ve been here. I decided to do it this morning when I woke up before you came to get us up. What I’m doing now is training my muscles on keeping myself balanced in different ways, so I’m in better control of my movements.”

“I have never seen a pony go through something like this. Might also explain why it was so difficult to defeat you yesterday.”

“Plus the fact I’m wearing weight enhancement clothes equalling three hundred and seventy-five pounds.”

“And You’re Still Able To Do That!”

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. There are ponies sleeping.”

“Not anymore. TIME TO WAKE UP! GET CLEANED UP AND HEAD TO THE MESS HALL FOR BREAKFAST! YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES!” Shining Armor shouted to the barracks.

Blaze heard the other inside stumble around. He left and made his way to the mess hall. After the Earth pony got his food and sat down, the others came rushing in. They looked startled to see the red stallion there, already eating. They grabbed theirs and joined him at the table.

“Blaze, what time did you get up this morning?” Colorful Spark asked.

He replied, “Before dawn. My body started waking itself up around that time ever since I got here. The only time it didn’t is when I was in the hospital.”

“Which time?”

“The second one after going up against a tornado.”

“YOU WENT AGAINST A TORNADO!” The others shouted.

“The storm was out of control and I heard the sound of a tornado making its way over in the EverFree Forest. I was beaten and banged by debris, while lightning was hitting my sword.”

“Why did you bring a sword? That will always draw lightning to you,” said Lightning Trails.

“I used my sword with a jutsu combo to break apart the tornado. Then my ki wave to disperse the clouds, the same wave I used to take down Shining Armor’s barrier. I will tell you more about it tonight. Let’s finish breakfast before we are late.”

The group ate their breakfast quickly and arrived at the field with a minute left. Shining Armor teleported in front of them like usual as the ponies stood at attention.

“Alright recruits, here is the agenda for today. You are to do one hour of track. Followed by two hours of obstacle course. After that, meet me in the sparring ring,” said the Unicorn Captain, before he disappeared.

They started to run together as everyone had close to the same times now. Blaze did a minor increase to the enchanted weights by another ten pounds to the total. The ponies were about thirty minutes into the run when Blaze was caught up in an unforeseen teleportation to another location.

Blaze had magically appeared from what was a quick flash of pure white magic. As his surroundings came into clear view, he saw the imminent threat of charging into Princess Celestia. He used his fore hooves and lept high off the steps leading up to the throne where she sat. Blaze finished as he back flipped through the air and landed back down on the floor on all hooves.

“Nice reflexes you have there, Blaze,” Princess Celestia said.

“Thank you. Maybe next time, can you maybe please warn me before you do that again?” he asked while he was catching his breath. “I would hate it if I were running faster and collided into you.”

“My apologies, but this is urgent and I wanted to ask you what you know about this?” She asked as the mare pointed out the window.

Blaze walked over and looked outside. He saw some black smoke high in the sky. Thinking about it, he recalled where this fell in the episode lineup.

“I see the black smoke. Where’s it coming from?” The stallion asked while sounding clueless.

“I was wondering if this was in one of those events that you watched?”

“I thought we agreed that future knowledge will be kept with me and I’ll determine IF and WHEN I’ll inform you.”

“I know. Just last time we had such big smoke over the sky, there was a major forest fire several centuries ago. I just wanted to know if it was again.”

“Fine, this will be a freebie. But only this one time, your highness. Doing this often could bring unforeseen consequences. However, I do recall seeing this in an episode from the show on my world. It was not caused by a forest fire.”

“Whew, that’s a relief. A little bit. So what could cause this much smoke then?”

“A sleeping dragon in a cave on that mountain,” Blaze said as he pointed to it.

“A DRAGON!” Princess Celestia shouted in a panic state. “I need to get the guards to go and get rid of it! It will sleep for a hundred years! We cannot handle all that darkness during that time.”

“HOLD IT!” the Earth pony shouted back. Then, he calmly replied, “You don’t need the guards. I shouldn’t even tell you this. You had Twilight Sparkle and her friends go to the mountain to reason with the dragon and convince him that he cannot sleep there.”

“Thank you, Blaze, for letting me know,” the white Alicorn calmed back down. “I shouldn’t have overreacted to it. Just knowing you know what the future entails is having me all wondering if I’m doing everything correctly.”

“Celestia, you don’t need to worry about this. What I know will probably have changed since my arrival. The future is always changing and it’s based upon what we choose to do at the moment to set it. Go with what your knowledge and experience tells you and let me deal with anything bad I feel I need to step in to stop.”

“You know, you are very wise, Blaze. I’m happy to call you a friend.”

“Thank you, your highness, for accepting me as a friend. Also, I’m not wise, I just watched a little too much TV. Till we meet again.”

The stallion quickly turned and jogged away, using his teleport jutsu to return to his previous destination. When he reappeared where he was, Blaze almost collided with Cancer and Dragon. He jumped over them and came to a stop.

“Why were you in my lane!” he shouted.

“Blaze, you disappeared. You have been gone for fifteen minutes,” Star Dust replied.

“No, I didn’t. I’ve been running with you this whole time. We’ve jogged for the past thirty minutes. Suddenly, there was a flash and I saw Cancer and Dragon standing in my lane.”

“Blaze, you were really gone for a while,” said Colorful Spark.

“Enough joking around. We need to finish running the half hour before Shining Armor sees us standing around.”

“Blaze, it’s only fifteen minutes left,” Lightning Trails said as he pointed to a clock tower.

“Stop pulling my leg with this joke. It’s not funny anymore. Admit you flew up there Lightning and moved the minute hand,” the Earth pony continued to act with being annoyed now.

“This is no joke, Blaze,” Fang said.

“Well, not worth discussing it anymore. Let’s get back to running.”

The red stallion started running and the others soon followed. When the time was up, the group headed over to the obstacle course. As the Earth pony was first going through it, Cancer came up to him.

“Blaze, what do you make out of those dark clouds?” he asked. “We’re not supposed to get any rain today.”

Thinking it over, while he looked at the smoke, the stallion came up with an answer. “I’m not quite sure, but a fog bank is also rolling in too,” he said. He secretly performed a jutsu and had a fog cover the training grounds.

“Now there’s a fog bank rolling in? What is up with this weather?”

“Maybe it’s part of the training. Let’s get back to the obstacle course.”

Cancer nodded and they went back to it. The fog did make it a little tougher as no one could see the same distance any pony was used to. Best guess, they could only see about fifteen feet in front of them. The trainees slowed down a little bit to make sure they don’t make a mistake and fall somewhere. The group finished those two hours and headed over to the sparring area.

Shining Armor was waiting for them as they walked out of the fog bank. He looked at Blaze and the Earth pony could tell the captain wanted a word with him later. The trainees got in a line and stood at attention, waiting for the next orders. They didn’t have to wait long.

“Alright, for the next hour, you’re going to spar again with no abilities. When I call your name in sets, head over to a ring and begin,” said the white unicorn. “Fang, you’ll spar with, . . . Colorful Spark.”

Blaze heard a sigh of relief come from Lightning Trails. He wondered who that pony is going to be paired with.

“Star Dust, you’re going to spar with Cancer this time. Dragon, you’ll have Swift Blaze to spar with. Lastly, Lightning Trails, you’re going to spar against me. I expect to see a better performance from you today compared to yesterday.”

They separated out in the pairs and headed to the rings. As they walked, Blaze had thought about the type of fighting style Dragon was going to use. He didn’t get a good look yesterday when the Zebra spared against Star Dust. Blaze decided to act on the side of caution by starting the spar on the defense to observe him thoughtfully.

“I hope you don’t plan on going too easy on me, Blaze,” said Dragon. “I want to see how I compare to the pony that went hoof to hoof with my big sis and ended up in a draw.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” he replied. “Prepare for the PAIN!”

The red stallion stood in a defensive martial art stance. Dragon went for a boxing stance. Seeing this, Blaze realized he hasn’t done any training against that in his mind space. A smile had formed on his muzzle in anticipation of a good fight.

He charged towards Blaze with a barrage of hoof jabs. With a wall of hoof jabs headed his way, Blaze reeled back on his hind legs, guarding with his front hoofs against the attack. He looked back and knew Dragon was aiming for a quick finish as he stood only a little less than five feet from the edge of the ring. The red stallion decided to swap it up and went on the offensive.

Blaze threw several different hits at Dragon from different directions. The striped pony was able to dodge or block them. They kept going at this back and forth on who’s doing the attacking,and they both managed to land some hits.

The guard watching our match called out saying there was five minutes left. Hearing this, Blaze moved to full offensive and began to throw random hoofs and kicks to throw him off. Dragon was getting close to the edge. The Earth pony switched to grapple move to toss the Zebra out of the ring from behind.

The red stallion grabbed his opponent and pulled him towards himself. As he rolled onto his back, Blaze used his hind legs to launch Dragon out of the ring. The next thing caught him by surprise.

The Zebra grabbed the Earth pony and reversed what his opponent was going to do to him. Now Blaze was the one about to be tossed out. Thinking quickly, as he was somersaulting forward, the red stallion arched himself backwards quickly to change his momentum. He landed behind Dragon and quickly gave him a kick that sent him just outside the ring.

“Nice reversal there, Dragon. You almost had me,” Blaze said as he was catching his breath.

“You surprised me when you recovered in mid air. I really thought I had you,” Dragon replied as he wiped the dust off him.

“You have some powerful hoof punches. I think you bruised several of my ribs. Maybe even fractured one of them.”

“That happens when you get into fights with your twin about almost anything.”

“Nice job recruits. Go and get some lunch and any medical attention you might need. After one hour lunch period. Back to the ring with the same pairs. This time though, abilities can be used,” Shining Armor said. Then teleported away.

Everyone cheered and moaned at different intervals. They were happy that they can use them, then realize who we were up against. The group went to the mess hall and grabbed lunch. As the ponies were eating, they went around and told how the matches went.

Dragon and Blaze went first and told what happened. Up next was Star Dust and Cancer. It was pretty much the same match up as yesterday. Dragon won yesterday now that Blaze found out the results. This time, Star Dust won.

“HA! I beat a pony that beat you!” Dragon gloated.

“We’ll see what the results are for this afternoon,” Cancer replied as he gave his brother an angry glare.

Fang and Colorful Spark’s match ended in a draw. Fang couldn’t get a hit in as Colorful Spark was able to dodge them all. From what Blaze read, dealing with those bullies probably helped with being agile now. Fang wasn’t happy about having another draw on her record.

Last was Lightning Trails up against Shining Armor. He began to tell how he dodged Shining’s attacks and managed to get a few hits on him.

"That’s not how I remember it," A pony said from behind them.

They all turned around and saw the Unicorn Captain was standing there.

"So, what happened then Shining Armor?" Blaze asked.

"Being a Captain of the Royal Guard, I decided to go easy on Lightning Trails as he didn’t have much experience in fighting, like you Blaze,” he replied. “So, I tested out his moves by throwing slow hoofs at him. He was able to dodge them. I picked up the speed until he couldn't. I then tested what strength he has by letting him get a few punches in. They were about average. Ten minutes later, I was getting bored. So, I finished the match by giving him a hard kick to get him out of the ring."

"You were going easy on me?" Lightning Trails asked.

"Yes. If I did full power, you wouldn’t have lasted thirty seconds."

The other ponies started to laugh. Lightning Trails was getting mad with them joking about it. He got up and walked to the door. Before he left, he turned his head to us and said, "We shall see how you fare when I can use my lightning!" He then stormed off.

"Should we be afraid of a lightning energized pony?" Blaze asked.

The others raised their hooves up like they did not know. The red stallion thought, We’ve actually never seen the others ability yet. They have seen some of mine from different times and a little bit of Colorful Spark's illusion ability. Can't wait to see what they can do in a fight.

The others finished lunch quickly. Colorful Spark used his magic to heal Fang, Cancer, Star Dust. Blaze used his jutsu to heal Colorful Spark, Dragon, and himself.

The group returned to the sparing area and saw the Pegasus waiting in the ring. Blaze walked up to him and said, "Hey Lightning, sorry for laughing at ya. We would just be in the mood. How about I heal you before you go against Shining Armor to make it up?"

He nodded and did a quick blow of air out of his nose. With the way he was acting Blaze knew Lightning was still angry. That emotion is going to cause trouble in the match. The red stallion healed him and the Pegasus thanked the Earth pony.

Everyone returned to the rings they fought in previously to face the same opponents. Dragon looked happy that he could show off his ability. Blaze was looking forward to bringing the next level of pain.

"Dragon, before we start, I would like to make you an offer. I’ll only use one element jutsu if you allow me to disable the weight enhancement on my clothes,” said the red pony.

“Whichever way, you’re at a disadvantage. I’ll allow you to do that,” replied Dragon.

“Thank you. Return clothing weight to normal levels.”

“Before you all begin, there’s going to be a slight difference,” said Shining Armor. “For everypony’s safety, a barrier will be activated along the ring. So, the only way to win the match is by submission or knockout. Out of the ring will no longer work.”

The white Unicorn activated his magic and magic barriers rose up around each pair’s sparring ring. It went high in the air so Pegasi wouldn’t be grounded if they wanted to fly.

Dragon and Blaze looked at each other, trying to figure out what the other had planned before the match began. The red stallion knew that this Zebra could somehow slow down time around him. Making it look he’s actually going fast. He decided to use earth style to have some good defense.

The ponies in each match stood in their battle stance, waiting for the command to begin the fight. A guard walked up to each ring and stood there to observe. Each one looked at the two ponies in the barrier in front of them. At the same time, they said, "BEGIN!"

(Swift Blaze vs. Dragon)

Swift Blaze activated a jutsu that caused stone like armor to form around his body. It was black as night and shiny. There were several sharp points around his hooves. Once it was done, he returned to a battle stance.

Dragon was trying to figure out which mineral it was. He activated his magic and said, "Clock down!" The space in the ring began to slow down. Outside of it, it would appear the object's affected would be moving slow. The Zebra then charged at the Earth pony.

The red stallion saw the charge coming and was able to move out of the way to dodge it. As Dragon was passing by, Blaze jammed one hoof with the spikes into the side of him. They did not break the skin, but left a good scratch along the body.

The stripped pony yelped in pain and said, "How in Equestria are you still moving? Time in this ring has slowed down to nothing."

"You allowed me to release the weight that kept me slow,” replied Blaze. “All three hundred eighty-five pounds of it. This was the speed I was going when I faced Shining Armor."

"But that armor should have slowed you down a bit too. What’s it made of?"

"Something I’m testing out to see how practical it is. I made a thin layer of black diamond armor. Light, but very strong, in theory."

Dragon dropped his mouth open as he never heard the idea of diamond armor. He shook his head to regain focus and began to think another way to attack this unique Earth pony. An idea came, which he knew was going to be a long shot, if it worked. The Zebra went on the defensive and signaled his opponent to come at him. Swift Blaze obliged and went on the charge. Dragon stepped out of the way and deactivated his magic.

The red stallion was caught off guard as he was going full speed in slow down time. Back in normal time, unable to stop fast enough, he collided with the barrier. He bounced off and continued to bounce around the ring's barrier, like a pinball off bumpers. Dragon was laughing hard as he stayed low to the ground, avoiding getting hit by the bouncing Swift Blaze.

Even with the armor, the Earth pony was getting a beating by the barrier. He had to do something quickly to stop himself. He shouted, "Earth Style! Stone Wall Jutsu!"

A wall rose up the length of the ring in the middle of it. When Blaze made contact with the stone wall, it did stop him. He also made a decent impression in it as he fell out.
Dragon was laughing harder now. He was rolling on his back with eyes closed and tears coming out. He failed to notice his opponent was struggling to get back up.

The red stallion quietly said, "Oh, you think that was funny? Then what do you think about this?" He switched to a louder voice and said, "Earth Style! Hackysack Toss Jutsu!"

The ground underneath Dragon rose up quickly and sent him into the air. Just as the Zebra was about to hit the ground, Swift Blaze stopped his hoof and the ground underneath his opponent rose up again, sending him back into the air. The Earth pony repeated this for a few minutes and then let Dragon land back on the ground.

The striped pony now felt just as bad as Blaze from running into the barrier so many times. He struggled to get back up the same amount of Blaze did. They both knew this had to end soon.

"How about no more abilities and we finish this with our hooves?" Dragon asked while breathing hard.

“I agree,” Blaze replied, also out of breath.

The red stallion removed his armor jutsu. They both stared at each other, wondering who will get knocked out first. The tension in the air was tense. They were both back to how they were this morning. All of a sudden, the ponies both charged each other and were throwing hooves and kicks. Neither of them were blocking as they were too tired. They were getting bruised up badly as neither of them wanted to give up.

Blaze was the first to change tactics. He spun around and gave Dragon a hard applebuck to the chest. His opponent flew back and hit the barrier. He then fell onto the floor. He didn’t move, but Blaze could see he was still breathing. The barrier came down and the guard declared Swift Blaze the winner.

The Earth pony went to the Zebra and started to heal him. Soon, Dragon regained consciousness.

"What happened?" he asked as he was about to get up.

"Don't move. I’m healing your injuries,” replied Blaze. “I gave you an applebuck to the chest that knocked you out."

`Dragon laid back down to allow the Earth pony to heal him. "You’re an amazing fighter. Wonder what the outcome would have been if I didn’t allow you to take off that weight enhancement?"

"You would be faster, that would be for sure. The downside is you would have to deal with all the elements I can use."

"Yeah, that one element was tough enough. I definitely don't want to tangle with you in a real fight."

Blaze continued to heal Dragon with his jutsu. He knows he can heal himself later.

(Colorful Spark vs. Fang)

At the start of the match in another ring, Colorful Spark went first as he activated his magic. Several of him now appear around the ring. They ran in random patterns to mix up where the real one is. Fang stood in the center, waiting for the right moment. The stallions stopped running and stood at four positions, equally spaced.

"Alright Fang, can you tell which one is the real one?" They all asked at the same time.

"I’m impressed. You even managed to have the illusions cast a shadow too. Luckily this will be easy." Fang said.

She had a blade come out the side of her right fore hoof. She charged the one in front and did a slash attack. That Colorful Spark was an illusion and disappeared. Fang was then hit on the flank from behind. She spun around and saw the other Colorful Sparks were still standing where they were. They began to spread out again evenly at the edge of the barrier.

"You got one of my illusions and have not found me yet. Which one am I?" The Unicorns asked again.

"This is going to be fun. I never had this much fun on one of my missions," Fang replied, as she looked at each one to see if there was something different.

The Zebra looked carefully to see if anything was not the same. As she was looking, she got hit again. This time, it felt like a kick and it hit her ribs. Fang spun around quickly, hoping to cut the real Colorful Spark. She felt her blade hit something. When she finished spinning, Fang looked to see who got it. The mare was even more surprised as they all had a cut on the left fore hoof in the same spot.

"Did you really think that it would be that easy?" The Colorful Sparks asked.

"You know, for a second there, yea. I did think that," Fang replied.

"Silly Zebra. Tricks are . . ." The Colorful Sparks began to say

" . . . for fillies and colts," Fang finished what they were about to say.

The three Colorful Sparks began to walk in a circle around the Zebra. They picked up speed as they did so. Fang stood in a defensive stance as she pulled the blade back into her. The mare felt a hit on her right side. In quick reaction, she had her blade popped out where she was hit. Another mark showed up on the Unicorns.

The Zebra realized she needed to go on the offensive instead of waiting for the real one to reveal himself. She charged at one and took another illusion out. The other two again spaced out so they were the opposite position of each other. Fang returned to the center of the circle. The mare waited to see what Colorful Spark will do this time.

"You have found another illusion. Congratulations. Guess I should get a little more serious," said the Unicorns. Both stuck out their right fore hoof and a metal blade appeared attached to the hoof by a mechanism.

Fang replied, "Really? Another illusion? That fake blade does not scare me," she said with a chuckle.

"Not every illusion is smoke and mirrors."

The blue stallions started to run around in random patterns. Fang did her best to keep an eye on both of them. It wasn’t enough when she felt two hits on her back legs at different angles. The Zebra couldn’t believe that both were able to land a strike without her noticing their approach. Fang then realized something as an idea had popped into her head. Her eyes grew wide with excitement. The mare closed her eyes as she no longer wanted to trust what she was seeing.

"I can see into your trick now, Colorful Spark. I’m truly impressed how you have managed to control your magic and make sure that the illusions were so perfect. Even when I got two hits on you with my blade. I now know the real truth," said Fang.

The Zebra opened her eyes and quickly made her move and slashed at both of them in a blink of an eye. She watched them disappear like the other illusions.

"When you revealed that blade, I finally realized you can make yourself invisible."

"Awe, crud. I was hoping you wouldn’t have gotten it so quickly,” replied the stallion. “But now, you’ll have to figure out where I am in this ring."

"That’s just it, I don't need my eyes in order to find you. I’m going to use my other senses to do it. You shouldn’t have eaten that three bean burrito for lunch."

Fang closed her eyes and began to focus on her other senses. The sound to hear movement. The smell to detect his scent. The feel of her coat as air movements have passed over it inside a barrier. She took it all in to find where the real Colorful Spark was hiding. After a few minutes the mare found her prey.

The Zebra dashed over to where he was and threw a hoof punch to confirm. It made contact with something. Colorful Spark dropped the illusion after he collided with the barrier.

"You’ve actually found me. You’re the first to ever find me when I was invisible. Your skills and abilities are really impressive,” said Colorful Spark. ‘I yield the match to you as I know I cannot contend to face you and hope to win. You have more experience with that blade than I shall ever get. Plus the fact I don't like to spill the blood of a friend.”

The barrier came down and the guard announced that Fang won.

"I too an glad that I don't have to injure a friend anymore," the mare replied. "Let's go and get these cuts patched up before we lose any more blood."

The Unicorn nodded and they headed over to the medic building that was on the training grounds.

(Cancer vs. Star Dust)

At the start in a third ring, Cancer went up first. He activated his magic and said, “Clock Up!” He could now move faster as he chose. The Zebra was determined to beat Star Dust so his brother would stop gloating. He quickly charged at his opponent, knowing he cannot stop it.

Star Dust was getting hit from all sides. He knew it was Cancer going at super speed, but he couldn’t track something of a blur in his own vision. Even though the sun was out, the Unicorn needed the star's help to track his opponent. He used his magic to make a connection to the star's above and requested their help. They obliged and gave him a secondary view of the ring.

The speed of images allowed Star Dust to see a pattern in Cancer's movements, so he could now dodge. When Cancer was coming in for another hit, the blue stallion stepped out of the way. He then swung an uppercut that the Zebra couldn’t dodge at the speed he was going. It made contact and sent Cancer flying back to the ring barrier.

The striped stallion shook his head to clear the spinning vision from the hit. "How were you able to do that?” he asked. “I was moving at top speed."

"My cosmic powers allow me to communicate with the stars and they are allowing me to see this match from the sky,” Star Dust replied. “I was able to see your movement pattern and anticipate where you are going to hit."

"Then let's see if you can follow this."

Cancer started to run around again. This time in a different random pattern he thought of. The Zebra did get a few hits in, until Star Dust side stepped and gave him a good jab to his ribs.

"Dang it! I thought I was doing a random pattern? How were you able to see it?" Cancer demanded.

"Nothing is ever random. Everything has a pattern to it." Star Dust replied.

The striped stallion was getting angry as he wanted to win. He went for a full charge straight for Star Dust. His opponent quickly reacted by letting his horn shine bright as a star. Cancer was blinded and soon felt the force of running into something as solid as a wall. He bounced back and landed in the center of the ring.

Still seeing spots, the Zebra looked around to see where the Unicorn went. As his vision was returning, he saw Star Dust over by the edge of the ring.

What the blue stallion was doing was charging up a powerful spell that would help him. The Unicorn started to glow with a silvery, white aura. It kept on getting brighter. His horn then shot a beam up into the sky and made a small moon appear. What happened next surprised Cancer. It looked like there were stars falling from it. The Zebra tried to dodge at top speed, but they altered their course and hit their target, which was him. They exploded on contact, but the size of them wasn’t dangerously big.

After the falling stars were done, Cancer wasn't doing too well, about half of those hit him and exploded. He had black scorch marks over his body. His legs were shaking as they were trying to keep him standing. The Zebra did have a smile on his face because he saw how Star Dust was doing.

The blue stallion was exhausted after casting that powerful spell. He knew it would do this to him, but it was a desperate move to stop Cancer from running around. He could feel he couldn’t cast another spell as he was on the verge of magical exhaustion. He was happy that the spell did do some damage to Cancer.

"Cancer, how about we finish this up with our hooves? No magic, no special ability. It’ll be just you, me, and our hooves," Star Dust said.

"Sounds like a plan. Prepare for a flank beating!"Cancer replied.

"Bring it!"

They both got onto their hind hooves and approached each other. Their fore hooves were up and ready to block. Star Dust went first and threw the first hoof. Cancer blocked it and did the same. They went back and forth dealing hits and blocking them.

After a long period, both had stopped blocking and were just landing hits. Their movements were also slowing down as exhaustion was taking its hold on them. In one final move, they both went for an uppercut. The two ponies hit each other at the same time, sending both backwards and falling to the ring floor.

The barrier rose up and the guard walked in. "I will give you both the count of ten to get back up on your hooves,” the guard said out loud. “First one to do so will win the match. After the ten count, no pony is standing, the match will be a loss to both ponies. ONE!"

Cancer and Star Dust both heard him and began to work on standing.

"TWO!"

Cancer was the first roll onto his belly. Star Dust was closely behind.

"THREE!"

They placed their hooves underneath them and began to try and get up.

"FOUR!"

Star Dust was first this time to get his belly off the ground.

"FIVE!"

Both were struggling to get up as their legs were shaking violently.

"SIX!"

Star Dust was getting close to a full stand. Cancer was half way.

"SEVEN!"

As Star Dust was about to lock his legs in, he collapsed back to the ground. Cancer saw he still had a chance.

"EIGHT!"

Cancer pushed harder to get his body to stand as he was getting close to standing.

"NINE!"

Cancer closed his eyes and gave his body one final push.

"TEN!"

. . .

(Suspenseful, isn't it?)

. . .

"Cancer has won the match!" The guard said.

Cancer opened his eyes and saw he was standing. He didn’t go and jump up and down cheering he won. He fell back to the ground and let his body relax.

(Lightning Trails vs. Shining Armor)

As soon as the guard said those words, Lightning Trails summoned storm clouds within the barrier. They began to flash lightning at quick intervals, but nothing struck the ground. He flew up to the clouds and stayed underneath them. When he was close enough, the lightning began to strike him. He took it with no issue. After each hit, his mane began to glow a bright white. He flew back down once his mane began to shoot off tiny lightning bolts.

He looked to Shining Armor and said, “Do you think you can handle dealing with the power I can manipulate?”

“It’ll be interesting,” the captain replied “I’ve never seen a Pegasus be able to take so many hits from lightning and not show any sign of damage.”

“My body’s unique. I can absorb the energy from lightning as much as I want. Let’s get to fighting. Oh, and don’t hold back. You might get yourself injured if you do.”

“Don’t get too cocky because you can use your abilities now.”

The Pegasus ignored the comment as he raised his right fore hoof. He sent a lightning bolt that struck right in front of Shining Armor. The Captain didn’t flinch, but saw that his opponent was serious. The Unicorn activated his horn and summoned a barrier wall in front of him as well as other locations in the ring. Lightning Trails fired off another bolt to Shining Armor. This time, the white stallion rolled out of the way, just before the energy hit the barrier. When it made contact, the magic shield was destroyed and continued straight to the ring barrier. That one absorbed the bolt.

Shining Armor now knew how powerful that bolt of lightning was as that barrier normally allows him to block normal ones. The Unicorn decided to switch tactics as he doesn’t want to get hit by one. He weaved between the barriers, getting closer to Lightning Trails.

The black stallion just watched as what the Captain was going to do. When he was close, Shining Armor charged directly to Lightning Trails and swung his right fore hoof at him. Upon contact. Shining Armor was sent flying back as he collided with a barrier wall.

“That was interesting, and stings a good amount too,” Shining Armor said. He shook his head to remove his daze and the fore hoof to get rid of the numbness he was experiencing.

“Yeah, whenever I absorb that much lightning, my body creates a lightning barrier around me so I cannot be touched,” replied Lightning Trails.

Now that Shining Armor was aware of that, he’s only able to do range attacks. The Captain activated his horn and sent several magic bolts at him. Lightning Trails was easily able to dodge them with the boost the lightning was giving him. The Pegasus launched more lightning bolts at the white stallion and watched as he had to get out of the way from being hit. They destroyed all the barrier walls Shining Armor have created within the ring. None of the bolts did any damage to the ring barrier.

The Unicorn used his magic again and had lots of stone pillars rise up from the ground. They got rid of any line of sight attacks as most of the ring filled up with them.

Lightning Trails laughed and said, “You know this is only delaying your defeat. I thought the Captain of the Royal Guard would be a lot stronger.”

Shining Armor knew he had spells that would kill Lightning Trails, but didn’t want to cross that line as this was supposed to be a friendly sparring match. He wondered what caused Lightning Trails to act like this. The white stallion quickly recalled in his head some of the events earlier today. He then remembered about an old lesson from his day in Magic school. It was about how misusing your power will want you to have more and more. Almost like an addiction and you’ll stop at nothing in your way. Shining Armor now realized the lightning is affecting this Pegasus’s way of thinking. He needed to find a way to finish this match up before somepony could get severely injured.

Lightning Trails was using his lightning to destroy these pillars that were blocking his path. He knew he could fly over them, but the black stallion enjoyed the destruction this energy was giving him. The Captain was quietly working his way through the pillar forest so he could get a line of sight shot ready.

The storm clouds above were still shooting off lightning bolts above them. Shining Armor wondered why they haven’t dropped any rain yet. All storm clouds in Equestria normally drop rain in a thunderstorm. An idea came to him and the Unicorn quickly put it into action. He sent some magic up to the clouds that would cause them to rain.

In a few seconds, the first raindrop fell. Others began to join it. Soon, the storm clouds finally started to act like a normal thunderstorm. Shining Armor suddenly heard a scream.

"RAIN! WHY ARE THOSE CLOUDS POURING RAIN! I HATE WATER! AHHHH!"

The white stallion hopped onto the tops of the pillars and headed over to Lightning Trails. He was lying on the ground and lightning bolts were shooting out of him randomly.

"Please make the rain stop! I give! I give! I can't take the rain when I’m charged up!" Lightning Trails screamed.

"Alright," replied Shining Armor.

He used his magic and made the clouds disappear and the barrier went away too. The guard outside announced that Captain Shining Armor was the winner. The Unicorn returned the ring back to the way it was and headed over to the Pegasus.

"Are you going to be fine, Lightning Trails?" He asked.

"Yeah, I tend to avoid *zap sound* storm duty because of this. *zap sound* If I’m charged up, I get *zap sound* shorted out," Lightning Trails said as he was still letting out sparks of electricity now.

"Do you want me to get a medic to help you?"

"No, but I think Blaze will be able to help me."

Shining Armor left to go and get the red stallion.

The other trainees were waiting on the benches. They were discussing about the matches and what happened. Suddenly, they saw the Captain come running up to them.

"Blaze, Lightning Trails is having some kind of backfire of his lightning control ability,” he said. “He asked me to come and get you."

"On my way,” the Earth pony replied.

He bolted off the bench at super speed, just now he realized he’d forgot to reactivate the weight clothing. This allowed him to arrive in a few seconds. When he stopped, a dust cloud engulfed him.

"Hey *cough* Lightning Trails, what can I do to help?" he asked.

"Need to release my lightning so I can stop sparking out randomly. It hurts when I lose control of it," the black stallion replied.

"Ok, I think I know what to do."

Blaze used his jutsu and had a copper rod come out of the ground. With what he was thinking of doing, it was going to hurt them both. He placed one hoof on the rod and moved his other close to the Pegasus.

The red stallion said, "This might sting a bit."

Lightning Trails nodded and braced himself as best he could. Blaze placed his hoof on his body. The electricity flowed fast out of the black stallion’s body, through the Earth pony, and down the copper rod. Both of their bodies jerked around as the energy flowed out.

Soon, the others showed up. They stayed back so they didn't get hit by any of the lightning that wasn’t going into the ground. After a few minutes, the lightning that was built up in Lightning Trails finally left. Blaze lifted both hooves off where they were and had them fall back down to the ground. The others came up with worried looks.

"Blaze! Are you and Lightning going to be alright?" Dragon asked.

The red stallion looked over to Lightning Trails and saw he was knocked out and smiling. "Yeah, he’s going to be fine. *cough up some smoke* I’m going to go nighty night too," he said before he collapsed to the ground, going off to dreamland.

Chapter 27: Royal Guard Training, Part 4

Swift Blaze woke up sometime later. He saw he wasn’t in a hospital, this time. The Earth pony was in a room in the castle. He didn’t mind waking up here, but he wondered how long he was out this time. Was it a week?

The red stallion looked around and saw the other trainees were also in the room, but asleep. He then saw Lightning Trails in a similar bed, but was also out. Blaze quietly got out of his bed. He looked out the window and saw it was night time. When the Earth pony exited the room, he saw two familiar guards standing there.

"Good evening, Iron Shield, Dead Eye," the red stallion said in a quiet voice.

"Blaze!" They both shouted.

"Shh. There are ponies sleeping in there," he replied quietly.

They both nodded.

"Good to see you’re doing better, Blaze,” said Iron Shield. “How do you like the guard training?"

"It’s good so far. Especially now that Shining Armor treats me normally instead of what happened in the first few days."

"We heard what he did,” replied Dead Eye. “We’re both amazed you didn’t quit, but also challenged him."

"Yeah, we even saw the match. You were amazing. I’ve never seen the captain work so hard to defeat his opponent," Iron Shield said.

"So what did you think of my finishing move?" Blaze asked with a grin.

They both coughed a bit and showed a little blush. "That was unexpected. Never in all my life was a match won when the opponent is knocked out by very happy thoughts," Dead Eye replied.

"Plus, the stadium was also affected by it," Iron Shield said.

"Did you two enjoy it?" the red stallion asked. They both began to blush harder. "You don't need to answer. Your faces answered for you. Would you mind escorting me to Princess Luna?"

They nodded and began to lead him to where she was.

"Hey Blaze, sorry you got into trouble with Captain Shining Armor and the other guards that morning," Iron Shield said.

Dead Eye said, "Yeah, Sorry. We forgot that you were to have escorts the entire time."

"Don't worry about it. It all worked out in the end,” replied Blaze. “Plus, I think the guards needed a surprise visitor like that to test their skills.”

"How would you grade them?"

"A+ for effort and enthusiasm and D for execution and follow through."

"Shining Armor almost had the whole lot go back to basic training after that. Also, thank you for making sure we did not get into trouble," Iron Shield said.

"Again, not a problem."

The group arrived at the doors to the throne room. The guards standing there opened the doors for them. Once inside, Blaze saw Princess Luna was sitting on the throne, bored.

"Your highness, Swift Blaze woke up and requested to see you," Iron Shield said as they all bowed to her.

"BLAZE!" Princess Luna shouted as she flew off the throne and directly to the Earth Pony in a hug attack. "I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE OK!"

"Good to see you too, Luna. Can you please let me go? I can't breathe," he said as the stallion gasped for air.

The Alicorn quickly released him from the hug. "Sorry about that. I was so worried when Captain Shining Armor informed me and my sister about what happened."

"So, how long was I out?"

"It has only been a few hours. I’m amazed you tried something like that to help Lightning Trails. Where did you come up with that idea?"

"I’m from a world where we depended on the energy of that style to make our lives better. The actual method to discharge is with a device to store that energy in a storage container. There is nothing like that here in Equestria so I Macgyver what I had available to complete the task."

"Macgyver? What is that?" Dead Eye asked before anyone else asked.

"A saying from my world we say when we make something out of what is around us to complete the task."

"But you had to use your body to do it?" Princess Luna asked.

"I did not have time to make jumper cables. Plus, I can make lightning too. So, my body is somewhat used to the jolt from it."

"We were going to heal you, but by the time we got to you, your body was almost healed."

Suddenly, the doors burst open and Shining Armor came running in.

"Princess Luna! Swift Blaze has disappeared! The guards that were stationed outside are also gone!" he shouted.

"Shining Armor, it’s the middle of the night. You don’t need to be shouting," replied Blaze.

"Blaze! You’re awake!" the Unicorn said, still shouting.

"And getting deaf from your shouts. Iron Shield and Dead Eye escorted me to Princess Luna, as per my request. I didn’t want to wake any of you as you all looked peaceful."

"Sorry. Shall we head back so the others are not worried?"

"I take it you woke them when I wasn’t in bed."

"Actually, Fang’s the one that woke us all up when she saw you were gone. I told them to stay in the room so I could go looking for you."

The five ponies all headed back to the room, including Princess Luna. When the red stallion opened the door, he braced his ears.

"BLAZE!" They all said and came rushing to him.

The Earth pony didn’t want to get tackled again that night. So he jutsu teleported out of the way and reappeared beside his bed. The other trainees collided with Shining Armor, Iron Shield, and Dead Eye. Blaze couldn’t tell if Princess Luna was in the mix.

"Nice way to avoid being under that pile," a pony said from behind him.

The red stallion turned his head and saw the blue Alicorn did the same thing he did.

"I kinda predicted what was going to happen when they saw me. So I avoided it," he replied.

"Glad to see you can react quickly to any situation, Blaze," another pony said, but came from across the room.

The Earth pony turned his head to the voice and saw Lightning Trails was awake and sitting up in his bed.

"Glad to see you’re doing ok," he replied.

"You too, and thanks for helping getting rid of that buildup. I hate it when I get like that."

"This has happened before?"

"Once. A long time ago it seems now."

"Does this have to do with the incident at flight school as those records are sealed?" Shining Armor asked as he walked up from the previous pony pile by the door.

"Yes, it does. I think I should share this with you so you know what happened. Remember when I told you about the pony that I put into the hospital because he was making fun of my dad?"

Those who heard the tale shook their heads.

"That is not the whole truth."

----------Flashback-----------

"Hey! How’s that flying meat bag doing? Laying around doing nothing like always!" The same annoying pony said from behind the black Pegasus.

"I’m not in the mood to deal with you, Biff," he said without turning around. Heading to his next class.

"Well, too bad. It’s not a great day for me until I pick on the son of a worthless pony who can't do anything by himself," replied the other Pegasus.

"He’s not worthless! He was in the Lunar Royal Guard and got injured to save his team!" Lightning Trails shouted as he turned to face Biff.

This bully was a tan coat color Pegasus stallion. His mane was brown, pulled back, and had so much gel in it, it could catch on fire easily. He wore a jock jacket everyday to look cool.

"He’s worthless and you know it! What do you expect him to do now? Hmm? He’s been kicked out of the Royal Guard. Nopony will hire him because he can't use his hooves. To top it all off, your mother should have left him months ago instead of taking care of him."

The others that hung around Biff started to laugh with him after he did. The black Pegasus was getting tired of how they picked on his dad. But now they go and bring his mother into the taunting? He wanted this to stop, now!

The clouds making up the hallway were darkening. Lightning Trails was mentally demanding them to create lightning. The ponies around were still laughing, unaware of what was happening.

Suddenly, a bright flash filled the hallway as the lightning bolt struck the black stallion. This caused them to shut up. More lightning came and struck his body again. The Pegasus's mane was beginning to glow white. The crew of Biff was starting to back away. Biff stood where he was, not afraid.

"You pick on my father all this time and I’m still proud of him. Now you bring my mother in on your jokes. You have crossed the line, Biff. Time for you to pay," said Lightning Trails. In a loud, evil like tone.

The crew ran away after hearing him talk like that. The tan Pegasus didn’t move. All he said was, "I was correct. Your father is useless, your mother is a bitch, and you’re a freak."

That broke the last straw. All the clouds in the school went black and began to strike the black stallion with more lightning. The only light was what he was giving off and the lightning. Even his eyes were glowing white.

Biff was slowly backing away. But, Lightning Trails sent a bolt of energy that struck right behind him. The tan stallion stopped moving. The black Pegasus shot more bolts out at his hooves, hitting them and making him dance around. He increased the power and Biff started to scream.

The tan Pegasus then collapsed to the ground and started to beg, "Please stop it, Lightning Trails! I’m sorry for what I said! Just stop with the lightning."

"Too late,” he replied. “I’m going to make you suffer for a long time."

The black stallion sent out continuous bolts of lightning at the other pony as they danced around his body. Biff was screaming out in pain. A lightning bolt hit his mane and it caught on fire. The flames spread down to his jacket, which set it ablaze. He didn’t stop as this Pegasus had him suffer so much. The smoke rose up and activated the sprinkler system. The entire hallway was now raining.

"AHHH! WHAT'S GOING ON!" Lightning Trails had screamed out in pain.

The lightning in his body was shooting out of everywhere and destroying everything it hit. The black Pegasus was losing control of this new power. He then unleashed a huge lightning blast that destroyed that part of the school.

Lightning Trails woke up sometime later. He was now in a hospital. He tried to get up, but the stallion was strapped to the bed. The door to the room opened and his mom came rushing in.

"Oh Lightning Trails! I’m so glad you woke up!" She said.

"Mom, what is going on and why am I strapped to the bed?" I asked.

"Sweetie, you kinda went overboard with your lightning control and destroyed part of the flight school. These straps are pulling out the excess lightning in you till you are at safe levels again."

"How's Biff?"

"That bully stallion that provoked you? He’s alive, if that is what you are wondering," she said in an angry tone.

Just then, the door to the room opened again and the Princess of the Sun came in with several of the Royal Guards.

"Princess Celestia, what an honor to meet you," said Lightning Trails.

"I wish it was under better circumstances. I have read the report of what happened at the flight school," replied the white Alicorn.

"Please, Princess! Let me explain what happened. You see . . ."

"That won't be needed. I know that a Pegasus named Biff provoked you too hard and you were trying to stand up for your father. I would like to make you an offer. Come to the castle with me in Canterlot and I’ll help you get better control of your abilities. One day, I’ll send you to go through the basic training to be a Royal Guard like your father. The other option is you get locked up for attempted murder and destroying the flight school."

"I don't want to get locked up. So I’ll take you up on your offer."

"Excellent. Your family will be coming along as well. I’ll see if any doctors in Canterlot will be able to fix your father's hooves."

"Thank you, your highness. I look forward to learning from you."

---------End Flashback-----------

"So, I have been here learning from Princess Celestia about control over my abilities," Lightning Trails said.

"Thank you for sharing your story with us. I know what it’s like to lose control over your powers," replied Blaze.

"I don't believe it. You’re always cool and under control under different situations,” said Star Dust. “Even when you were fighting Shining Armor."

"True, but it wasn't always like that. Shining Armor has seen me when I lost control, for a moment."

"It’s true, he really is different in that other form," the Captain said.

"I can't really explain it myself, but my cutie mark does have something to do with it."

"You said it was for your belief in balance. What else is there?" Cancer asked.

"That’s true. I now found out that it has another meaning, the balance of my mind. This changed to a full black circle when I lost control and went on a destruction wave. I was in the EverFree Forest at the time, so no pony got hurt. I almost did when my friends in Ponyville came to rescue me. How about I tell you what happened when I released that state. Let’s call this, Rage Mode. I’ll also share what caused me to act out like that."

They all gathered around as the red stallion told what happened at the spa. Then, when he headed into the EverFree Forest to cool off. But, that didn’t happen due to a pack of Timberwolves. The Earth pony then went on and told when Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, and his friends appeared and how Fluttershy was able to calm him back down.

Shining Armor nodded and said, “That’s what I remembered had happened.”

Finally, Blaze told them about the repressed memory that caused it off when he was very young.

"Because I was carrying that repress memory for so long, I felt a heavy thing was lifted off of me. But now, I need these weights so I don’t go too fast and to continue my training," he said.

Everyone had tears in their eyes after listening to that. Shining Armor didn't as he had already heard his story.

"It looks like we are in the same boat of having a dark part inside of us," Lightning Trails said.

"Not just the two of us, Princess Luna also for her Nightmare Moon side," replied the Earth pony.

"But, that was destroyed with the Elements of Harmony," said Princess Luna.

"Are you sure? Or do you feel somewhere, buried deep within you, it’s still there and is only sealed away?"

"I’m afraid you’re correct. I can still feel her inside of me. The talks with you, Blaze, these nights have helped me lift my spirit up and make sure she will no longer control me."

"I’m glad for that, Princess Luna. I think we can all head back to the barracks now and get some sleep."

They all nodded and returned to the barracks for some needed sleep.

-------Fast Forward in Training--------

The trainees in the barracks were now used to waking up at the time Swift Blaze did. It gave them more time to prepare. They even started to follow him in his stretch routines the red stallion does before they go to the mess hall. The first day they tried it, the others fell down on their backs, flanks, or faces. Fang was the only one that didn't.

For the past five days, they started in the morning with some time on the track. Then moved to the obstacle course. Finished the morning with spars using no abilities. After lunch, the ponies sparred with abilities. They finished the day with reviews of the matches. Blaze had increased his total weight enhancement to four hundred fifty pounds.

Last night, Shining Armor informed them that they’re going to do something different tomorrow. The trainees talked it over that night to figure out what the Captain was planning to do. There were so many ideas, they decided to roll with whatever comes our way.

So, on day ten of Royal Guard training, The ponies ate their breakfast and made their way to the track. As the group approached, they saw the white Unicorn Guard was already there with another pony, Princess Celestia. The trainees got in line and bowed to her.

"You may all rise,” said the white Alicorn. “Today, you’re going to start the next part of your training. Captain Shining Armor shall explain."

The white stallion steps forward to address them. "Recruits, you have done well in your training on the grounds here. Now, you’ll need to put them to the test. Princess Celestia is going to send you deep into the EverFree Forest,” he said. “In there, you must stay within its bounds for forty-eight hours before you can be allowed to return. You cannot take anything with you to help. All you will have is your bodies and the knowledge you have. Be warned though, not all recruits have ever returned. At least one dies in each group. How you handle yourselves there will determine if you survive. Good luck."

Before anyone could say anything, Princess Celestia used her magic and they were teleported away. The group soon appeared somewhere in the vast unknown of the EverFree Forest. As the ponies were looking around to make sure we all were together, A voice entered the red stallion’s head.

Blaze, I wanted to tell you that there has been strange reports coming from the forest. The Royal Guards I’ve sent to investigate the tornado path said they saw strange craters of various sizes. They also found blood on them that wasn’t there. So, please be on your guard, the white Alicorn sent to him.

He replied back the same way, I’ll do my best. I normally don't look for trouble. It always seems to find me.

I can see that. Also, if you can please refrain from using your jutsu so it will be easier for the group. You all will need to learn the lessons from this exercise.

I will, Princess Celestia.

Once the link was broken, the Earth pony turned to his teammates. "Ok then, has anyone been to the EverFree Forest before?" he asked.

The other ponies shook their heads no.

"How about doing any survival exercises?"

None of them signaled that they have. The red stallion figured he’s going to have to take points in their survival from his experiences.

"Alright. Back in my world, I did do things, similar to this. Just not at the level of dropping off in a dangerous section of woods with creatures that can kill you. The first thing we need to do is find a source of fresh, running water. It’ll be cleaner and less likely to have some disease in it. We’ll stick together till we find the water."

The others nodded to the plan. The group started their trek through the forest. Blaze was taking the lead, Star Dust was behind him. After that was Cancer, Colorful Spark, Lightning Trails, Dragon, and Fang was in the back. The ponies carefully walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for creatures and anything else that might harm them. They heard some noises in the distance. Blaze couldn’t tell what was making it as he hasn’t seen all the creatures this world has.

The noise of the area suddenly went quiet. The Earth pony stopped the group to see if he could get a sense what’s going on. The others were watching every direction. No noise was being made in any direction.

Out of nowhere, something grabbed the red stallion’s back left hoof from under the brush and started to pull him through the forest in some direction. He heard his team call out for him as the pony was dragged away. Blaze couldn’t tell where he was going as his body was spun and banged against rocks and trees with everything in-between.

The Earth pony was then pulled out of the brush by his back leg. He was now hanging upside down. He looked around and saw what had him. It was a carnivore plant creature. The size of it was bigger than a bear. Its teeth were razor sharp.

Blaze quickly thought, OH NO! You’re not going to eat this pony!

He channeled his chakra and shouted, "FIRE STYLE! FIRE BALL JUTSU!"

The pony shot several of them at the plant. It screamed out in pain as it was now on fire. It released him and the stallion fell to the ground below, onto his back. The others finally caught up as he was brushing himself off.

"Blaze! We are glad you are safe! What happened?" Cancer asked.

"That crispy plant thing behind me tried to eat me. So I gave it heartburn," he replied.

"Literally,” said Colorful Spark. “Let's go before something else decides to eat us."

The trainees got back into formation and continued the search for water. Several hours later, they finally found a stream with good flow. Everyone quickly drank up to replenish their thirst.

"Alright, the next thing we need to do is find shelter or build one,” said Blaze. “I don't know what to expect at night so we need to be able to defend from it, if need be.".

"Wait, how come you don't just use your jutsu and make us shelter and get us water?" Lightning Trails asked.

"The other times the recruits were sent here, they didn’t have a pony like me. Plus, Princess Celestia has ordered me not to use my jutsu unless there is danger and our lives are threatened."

"I guess that makes sense. We don't want you to do everything and we learn nothing."

"Exactly. So what do you all suggest how we handle the shelter?"

Star Dust said, "We could split up into teams and all look for something like a cave so we don't waste energy trying to build one."

"Like the idea, but not all of it,” replied Fang. “I don't think we should split up because the predators out here will have a better time to kill us off."

"Good point," Dragon said.

"So, we all agree to find shelter together?" Blaze asked. The others nodded. "Alright, as we head out, would you mind Fang and mark trees as we go by them? It will help us find our way back to the water."

Fang nodded and we began the next hunt, shelter. They switched to a two by two formation with Blaze being alone in the front. The black Zebra was quickly marking the trees with three slash marks. It was slowing down the search, but it was necessary to find that water source again. The group traveled for several hours, not finding anything. It was starting to get dark too.

"Blaze, we need to find a place for the night. It won't be safe to travel in the dark," said Colorful Spark.

"I agree, but we have not found a safe place to stop for the night," Star Dust said.

"I think I see something over there," Fang said.

The red stallion looked in the direction she was pointing at. He saw some signs of stacked stones, but the vegetation is too thick to make it out. "Can't tell for sure. Doesn't hurt to go and check it out," he replied.

The group headed over there and saw there was a stone structure of some sort. It looked very old and abandoned. The ponies finally reached it and it was stone pillars to a rope bridge.

"Well, that's wonderful. We found a rope bridge. Don't think we can use it as shelter," Cancer said.

"No, but nopony would make a bridge for nothing. Let's go across and see what there is," Lightning Trails said.

As they crossed, Blaze thought this looked familiar. The fog was very thick as the group didn’t notice what was on the other side until they were on top of it. A massive building was now in front of them. The place was in ruins and looked like nothing was living there.

Upon seeing it, the red stallion realized this was the old castle he visited before. Nothing appears to have changed on the outside since he was last here. The ponies headed inside to the main hall.

"I don't think we’ll find a better place to stay safe from anything out in those woods out there," Dragon said.

"Don't count on it,” replied Blaze. “Remember when I told you about the time I went into my Rage Mode? This is where it happened. Look around and you can see the remains of Timberwolves."

"I think your count is off. There only looks to be enough wood for four of them."

"I’m telling you, there were thirty and at least a dozen merged into a big one over there."

The red pony went over to where the body was supposed to be. He looked around for signs of where it could have gone. Blaze then saw some faint signs of fresh chop marks on the stone floor. The stallion headed to where the other bodies were supposed to be too and saw the same things.

"Be on alert. We’re not alone here," Blaze said with a serious tone.

The other ponies went back to back in pairs. The red pony looked around for more signs. He determined this creature has some intelligence as it could swing a weapon to chop wood for fire. If it was him, where would he go in this castle for advantage?

"What do you think it is, Blaze?" Star Dust asked.

"I don't know, but I can say it’s not a wild creature as it can chop up Timberwolves corpses. Probably used them as firewood. I suggest we split up into three groups,” he replied. “Group one will consist of the Zebra family and myself. We’ll check out the perimeter of the castle and look for things like tracks or something out of place. Group two will consist of Lightning Trails, Star Dust, Colorful Spark and myself again. We’ll check the lower floors of the castle.”

“Wait, how are you . . . never mind. You’re going to do that jutsu clone thing again,” Cancer said.

At that point, Blaze did the shadow clone jutsu and created two more of him.

"Wait, why did you make it so there are three of you?" Dragon asked.

"I’m going to send a third one to check out the towers. If any trouble arises, the clone will disappear and alert the others of me as to what happened," he replied.

"That jutsu really does come in handy for scouting purposes," Star Dust said.

"Ok, we’ll look for thirty minutes. If anything happens, the Blaze in your group will disappear to inform the others of the situation. If a group doesn’t show up by that time, we‘ll go and look for them."

"Roger," said the others.

The trainees split up and headed to their search areas.

-----Clone to Towers------

As the others left, the solo Blaze was somewhat relieved they went with his plan. He wanted to take the towers solo as he figured that’s where the creature was going to be, it’s what he would do. The red Earth pony didn’t want to see his friends get into mortal trouble on this unknown.

The stallion quietly made his way up the staircase to the first tower that had a roof. He carefully listened for any sounds coming up there. Blaze was keeping his ki energized to react to what might be up there. He soon came to a closed door. The pony placed his head next to it to see if he could hear anything on the other side. Nothing was making a sound. The Earth pony pushed on the door and it slowly creaked open. His element of surprise is now gone. He still continued to head in.

Blaze first saw a pile of wood on one side of the room that resemble parts of the Timberwolves. Over in a corner, there were leaves from the trees outside piled on top of each other to make a makeshift bed. The Earth pony then smelled something only a human would recognize, cooked meat. He turned his head toward the smell and saw some animal was on a stick over a fire. Upon closer look, it was a snake.

Out of nowhere, something hit the stallion hard on the back of the head and knocked him out. When Blaze came too, all of his legs were hogtied and his body was laying on the bed. He looked around for the creature that did it before he would make his escape. A voice then came from the shadow part of the room.

"I haven’t had horse meat in a long while. Also, I’ve never seen one that wore clothes, has a strange coat color, or has a tattoo on the butt,” the creature said.

Blaze stayed silent so as to not freak out this creature. He thought about the words it said. How it referred to him as a horse instead of a pony. This creature wasn’t from Equestria, that’s for sure.

The stallion tried to see what his capture looked like. The light from the fire wasn’t giving off much, which made it difficult to see. The creature walked out of the shadow and went over to the fire. Once this happened, Blaze recognized the body shape, a human. He started to wonder how another human got here. He thought he would be the only one because of the probably alternate dimensions that every show fan that wanted to see Equestria. The bigger question is why did this other human show up to the one Blaze went to, plus how.

All the questions going through the Earth pony’s head are going to have to wait. He needs to get out of here and inform the others. When the human was paying attention to the meat he was cooking, Blaze took the moment to disappear. He released the jutsu and sent his memories to the others of himself.

------------Back at the main hall--------------

Group one and two returned to the main hall at the same time. As they were looking for the other Blaze clone, the two there soon received the memories of the other clone. One of the red stallions released the clone jutsu so the other one could go away as well.

“The other clone won’t be coming,” said Blaze. ”The creature has been found and I know what it is. It’s another human male.”

“What! How can there be another human here, let alone now?” Lightning Trails asked.

“You’re telling me. This is a full surprise on me too,” he replied. “We need to move fast as he’ll soon discover I’m no longer in that room, tied up. We need to capture him, not kill him.”

The group then heard an explosion from the tower. The ponies looked to see what was going on. They saw lots of stones were flying away. The odd thing was there was no big cloud of fire and smoke. Just the stones flying and then falling, towards them. Blaze reacted by sending ki blast at the stones to destroy them before they hit his teammates. The others prepared themselves for their opponent to come.

The human jumped off the remains of the tower and landed ten feet in front of them. He made a decent crack in the stone floor. The ponies surrounded the human and were ready to attack. The man looked around at each of them with a confused look.

“This is very odd. Seven very colorful horses and zebras. Most have horns and one has wings. That odd chicken I had yesterday must not be settling well with me,” the human said.

Blaze nodded to the others to begin the attack. Colorful Spark went first. He made illusions of himself and began to run around the human to try and confuse it more. Cancer went next and sped up to attack without their opponent would notice. The zebra did land a few good hits as he went around. Star Dust started to draw the energy for his attack as the others distracted the human. Lightning Trails and Fang stood at the ready to go at the human if this doesn’t work out.

Star Dust activated a spell he called Star Fall. It caused mini stars to start falling toward the opponent. Dragon used his ability to slow down time in the feet of the human so he couldn’t escape. As the stars were getting close to hitting the target, everypony backed away out of the attack range. The human was starting to laugh as to what was happening.
“This is probably the best opponent I had to deal with. Too bad you all are going to die,” the human sad as he continued to laugh.

Without warning, Blaze could feel the weight of his clothing and body were increasing. He first thought the magic on his clothing was on the fritz. But, as the stallion looked around, the other teammates were also struggling to stay standing up. One by one, they fell to the floor. Dragon was still able to have his magic stay active as he was being forced to lay on the ground. Star Dust’s attack was being sent back up into space.

Blaze thought, No human could do this back on my world. You would normally see this in the comic books. This has to stop soon or we’ll be crushed by gravity.

The red Earth pony was still standing, but barely. He whispered the command to cancel the weight enhancement. He soon felt himself back to normal. The stallion started to approach this human. He saw the animal coming and was totally confused.

“How can you be standing! The area is under three times of gravity. No creature can withstand that,” the human said.

Blaze continued to get closer as he gathered his chakra for the jutsu he was planning to use.

“Don’t take another step further or I’ll increase it to ten times and crush these other horses.”

The red pony stopped walking and stared at the human.

“Good horsey. Look, you can understand me. Would like to get to know you better, but after what I have been through, I can’t trust anything.”

“Hold it,” Blaze finally said.

“You can speak too? What strange place am I?

“You are in Equestria and we are not horses. We are ponies. At least the others are.”

“That name sounds familiar. Wait, you said the others are ponies. Then what are you?”

“I’m human too.”

His eyes opened wide after hearing that. Blaze seized his chance. He stood up and touched his fore hooves together. He performed a Genjutsu that put the human to sleep. The stallion ran up and caught the human before he fell. The gravity effect was lifted and the other began to pick themselves up.

“What did you do, Blaze?” Colorful Spark asked.

“I placed him under a Genjutsu technique that put him to sleep. I’m afraid we have to cut the exercise short as Princess Celestia needs to know about this. Gather around and I’ll take us back to Canterlot.”

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Chapter 28: Royal Guard Training, Part 5

The red stallion teleported the group back to the castle and in the throne room. Once the smoke dissipated, the ponies saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were talking before they barged in.

“Swift Blaze, would you care to explain why you barged in?” Asked the white Alicorn. “You’re supposed to be on your survival exercise in the EverFree Forest.”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but this couldn’t wait,” he replied. The others in front of the Earth pony stepped away. “I think I might have found the cause for that tornado. Another human has come to Equestria.”

Both Princesses came down from the throne to look at the human. Now with better lighting, Blaze could also see what he looked like. This human had a slightly buffed body with a six pack chest, visible through his torn shirt. His hair was ghost white, any whiter it would blind you. He was about 6ft tall, based upon how many floor tiles he covered.

“What happened out there, Blaze?” Princess Celestia asked.

He told of when they came across the old castle. How when they went into seeing the Timberwolves bodies, there were less than from before. Finally how the human was found in the tower and that he attacked them.

"Why do you think the human acted that way?" Princess Luna asked.

"I don't know, but I know a way to find out that will be safe for everyone. I’ll enter his mind and have a chat with him," said Blaze.

"I want you to bring Captain Shining Armor in with you so I can get a report of what is discussed," Princess Celestia ordered.

"Of course, Princess."

The white Alicorn used her magic and summoned the white Unicorn Captain to the throne room. He showed up a few minutes later through the doors from the main hall.

"Yes, your highness, what’s your request?" he asked.

"Captain Shining Armor, Blaze and the other recruits have found another human in the EverFree Forest. He came back here with the human to inform us. The human is currently under Blaze's Genjutsu as he has already attacked them. I want you to go in with Blaze into the human's mind and report back what happens."

"Of course, Princess Celestia." Shining Armor turns to the red stallion. "Why is it you’re always at the center of the trouble when it comes?"

"I can't help it when the universe likes to troll me," he replied.

"Huh? Whatever. You ready, Blaze?"

"Just waiting on you sweetheart."

Shining Armor shot him an angry glare after he said that. The red stallion placed the human on the ground gently. He then went down as well into a comfortable position. The Unicorn Captain followed by getting into a similar position on the other side. Blaze performed the Genjutsu and they entered this human’s mind.

Once inside, they appeared in the blank space.

"Does the human mind always appear this empty?" Shining Armor asked.

"No, this is the part where thoughts are gathered. He isn't thinking of anything because of the genjutsu I have him under with. I’m going to bring out his consciousness."

The red Earth pony used his mind and had this human’s inner self show up. He rose from the floor and was chained to a metal post.

"What’s going on? Where am I? Why are their horses here in clothes?" The human was shouting out.

Blaze noticed the human’s eyes were now brown. "Please calm down as we are going to explain," he replied.

"Wait, you were at that structure in the woods. I guess I finally lost it. Hello loony bin."

"You’re not crazy. If you remain calm and don't attack us, I’ll release you from those chains. Everything will be explained."

He nodded and Blaze made the chains disappear, along with the metal post. He looked himself over, then at the ponies. His face looked like he was concentrating on something.

"If you’re trying to use your abilities, they won't work here. We’re inside your mind."

"Ok, you said you were human back in the woods. Why do you look like a horse?"

"This isn’t a horse form. This is a pony body. I’ll show you my human form as I can do it only in the mind for the moment."

Blaze changed his appearance to my human form. He stuck his hand out and said, "Let's start the introduction over. My human name is Bob, but I go by a different name here called Swift Blaze."

The other human shook the hand with his and replied, "My name is Alvin, but you can call me Al."

“I have two things to say before we go to the actual questions. One, where is Simon and Theodore? Two, is your favorite catch phrase, 'I don't think so Tim.'?"

"One, lost them in Bora Bora. Two, I don't think so Bob."

Both humans laughed hard after that. Shining Armor cleared his throat to remind him he was still there.

"Sorry about that. I had to say those jokes when Al told me his name," said Blaze.

"It’s been a long time since I had a good laugh like that. You are a human if you know about those shows," said Al.

"Eeyup," Blaze said in my Big Mac voice.

"I know I have heard that exact thing from somewhere. But where?"

"Let's see if I can jog your memory. What comes to mind when I say, mane six and brohoof?"

He was thinking for a little bit. Al's eyes suddenly lit up as something clicked in his mind.

"Wait, don't tell me where I think I am."

"Who does this Unicorn look like?" Blaze asked as he pointed to the white stallion.

Al's eyes went wide. "Shining Armor! Captain of the Royal Guard! Also is mmph. . ."

Blaze placed his hand over Al’s mouth before he could say what Blaze knew he was about to say.

Blaze whispered, "On today entionmay inhay arryingmay incesspray adancecay. Ashay anway otnay appenedhay yetway."

The other human nodded and Blaze removed his hand from Al’s face. Blaze saw that Shining Armor was interested in what Al was about to say about him.

"Blaze, why did you stop him from talking? Also, what was that language you were saying to him?" the Unicorn asked.

"The answer to the first part, he was about to say something about a popular story a fan wrote about you,” he replied. “The other part is the language of the bronies. It’ll take over a year to teach it to you if you want to learn it."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"Getting back on track. Al, I think you know this will probably be the most important question that needs answers to. What happened to you on December 21st, 2012?"

"That would be important to know, I can't remember much as it was a long time ago for me," Al said.

"Less than a month is a long time for you?"

"A MONTH! I’VE BEEN IN HELL FOR OVER A YEAR!"

"Calm down. You’re not in hell anymore. You’re in Equestria. Everything is going to be fine."

Al calmed down. "I'm ok now. Just hearing that surprise how long you have been here while I’ve been in hell."

"If you give me permission, I can pull the memory of that day and we can watch it from your perspective."

"I think that would be best. I would like to find out why I was sent to hell."

Blaze created a movie theater setup and started to play the memory.

-------12/21/2012--------

Al knew this was going to be a fun day.

He looked outside his apartment in the middle of a city. He knew he couldn’t get out of the area with all the riots happening everywhere. The TV was just repeating the message over and over on all channels that Marshal Law is in effect, instructing everyone to stay indoors and lock all windows and doors.

He thought, No shit Sherlock. Only an idiot will go and join the riots for fun.

Al headed back to his bedroom and went to feed his pet, a Japanese rhinoceros beetle. He named him Kabuto after a character in one of his favorite anime. How Al acquired him was pure accident.

He was heading home after getting off the subway. It was raining like cats and dogs. As he was running home, He spotted something strange in a puddle. It was a big beetle on its back. It looked cool, so Al picked it up and brought it home with him.

The human gave the insect some fresh fruit that wasn’t too watery. He turned around after that and faced the other things he liked, his collection of knives.

Al had gathered a very nice collection. There was a ballistic knife, several bayonets of different lengths, a couple different combat knives, and several daggers of different styles. The human also had at least five dozen throwing knives of different style and weight. The most rarest of knives he owned were aged from in WWII and go all the way back to the 11th century.

While Al was doing the maintenance on the newer knives he’d recently purchased, there was a heavy banging on his front door. The human quickly grabbed several throwing knives and placed them in his back pocket, with one at the ready.

Al approached the door slowly when it was busted open. By reaction, he threw the knives at the intruders that came storming in. Two of them hit dead center in the chest and a third went into the head. They fell onto the floor and no one else was coming through the now busted door. Al went to check on the people he killed and saw they were dressed as police officers.

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! he thought. Why in the world didn’t they state they were cops? I’m in a heap load of shit now! I have to get out of here!

Al quickly collected the knives from them and ran back to his room. I gathered any deadly knife that wouldn’t break easily, mostly all the modern ones. The human put on his knife vest and loaded it up where a knife could be stored. He then placed a jacket over that to hide them. Any knife that didn’t go on the vest was tossed into a duffle bag.

Al ran through the place and grabbed other items he could need. Finally, the human grabbed a plastic container that had holes in it that was used to carry Kabuto, his pet insect, and placed him inside. He didn’t know where he was going, but his best chance to survive was out of the city.

Al took the fire escape down to the alleyway next to the building. He stuck to the shadows to not draw attention to himself. His car was in the parking garage down the street. As the human made his way toward the location, he kept an eye out for anyone. The streets were empty, but he could hear the riots were nearby.

He made it to the garage and headed to the level the vehicle was on. As Al exited the stairs, he turned and saw someone by his car. It was a couple of thugs trying to break into it. He couldn’t believe how his luck was running, today of all days. He approached holding onto a knife handle that was in a sheath, strapped to his back with his right hand. He spaced himself far enough so they couldn’t grab him.

“*Clear throat* Excuse me, but I believe you’re trying to break into my vehicle,” he said.

Thug one turned his head and replied, “Walk away before you get hurt.” He brings out a three inch switchblade.

Al thought, What a cute knife. I got one of those when I was six.

Doing a quick laugh, he then said, “You call that a knife?”

He pulled out his twelve inch hunting knife from his back sheath.

“This is a knife.”

When the first thug saw that, he quickly ran away. The other one that was trying to do the actual break in, looked up to see why his partner had left. He saw Al’s knife that he held and drew a gun.

“Back away bitch if you know what’s good for ya,” The thug said.

Al raised his hand up in the air that had the knife.

“Take it easy. You do not need to shoot anyone,” he said as he slowly knelt down and placed the knife on the ground.

“That’s right. Now give me the keys.”

“Ok. Ok. Just don’t shoot me.”

Al reached into his back pocket, where they were. Instead of pulling them out, he grabbed a throwing knife and tossed it fast into the thug’s head, right between the eyes. The man dropped like a rock as he couldn’t react within a half a second.

Al collected his knives and placed them back where they were stored. He dragged the body out of the way so he could get my car out. When Al went to the driver side door to use his key, he saw they had busted the lock.

Al couldn’t believe these two were such idiots at stealing a car. They had hammered a flat head into the keyhole and busted the handle off when they tried to turn it. With no options on this side, he headed to the passenger side to get in that way. Luckily, that side worked. Al started the engine and began to book it out of there.

He knew the major ways would be blocked due to all the riots and violence, so he stuck to third streets to get out. He ignored the stop signs and street lights as he wanted out of this city. There were a few close calls of running into other vehicles, but they all missed hitting one another.

Al soon came to a street that was blocked by parked cars also trying to get out. Seeing none were moving, and more cars got behind him blocking him in, he grabbed his backpack and started to walk out. The sounds from riots were getting closer from some direction, but couldn’t tell which one. As Al turned around, he saw them coming up from behind. He looked forward and saw a line of military personnel with their weapons drawn.

Al thought, SHHHHHIIIIIITTTTTT!

The commander in charge of the battalion went on the PA and told everyone to return to their homes as Marshal Law is in effect. Failure to do so will meet with deadly force. All the people in the middle saw they were stuck between two forces that will probably kill everyone.

The people started screaming and were trying to get out of there. Al ran for an ally that was closest to him. Just as he made it, the military started shooting. He crouched down to avoid being hit by any stray fire. Bullets were flying in both directions. Al stayed lower and along the walls as he started to sneak away.

http://youtu.be/xLYiIBCN9ec

As Al was getting away, there was a push from behind and he fell to the ground. It was a crowd of people running at full speed. He reached for his bag that was a few feet away as the others were passing by and screaming. He also had a grab of the strap when then the unthinkable happened. A person tripped and landed on top of the backpack.

Al was the only one that heard a loud crunch. He was dreading what happened. The person got up and continued to run. He pulled the smushed bag to himself and propped his body against a car. When Al opened it and looked inside, he saw what he feared. Kabuto, the beetle, was dead.

Al now just lost it. He no longer cared if he died by anyone or by the MOTHERFUCKING STUPID MAYAN calendar prediction. The human wanted to go out in style. He stood up and took his jacket off. All the knives were easily seen now. Al started to throw knives at anyone that was nearby. He didn’t care who they were. Everyone was all going to die. Each toss the man made was for a kill shot or head shot. He didn’t know what time it was as Al no longer cared. In an instant, as he tossed the last of the throw knives, his vision went dark.

---------Present Day in Equestria----------

Once the memory was over, The screen turned off and the lights turned on. Blaze looked over to see that Al was crying. He placed an arm around him and gave the other human a hug.

“I’m sorry you were sent to hell for just trying to defend yourself in all that mess,” said Blaze. “I can never imagine what it was like down in hell.”

“Those memories I shall never forget as it was the most painful thing that has ever happened.”

Blaze turned to Shining Armor. The stallion looked a little afraid of what he saw what a human could do. “Shining Armor, as you just saw, that is what most humans are like. Al never wanted to kill, but had to in order to survive what was happening,” Blaze said. “I would like you to put in your report that Al was defending himself in the riots and was not right that he was marked as he failed that test. Understand?”

The Unicorn just nodded and stayed silent. Blaze turned back to Al as he was getting up to stretch.

“Can we change this to look something different now?” Al asked.

“Anything you want. It’s your mind after all.”

The area changed to that of a hill near Ponyville. Blaze looked around and saw that he and Al have similar taste. Al walked around to take in the scenery. His face had a big smile and a tear that rolled down his face.

“I really am in Equestria, am I?” Al asked.

“Yes, you are. This is your new home and I know everyone will take you in as a friend, as they did with me,” replied Blaze.

“Thanks. I think I’m ready to talk about the things that happened down in hell. Probably for Shining Armor sake, let’s not have the visuals this time. He might just have a heart attack, or shit himself. Maybe both.”

“Hey!” shouted the Unicorn. “You’re speaking to the Captain of the Royal Guard. I can take anything that you think is horrible.”

Blaze said, “We know that and do believe you. Let’s just listen to what Al wants to cover.”

“Alright, as you saw with the previous memory, my vision went black. I couldn’t see anything, even my hand directly in front of my base. I then heard an evil voice. It said I failed the Mayan test and was being sent to hell. Before I could ask what and how, I started to fall into a deep, red cavern. I don’t know how long it was, but there was no way I could escape this place. I landed with a hard thud.”

“And you survived the fall?” Shining Armor asked.

“I was dead, in hell. Don’t think they would kill me off again when I arrived. I got up and there were lots of humans coming in. The demons were pushing us like we were cattle. We were placed in individual four foot by six foot cells. I don’t know how long I was in the cell, as none of us were not fed, nor had to go to the bathroom. Soon, the demon guards came and pushed me into an arena. There were other humans there that came from other entrances. A demon came on the speaker and said we are to fight each other to the death. We would not actually die as we are already in hell. The first human to get one thousand continuous kills will have the honor to get one wish on anything. If you die, you start all over.”

“So you were in death matches and had to fight and kill to survive. That must have really sucked,” said Blaze.

“That wasn’t even the worst of it. After the first matches, to those that were winning, the demons injected us with some purple stuff. My body was in pain the entire night, I think. As i said before. you couldn’t estimate time down there. I finally fell asleep at some point. I was awoken by a demon guard poking at me with a staff. I was led to the arena again and had to fight several other humans. I was lucky as they had throwing knives that I can use along the walls. I got cut this time and noticed something different. My blood was no longer red, it was purple."

"Purple? Must have been the stuff that injected you with that did it."

"That’s what I thought too. It also did something else to my body. I can regenerate myself."

"Regen what now?" Shining Armor asked.

"It means I can repair my body from any injury. Anyone got a knife?"

Blaze materialized one in his hand. Al took it and with one quick swipe, he cut his pinky off on his left hand. Shining Armor and Blaze were shocked he did that with no hesitation. They watched as a new finger was forming slowly from the bone, out.

"That’s cool, in a freaky way," said the other human.

"Down side it hurts as it does. It does take longer to grow back fresh new parts. If I can get a hold of what was cut off, it will reattach itself in a few minutes. Back to the life in hell. So, being able to use throw knives, I racked up my kills at a good pace. Even with two limbs cut off, I had never lost. I was becoming popular with the demons. I picked up a name they gave me, Man of a Thousand Blades."

"That’s a cool name."

"I thought so too. As many months went by, I racked up my kills. I was becoming cold and heartless as I didn’t care about my opponent. Only wanted the kill point. In my last match, I went up against another human that also had the same amount of kills as me, nine hundred ninety-nine. This was the final match, the winner gets the wish and the loser is stuck in hell to start all over. This was the most difficult match I had to go up against someone. He made use of the shield to block my knife throws. I threw one as hard as I could and it split his metal shield and dug into his shoulder. Before he could retaliate, I sent another dozen blades into various other points in his body. This resulted in immobilizing him. He knew he was defeated and closed his eyes waiting for the final death hit. I sent the last knife right between his eyes."

"So, you won the match and got one thousand kills. What did you do next?" Blaze asked in a game show host voice.

"I made the wish to go to a peaceful world with no humans!" Al said as he was going with what Blaze was doing.

Shining Armor just put on another confused face, not understanding the human jokes.

"After I made that wish, I ended up going through a swirling portal. When I exited, it looked like I was in the center of a tornado, falling straight down."

"So that storm was you arriving. Glad I didn’t hit you with my attack," said Blaze.

"Wait! You were outside of the tornado? I heard a voice yell something. Then a white wave went right through the tornado, destroying it. How come I did not see you when I landed below?”

“I flew up into the clouds and broke them up. I was so exhausted, I used my last bit of energy and teleported to Twilight so I can get medical help.”

Before Al could ask his question Blaze sent a message to his inner mind, Before you ask that question that I know you are thinking, this isn’t the place to discuss fanfiction stories or episodes. Shining Armor and the Princesses know that I have this knowledge of future events and promised that I won’t tell them about it. We don’t want to do what happened to Twilight went back in time to warn herself not to worry about the future. Do we?

Al replied by thought, No we don’t. I’ll keep my lips shut. So, did you spend some bedtime with them?

No and that is just sick. I didn’t come here for that. I came here to enjoy the peace and help wherever I can. We shall discuss this later some more in private.

Blaze broke the link and they turned to Shining Armor as he was about to ask a question.

"I take it you are now a master in that type of blade?" he asked.

"Would you like a demonstration?" Al replied.

The Unicorn nodded. Blaze created several targets down the hill and had some moving at different speeds. He then had a hundred blades show up in a bucket.

"Will this work for you, Al?" he asked.

"I assume you have done this type of training in your head before?"Al replied.

"Don't get him started," Shining Armor said.

The humans both laughed. After that, Al walked up and took ten blades in each hand. He turned and looked at his targets. Blaze felt something changing in the other human. Almost like an energy source, similar to his ki. In one fluid motion, Al sent those blades down range. His body motion never stopped as each blade left his hands. It was almost like it was a dance of how he worked the blades. Each one hit the dead center of the target. Even some blades hit the same spot right next to the previous blade. In just under two minutes, all hundred blades were down range.

"Yep, I would say you are a master in the way of throwing knives," Blaze said.

"Thank you, I was pretty good before hell. Now that I spent a year using them to kill others, I would say I’m either an expert or master now," Al said.

"Do you want to join the Royal Guard?" Shining Armor asked.

“Wait a sec! Al is not even a citizen yet,” said Blaze. “I think we got enough info and now that Al is back in the right mind, we can finish this discussion in the real world.”

“Alright. See you in a few seconds.”

Blaze ended the genjutsu and they returned back to the real world. Each one woke up and stood. The red stallion looked around and saw most of the others were gone. Princess Luna was still there with several of her guards. He looked at Al to see how the human was handling it.

His eyes were wide open like a little kid in a candy store. He finally saw Princess Luna. The Earth pony quickly grabbed his hand with his hoof and shook his head. The human was getting what he was trying to express.

Shining Armor walked up to the Princess and bowed. He then said, “Princess Luna. I’m happy to say the new human is like Swift Blaze and has the same knowledge of this place. I think he’ll be willing to help us when needed. I propose that he joins Swift Blaze and the others in the rest of the Royal Guard Training.”

“I shall agree with your assessment, Captain Shining Armor, until I have a chance to consult with my sister,” said the blue Alicorn. “For now, the new human . . . um.”

“My name is Alvin your highness. You can call me Al,” he replied as he bowed to her.

“Right, so for now, Al will join Blaze and the others in the Royal Guard Training. You should go and get some rest as you are going to restart your survival training tomorrow morning after breakfast.”

“As you wish, Princess Luna. We’ll go and head back to the barracks,” Blaze replied.

“Before you go Blaze, I would like a word with you, in private.”

“I can cover both, your highness.”

The stallion created a clone of himself.

“Am I still in my head or did you do something that I think is from a show I watched back on Earth?” Al asked.

“I know the show you are thinking about and that is a yes. I did a shadow clone jutsu. We can discuss more about what I can do tomorrow. It is getting late and I want to show you the other recruits before they go to bed.”

“Alright. Bye Shiny. Bye Lulu,” Al said with a big smile on his face.

Both of the red Earth ponies facehoofed themselves after they heard that. He just knows it’s going to be fun with another Brony here. One of the red stallions led Al to the barracks with a guard escort. Shining Armor teleported out of the throne room. The only ponies that were left were Princess Luna and the other Blaze.

"So, Luna, what did you want to chat with me about?" he asked.

"I wanted to know what you think about another human showing up here," Princess Luna said. "Walk with me to the garden so we can discuss this some more."

The Earth pony followed the blue Alicorn to the garden, Also a set of guards followed them. Blaze couldn’t wait for the training to get done with so he won’t need escorts in the castle. The ponies exited the castle building and entered the garden grounds. He saw it was a clear night and the moon was full. The stallion let out a sigh.

"Something wrong, Blaze?" the Princess asked.

"No, well, I really don't know,” he replied. “I’m happy that another human has shown up. But, I’m also sad about what he went through to get here. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That caused him to fail that test my God had placed. I’m now wondering how many humans were forced into similar situations and were made to fail the test."

"There’s no real way to tell what really happened in your world as we have no clue where it is in the cosmos."

"Most likely it's somewhere in the universe. Space is bigger than you can possibly imagine. The human race has only gone as far to land on the moon that circles the Earth. We have sent unmanned probes out into space to see what is out there and was still getting new data every day."

“So, tell me what you think of Al?”

“Well, I’ve seen two sides of him. The first side was his dark side. It grew and was dominated for most of the time he was in hell. He had a strange power over gravity when we were fighting him. I only managed to subdue him because I undid my weight enhancement to be able to walk. The other side is the side you just saw. A human that is a brony and cares about this world.”

“Sounds like he’ll need someone to guide him. What about his skills?”

“I’ve learned he’s a master with throwing blade weapons. Plus he’s deadly accurate at several ranges. I did detect something within him when he was showing us his blade mastery. I don’t know what it is, but I think it is related to gravity control.”

“Sound like an interesting human like you.”

“That’s just it, I asked for my abilities. Yes, he was good with the blade before hell. I think what they put into him gave him his other powers. Like the gravity control I just told you. He also showed Shining Armor and I that he can regenerate any part of his body. The only downside is that it takes time to grow new parts if he doesn’t have the limb or a piece to reattach. The other thing is that his blood is now a purple color. I think he is part demon now because of it.”

“Does he pose a threat?”

“Well, just like me, if something causes us to lose ourselves, we’ll be a threat to Equestria.”

“But you have learned how to control your anger and rage so you won’t be like that. You can teach Al to do the same.”

“Having a zen garden at my home also helps as it is designed to bring peace and order.”

“I have yet to see that. Maybe after the training you can show me.”

“More than likely, Pinkie Pie is probably going to throw a big party at my house.”

“HOW DID YOU KNOW!”

“I see she has already sent out the invitations. Did she come as a singing telegram?”

“AGAIN, CORRECT! How did you know when you were in the EverFree Forest?”

“She did it on an episode and I have seen lots to know how they all think.”

“That gives you an unfair advantage on surprises.”

“No, my ninja intelligence told me. I could change into other creatures besides ponies to gather intel.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to reverse the surprise on Pinkie again. She worked very hard to make sure you didn’t know.”

“Well, they’re going to be surprised when I bring another human home with me. So I can do a double surprise on her.”

“You’re very crafty, Blaze.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen me at my best. I do have a few plans down the road when those moments come.”

“I can’t wait. Well I think I should let you get to bed so you won’t be too exhausted in the morning for survival exercises.”

“Luna, I’m probably in bed right now. Good night.”

“Good night, Blaze. Have sweet dreams.”

The red pony canceled the clone jutsu and disappeared from Princess Luna’s sight.

-----------Meanwhile back at the barracks------------

Al and Blaze arrived just outside the barracks. Both could hear the others chatting away. Al lowered his head to the stallion’s level and whispered, “Bob, are any of these ponies in the show?”

“I don’t think so,” he whispered back. “I never heard of them, nor saw their name anywhere on the MLP Wiki pages. Just act calm and not freak out like you were about to do with Princess Luna.”

“Sorry about that. Princess Luna is my favorite pony from the show. What’s yours?”

“That’s tough as I see myself in the mane six in each trait they represent.”

“That’s cool. So where did you get your abilities from?”

“Naruto and Dragonball Z series.”

“No Way! You just have to show me what you can do!”

“Another time. I need to introduce you to the others and make sure they don’t attack you when they see you.”

Blaze walked in first. The others were all gathered in the center, chatting away.

“Evening everyone. I have good news and bad news. What would you like to hear first?” The red Earth pony asked to make my presence known.

“Blaze! How’s the human? Is he still knocked out? Is he a danger to Equestria?” Colorful Sparks was asking away.

“Hold on the questions. Please, answer mine first, then I’ll get to yours.”

“Let’s have the bad news first so we can sleep better with the good news,” Lightning Trails said.

“The bad news is that we’ll be going back to the EverFree Forest to redo our survival training after breakfast. Now, for the good news. We have a new recruit coming with us. You can come in now.”

Al walked in and stood near the doorway with the door still open. Probably to have a quick escape if needed.

“Blaze that human is behind you! RUN!” Cancer shouted.

“Calm down everyone. His name is Al and he has his mind back in order now that he knows where he’s at. He’ll not harm us or eat any ponies. Right Al?”

“Yea, sorry about what happened at the ruins. My mind was still acting like I was still in hell. I’ll tell my tale later. I will promise not to eat any ponies here in Equestria. Prefer Manticore meat anyway,” Al said.

“I know! Isn’t it so juicy! Once I get my human body back, I’ll see if the Princesses will allow us to dine with them before we go back to Ponyville. Their cooks can do some awesome things with meat.”

The red stallion looked at the others. They looked disgusted of what they were talking about. “We forgot you’re also a human, Blaze. Can’t wait to see what your body is like,” Star Dust said.

“At least now you can see one now,” he replied as he pointed to Al. “Let’s all head to bed now and will talk some more later with Al so you can get to know him better. We will have time to do that in the EverFree Forest.”

They all headed to bed and Al took the last bunk next to Blaze.

“Blaze, do you have any clothing that will fit me? I don’t want to continue walking around in this torn clothing.” Al whispered to him.

“All I have are gi from the Dragonball series that Rarity made. Any color preference?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Do you have one all black?”

The Earth pony performed a summon jutsu and had it appear with clean underclothes. His eyes lit up.

“I can’t wait to hear how you’re able to perform jutsu without using hand signs. You look like you are doing what the Elric brothers do.”

“I’ll tell you all tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”

As Blaze layed down, the memories from the other Blaze popped into his head. The stallion shut his eyes so he could make sure he got plenty of sleep.

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Chapter 29: Royal Guard Training, Part 6

Blaze woke up the next morning before dawn. The others did as well. He looked over and saw Al was still sleeping. The ponies snuck out and started to do the morning stretches. Shining Armor soon showed up just after dawn and headed over to the group.

"Where’s Al?" the Unicorn asked.

"Still sleeping,” replied the red stallion. “We thought he shouldn’t miss your wake up call."

"I do so enjoy doing it."

The Captain went inside as everyone else stayed quiet to listen.

"WAKE UP MEAT BAG! GET CLEANED UP AND AHHHHH!!!! BLAZE! GET IN HERE!"

The trainees rushed inside. Once through the threshold, all ground based ponies started to float in the air. Any Pegasi that was flying slammed into the ceiling. Everyone was bumping into each other as they were trying to figure out what’s going on. Shining Armor was spinning out of control as he was trying to right himself. Blaze used his ki in small pushes to float over to Al, which he was still sleeping.

"Al! Wake up! You need to control your powers!" the Earth pony shouted as he shook the human’s body.

"Huh? What?" Al said as he started to wake up.

The gravity came gradually back and the ponies righted themselves as they landed. The Pegasi used their wings to stay in the air. Blaze continued using his ki him floating.

"Morning sleepy head. What were you dreaming just now?" he asked.

"That I was sleeping on a cloud and it was floating through the sky," Al replied.

The red stallion concluded that Al’s gravity powers work negatively as it did positively.

"Well, it’s time to wake up, get changed, and we’ll meet you in the mess hall."

Al got up and grabbed the clothes Blaze gave him last night. He then saw the other ponies were giving him strange looks.

"I thought the awkward stare was done yesterday?"

"Let's just say you need to work on your gravity controlling powers."

"I can control gravity!?"

Oh, this is going to be fun. Blaze thought as he facehoofed himself. The Earth pony left with the others and they went to the mess hall. As they started to eat, Al walked in and headed to us.

"Morning. What kind of grub are they serving today?" he asked.

Blaze replied, "Fruits, veggies, hay, and flowers. Pony food."

"No meat? Why is it that the meat is always gone."

"Because ponies don't eat meat. Go get something now before we have to head to the tracks."

Al walked off and grabbed several fruits. Then came back and sat next to the red stallion. Each pony went around and introduced themselves and gave a quick thing about themselves and what they can do. Both Colorful Sparks and Lightning Trails got Al when he went to shake their hooves. Everyone laughed when Al got zapped. Al reached behind himself to grab something, but pulled nothing out. A surprised look went on his face.

"Blaze! We have to go back to the ruins. I left my stuff there!" Al said.

"Calm down. We’ll have plenty of time to get your things. I don't think any creature will mess with them in the castle ruins,” he said.

"Fine. But that will be the first thing we do."

The group finished eating and made their way to the tracks. Again, Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were waiting there. The ponies got in line and stood at attention. Al followed and stood at attention the military would on Earth.

"Good morning recruits and hello to our new one, Al is it?" Princess Celestia said.

"Yes, your highness. Sorry about my first introduction. It was not how I really wanted it to be," Al said.

"I’ve read Captain Shining Armor's report so you don't need to fill me in. I’m just glad you are back to your true self."

"Me too, Princess."

"Seeing you had to break away from your survival exercise for an emergency. You’ll restart your survival exercise. Have fun."

The Alicorn used her magic and they were teleported away. Where they arrived, it looked different from where they traveled the day before.

"I think the Princess sent us to another location,” said Blaze. “I don't recognize anything around."

"I agree. Looks like we have to start all over and find water and shelter," Fang said.

"What about my stuff?" Al asked.

Blaze replied, "We’ll get that too, but it’s more important we find water and shelter to survive."

"I need to defend myself if we get attacked."

"You can use these then." The red stallion summoned the kunai knives that he brought to this world from his homeworld. "You should be able to use these."

"Nice! These will definitely work!"

Al picked them up and began to spin them around to get the feel for them. Swift Blaze had Fang take point as he covered the rear. The group walked through the forest yet again to find a water source. They also kept an eye out for Fang's tree marks.

After an hour of walking, Al asked me, "So, Bob, is Swift Blaze your pony name? How did you come to Equestria?"

"I chose that name after I arrived and have been using it since,” he replied in a whisper. “As for the arrival, I was one of the people that did pass God's test and got to choose where I want to go. I chose here and for those abilities from the show. As for my actual arrival, God was very funny by having me appear way up in the sky falling to my death. Had to think fast and used the Kamehameha blast to break the water surface before I dove in. I did break some bones but with Fluttershy's help and a healing spell from Princess Celestia, I was better in a few minutes."

"So, this world is like the episodes then?" Al asked in a softer voice.

"I believe so, but I can say it’s not in the order of the episodes. We won't know exactly when they will happen," he replied back softly too.

"What elements of jutsu have you learned so far. I would imagine only one, maybe two as you said you only have been here for less than a month."

"I’ve actually learned all five basic elements from my mind space and shadow clone usage within."

"All five! You must have gone sage by now then."

"No, I haven't. I have been busy with my pony friends by doing stuff with them and this Royal Guard Training."

There was a loud roar nearby. The group stopped and started to watch the area. The forest was still. Everyone stayed silent to not give themselves away. Blaze looked at Al and saw his mood had changed. One minute, he was friendly and silly. Now, he looked serious and focused, like he went through military training on Earth. The human had two kunai at the ready. Another roar blasted through the area, and this was closer. The trainees tensed up, waiting for the creature to show up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi8WePyuPn0

The next roar came from another direction. Each time they heard it, it was somewhere else.

"Al, you spent a few weeks here. What do you think the creature is?" Star Dust asked in a whisper.

The human replied, "Sounds like a Manticore. It sounds pissed."

"We haven't done anything to them," said Cancer.

"I might have killed one the second day I was here."

"Why did you kill one?" Dragon asked.

"I was hungry. I haven’t eaten for over a year while I was in hell. Sue me."

"Will you keep it down!” said Lightning Trails. “It probably found us because of Al's scent. There’s nothing we can do about what happened, except make sure it does not kill us."

The roar now sounded really close. They spotted some leaves starting to move around them in a circle. The group watched the path and waited for the creature to come out. Without a sound, the Manticore jumped out of a bush and went towards Al.

Blaze pushed the human out of the way and Star Dust shot a bright flash at the creature, blinding it. Al quickly recovered and sent the blades flying. They hit the creature in both of its shoulders. It cried out in pain. Dragon used his magic and slowed the creature down. Cancer, Fang, and Colorful Spark start to run around the creature and hit it in vital spots. The red stallion used his jutsu and encased the Manticore feet and claws in a stone earth to immobilize it. With the creature not able to move, everyone backed away.

"What should we do with it now?" Colorful Spark asked.

"It’s still going to chase Al till it kills him," replied Fang.

"Then I guess we have to kill it. Lightning Trails, would you care to help me?" Blaze asked.

The two ponies walked up to the creature and stood in front of it. The Manticore was still angry and had the thirst to kill anything in its way. The Earth pony gathered his chakra as the Pegasus built up his lightning energy. They both sent bolts of lightning that struck where the kunai had dug in. The electricity went through its body and quickly killed it.

"Now what do we do with it?" Star Dust asked.

Al looked to the red stallion and asked, "Blaze, do you have a dagger or short sword in your arsenal of weapons?"

"I do,” he replied. “Why do you ask?"

"I’m not going to let this meat go to waste."

"You are going to cut up the body!" Dragon shouted.

"If I don't, the other creatures in this forest are going to tear it apart for the meat."

"Fine. But I’m not going to drag the meat around with me to entice others to come and kill us.

"You won't have to,” said Blaze. “I’ll send it to the meat locker under my house. No pony can get in there."

"Well, get me a knife so I can get this done quickly," Al said.

The red stallion summoned his short sword and the human went to work. "Save the pelt and the bones too. I can do something with them back home," he said.

Al nodded and started to carve. Star Dust, Colorful Spark, Lightning Trails, Cancer, and Dragon left the area so they don't have to see or smell what is going on. Fang stayed behind with them.

"This does not bother you Fang?" Blaze asked.

"No. I’ve been around death and blood before,” replied the black zebra. “This doesn’t bother me. I even hung out with some Griffins during meal times and they ate meat every time."

So, Al finished the butcher job for the important items. Blaze sent everything to the meat locker under his house. The Earth pony also sent the sword back after Al cleaned the blood off of it. The three teammates met back up with the others a few yards away.

“Alright, let’s get back to finding that water source and shelter,” Star Dust said.

The group continued the search for water when they finally stumbled across Fang’s marks on the trees. Now that they found a spot they went through yesterday, the ponies and single human headed for the water first to get a drink.

When the water was in sight, Al ran ahead and jumped into the air and shouted, “CANON BALL!” He landed in the water and caused it to go everywhere.

Lightning went behind the tree quickly to avoid getting splashed on and short out again. Blaze just looked at Al as the human was joking around. He soon saw the red pony’s stare and realized this isn’t the time. He got back out and dried himself off the best he could. Blaze sent a low heat wave jutsu wind to help out.

After the time by the stream and pond, the trainees headed towards the castle. They knew it was currently the safest place to be after dark. About halfway there, Al took off running towards the castle ruins.

“AL! WHERE IN EQUESTRIA ARE YOU GOING!” Blaze yelled at him.

“I’M GOING TO GET MY STUFF! SEE YOU THERE!” he replied without looking back and continuing to run.

“Cancer, go after him and make sure he does not get into trouble.”

The Zebra Unicorn activated his magic and took off like a bullet. The remainder of the party kept their normal pace. They didn’t want to draw out the attention of the creatures in this forest. The ponies made it to the bridge and saw all the fog that was not there normally. They could see what the castle ruins looked like. They crossed and entered the castle. When the group entered, Cancer was saying something.

“You’re never going to hit me when I can use my ability,” he said.

“True, but I always want to test out to see if the hand is quicker than the eye. Oh, hi guys,” Al said.

As he said that, Cancer turned his head toward those who showed up. At that moment, the human sent a knife towards the speedy Zebra. Cancer dodged it, like he hardly moved.

“I like the saying moving faster than the blink of an eye. You taught me that Blaze,” Cancer said.

“That I did. Now then, put those away before you poke someone’s eye out,” he replied.

“Hey, I’m just glad everything is still here. I still wonder why there was so much wood in this grand hall when I first showed up,” Al said.

“That’s not normal wood. It was Timberwolves dead bodies. As to why they were here, you were not the only one who has had a rage release. I killed all of these while in my Rage Mode. I will tell you the story later. Let’s go and find a big enough room to stay in.”

“I agree. Don’t want to be at the front door when any creature might show up,” said Colorful Spark.

“I think I saw a place when I was looking for where Al had gone. Follow me,” Cancer said.

The group followed him through the castle and over the rubble and came to a big set of doors. The twins pushed them open and everyone saw the space was a library. They looked around from the entryway, most of the bookshelves were empty.

“I think this will do. Al, would you like to go and get the firewood you already cut up so we can start a fire?” Blaze asked.

“No problem. I know the way like the back of my hand. Hey, that’s new,” Al said as he joked around and left.

“So, now that we have shelter, Al has gone to get the firewood, we need to find food that is safe to eat. Also get some containers that can hold water so we don’t always have to go back to the stream.”

“No problem, Dragon and I will find something to carry the water and be back in a couple minutes,” said Cancer. “Ready to race brother? First one back gets to kick the other in the balls.”

Dragon replied , “Oh you are so on. Ready. Set. GO!”

They took off like bullets and were gone with a dust cloud forming behind them.

“Fang and I will go and find some food for us. But I don’t know if we will find something Al can eat,” Colorful Sparks said.

“I think Al has some left over cooked meat he will reheat back up in that tower,” replied the red pony.

“Alright. See you in a little bit.”

Fang and Colorful Spark left through a busted window.

“What is the rest of us going to do?” Lightning Trails asked.

“My body for some reason is telling me there is something in this library that was left behind for some reason. I don’t know what it is.”

“Then let’s split up and look for it,” Star Dust said.

Lightning Trails, Star Dust, and Blaze headed off in separate directions in the library. In the back of the red ponies mind, something was somewhat informing him that there was something here that needed to be found. He didn’t have this the past several times he was here, but it was now nagging him to find it.

The Earth stallion was letting his body lead him where to go as the feeling grew stronger. He weaved through the empty bookcases as if he knew where he was supposed to go. Blaze finally ended at a blank wall. His eyes showed him nothing but a stone surface, but he somehow knew there was something more at this spot.

In another part of the library, Star Dust shouted, “Blaze! You find something?”

“Not sure,” he shouted back. “I’m going to send up an energy ball so you can see where I am.”

The stallion did so and had it hover above the bookcases. “I see it! We’ll be over there in a minute,” Lightning Trails said.

They caught up with Blaze as he continued to look at the wall. “So what is it?” Star Dust asked.

“I don’t know as my body led me here,” he replied. “The other odd thing is this is the only wall without a bookcase.”

“That is odd. Do you think there is a secret switch somewhere?” Lightning Trails asked.

“Maybe, or there is a phrase or spell to reveal whatever is here.”

“Hey guys. I brought the firewood and some meat for me,” said Al. “No one was by the door and then I saw that orb floating above and headed for it. Why are you all staring at a door? Watching paint dry?”

“What door? We only see a stone wall. Blaze is the one that led us here,” Star Dust said.

“Well, I see a door there. I don’t know why you can’t see it.”

“Maybe because we’re ponies and there is some enchantment to hide it from our eyes. Care to open it?” Blaze asked.

Al walked over to the wall and began to grab nothing from the view of the pony eyes. Suddenly, a black opening showed up as the invisible door swung inward.

“Now that’s creepy,” said Lightning Trails.

“You two should return back to the main area and inform the others what’s going on. Al and I are going to go in and see what is in here,” said the red stallion.

Star Dust asked, ”Why only you two are going to venture in and not the rest of us? We’re teammates.”

“This was hidden away from any ponies, including the princesses, to see. I need Al for his eyes and I’m going as well to give him back up. This can’t be part of the survival training as I’ve been here for only a month and Al showed up a week ago.”

“Be safe,” replied the Unicorn, then he and the Pegasus left.

“So, what do you think is in there Blaze?” Al asked.

“I’m not sure ,but my body is saying something is in here. I have found out humans were here in Equestria during the Medieval Ages so that might explain why a human can see the door and a pony can’t,” he replied. “Let’s go inside, carefully. I don’t want to trigger a boulder or blow dart traps.”

Al nodded. The Earth pony lowered the energy ball and had it stayed in front of them as they entered the doorway. The two walked through and saw they entered a long hallway, with lots of twist and bends. There were no other doors or other hallways that branched off that either of them could see. After fifteen minutes of walking, the pair came up to another door. This one was metal and rusty. Al tried to open it, but it would not budge.

“Guess all this moisture down here has built up a thick layer of rust that we cannot open it,” he said.

“I have not let my body tell me to come this way to be stopped by a rusty sealed door,” said Blaze. “Back away from it.”

Al quickly did. The red stallion stuck one hoof out and shot a thin continuous energy beam. It acted like a laser cutting through the metal. Once Blaze went around the parameter of the door, it fell inward, into the room. A rush of stale air escaped.

“Guess we now know this room was sealed tight,” Al said.

The Earth pony walked in and looked around. He saw the space was like a cave with no windows, nor another way to gain entry. Inside were more bookshelves. These were also empty. Both of them went down each row to look for a clue in this room or why Blaze was drawn to find it. Neither of them found anything.

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would my body want to come down here to an old, empty room?” asked the Earth pony.

“I don’t know. Maybe to let you know about it and ask the Princesses if they know anything about it?” replied Al.

“If that is the case, then why do I feel something is still here. I can’t pinpoint it either. It feels like it's everywhere in this room. There must be another enchantment active hiding it.”

“How do we release it then?”

Blaze was thinking. He thought because the door was hidden by an illusion, so no ponies could see it, this must be another one here. The stallion looked around the room for anything that could be out of place in the arrangement. But it’s tough to see with everything covered in centuries of dust.

“Wait a sec,” said the Earth pony. “Al, cover your face. I'm going to try something.”

Al quickly did. Blaze went to the center of the room and channeled his chakra. Thinking of the signs, he touched his hooves together and said, “Wind Style! Tornado Jutsu!”

A tornado started to form around me and began to collect all the dust. He then sent it out the door and dissipated in the hallway.

“All clear, Al. You can look now,” said the stallion with a small cough.

“That is one way to remove dust. Why did you do that?”

“I thought that the dust was hiding something so I did that jutsu to save time.”

“Everything alright in there?” asked Colorful Spark. “We saw a dust cloud come out of the door.”

“Everything is fine. Had to do some spring cleaning,” Blaze replied back.

He looked around the cleaner room. Some details he overlooked were now visible. There were four posts in the room, but not in the corners. The stallion looked down and saw lines engraved in the floor connecting them.

“Al, give me a hand and move these bookcases against the walls.”

They worked together on moving them out of the way. With them all cleared, the two of them could see what they were making.

“It’s a cross. These four posts are at the points,” said Blaze.

“Hold up, a cross usually has something in the center. Why isn’t there a post there?” Al asked.

The Earth pony went and looked at each post and saw a different symbol carved into the top of them. “You need to activate these four to reveal the fifth.”

"How do we activate them?"

Just then, Blaze’s head was rushed and filled with new knowledge. He didn’t know where it came from. The stallion felt a little dizzy for a moment from the process.

"You alright, Blaze? You don't look so good," Al said.

"I think I’ll be fine. Just a blood rush to the head. I think these symbols are the four elements. We need to display the elements on top of the pillars."

"So, do the things they did in the Fifth Element movie, correct?"

"Not exactly."

Blaze walked to the center of the cross. Once he touched the center, his body was consumed with a surge of energy. He cried out in pain from the initial shock.

"Blaze!" Al screamed out.

The red pony, through the pain, heard the others coming down the hallway. The ponies entered and saw their comrade in the center of the room. Before they could make another step, Blaze shouted, "STAY BACK! THIS ROOM WANTED ME HERE FOR A REASON!"

They nodded and stood back. The energy was still flowing into the red Earth pony. It was less painful now than it started. His body started to have a white glow around his form. This was getting brighter. His cutie mark started to spin and generate a sphere of pure white. The stallion’s body was soon floating off the ground and was engulfed by the light. The sphere then shot different color beams at each pillar and displayed different symbols in the form of the element it corresponds with.

The earth element has a small mountain with snow.

The air element has a mini tornado spinning.

The water element has a geyser shooting up.

The fire element has a brilliant flame.

The others were eye struck by what was happening. They suddenly hear a voice come from the sphere, but it didn’t sound like their friend. It spoke these words:

I am the Air that blows in the trees

I am the Water that swirls in the sea

I am the Fire that gives us light

I am the Earth, one too strong to fight

Elements gather in this sacred place

Around the 5th, which has no face

Bring me your honor

Bring me your grace

Come now, I call you

Come now in haste.

And as it is spoken, So shall it be!

The white sphere shined out and blinded everything in the room. When the others could see again, the four pillars were no longer showing the elements. A fifth one had appeared at the center. On top of it was an old book on it with five gems slots in the cross formation.

"Blaze!" Al shouted and ran to the pony.

He was laying next to the center post. As the human picked him up, the stallion started to open his eyes.

"Ugh, my head. Remind me not to do that again," he said as he rubbed the side of my head. "Did whatever happen cause the fifth pillar to appear?"

The other joined him as he sat on the ground. "Yes. The fifth one has shown up,” said Lightning Trails. “But, it looks like something else has happened."

"What? You all look the same to me."

"We didn’t change, it was you who did," Cancer said.

The stallion looked at his fore hoof and saw it was still the same coat color.

"What! Did my mane change color? I won't look good as a blond! What changed! Please tell me!"

"You’re umm . . . no longer an Earth pony. You’re . . . a Unicorn pony," Star Dust said.

"I'M A UNICORN!"

His hoof suddenly shot to the top and bang against something that wasn't there before, a horn. Blaze felt the pain when he banged against his new equipment. With the throbbing in his head, he wasn’t expecting that sort of thing to happen.

"I’m afraid you are,” said Al. “Just don't mess with it, or it might fall off."

The new Unicorn thought, Oh, I just wish I can send a lightning bolt at Al right now.

His horn started to glow and a lightning bolt struck Al.

"What was that for!"

"I don't know! I just thought of something and the horn did it," he replied.

"Looks like you need to find a teacher to learn how to use that new horn," Dragon said as he laughed.

"Watch it or I’ll send fireballs at you."

The Zebra quickly shut up.

"So, what about this book here?" Colorful Sparks asked as he pointed to it.

The red pony got up and went over to take a look at it. As he got closer, several of the pages started to pulse a white aura.

Fang said, “That can't be good.”

The book opened up and passed several pages before stopping. Al carefully went over to look at what is on the pages it opened to.

"What’s on these pages?” he asked. “I can't read this chicken scratch shit. Can anyone else here read it?"

The human picked up the book and held it open. Most of the ponies shook their head no as they viewed it.

When he showed it to the new Unicorn, he said, "Um, I don't know what language it’s in, but I can somehow read it."

"What does it say?" Lightning Trails asked.

"Let’s worry about this later. That energy transformation left me hungry and tired. I think we should finish our survival exercise. Then, we’ll bring this to Princess Celestia and let her know what we’ve discovered.”

Blaze stood up and stretched his limbs. The others followed some of the motions.

“Let's head back to the main library and get some food. What did you find by the way, Fang and Colorful Sparks?"

"We got some juicy leaves and berries." Fang said.

"Yuck,” said Al. “I’ll stick to the meat. Thank you very much.”

The human picked up and carried the book with him as the group headed back to the main library. Some of the wood was gathered and the red stallion was grateful as he’s still able to use his jutsu to create fire.

As he stared at the flames, he thought, I’m going to need to see Twilight about this horn. I can hear her voice right now, about being so happy to teach me magic. Oh, thinking of her enthusiasm is already giving me a headache.

They ate all the food and replenished their thirst. Once everyone’s belly was full, the trainees stayed around the fire to stay warm. They scheduled to have two of them, stand watch for four hours, while the others slept. The first two up for it were Star Dust and Dragon.

As the others were falling asleep, Blaze grabbed the book to look it over. This development was a complete mystery to him. The stallion couldn’t make sense as why he was the only one that could read it. One thought was it might be tied to why only he was drawn to the secret room. But his Earth pony form now becoming a Unicorn is another topic that didn’t have a clear answer.

Al sat next to the red pony as he was looking the book over. He whispered, “Blaze, I never hear of this in any of the episodes, nor in some of the fanfiction I’ve read. What do you think this is all about? From the secret room, that book, and how you’re somehow connected to them. Any thoughts?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied back in a whisper. “Remember, we’ve only seen a small piece of this world. That has changed since we’ve arrived. We can never trust what happened in those episodes to happen exactly the same with us here. I have a feeling the humans that used to live here left this book in that secret room and set it up for only a human to find. As to why I’m connected, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe once we talk with the Princesses in private, we’ll be able to get some answers.”

“So, what have you found about the book so far?”

“Not much. Only the first few pages have allowed me, somehow, to read what’s written. The rest of them are still locked in mystery.”

“What’s in the first section?”

“According to the book, it talks about something similar to the Elements of Harmony. This is a human version called the Elements of Order. The humans of the past somehow managed to create them by harnessing the actual elements.”

“We’d only seen four in that room. What’s the fifth? Also why are there gem slots on the cover of the book?”

“I don’t know what the fifth could be. As for the missing gems, I guess the humans must have split them off and hidden them so it does not fall into the wrong hands.”

“But ponies don’t have hands,” the human said with a slight chuckle.

Blaze looked at him with an annoyed look as his horn was slowly lighting up.

“Okay, okay, bad joke. You don’t need to blast me with that to express your point. Back onto the topic, how are we, mainly you, supposed to find them?”

“Again, I don’t know. Let’s sleep on it and discuss it with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna when we get back.”

“Alright. Good night, Blaze. Sweet dreams,” he said as the human got comfortable as best he could and went to sleep.

“Good night, Al,” the Unicorn replied. With what’s rattling in his head, no sweet dreams were going to come to him tonight. He needed to gather his thoughts and try to understand what this book wanted. The red pony got comfortable and entered his mind space, but not for training tonight.

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Artwork in this chapter was done by antigone-annwn on DeviantArt

Chapter 30: Royal Guard Training, Part 7

While Swift Blaze was in his mind, in his human form, an unsuspecting visitor entered the space. He was walking through the hills of Ponyville when Princess Luna showed up.

“Good evening, Blaze,” the blue Alicorn said. “What’s got your mind so troubled?”

“Hi, Luna. Just a recent event that happened that I’m trying to piece together,” he replied.

“What exactly happened?”

“Me and the other recruits decided to spend the night at the old castle, as it had the best shelter to stay alive from the animals of the forest. We’re currently in the library section, at the moment. What happened is what I’m still trying to figure out.”

The human could see a worried look show up on the princess’s face as he was starting to tell what happened.

“You can tell me, Blaze. I know everything about that castle.”

“Really? Then I think I have a surprise for you.” He changed the space in his mind to that of the library in the old castle. “Follow me and I’ll show you.”

As they were walking, he said, “I was planning to have a chat with you and Princess Celestia as to what happened, as I don’t even have any knowledge of this from the episodes.” The pair finally arrived at the blank wall. “Tell me, what you see.”

“I see we’re standing in front of a wall that does not have a bookcase. That is odd.”

“Then you don’t know about this.” The human twisted where the handle was and opened the door. Princess Luna's eyes lit up as the trainees did when they discovered this.

“What did you find in there, Blaze?”

“The reason you didn’t see the door is probably because the humans that used to live here created this. So Al and I went down this hallway to another room. Inside there, it had empty bookcases, like here. Except, my body was telling me something was in there, but would not pinpoint it.”

“Did you find what drew you to that room?”

“We did. I think I’ll save that till after our survival exercise. Please don’t peak into my mind or with that viewing portal of yours. Just tell Princess Celestia that Al and I need to have a word in closed chambers. The other recruits know what happened, but I don’t want to go into the knowledge we have.”

“Very well. I do hope you will be able to relax tonight to regain your strength. Take care.”

Princess Luna left his mind as quickly as she entered it. Blaze changed the scenery back to the hillside and lay down. Still, one question remained in his thoughts, what does this all mean?

For the first time, the red stallion woke up the next morning after sunrise. He figured his mind must have hit some sort of snooze button, to allow him to sleep longer. He looked and saw the mysterious book was still next to him. The pony moved a hoof to the top of his head. He felt his new horn was still there. What happened yesterday wasn’t a dream now. The Unicorn looked around and saw the others were busy eating and talking quietly.

“Morning sleepy head. Had a rough night?” Al asked as he saw Blaze was awake.

The stallion let out a big yawn, then replied, “What do you think if this happened to you?”

“Hey, there is no reason to be rude,” Star Dust said.

“Sorry. Last night’s event just has me filled with so many questions that need answers to. I don’t know if I’ll ever find them.”

“It’s alright. I was kinda the same way as I was wondering why I was sent to hell. Come on over and have breakfast,” said the human. “We’re going to head to another spot to get some more survival training in.”

“Thanks. So what’s for breakfast today?”

“You would not believe this, but Cancer found a Zap Apple tree,” replied Colorful Sparks. “They were ready to be picked too. I just love it when Sweet Apple Acres brings in the Zap Apple harvest.”

Blaze couldn’t wait to taste one. The red Unicorn grabbed an apple and took a big bite out of it. His eyes lit up from the taste shock. The flavors were too hard to describe. Imagine eating pure joy and happiness as it melts in your mouth.

They finished eating breakfast and cleaned up before the group headed out. The red stallion summoned his saddle bag to carry the book in. The trainees left the castle and crossed the bridge, back into the EverFree Forest.

Fang was leading them back to the water source to quench their thirst. Keeping an eye and ear out for creatures kept Blaze’s mind focused and off that book. As they wandered through the woods, the group were able to see some of the friendly creatures that lived there. They scampered in the trees and flew through the forest. They all had a smile on their faces.

The red Unicorn thought, Pinkie loves when everyone smiles. Dammit! Now that song is in my head, again.

A squirrel dropped an acorn and it fell directly onto Al’s head. He thought they were under attack and dove for cover. The ponies all laughed as he realized what happened. The trainees formed back into formation and headed out again.

They soon made it to the stream and replenished their thirst. The Zebra ponies also filled up the makeshift canteens the twins made to haul the water back to the castle. Al went and dunk himself in the water to cool off. He tried to splash Lightning Trails, but Blaze used his jutsu and had the water move around like a roller coaster and back into Al’s face. The ponies were laughing again.

Al sent a wave at the red stallion as he was laughing with his eyes closed. He got drenched and the laughter switched to Blaze. As he was about to retaliate, a strange order was in the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked for the source. We then heard a long howl.

“Timberwolves!” Lightning Trails shouted as he flew up to get a better view. “I see at least a dozen coming our way! No, two dozen! Will you stop moving so I can get a correct count!”

The trainees prepared themselves for the coming attack.

“I’ve dealt with these before,” said Blaze. “They’re tough to kill as they are made out of wood. Use that to their disadvantage. BURN THEM ALL!”

The ponies and single human let out a battle cry.

The red stallion turned to Al and asked, “Remember that game from that movie in a similar situation on that scorched planet?”

The human thought for a few seconds. Then replied, “Who’s the better killer?”

“Let’s play.”

Once they were in sight, the group charged at them. Fang had her blade out and was running and slashing like they were made of butter. The Zebra twins worked together in the battle. Dragon would slow one down and Cancer would speed punch it. They called it the hyper attack, and it was lethal. Lightning Trails was charged up and sent his bolts to several of the Timberwolves. They caught on fire and ran into others, causing a chain reaction of fire spreading. The two blue Unicorns teamed up to take them on. Star Dust blinded them and Colorful Sparks has his illusions go to town and cut them up.

Al the human, on the other hand, was having a fun time. He easily dodges an attack and slid his blades into the side of them. He was cutting off limbs and heads as there was nothing there. He was dancing around them, avoiding all the attacks. Blaze could see his face and showed that he was enjoying it. He was also somehow feeling an energy source building inside of the human.

For the red Unicorn, he too was having fun. He had deactivated the weights to increase his reaction time. The stallion was sending ki blast, like the time at the castle ruins. But, he decided to incorporate some simple jutsus of fire, earth, wind, and lightning. Each hit was at least a death kill. Blaze was racking the kills quickly.

Out of nowhere, a Timberwolf was able to get a jump on the red pony and pinned him to the ground on his back. Before it could sink his teeth into flesh, Blaze shouted, "GET OFF OF ME!"

His horn then lit up and sent an energy beam right into the wolf’s head. The beam ended, and there was no more head. The stallion tossed the body off of him and quickly got back up.

Al saw what happened and said, "Remind me not to get you pissed off."

"Totally not me. My horn did it," he replied.

The trainees continued to kill them and their bodies were forming a mound in the center of us. Soon, they were all dead.

"Well, that was easy," Cancer said.

Blaze faced hoofed himself. Then replied, "Cancer, you never say that as it will lead to something worse."

The mound of dead Timberwolves began to shift around and join together. It formed a Mega Timberwolf and this one was bigger than the last one the red stallion had faced. The others were surprised by what happened. He turned to zebra and said, "This is why you never say something was easy in a battle. It will lead to something worse."

"Blaze, what should we do?" Star Dust asked.

"It’s my opinion, and how this one's teeth are drooling, I think . . . we should . . . RUN!"

The group was running away together in the same direction. The Mega Timberwolf was chasing them and was knocking down trees that were in the path. It was keeping up with the ponies and the human as they ran.

"What’s the next thing we should do, Blaze?" Dragon shouted.

"I haven’t gotten that far in planning,” he replied. “Check back with me later."

"Not later, we need something, NOW!" Colorful Sparks said.

"Do any of you have any ideas? I don't have to be the only one to come up with them." Each one said no in their own way.

The Mega Timberwolf was getting close to them. The group soon had to dodge swipes with its claws. They soon saw daylight through the forest.

"FREEDOM! OH SHIT!" Al said.

The forest opened to a cliff edge. The ponies and Al stopped close to it and turned around. The Mega Timberwolf had slowed down as it knew they couldn’t escape.

"Blaze, why don't you teleport us out of here?" Fang asked.

"I would, but my chakra is running low. I won't be able to bring everyone at the same time,” he replied. “I’m not going to leave any of you behind. We stick together. Now and forever.”

Al whispered to the red pony, "Now would be a good time to launch a Kamehameha blast to destroy it."

"I would do that too, but it’s too big for the energy level I have left. I would only injure it and anger it more. I need to somehow boost it to make it effective,” the Unicorn replied back in a whisper.

"Have you thought about combining it with some chakra jutsu?"

Blaze face hoofed myself. He thought, Why didn’t I think of that? Probably because it is going to be super dangerous and I have no clue what was going to happen.

He turned to the human and said, "That never crossed my mind. The downside is I don't know what will happen if I do."

"If you don't, WE ARE ALL DEAD ANYWAY!"

"Alright. I’m going to raise a stone wall to protect you guys. Don't come out till the blast is over."

Blaze stepped forward a few paces. The Mega Timberwolf was looking at him, waiting for the little pony to make a move. The stallion summoned a two foot thick stone wall underneath him. The others ran and huddled low against it. The red Unicorn created a clone to help out. One of them will do the ki type blast and the other will do a chakra jutsu to amplify it. Each of them were building the available energy for the attack.

The Blazes' were emitting a red aura around each of them. Ki Blaze got into formation and began to do the motion for the Kamehameha blast. The Chakra Blaze was pushing the chakra into a Rasengan sphere between his hooves. Once the energy was at the peak, Chakra Blaze said, "RASENGAN!" and launched the red sphere to the Mega Timberwolf. Just a few seconds before the sphere made contact, Ki Blaze quickly said, KAMEHAMEHA!" and launched the blue beam. He aimed it for the red sphere. The beam made contact with the sphere.

What happened next is what he hoped would happen. The ki beam changed color to purple and multiplied in size, several times over. The beam received a spiral effect from the jutsu. It made contact and was pushing the giant creature back, very hard. The Timberwolf dug its claws into the ground to stay in place. The new beam was too much for it as the energy started to consume the beast. Without warning, the creature exploded and the debris flew all over the EverFree Forest.

Swift Blaze collapsed onto the top of the wall and his clone disappeared. Al came and picked him off the surface and placed the red Unicorn behind it. He was barely awake as they started to talk to him.

"That was amazing Blaze! Why did you not do that sooner?" Lightning Trails asked.

With a weak response, he replied, "Three things. One, didn’t think of it. That goes to Al. Two, I didn’t know what effect would happen if I did. Three, didn’t want to wipe out the forest to destroy it."

"Rest now, Blaze. You certainly deserve it," Al said.

"Nighty night," he said as he fell asleep.

When the stallion woke up, he looked around and saw they were now in a cave. The Unicorn was near the fire that someone had started and mostly everyone else was asleep elsewhere around the heat source. The two that weren't were Fang and Lightning Trails. Blaze saw them standing watch at the mouth of the cave. He got up quietly to join them.

"Hi fellas. What happened while I was out?" he asked in a whisper.

"Hey, Blaze. Glad to see you’re doing better,” said the black Pegasus. “You were only out for a couple hours."

"Al carried you over his shoulder with no issues,” said the Zebra mare.” I picked up your saddle bag to make sure we didn’t leave it behind. After an hour of searching for a new place to stay the night, we came across this cave."

"Star Dust went in to make sure nothing was living in here and found nothing. So we moved in and did what you taught us, fire to stay warm and gather food and water to have. Speaking of that, we saved some for you. Care for a bite?"

"Gladly, I’m starving,” replied Blaze.

Lightning Trails brought over several apples and a canteen of water. The red stallion ate and drank quickly to subdue his stomach, before it would wake the others up.

"That was still an impressive move you did to take care of that creature. I don't know what we would have done if you weren’t there," said the black stallion.

"I’m sure someone would have come up with a better plan. The attack I did was a desperate play. I knew I wouldn’t be useful after I released it."

"Well, we’re glad you are part of the group. I have just never seen that many Timberwolves at once before. Let alone them coming together to become one big one," Fang said.

"I have, but it’s rather odd for them to be going around in such big packs. I wonder if something is going on in this forest. I’m going back to bed to finish replenishing my strength and energy levels. I can tell I’m going to need them when I have to explain about this horn."

"Night, Blaze. See you in the morning," Lightning Trails said.

"Goodnight, Blaze. I can't wait to hear if Princess Celestia knows anything about that book," Fang said.

"Night you two. Continue to keep an eye out for trouble."

The Unicorn returned back to his spot in the cave. He settled back down and quickly fell asleep again.

The next morning, Blaze woke up with everyone else. They were happy to see he was better now. The stallion found out that Colorful Sparks did some healing on his body to help speed up the recovery. He thanked him for that. The group left the cave and started to make their way out of the forest now. Lightning Trails flew up to find where the edge of the forest was.

"Ok, I saw the closest edge was two miles to the east,” said the Pegasus.

"Then let's get moving and out of this deadly forest," Cancer replied .

It didn’t take them long to reach the edge. Once they were out, the bright sun shined directly into their faces. When everyone’s eyes finally adjusted, the trainees saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor, and several other guards were waiting. Blaze kept himself hidden behind Al so they couldn’t see him, yet.

“Congratulations recruits. You all have passed the survival exercise,” said Princess Celestia. “Rest up for tomorrow will be the final part. Hold on, where’s Swift Blaze?”

“I’m back here, your highness. Something unexpected happened while in the forest,” the red stallion said.

He walked out from behind Al to reveal his new look. “Surprise!” the Unicorn said as he did a ta da stance. All the ponies looking at the group, including the Princesses, just dropped their mouths open. Blaze saw one guard collapse over from shock.

“So, this is the surprise you were talking about with Princess Luna when you were within a dream. Would you like to explain what happened?”

“I will, your highness, but I think this should actually be discussed in closed chambers. Just those on that list that I am referring to should be in attendance.”

“Very well, let’s all return back to the castle so you all can rest. I’ll see you and Al in the throne room, shortly.”

Princess Celestia activated her horn and the trainees were teleported back to the training grounds. When they arrived, Captain Shining Armor was waiting for them.

"Well done recruits. It’s been a long time an entire group returned back, alive,” said the white Unicorn. “So, rest up and prepare for tomorrow. You’re going to need it."

"Would you mind telling us what we will be doing?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"Oh, I didn’t tell you? You’re going to be going into a tournament against your fellow recruits. You’ll not be informed whom though until the start of the match. Have fun.” He turned his gaze to two of them. “Swift Blaze and Al, if you would please, follow me to the throne room. Then we can get a report of what happened."

"Lead the way," Al said.

The human and red Unicorn followed the white stallion to their destination. Once inside, the doors were closed and a magic barrier had activated. The trio finished walking up to where they were at the steps before the throne, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting.

"Princess Luna informed me you found a secret room that was connected to the library at the old castle,” said the white Alicorn. “We’d cleared everything out and made sure nothing was hidden centuries ago."

Blaze replied, "I’m sorry to say but we did find a room. I still don't know why, but my body was drawn to find it. It wasn't until Al came looking for me and some of the others that we found the door."

"It’s true, your highness. From the looks of it, it appeared to have been a human magic spell that made it so only human eyes can see it," Al said.

"So, what did you find in that room?” asked Shining Armor. “What caused Blaze to now be a Unicorn?"

"This is where it gets interesting,” replied Blaze. “In the room were more empty bookcases. We look everywhere to find a clue. My body was telling me I had to find something in this room. I gave another look around and noticed four pillars, but they were not in the corners of the room."

"They were arranged in a cross with the center one missing,” said Al. “We cleared the bookcases out of the way so the room was opened up. Blaze did a jutsu that cleared all the dust out of the room so we can get a better look at everything.”

"I took another look at the pillars. It was at this moment when I was forced with knowledge of what we needed to do. The pillars represent elements of earth, air, water, and fire. We had to somehow show that element on the pillar."

"That’s when everything went crazy as Blaze stepped into the center and first cried out pain."

"I think for the rest of it, we should show you what happened from Al's perspective, if everyone agrees."

The others nodded. Princess Celestia used her magic to have the memory be displayed in front of each of them. After the memory was done, the displays went away.

"So, that’s how you changed into a Unicorn. I take you brought the book that appeared on the fifth pillar?" Princess Celestia asked.

"I did. It’s in my saddle bag,” said the red stallion. “So far, I’ve been the only one who can read it, but only the first part has been translated to where I can to understand."

Princess Luna used her magic to pull the book out and brought the book between her and her sister. Blaze saw their eyes opened wider, telling him they know what it is.

"Sister, is this what I think it is?" Princess Luna asked.

"It appears to be so,” replied the white Alicorn. “ I thought the humans took this with them when they left. To imagine it was hidden, even from us, till a human was worthy of it."

Blaze spoke up and asked, "Celestia and Luna, can you please tell me what is going on?”

"Do you know what you have found, Bob?"

"Well, from what I can read from the book, it talks about a human version of the Elements of Harmony. It calls them the Elements of Order."

"That’s correct. When the humans were here in Equestria, over a thousand years ago, there was a powerful one among them that created these to work with the Elements of Harmony."

"Let me guess. Was this human called Merlin?" Al asked.

"Again, correct. He loved this world as you two do. He worked with Starswirl the Bearded in order to create them. When we were up against Discord, we saw how easily corrupted the humans could get by his chaos powers. That’s why the humans left, to escape from Discord's influence. It took my sister and I with the Elements of Harmony to just be able to seal him away in stone."

"We know of Discord. We saw the episode where he breaks out," Al blurted out.

Blaze stomped on his foot to stop him from talking.

"DISCORD ESCAPES! YOU MUST TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED SO HE NEVER WILL!" Princess Celestia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

The human and two Unicorn ponies covered their ears just after the beginning of the Alicorn’s demand. The windows shook from the sound waves, but didn’t burst, nor crack. Probably because of the sound proof magic barrier.

"Princess, we cannot tell you how it happens,” replied Blaze after he uncovered his ears. “These events have to happen, or they will affect the better ones after that. He will be sealed up again by Twilight and her friends with the Elements of Harmony. Please understand where we’re coming from. It was going to happen anyway, even if we never showed up."

The Alicorn was calming down. She took a few deep breaths and then said, "You are right again, Swift Blaze. I shouldn’t mess with the future, or I will mess it up further if I try to prevent something that needs to happen. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now let's get back to the book before a certain human says more about what he should not."

"I could not help it. That two part episode was great and you know it. I especially like when . . . mmph," Al started to say before the red stallion stuck a hoof into his mouth. He spat it out and was wiping his mouth out. "Geez, Blaze, you didn’t have to shove the whole hoof into my mouth. Now I have dirt on my tongue."

"Would you rather I stick it up your rear to make you shut up?" Blaze asked as a threat. Al remained silent and just continued to clean his mouth out. The Princess of the night was giggling a bit after hearing that.

"So, getting back to the book,” said the Princess of the day. “It seems you’re missing the gems that go on the cover. That might explain why you cannot read the other parts of the book."

"Then how am I supposed to find them if I have no clue where they could be?" the red Unicorn asked.

"From what I remember, they’ll be the five elements of nature. You know four of them, as they were needed to reveal the book. I expect just like how you were led to find the book, the other pieces will notify you when you are close to them. If I know Merlin, he’s set up challenges to see if you are worthy of them."

"Great. My body will ping when I’m close and I have to face a challenge to get them. Anything else I should know?"

"Yes. When you return to Ponyville, have Twilight Sparkle teach you how to use your horn. I won’t send her a letter of what happened. But I’ll expect a letter from her when she finds out about this," Princess Celestia said with a big smile.

Blaze already can get an idea of how it’ll turn out. His ears are aching from the potential future pain it might endure. He replied,"Of course, Celestia. I was already planning on asking her for her help. Speaking of Twilight, it has been two full weeks since I was magically turned into a pony. Shouldn't I have transformed back to my human form by now?"

"Magic is a very tricky thing. The exact length of the spell varies when It was rushed. You’ll just have to wait for it to end by itself."

"Very well, Princess. If you would excuse us, we would like to rest up and get ready for tomorrow."

"Of course. Have fun tomorrow. I look forward to all the matches. Especially the ones with humans."

A guard escorted Al and Blaze back to the training grounds. On the way there, they discussed some things.

"I still find it odd that this is happening. We’re getting into something we have no knowledge of. Aren't you afraid of what is to come?" Al asked.

"Not really,” replied the red stallion. “Life is a big unknown and none of these ponies think about it. Why should we? I do see where you are coming from, but we can't drastically change the future to try and prevent it. I’m not going to act like Twilight when she sees her future self. Worrying about the future caused what happened to her."

"I do see that now. Sorry for blabbing about that episode."

"It's ok. All we can do now is prepare for tomorrow's matches. I just hope I don't change back to a human while in one."

"Why's that? Don't you want your human body back?"

"I do, just last time I changed back, it was very painful."

"How much pain could there be?"

"Imagine this. Your whole body feels it is on fire. Your bones break, stretch and shrink. Fingers and toes have grown from nothing. And this lasts for at least 15 minutes."

"That really sucks."

"But once I am back in my human form, I can use shadow transform to change back and feel nothing when it happens."

''That must be sweet to have your own pony body like that."

They got back to the training grounds and saw the others were practicing different moves between each other. When the ponies saw their friends, they all stopped and headed toward them.

"Blaze! Al! What did you find about the book?" Cancer was the first to ask.

"We found out what the book is about and where it came from. That’s it, so don't ask any other questions as we don't know the answer to," Al said.

"The book is about the Elements of Order,” said Blaze. “They were created by a human over a thousand years ago and work with the Elements of Harmony. We don’t know where the gems that go with the book are or exactly how it’s supposed to work. We also don't know how I’m connected to them and how or why I was changed into a Unicorn."

"How could a human create something as powerful as the Elements of Harmony?" Star Dust asked.

"This occurred during our medieval times where magic used to exist. A wizard was a human that can do magic and this one worked with Starswirl the Bearded. Together they harnessed the elemental properties of nature to create them.”

“More questions than answers. I don’t know how you deal with it Blaze. Let’s get back to training. I want to make sure I stand a chance against any of you,” Lightning Trails said.

The trainees headed back to the sparring field and began to teach each other how to handle different situations against different attacks and abilities. We did this till the sun set and the moon rose. The group headed to the mess hall and ate their fair share. They then returned to the barrack and headed to bed to get plenty of rest. Going to need it for tomorrow.

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Chapter 31: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 1

The next morning, the recruits all woke up and began to do stretches just outside. Shining Armor strolled up as they were doing hoof stands.

“Blaze, I don’t even know how you got everyone to do these stretches you do,” said the Captain of the Unicorn Guards.

“They saw how I was performing in the sparring rings and how I maintained my balance in very awkward positions,” he replied. “I told them how and they started to follow me in my stretches.”

“And because of it, I no longer get the privilege to wake them up.”

“You did get to wake up Al a few days ago. Did you not enjoy that?” the red stallion asked with a grin.

Shining Armor had a shiver go down his back. He just started to walk away. “After breakfast, head to the arena. I’ll see you there.” He then teleported away.

The trainees laughed and fell over, either onto their backs or onto their stomachs. They collected themselves and headed to the mess hall, just to grab a light breakfast of fruit. As the ponies and the human began to eat, they discussed what the possible matches could be.

“Alright, who do you want to face in round one, fellas?” Star Dust asked.

“I want to go against you, Blaze,” Al replied. “I want an opponent that can handle what I can dish out. Plus, I want to see all those Jutsu and ki moves you know.”

“You can take him. Just dealing with one of his elements was tough enough, said Dragon. “I hope I can fight with my brother. We both know each other's moves and want to prove who is better in the arena.”

“You know I’ll kick your flank this time,” Cancer said.

“But you haven’t yet. You rely too much on speed and that’s why I always beat you.”

“Knock it off you two before I give you another beat down,” Fang said.

“Yes, big sister.” Cancer and Dragon said at the same time.

“You must have given them quite a few to scare them straight,” Blaze said.

“I had to, or they would have destroyed our home several times. Now, the one I want to face is you, Al. I want to see how skillful you are against a living blade.” The zebra then shot a blade out of the top of her head and pointed it to him.

“My daggers will be more than enough to defend myself,” replied Al.

“I don’t care who I get paired up against. They will have to deal with my illusions,” Colorful Sparks said as he created another one of him sitting next to Lightning Trails.

The black Pegasus sent a jolt into the illusion to make it disappear. “Whoever is going to face me is going to get a shock of their life. But won’t die from it,” he said.

“Just remember to keep that anger in check,” the red Unicorn said. “I don’t really care who I face first as you all are worthy opponents and have been a privilege to train with.”

The others all awe at what he said. They finished breakfast and made their way to the arena. When the trainees rounded the corner, they saw lots of guards heading through the main entrance to watch them. They then saw Captain Shining Armor wave to them as he stood next to the participant entrance. The ponies and single human headed over and stood at attention.

“Alright, today is the last part of your training. You’ll be matched up and compete to show what you’ve learned,” said the white stallion. “This is a single-elimination tournament, so the winner will advance and face another one of you that also won their match. Follow me to the arena so we can find out who is in the first match.”

The group followed him as they entered and made their way through the hallways. the party soon exited and arrived in the arena. Blaze looked around and saw the place was packed. The guards that weren’t on duty came to see the event.

The place was more packed than the match of Swift Blaze and Shining Armor. The recruits stood in the center and faced the royal box where Princess Celestia was, but Princess Luna was absent.

The white Alicorn walked to the front of the box and raised her hoof. The crowd quieted down to listen to what she had to say. “Welcome fillies and gentle colts of the Royal Guard. It's that time again to see how the latest recruit managed to do through all the training you went through,” she said. “You’ll be surprised to hear that this is the first group in a long time to have no casualties during the survival training. They actually picked another up to join them. This new recruit’s name is Al, and is a human.”

The crowd of guards in the stands was all whispering to each other. Al bent over and whispered to Blaze, “Wondering what they are talking about?”

“Probably wondering if you’re like me and can do some of the same things I’ve done,” he replied. “I know some don’t like me for successfully evading them on my first visit to the castle in my human form. Just watch your back for now until we are Royal Guard ourselves.”

“I bet you are all wondering what this human has to offer. So let’s get started with him facing Fang, the Zebra pony,” Princess Celestia said.

“Guess I don’t have to wait for my match then. I’ll see you after the match,” said Al.

“I’ll teleport the rest of you to the participant box next to Princess Celestia’s box. That way you can watch the match. Have fun you two,” Shining Armor said. Then teleported the rest of them out of the ring.

---------------BATTLE MODE---------------

In the arena now only stood Fang and Al. They stood ten feet away from each other. The human took a ready stance to draw out his throwing blades that are in holders wrapped around his upper legs. The zebra prepped herself by having her blade already sticking out of her right forehoof.

“I had a feeling I would be going up against you. Hope you don’t mind fighting a mare,” Fang said.

He replied, “I got over it while in hell. I lost count of the number of women I had to kill. Some were skilled fighters.”

“I don’t plan to hold back.”

“I don’t want you to or this will end very quickly.”

“Let’s see how a human can fight.”

“We fight real good,” Al said in a southern accent

Fang got confused about what the human said. She shook it off and focused on the match.

The referee walked to the center of the ring and announced the rules. “Here are the rules for the match,” he said. “The entire space of the arena is your battleground. A barrier will prevent you, or any attack, from escaping the space. Any weapons that are in the arena is fair game to use, along with your abilities. The match will end with the following, knocking your opponent out, making them submit, or killing them. Anything else is fair game. Are you both ready?” The referee asked them. They both nodded their heads without taking an eye off the opponent. “BEGIN!” The ref shouted and teleported away.

Al drew fast and sent two daggers at high speed toward Fang. She deflected one and dodged the other. The mare then charged for the human to get within striking distance. She jumped up and was spinning to swing her hoof with the blade. Al drew a blade to block hers.

It was about to make contact when the blade disappeared and reappeared on the Zebra’s back right leg as she was still spinning. Al reacted fast and jumped backward to avoid the hit. He landed several feet away as Fang landed on all her hooves.

“That is a nice trick there. You almost had me,” Al said.

The mare replied, “You have some nice moves too. Shall we continue?”

Al didn’t say anything. His response was throwing three daggers this time. Two at the same time with the third following them. Fang moved her blade to deflect them. The two were blocked with no problem. She then spun out of the way to avoid the third.

What Fang did next surprised Al. As the third one went by her head, she grabbed the handle with her mouth as she was still spinning and sent the blade back to the human. He quickly moved as fast as he could to avoid it. The edge of the blade made a tiny cut across his cheek. Not enough to bleed, but it was noticeable that he got hit.

“Now that was un-ladylike,” Al said.

She replied, “I was just returning your property. It’s your fault you can’t catch.”

The human decided to change to a different blade. He reached behind his back and pulled out blades that also can be used as brass knuckles. Al slid his fingers into the proper holes and then signaled for Fang to come to get some. The Zebra didn’t argue as she charged faster this time with the blade on her left forehoof. She swung it at him and he blocked it. She quickly swapped it to her other forehoof and swung at him again. Al blocked that one too.

“You aren’t going to get me again with that move,” he said.

“How about this one?” she asked. The mare quickly spun around and did a buck right into his man jewels.

Al felt the hit and flew several feet back. He moaned out in pain as the crowd started to laugh. He coughed and said, “That’s a low blow.”

“Ref said anything goes. Are you going to quit now or do you want some more pain.”

“Not at all, you just surprised me. Now you get to find out why you never kick a man in the groin.”

The ground began to shake around Al. Fang saw what was happening and backed away to get out of range. Small pebbles began to float around Al in an orbit. They soon were joined by bigger rocks. The human looked at what was happening and a big grin showed up on his face.

“I should actually thank you for that kick. Looks like I do have control over gravity around me. Thanks for getting it awakened. NOW FEEL THE PAIN!” Al shouted.

Fang prepared her blade to block what could happen next. He was sending the pebbles out like bullets towards Fang. The Zebra was barely able to block some of them as she was pelted by the rest. They did not break her skin but was the force of a paintball hitting skin. Fang dodged out of their path and made her way to the arena wall and grabbed a metal shield. The pebbles were now pinging off it.

“Looks like I need to use a bigger caliper now,” Al said as he started to send rocks towards Fang.

The mare was still able to block them with the shield, but it was getting dented pretty good. She started to advance towards the human as she hid behind the shield. The speed of the projectiles was starting to slow down as he never used this power before under his control.

Fang took this opportunity to charge him. She dropped the shield so she can run faster. She jumped and dodged several of the rocks Al had sent to stop her. She was about to strike when she stopped moving forward. The human has suspended the Zebra in the air.

"I take it you forgot I had everyone floating in the barracks yesterday. I waited for you to take the bait and get within range. What are you going to do now seeing you can't move?" Al asked with a hand palm facing her.

"This," Fang replied. She stuck her right forehoof out and her blade came out and went through his hand.

Al screamed out in pain. The human sent the mare flying back towards the arena wall. He grabbed his hand that was now bleeding. Fang collided with the wall and made it crack. She landed on her hooves, but was barely standing. She smiled because she was happy that she landed a hit on this human.

Purple blood dripped from Al’s hand. When it hit the ground, it boiled to nothing. He looked at the Zebra and he was now angry. "YOU BITCH! THIS WAS MY FAVORITE HAND! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!" He shouted.

"How much?” She asked. “I don't think a human hand is worth that much. I don't even want to know where it has been."

The crowd was in a laughter roar now. This only enraged Al more. The ground around him began to break apart as the boulders were now floating. "Laugh about this!" he shouted as the human sent them flying in every direction.

The ones heading for the crowds were stopped by the barrier. Fang was dodging the best she could do, but being slammed into the wall did some damage to her. They were brazing her coat as they went by and left scratches. The area around Al was pretty much destroyed. He was pretty much standing on a pillar in a pit.

The big rocks continued to rise up and then flew towards Fang. Suddenly, one of them landed a hit on her back leg. There was a loud snap as she rolled away and hid behind a boulder.

She cried out in pain as she held onto her left rear hoof. "ENOUGH AL! I GIVE! STOP YOUR ATTACK!" Fang shouted out in pain.

"NO, I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU! YOU ARE GOING TO REMEMBER TO NOT PISS ME OFF!" Al said.

The barrage of boulders continued to fly and started to break apart the one Fang was hiding behind. She continued to cry out in pain.

Just then, there was a poof of smoke behind the human. Swift Blaze showed up and put a grapple wood jutsu on him. "Calm down Al! The match is over! You don't need to kill her. This isn’t hell! Remember, you’re in Equestria!" Blaze shouted as he held the Jutsu.

"But she stabbed my hand! She has to pay!" Al said as he tried to break free.

"You broke her leg! Chill out and regain your senses. Your hand can be healed. Life cannot be revived. Come back to us!"

The human let out a big roar and then went limp. Blaze waited for a few minutes before releasing him and bringing him to the edge of the pit. The medical staff was already getting Fang onto a stretcher and out of the arena. Blaze knelt down to Al and began to heal his hand to stop it bleeding. Shining Armor showed up and stood next to Blaze.

"Thanks for stepping in like that,” said the Unicorn Captain. “I never imagined he would go like that to a small injury. I don't even know if any guard could have stopped him without causing serious injury to him, or death."

"Being in hell for a year has really affected his mind,” replied the red Unicorn. “I detected that same energy from the forest to when he got hit in the balls. It has been growing pretty well since then. Then it boosted rapidly when his hand got stabbed. I have a feeling his gravity powers are anger controlled and he does not know how to control it yet."

"I don't want to lock him up or kill him if he can't control it."

"I will work with him at my house. The Zen garden in my backyard is set up to calm anyone down. I know what would happen if I lost my cool so I never wanted to go that way again."

"Let's get him back up to the participant box. You can finish healing him up there and make sure he doesn’t go into a rampage when he wakes up."

"Of course. I don't think he’ll remember much after the stabbing. He didn’t remember the battle in the old castle when we first found him."

They teleported out of the arena and Unicorn guards went to work getting the arena cleaned up for the next match.

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Who are you expecting for the next match?

Chapter 32: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 2

After that last match, the Unicorn guards went to work to repair the arena. Once everything looked good, Princess Celestia stood up to address the crowd.

"That was an impressive match between those two recruits. Let's now cheer for the next recruits,” said the white Alicorn. “These next two have definitely had something to prove from their homeland, and between themselves. That’s correct. The next two are siblings. Even more, they’re twins. Please cheer and put your hooves together for Dragon and Cancer!" she shouted the last part in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

The crowd of the Royal guards cheered loudly as the twins walked out onto the arena floor. Both were smiling as they thought this was pretty much going to be like the other matches they did at home. The only difference is that it’s now in front of a large crowd and the Princess of the Sun and their sister isn’t going to stop them. They stood ten feet away from each other in the center of the arena as they stared each other down.

The ref appeared in the middle and addressed the two participants. “I take you’ve heard what I said to the last pair so I don’t have to repeat myself,” He said. They both nodded. “Then good luck to both of you. And . . . FIGHT!” He then disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

"You ready for this, brother?" Cancer asked.

"I have been more than ready, brother,” replied Dragon. “Ever since we started this training, I’ve been waiting to have a match with you in this kind of setting."

"Well, don't get your hopes on winning as that’s going to be me."

"Dream on, little brother," Dragon said with a big grin on his face.

The red striped Zebra never liked it when he called him that. It aggravated him more to win the match to prove he’s better. The Unicorn was the first to activate his magic and started his speed boost. He charged directly toward the blue striped Zebra, wanting to get the first hit.

Dragon saw this coming and activated his magic to engulf the arena with his speed down ability. The Unicorn did it just in time to barely dodge the punch from his opponent. He countered with a hoof into Cancer's ribs.

The red striped pony saw the hoof coming and twisted his body away to reduce the impact. He landed on all hooves a few feet away. "Glad to see your ability is still up to par with mine," he said.

"I’m glad I was able to slow you down before you hit me with that punch of yours,” replied Dragon. “I still remember the first time you did that. You almost broke my jaw."

"Well, shall we continue?"

"Lead away."

Cancer re-engaged his brother and started to throw different hoof combos. Some were making contact while others were blocked. Dragon also was throwing his hooves in the mix also. This went on for several minutes as they duked it across the arena.

------Meanwhile-----
(Participant Box)

Swift Blaze was sitting next to Al where he was laying on the couch in the room. The red stallion was doing his best to watch the match, but wondered what was going through the human’s mind. He soon started to stir.

“Mm-hmm. What happened? Who won the match?” he asked while waking up.

“Hey there, Al. Glad to see you are back to normal,” replied Blaze. “You won the match. What’s the last thing you remembered?”

“Um, . . . The last thing I remembered was Fang hitting me in the gonads. Past that, it then starts to get blurry. What happened?”

“Well, it seems that your gravity powers are anger controlled. It’s almost like another part of you gets awakened and slowly takes over. You almost lost it when you got stabbed in your hand.”

“MY HAND!”

Al quickly sat up and looked over his hands. He saw that they were both fine. He then noticed a small scar on his left hand.

“I had to heal your hand as it was not healing like how you showed in your mind. Why’s that?”

“The reason is that I have to concentrate on healing to speed it up. I won’t die from the injury, but it’ll take the normal time to recover until I gain consciousness. So what happened after I got stabbed?”

The Unicorn told what he saw and how he had to step in. The human felt sad for what he almost did. He wished in his mind that he could control this so it would not happen. Blaze came and sat next to him. He placed his hoof around the back of Al to comfort him.

“Don’t beat yourself about this. We now know about it and can work on getting this power under control so it does not rely on anger. Just for now, try to keep your anger in check and avoid using your gravity powers.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you for making sure I didn’t go fully out of control.”

“No problem. If I didn’t step in, Shining Armor or some other Royal Guard pony would have. Though, they would have caused serious harm to you, or even try to kill you.”

“You’ll be surprised what I can live through that would kill others.”

They both laughed and return to watch what was going on in the match

--------Back in the arena----------

The Zebra twins soon broke off from each other and stood several feet away from each other.

"That was a nice warm-up. Let's step it up," Cancer said.

"What are you talking about?” Dragon asked. “I’ve been given my all."

"Really? Then this will be a surprise to you then. I've been holding back."

The red striped Unicorn lit his horn up again and increased his speed boost. The Zebra then charged faster than his opponent could react. He landed an upper hoof and sent Dragon flipping backwards. The blue striped Unicorn landed on his stomach and coughed up some blood from the impact. The stallion got back up onto his hooves and smiled at his brother.

“That was very smart of hiding that from me. Guess I should show you what I’ve been hiding,” Dragon said with a smile.

“You just said you’re maxed out on your speed down spell. What more is there?” Cancer asked.

“We are Unicorn Zebra. We can do other magic besides our special talent.”

“You’re bluffing. I would’ve seen you practice it. We always hung out together every day since we were small.”

“You’re right. I’ve never used other magic before. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t read about it.”

Dragon’s horn lit up. Over by a wall near him, a couple of weapons were getting the same glow. They were lifted off the wall and made their way to the blue striped Zebra. The weapons were of different styles of blade weapons. They varied in different lengths as they spun around and orbited around the stallion.

“I would like to see if you can get around my defenses now, little brother.” Dragon said to entice his opponent.

“OH. IT. IS. ON.”

The red striped Unicorn ran faster, but not directly at his brother. He was in his own orbit around Dragon. The running around was kicking up the loose dirt. The dust cloud was now blocking their sight so neither could see each other. Then, the crowd remained quiet as they could not see anything in the cloud either.

The blue striped Unicorn looked around and listened to where his brother was hiding. He kept the blade weapons twirling around and spinning around his body. There was no sound in the arena. The dust was beginning to settle and Dragon could see better. When he could see the arena walls, he tried to find where Cancer was hiding. He was nowhere in sight.

The stallion figured that Cancer was probably hiding behind the rubble that remained from the last match. He snuck up quietly to get the surprise attack. The blue striped Zebra was on the other side of the rubble and was about to jump over with the weapons, when the ground began to shake.

All of a sudden, the ground broke apart underneath Dragon. Cancer came out like a rocket and slammed a hoof right into his opponent’s chest. The force of the impact sent Dragon up into the air. It also caused him to lose control of his magic and dropped all the weapons. The blue striped Unicorn landed on his back, hard.

Cancer approached carefully, expecting a possum attack. He could hear Dragon moaning in pain.

"You ready to go again, bro?" he asked as he was five feet away.

"Ugh. I don't think so. I think several of my ribs are broken and I have a sharp pain in my back. You won the match, Cancer. Congratulations," he replied through the pain.

"You are not messing with me, are ya?"

"Not this time. I’m in serious pain. Now go get the damn doctors!"

Just then, Blaze showed up in the arena. "Did someone call for a doctor?" He asked as if he actually was one.

"I did, but you’ll do. Just get this fucking pain to go away," Dragon said.

"Alright. Lay still so you don't damage anything else."

"No problem."

The red Unicorn placed his hooves together before he placed them over the blue striped Unicorn’s body. They emitted a glow of a light blue color. Dragon's face went from feeling the pain to comfort.

"Yeah, you do have some broken ribs. Four to be exact. Also, some internal bleeding that is swelling around your spine. This is going to take some time to heal," Blaze said.

"How were you able to propel yourself like that from the ground, Cancer?" Dragon asked.

"I figured out how your speed ability works. When you cast it on the arena, you only did the surface and the area above it,” he replied. “The ground below wasn’t affected by it. I found the pit that Al made that was mostly filled in and went underground. I then gained a speed boost as I was digging in the dirt. I cleared enough space so I could get a running start before punching through the ground. I heard where you were and waited for you to get into position. The rest you felt when my hoof slammed into your chest."

"Heh, yeah. I definitely felt it. Ouch," his brother said as he felt a sharp pain.

"I told you to stay still. Now another rib broke,” said Blaze. “Cancer, how about you go and rest in the participant box. Once Dragon is healed enough, I’m going to take him to the medics so they can continue the process and so the next match can start."

"Sorry. See you later, bro. Good luck in your next match," Dragon said.

"Thanks,” he replied. “You know I’m not going to need luck."

"You will as I think your opponent for the next round is Al."

"OH SHIT. I do need good luck. Be back in a bit," Cancer said before he ran out of the arena.

“Did you plan on having your brother face Al?” Blaze asked.

“No. I actually was looking forward to fighting him to get back for my sister. Now Cancer will have to,” Dragon said with a smile.

“So you did not actually lose then. Sort of a Win/Win. A family member gets to take on Al and that no longer has to be you. Plus your brother is going to have to deal with Al. You are sometimes a cruel brother. You do know that, correct?”

“It’s what brothers do to each other, especially twins. I’m actually starting to feel much better.

“Just hold on for a few more minutes before you try to get up. I’m still working on the spine area. I don’t want to cripple you.”

Dragon stayed still so Blaze could finish. When the red stallion backed away, the Zebra Unicorn carefully got up and walked around a bit. “Thanks for the patch job. I feel much better.”

“You should still see the medics so they can finish treating you and give you a clean bill of health. Also, you can go and check on your sister. I’ll see you up in the participant box when you are cleared to come up.”

Blaze teleported out of there. Dragon walked over to where the medics were to take him to the hospital. Once the arena was clear, Princess Celestia stood to speak to the crowd.

“Another excellent battle between recruits and brothers. Let’s get straight to the third match. These next two are going to really put on a spectacular battle for us. Let’s have the next match between . . .”

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Who are you expecting for the next match?

Chapter 33: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 3

The crowd of guards in the stands applauded and cheered for the twin Zebra Unicorns as they left the arena. Princess Celestia stood up and walked to the front of the royal box to announce the next match.

“Let’s give another hoof to Cancer and Dragon, for demonstrating their skills and knowledge in fighting. But, for also the dedication they had put into their match,” said the white Alicorn. “Seeing we don’t need to do major repairs to the arena, let’s get going to the third match today.”

The crowd cheered loudly wanting the next match.

“This first pony is a Unicorn that came from Manehattan. Don’t be fooled by his charm as he can do the unexpected. Introducing, Star Dust!”

The blue Unicorn stood up in the participant box and waved to the crowd. They cheered for him.

The Princess of the Sun raised her hoof to calm the crowd down to introduce the next pony. “This next pony comes from Ponyville. He’s a unicorn with a fun personality. But, looks can be deceiving as I introduce, Colorful Sparks!”

The other blue stallion stood up and joined Star Dust at the edge of the show box. He waved to the crowd as his opponent started to wave again.

“I look forward to our match. May the best stallion win,” Colorful Sparks said.

“The same goes to you,” replied Star Dust. “Your illusion spells are going to be an interesting matchup against my cosmic spells.”

“Let’s get you two down there so the match can begin,” Shining Armor said. He activated his horn and teleported them to the center of the ring.

In the center of the arena, the two Unicorns stood away from each other. The referee teleported in. “Alright. I know you heard this before. So blah blah blah, enjoy the fight,” the ref said and teleported away.

“I take he doesn’t like coming down here,” Star Dust said.

“I agree,” replied Colorful Sparks. “Why is there a ref anyway? I don’t know how you can cheat when there are pretty much no rules. Only stay in the arena.”

“Let’s get going then before the crowd starts to boo at us.”

“Fine by me.”

They both went into a battle stance and charged up their horns. Star Dust formed a small meteorite at the tip of his and sent it flying towards the blue stallion with an orange mane. Colorful Sparks changed tactics to use to his illusion one. Several copies of him appeared just as the rock slammed into a fake instead of himself. It disappeared as the meteorite went through.

“That was a close one. You are getting faster casting your spells,” All the Colorful Sparks said at the same time.

“You’re getting faster at making your illusions,” replied Star Dust. “Now then, let’s truly see who’s magic is better.”

“BRING IT ON.”

The blue stallion with black mane charged his horn up again. The other Unicorns ran in random directions to hide the real one. He took his time to try and detect which one was real. The Unicorn launched another meteorite and it made contact. But it was an illusion that disappeared. They were perfect copies. A pony’s eye couldn’t spot a flaw in any of them.

The orange mane Unicorn decided to land some blows while he can. From different intervals and directions, a Colorful Sparks pony would go by Star Dust and land a blow somewhere on his body. He swung his hooves at them, but realized it was an illusion. His opponent was creating more as they were being found.

Star Dust needed to get an upper hoof soon, or he’ll lose to exhaustion. He wished it was night time. That’s when he’s more powerful with the stars’ aid. The black mane Unicorn decided to try and communicate with the stars to hopefully convince Princess Luna to bring the night early. He summoned several meteorites to circle him as a defense barrier as he concentrated. Colorful Sparks ponies stayed away, waiting to see what happened.

------------In the Royal Box-----------

Princess Celestia was watching the match when Princess Luna teleported next to her.

“Luna. What’s going on?” she asked. “You’re normally still sleeping right now.”

“I know, but I was having a strange call from the stars asking to bring the night early,” the blue Alicorn replied.

“Why would they want that?”

“I think because they want to help that Unicorn, Star Dust. I have heard him several times communicate with them at night.”

“I never realized he had that capability. Do you think we should honor the request?”

“It would allow us to truly see what he’s capable of. He’s only been training in the daylight while his abilities come from the stars.”

“True, plus it will make a better match for the sudden change.”

“You really like to watch the guards duke it out in the arena. Shall we, sister?”

“Lets.”

Both Princesses lit their horns up as they moved the sun and the moon. The crowd of guards was wondering what was happening. They then saw the Princesses with their horns glowing and calmed back down.

-------Back in the arena---------

Colorful Sparks was getting tired of waiting. He was about to charge when he noticed it was getting darker. "What’s going on? Why’s the sun setting now?" Colorful Sparks asked.

"I asked the stars to convince Princess Luna if we can have the night early. My spells are better at night," Star Dust replied.

Soon, the sun set and the moon rose into the sky. Around the arena, torches began to ignite and emit light. Everyone could still see everything around them, only now the night sky was there.

"So, what did you need the night for?" the orange mane stallions asked.

"This," the black mane stallion replied.

His horn started to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter, blinding anyone who looked directly at it. Colorful Sparks closed his eyes. Once the shine was gone, he opened his eyes. All of his illusions were now gone. He looked towards Star Dust just in time as he slammed a hoof into his face.

"Found you,” he said. “Do you give up now?"

"Nope. I just need to step up my game," Colorful Sparks replied.

The orange mane Unicorn’s horn lit up and he then disappeared. Star Dust backed away when he realized his opponent went invisible. With the stars’ aid, he summoned several meteorites and had them orbit around his body. The black mane stallion listened carefully to find where the pony was.

He heard a noise from behind him. The Unicorn quickly sent a meteorite in that direction. He broke the object into tiny pieces to spread out, like a shotgun blast. The rocks only came into contact with the wall.

“Aw, were you hoping you had me there for a moment?” Colorful Sparks asked as his voice echoed in the arena.

“Come on out and show yourself so we can finish this fight!” Star Dust said while looking in every direction.

“The night isn’t just for you,” said from the echos. Suddenly, a whisper entered Star Dust’s ear. “I too prefer it.”

The black mane stallion jumped away as he felt a blade touch his front left hoof. The meteorites that were orbiting him, fell to the ground. Star Dust realized just how close he was to a serious injury. He did his spell again, but with more rocks to stay close to him. He needed a way to dispel that invisibility if he wanted a chance to win the match.

"What's wrong? Didn’t like my blade that close to you? I’m just trying to show you should never trust your defenses," said Colorful Sparks.

"I agree. Just like how you use that invisibility to sneak up on your opponents. That too will hurt you one of these days," replied Star Dust.

"Fang has been the only one able to detect me while I have it active. I’d like to see if you can dispel it."

"With pleasure."

The black mane Unicorn needed to do something to make it difficult for Colorful Sparks to maintain that spell. What did he have that would break the spectrum he was bending. An idea popped into his head. He activated his horn and channeled lots of magic. The stallion sent a beam into the starry sky.

"Was that supposed to do something?" asked his opponent.

"I’ll soon see where you are Colorful Sparks."

The starry sky soon started to change color. The Aurora Borealis appeared and was showing all the colors of the spectrum in the arena. The crowd ooh and awe at the sight. Star Dust looked around the arena, He soon spotted Colorful Sparks ten feet away as he was looking at the sky. The black mane stallion turned his gaze off him so his opponent wouldn’t realize his invisibility was gone.

Colorful Sparks looked down from the sky and looked at Star Dust. He was looking around, trying to see him. The orange mane stallion worked to sneak up behind Star Dust.

"Aw, did you think that the light show was going to dispel my invisibility? Sorry to say it didn’t work," he said.

The Unicorn prepped the blade that was attached to the right forehoof to slash off Star Dust's tail. Before he struck, his opponent said, "I did think that spell would stop yours. And did you know what, it did."

Before Colorful Sparks could react, he was double bucked by Star Dust's rear hooves and sent flying. The hooves made contact with the front of The orange mane stallion’s chest. He went flying back thirty feet and landed just before the arena wall, then slid right next to it.

As Colorful Sparks was getting up, Star Dust charged toward him. Once the orange mane stallion was on his hooves, he started to take hoof blows from his opponent. He did his best to block, but was still recovering from having the air knocked right out of him.

The black mane stallion was throwing every hoof combo and was making a hit. He knew not to give his opponent any breathing room. He didn’t want to deal with more clones or his invisibility spell again. Or worse, both.

After several minutes, Star Dust was getting tired. His fore hooves were slowing down. This gave Colorful Sparks the time to get off the wall and get some breathing room. Both ponies were now breathing hard. They were only a few feet from each other as they stared each other down.

"How are you able to stand after taking that beating?" Star Dust asked.

"I got beaten up by bullies as a colt. It toughened me up,” replied Colorful Sparks. “Your hoof hits are the worst I have ever received though."

"I had to beat up thugs to protect my little sister. Shall we end this?"

"Go right ahead. I still plan to win."

"Keep on dreaming."

They both began to charge their horns. Colorful Sparks created a dozen illusions of himself as they surrounded Star Dust. They prepared their blades to strike.

The black mane Unicorn was still charging up his horn. His body soon was emitting a silver aura around him. Now, just above him, a very small moon formed. It shined brighter than Luna's moon. There were tiny sparkles floating around it. They glowed brighter as they started to get bigger.

"Final Move! STAR FALL!" Star Dust shouted.

As on command, the bright objects around the small moon began to fall. They targeted all the Colorful Sparks surrounding him. The orange mane ponies were running around, trying to avoid being hit. It didn’t work as these were acting like heat-seeking missiles. An illusion pony disappeared one after another when the stars exploded on contact. Soon, only the original Colorful Sparks was left. There were still lots of mini stars that were falling, and they were all heading for him. Try as he could avoid them, he still got hit by several of them.

When the smoke cleared from the explosions, both Star Dust and Colorful Sparks were laying on the ground in the arena. Neither of them were moving. The ref appeared between them.

"This match cannot end in a draw. The first pony to get onto all hooves will be declared the winner." The referee pony said.

(Yes, I am doing that ending again.)

Both Unicorns realized they still have a chance to win. They struggled to pick themselves up off the ground. Each had placed their forehooves on the ground in front of them. They then ready their back hooves in a similar position. With all their might, they began to try and stand up.

Star Dust was the first to get his belly barely off the ground. All of his legs were shaking badly as he continued to get up. His face had lines of sweat rolling off as he tried to pull all the remaining energy he had left.

Colorful Sparks was in a similar situation. It took him several times to get his belly off the ground. His body was pretty bruised up from Star Dust’s hooves and magic blows. He didn’t give into the pain. He pushed himself harder than he ever has to reach the goal to stand first.

Both were now halfway standing up. You would need a measuring stick to see who was in the lead. The crowd could tell both were in pain and exhausted. The guards in the stands were cheering them both on. Chanting their names and stomping their hooves. This raised Colorful Sparks’s and Star Dust’s spirits up.

Wanting them to push even harder, the black mane stallion cried out in pain as he forced his body to move faster to stand up. He was almost there and was about to lock his knees, when the unexpected happened. His legs gave out and he fell back down to the arena floor.

The orange mane stallion saw this was his moment to take the win. He too cried out in pain as he struggled to stand. His body was shaking all over and lots of sweat was rolling down his body. He pushed harder and harder on the muscles in his legs to get him to stand. He was very close to standing on his hooves.

The ref was watching him carefully to see when Colorful Sparks was standing under his own hooves. He looked over to Star Dust and he was working on getting himself back up again. He was catching back up at a good pace. Neither of them has locked in their legs to get the win yet. Star Dust finally got back to the same level as Colorful Sparks. This is going to be very close.

“WE HAVE OUR WINNER!” The ref pony shouted out. He walked over to the winner and stood next to him. “THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS . . .”

“. . . COLORFUL SPARKS!”

The crowd still continued to cheer for them both as this was a most excellent match. Both Star Dust and Colorful Sparks collapse back to the ground after the winner was announced. They both looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

“That was a good match, Colorful Sparks. Congratulations,” Star Dust said.

“Thanks,” he replied. “I never realized how powerful you were. You have some amazing spells in your arsenal. I would never have thought those lights would dispel my invisibility. I think I should work on some defensive and offensive illusions spells. That way I will be better prepared for what situation I get thrown into.”

“That sounds like a good plan. There’s some good books in the Canterlot Castle library. I’m sure the Princesses would allow you to look through them to help you out. That’s how I know the spells that I can do.”

“I would like that. Now I just need to find out who I’m going to face next.”

“How about I take you to the medics so you can heal up before you face your next opponent,” A pony said.

They turned their heads and saw Captain Shining Armor was standing there.

“Yeah. I think that’s a good plan. Of course, we’re going to need some help to get there as neither one of us can get up,” Star Dust said.

“That’s why I came down to help you. Let’s get going.”

The Unicorn Guard Captain activated his horn and levitated them up to take them to the nearby medics at the arena entrance.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood up to address the crowd. “I don’t know about you all, but I was very impressed with the level of magic those two ponies pulled off. Don’t you agree, Princess Luna?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I agree, sister,” replied the Princess of the Night. “It was also nice to see the Aurora Borealis being displayed against my beautiful night sky. Shall we get onto the last match for the day?”

“I agree. Seeing there are only two recruits left, let's have them come to the arena. The match between Lightning Trails and Swift Blaze will begin shortly.”

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

Chapter 34: Royal Guard Tournament, Part 4

After Shining Armor helped Colorful Sparks and Star Dust out of the arena and to the medics, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood up to address the crowd of guard ponies.

“It’s now time for the last match for today. The recruits up to now have done a splendid job in their matches. Let’s all cheer for them once again,” Princess Celestia said.

The crowd of Royal Guards cheered and stomped their hooves so much, it started to shake the arena a bit. Before the white Alicorn could speak again, Princess Luna interrupted her.

“Excuse me, sister, would you mind if I take care of this one. It’s a match at night, so the Princess of the Moon should do it,” she said.

“Of course, little sister.”

Princess Celestia backed away a little bit so everypony was now looking at the blue Alicorn.

“With night time upon us, I think it provides a better stage for these two recruits to demonstrate the spell and abilities they can do. This first pony comes from Cloudsdale. He’s a Pegasus and very energetic with his ability. It might even shock you of what he can do. Please put your hooves together for Lightning Trails!”

The black stallion stood up and flew out above the arena. He quickly summoned some thunder clouds and quickly charged up. He started to shoot lightning off that seemed random. But listening closely, it sort of sounded like music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LAhKkPUo_A

The crowd cheered even louder once the performance was done. Lightning Trails landed and waited for Swift Blaze to be introduced.

“That even surprised me of how lightning can be musical,” said Princess Luna. “Now then, onto his opponent. This pony is probably one of the most unique ponies you’ll ever meet. If any of you saw the match Captain Shining Armor was in a few days ago, this is the very same pony. That’s right, it’s Swift Blaze!”

On cue, the red Unicorn stood up and walked to the front of the participant box. Seeing how his opponent decided to show off, he might as well do something to step it up. He got on to the edge of the wall and stood on his back hooves. His fore hooves were stretched out to his side. His body looked like a T and was in a diving position. The guards below were wondering what Blaze was planning to do. All of a sudden, he dove off and started to fall towards them below. The guards gasped and prepared to catch the stallion. But, he pulled up and started to fly towards the arena.

Even with it being night, Blaze could probably have guessed lots of guards had their mouths wide open. He hovered above the arena where Lightning Trails was before. He was about to do his next trick, when a guard from the stands shouted out.

“Hold on!” he shouted. “That’s not the same pony that fought Captain Shining Armor! This is a Unicorn and the other was an Earth pony!”

“Yeah! Plus, how can he fly? He doesn’t have wings because he’s a Unicorn. His horn isn’t even lit up,” another guard said.

Several other guards were shouting stuff also, but nothing could be understood. Blaze had enough of this. He summoned up his chakra and shouted, “FIRE STYLE! FLAMETHROWER JUTSU!”

The red Unicorn shot fire out of his mouth and spun around in the air. The crowd of guards that were shouting all stopped. With silence in the arena now, Blaze spoke up.

“Alright. Now that I have everyone’s attention, I can explain. I’m the same pony that fought Captain Shining Armor, as you saw from that fire demonstration. The reason I have a horn now is I’ve decided to put one on this form. It’s to not freak out other ponies with my abilities. I said this form because this isn’t my true body.”

“What do you mean?” A guard asked. “You look and act like a pony.”

“I’m no mere pony. I AM A HUMAN!”

Lots of guards gasp at this. Al shouted, “Nice line Blaze! Very original!”

“I’m the creature that some of you guards chased around the castle a few weeks ago.” Several guards started to shout several things at once. Blaze sent another flamethrower spin to get them to shut up. "The fight with Shining Armor was supposed to quell this. Don't think I will run away again if you all decide to jump me. As to why I’m not showing my human form, magical mishap is the cause."

"Thank you for explaining Swift Blaze. Would you mind landing so we can begin the match?" Princess Luna asked.

"Of course, Princess."

The red stallion landed a few feet away from Lightning Trails, on the opposite side of the arena.

"You weren’t kidding when you evaded several Royal Guards. I think some still have a grudge against you. You might want to watch your back," said the Pegasus.

"Would like to see them try so I can get their attitude adjusted."

The ref pony appeared between them. "Alright. Now let me just go over the rules," he said.

"We know about the barrier that will stop us from leaving and to protect the spectators. Other than that, anything goes. So, get out of here so we can begin," Blaze said with attitude.

The Unicorn just snorted and teleported out of there.

"That was a little harsh, Blaze." Lightning Trails said.

"Sorry. The crowd ruined the entrance I planned on doing. Don't worry, I’ve calmed back down and now focused on our match. May the best pony win."

"I do plan to win. Seeing you aren’t really a pony."

They both rose into the sky and prepared themselves. Lightning Trails had some clouds stay near him and charged him up. With it being night now, you can see tiny lightning sparking off him. Blaze ready both his ki and chakra energy levels. When both were ready, they looked towards Princess Luna.

With her Royal Canterlot Voice, Princess Luna shouted, "BEGIN!"

The black stallion attacked first with a quick bolt of lightning towards his opponent. Blaze knew he could absorb the hit, then dish it right back. He stuck out his hoof to take the hit. When the lightning struck, the Unicorn actually cried out in pain. Something had changed.

As he was curled up in a ball from the pain, Blaze said, "I didn’t expect that. What did you do with the lightning?"

"I changed the properties of it. Hoped you wouldn’t absorb it. Just like how you shocked me with your lightning chakra. Payback is a bitch, isn't it?" he said with a smile.

"Thanks for making this interesting now. I’ll actually have to work for the win now."

Blaze formed a ki energy ball at the end of his forehoof. He quickly sent them flying in rapid formation. His opponent formed a lightning shield and it was able to block them.

In retaliation, Lightning Trails sent several lightning bolts towards the red stallion. Instead of trying to absorb like last time, Blaze went and dodged them with little effort.

"You aren’t going to get me again with those again," he said.

"You sure about that?" asked the Pegasus.

All of a sudden, Blaze was struck from behind. It was from the lightning bolts he just dodged. The stallion felt the burning pain at each place where the bolts hit him, but he wasn’t screaming out in pain this time.

The Unicorn asked, “How were you able to do that?”

“The first bolt that hit you at the beginning of the match was positively charged,” Lightning replied. “Those were negatively charged. Do you want me to explain further?”

“No, I got it. I actually enjoyed science in high school. Let me show you what I learned there.” The red stallion summoned his sword to him. He took it out of its sheath and held the blade to his side. “I dare you to strike me again.”

Lightning Trails charged up again from the nearby storm clouds. He then sent one massive bolt towards the Unicorn. Swift Blaze ready his sword to block and absorb the energy. When the lightning bolt struck, there was a massive bright light. A few seconds later, when everyone could see again, the crowd looked toward where Blaze was last at. He was still there, except now his sword was now glowing pure white and sparking out lightning.

“Let me show you the move that took out a tornado. LIGHTNING STYLE! LIGHTNING BLADE JUTSU!” he shouted.

The red stallion swung his sword and sent a lightning wave towards Lightning Trails. He flew up to avoid getting hit, but his clouds got hit and burst out with their raw energy. Lightning Trails tried to avoid the strikes, but failed when one got him. After the first one hit him more joined in as he was stuck in the air by the first. He screamed in pain as each one hit. He tried to absorb some of the energy, but felt the mystery chakra energy was mixed in, making it impossible.

After those few seconds, the lightning strikes stopped and the Pegasus was falling. He recovered quickly and only dropped only a few feet. He was catching his breath as he tried to recover from those strikes. “You know, I really hate your lightning,” Lightning Trails said.

“Are we going to chat, or are we going to fight?” Blaze asked.

The black stallion didn’t say anything. Instead, he filled the sky of the arena with storm clouds. It was getting darker as the light from the stars and the moon was now being blocked. The only light was now coming from the torches around the arena. “I think it is time to try some new moves.” He quickly charged up again.

The Pegasus formed several lightning balls and had them orbit around him. He then sent one flying towards Blaze. The red Unicorn prepared to have his sword block and absorb the energy. Just before the blade made contact, the lightning ball exploded and lightning bolts went everywhere. There were too many to block and Blaze got hit several times. His body felt on fire as it spasmed each time the lightning hit him. He coughed up some smoke after that lightning ended.

“That is a nice move. I’m going to have to thank you for covering up the night sky though,” Blaze said.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“You just set the mood for a ninja to disappear. NINJA ART! NINJA VANISH!”

Blaze sent a massive wind gust around the arena and blew out all the torches. The only light source now was from the split-second from lightning strikes and the lightning balls around Lightning Trails. He quickly looked around for his opponent, but he truly disappeared.

“I’ll just have to light the torches again.” Lightning Trails flew down and headed to where a torch was. When the lightning balls lit up the area, the torch itself was gone.

“That would work, if the torches were still where they were. As you can see, I took them all down. Now, what are you going to do?” Blaze’s voice said as it echoed in the arena.

“I Still Have My Lightning!”

The black Pegasus then had lightning from the storm clouds start striking the ground to give off light. He looked for any changes in the arena after each flash. One lightning bolt struck something that was not the ground. It shook for a few seconds as it was zapped and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“Ha! No pony can defeat lightning!”

The black Pegasus stopped the lightning strikes and flew to where the object fell. He sent a lightning ball ahead to verify what he saw. The shape was a pony body laying on their side with the back facing him. As he got closer, the body had the same color of Swift Blaze. The stallion then noticed the body wasn’t breathing. He started to wonder if he actually killed the Unicorn. He walked around the body and saw it was the red stallion. His greatest fear finally hit him, he killed a pony. Worst, a friend. Lightning Trails collapsed to the ground in front of the dead body.

All of a sudden, wood came out of the ground and held Lightning Trails to the ground. He tried to shock himself free, but the wood absorbed it and dispersed it in the ground.

“You should have checked for vitals before assuming I was dead.” Swift Blaze voiced echoed.

“Huh? Wait. If this body isn’t you, then why didn’t it disappear like your other clones when they got hit.” Lightning Trails shouted while still pinned.

“That, my pony friend isn’t a clone. It’s a stone substitution. A stone dummy if you will.”

“Then show yourself!”

“Gladly.” A bright red glow appeared next to the clouds. A wave of energy was sent out as Blaze disbursed the clouds to bring light into the arena. He flew back down and turned off the red glow Blaze then walked over to Lightning Trails. “You shouldn’t have covered the sky in dark clouds. You would have stood a better chance if you didn’t allow me to use my ninja skills.”

“I can still get you with THIS!”

Lightning Trails sent a massive lightning bolt and the lightning balls. They all made contact and sent off a massive electrical explosion. There was a thick cloud of smoke where Swift Blaze was standing.

“I win,” he said with a smile.

“Don’t count on it,” Blaze replied in the smoke.

“How? That would have killed anyone and more than likely seriously injured you.”

Blaze walked out of the smoke with no sign of injury. “Another thing I learned in science class. Glass is a good insulator for electricity.”

The Pegasus was able to get a better look at the Unicorn. His body looked like it had armor plates on him, but they were see-through. “You are wearing glass armor? Where did you get that?”

“I just made it. Easy to break with physical blows. Still works against lightning.”

“Where were you hiding when I had lightning striking everywhere? No pony could have been fast enough to dodge all of them.”

“You are right, I couldn’t have dodged all of them. So I hid in the clouds.”

“You would have been hit lots of times if you were up there.”

“I was. Over a hundred times. The glass armor was working, but the lightning strikes were heating up the glass. I knew I couldn’t stay up there for long or risk being cooked in a glass shell.”

“You are one smart pony, er human, to have thought of that on the spot. I submit the win to you. Also thank you for not using your water jutsu on me. I really thought you were going to win the match easily.”

“What’s the fun in that? To exploit a friend's weakness just to win a battle. I might do that to an actual enemy, but not a friend. Plus, I think the crowd enjoyed the show.”

Lightning Trails and Swift Blazed listened as the crowd started to cheer louder and louder. They were all chanting both names and stomping their hooves. Swift Blaze released the glass armor and let it fall to the ground in a thousand pieces. He then walked over to Lightning Trails. He released the wood jutsu and helped him to his hooves. Without warning, the red stallion helped raise one of the black stallion’s hoofs in the air with his. The crowd cheered even louder. They took in the cheers as they waved to them.

There was a bright flash and Captain Shining Armor appeared with the other winners.
“Congratulations, Swift Blaze. You’ve pulled another win out of nowhere,” he said. “Your tactics and quick thinking are very impressive. I would have never thought about some of the things you did.”

“That match-up was awesome Blaze and Lightning Trails! I was on the edge of my seat wondering what’s going to happen next. You even got me with the fake body,” Al said.

“You really took advantage of the environment. I’ll have to think of that when I go up against Al,” Cancer said.

“Your lightning control is very impressive, Lightning Trails. Where did you come up with those lightning balls that explode?” Colorful Sparks asked.

“I took a page out of Blaze’s arsenal with those things called ki energy balls. I had to practice in secret at night so nopony saw it till I was ready,” he replied.

“I thought I heard a pony move about while I was sleeping,” Blaze said.

“You heard me? I wasn’t making a sound. My hooves didn’t even touch the ground.

“I heard the flapping of your wings.”

“Oh. How sensitive are your ears?”

“Average. I have to concentrate to pick up the slightest whisper.” Shining Armor mumbles something under his breath. “Hey, I respect everyone’s privacy and don’t use this to snoop on others.”

“You heard that?” Shining Armor said.

“I wasn’t going to mention who said it. Thank you for speaking up,” Blaze said with a smile.

“Come on. Need to display the winners and talk about the matches tomorrow. Would you mind putting the torches back so we can get some more light here?”

“They’re already back.”

“WHEN? I know you aren’t that fast to do that within a second.”

“I did it when Lightning Trails was walking over to the fake body.”

“You do move like a ninja when you want to,” Al said.

“The setting has to be right to be effective. Now then, let there be light. Fire Style! Fire Wave Jutsu!”

Blaze jumped and sent out a wave of fire from his body. The wave went around the arena and lit all the torches.

“Next time, warn us before you do that. You almost singed my eyebrows.” Al said.

“Would you rather I used the flamethrower jutsu?”

“Enough you two. Let's head over to the center so you can then get some dinner and rest for tomorrow,” Shining Armor said.

Lightning Trails headed out of the arena and the rest made their way to the center. Once there, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia stood to address everyone.

“Congratulations, Swift Blaze, on winning your match. You and Lightning Trails put on a very entertaining battle. I look forward to your next match. As well to the rest of you,” said Princess Luna. “You’re some of the finest recruits we have ever had to go through the training. Be proud of it. Now, go get something to eat and rest. The next set of matches will start tomorrow. Let’s cheer for all of the recruits.”

The crowd did one more big cheer for them. The recruits waved to them briefly and then left the arena. They made their way back to the training ground. Shining Armor left them in the arena. Once they entered the mess hall, they saw the rest of the recruits were already eating away.

“Hiya guys! Go get some grub and join us.” Dragon said.

They didn’t waste time and gathered food. The trainees sat together and talked about all the matches. They told what happened to those who missed the matches. The group also told what they were thinking and why they chose the way they did. After several hours of chatting, they made their way back to the barracks and quickly fell asleep. The ones who won dreamed about battle scenarios they will need to use against their opponents. The other dreamed what the winners were going to pull off to win the match.

Author's Notes:

Here's the latest chapter. It was proofread by Darksoul85.

With that, round 1 of the matches is done! Who's excited to see what the next round will be like?