We arrived at the Library finally, and while the girls chatted in the main lobby, I took a second for myself, and took a shower down the hall. While I was washing myself off, I could hear the sound of something scratching at the shower door. Taken back, I turned off the shower and looked through the foggy glass, searching for its source. I opened the door to see the small, saucy Lela standing in front of the door. Rarity said that she'd give him a bath, but I figured that since he's already here, he can hop in with me. He entered the shower and sat under the nozzle, his soft and luscious fur now looking like a melted marshmellow. I closed the door to the shower, and fired it back up for us.

As the shower roared on, and I tried to scrub the stained sauce off Lela's muzzle; I became lost in my thoughts. I looked up into Lela's eyes, and he seemed to stare into my soul with motionless, dark eyes. 'Brother.' Said a voice in my head. I shot back in surprise,'Don't worry. It's me John, Shadow Kin. I am the one you refer to as, Lela. I haven't been able to contact you yet do to the others, if you were to react like this around them, they would have me thrown into the Everfree.' The voice was coming from Lela, but hearing Shadow Kin telepathically felt off.

I knelt down beside the small fox,"Ah. So, should I refer to you as Shadow now or..." I asked bewildered.

'No, you can continue to call me 'Lela', but they've yet to call me anything. We may simply introduce me to the girls, and you may call me Shadow.' Said the small fox.

I started up, and continued the shower. I had to focus my eyes away from Lela for his privacy. 'This is kind of awkward taking a shower with another guy, unannounced. I could've helped you, before talking...'I said to myself through thought.

'Why is it even a problem? We are the same person, just two separate bodies. You didn't seem to have a problem taking a shower with 'Lela'. So, why does this trouble you?' Asked my curious counterpart. I forgot immediately he had the ability of telepathy.

I scratched the back of my head in confusion. To form the words, I had to actually speak,"Well that's because 'Lela' was just a pet. It's like watching a wooden toy train suddenly fly..." I had to fill my hands with water to splash my face to help thought process,"it's just...I was just about to give you your own privacy too...Which...would be mine, too...Whatever." I shrugged it off, and continued to shower. Shadow did the same, he used his small feet to wipe the stained sauce away.

After the shower ended, I dried myself off, and passed Shadow his towel. He looked at me strangely with a tone of somewhat unpleasant. "What?" I asked.

'I may need a little bit more assistance than just tossing me a towel, paws remember? Because I didn't.' I face palmed at my own stupidity. I knelt down, began drying my little friend off, and then started putting my clothes back on. My wings were wet and hard to dry off, but at least they weren't covered in dried flakes of blood. After I pulled everything on, Lela, and I exited the bathroom. As we stepped out of the bathroom door, Lela shook his fur wildly, and he puffed up sauntering into the room.

I continued back to calling him Lela, for now. Upon being exposed to the rush of the cold air, it was an enigma exiting the steamy bathroom. Lela looked good being puffed up, and his tongue stuck out happily.

We entered the main room where all the others were waiting. The first one to greet me was the lavender...pony, Twilight. She tackled me to the floor, and started hugging me."Oh, thank the Goddess! You're safe, you made friends, and you have wings? That happened already?" asked the cheerful purple one.

"Happened already? what do you mean? The wings, or the 'Friends' part?" I furled my brows, as I processed the questions.

"The wings! Oh my goodness, sorry for the confusion. The armor you're wearing is passed down through the guardians, and they were made to not only protect, but to give you useful enchantments for the wearer. Your left gauntlet has already sprouted your wings, that's it's enchantment. It allows faster travel, but to grow wings on something that doesn't have them themselves, takes commitment." She warmly looked to me.

She explained,"After the gauntlet was put on, your name was put 'in' that commitment. Your right gauntlet allows you to use magic, Senior has shown us through his career as a guardian, that humans have a rather large magic reserve called 'mana' within them, but on earth, they can't access these reserves. The gauntlet relies on these reserves, and channels it through the bracer. Sending it to your hand for your spells. While you use magic to cast a spell, the reserves will start to empty. You only have a certain amount of mana that you're allowed to use in a day, so don't go crazy with it." She rolled her eyes; as if in reflection.

"The reserves replenish as you rest, or stop using magic. It takes some time, and patience to fill these reserves. A nap helps, but a 6 hour sleep does wonders. As for your pauldron, it allows you to cast a protective spell once an hour that can save you from a near death experience. Once it activates, you'll have to get away as quick as you can. If you almost died, it's probably a good idea to regroup, and form a new plan of action. The spell only lasts for about thirty seconds, so you better get out of there quick." The violet pony continued to examine every part of the armor; as well as my wings.

"That makes sense, I guess. Commitment, indeed! Thank you for the details, that helps a lot knowing I have a back-up plan." I turned to the others, and introduced myself to the rest of them,"Hello, My name is John, and I am your new guardian." As I started my introduction, I formally introduced Lela to the team, I kept my promise and renamed him to his actual name, Shadow. The group tried to coddle for Shadows attention, when a bright blue light flashed into the middle of the room. From the beams entrance, I pulled my hood over my head and prepared myself for whatever was to come. A sword was thrown my way through the lights and I grasped it midair, unsheathing it in the process. I held out the blade defensively towards the light, readying for what was to come with what I had. The blinding lights faded, and out stepped two regal figures.

"Your name is not John, not anymore. Your new title is; Darkmoon's Crescent', Guardian of Equestria." Lady Luna looked at me, tempering my nerves with her calming familiar voice. Rainbow Dash screamed in frustration. I did ask them for the name, but I was named from a royal. I could hear Shadow breaching my thoughts warning me to be pleasant in the presence of Luna and Celestia. "You're as quick as when you dream, this is a good thing. Princess Celestia wishes to meet you, face to face. You may keep that, you may need it."

I formally bowed in respect for the Royals, after sheathing the weapon. I took a step back adding the sheathing to my belt, and spoke to Celestia,"It is good to finally meet you in person, and I thought I'd have to go to a castle. It's been a process to come here, but I wish to serve the kingdom, and Equestria, as my father did before."

"It is good to meet you too, Mr. Darkmoon. Luna talks about your dreams a fair amount, and it's been a lifetime's worth. Your life time, to be exact. This time, I can actually talk to you, if I need to talk about your dreams. No offense." She chuckled to herself, as Luna frustratingly rolled her eyes. "Regardless, I would like to speak to you about your coming training and I would like you to further exceed your already sharp skills." The radiant maned unicorn... wait another one? Luna's one as well?

I ran my hand through my hair in confusion, which pulled down my hood. "If you don't mind, and I'm sorry if this offends you guys, but can I ask you what race of pony are you? I've seen twilight here with wings and a horn but... I get the Pegasi, that's easy. Unicorn, no problem. Earthen pony, piece of cake. All three in one though..."

Celestia let out a rather calming laugh,"It's quite alright. Luna, Twilight, and I are all Alicorns. Just like you said, all three in one. It's like a discount price tag but it's a buy two get one free."

I took a sigh of relief with this new found information."Thanks, I just have never seen one before. As for my training, what would you have me do?"

"I am going to have Twilight train you further your skills in the ways of magic, and as for your new 'Gifts'..." She lightly ran her fingers through my wing feathers, sending a shiver up my spine. "Well, I believe that Rainbow Dash shall train you in that aspect." I looked to the two mentioned ponies, and while twilight looked at me and smiled, I could see the rainbow maned pegasus do a silent fist pump with a determined demeanor.

"Ok, I'll begin training. Where do I stay for the night for the time being?" I asked. I really didn't want to sleep on the couch of one of my new comrades, but anything would be better than having to sleep on the streets I will be serving for.

"I'll have you stay at the Apple farm for a bit, Applejack, and her family reside the estate. I know they will be willing to help, and your father used to help around there every once in a while. Tit for tat, you could say. Within the next few days, I should have a house set up for you to occupy."

I didn't know exactly where to find this 'Apple Farm'. I'll be crashing on one of my new friends couch, but they could use the help around for the next few days till I get a place to live. At least I can rest my wings.

"Thank you kindly, Princesses." I gave her a quick nod, and bowed in respect once again. Leaning down, a memory flashed before my eyes. I reached into my pouch, and brought out the strange note Senior had given me. I unfolded the creased paper with strange looking scripture, and attempted to pass it to Celestia. She looked to the paper, and she started to shake her head with a smug look, as she read the note. "My father said you can 'Help' me with this..." I slowly related to Celestia.

She looked at me with a cheesy smile coating her mouth. "Thank you for this very important note, and I will promise to help you achieve this goal for it will help you with this job. I can teach you how to learn to read, Equina. Our language is new to you, and your father's joke was rather rude, but you have to hand it to him. That was a good joke." She chuckled, and gestured Luna to follow with her. They walked toward a void, and passed through. After they went through, the void popped out of existence.

I spoke,"It's a new world. Everyone has to learn something, somewhere, at sometime." I looked to the group after being humiliated, and began wondering what my father saw in the western lifestyle. The clothing and in a new world working on a farm? Riddles, old bastard.

"Applejack? Damn girl, you better take good care of him!" I could hear Rainbow call from the other side of the room.

I turned to the orange mare she was yelling towards, and asked,"Is it cool if I crash with you? I'll work on the farm to keep myself useful."

"Boy howdy, I'm always lookin' for hard workers with the muscles of a human! You can use the gues' room, if ya want. There's also a barn with good hay, too." Said the southern farm pony.

The day passed getting to learn about one another. I got to learn about the 'Elements', and what they represented. They informed me what kind of ponies resided within Equestria. In our group session, I met this girl named Fluttershy. She was quiet, but her and I talked for a good long, even a while more after mentioning the timberwolf chase. She told me it would've helped to stand my ground, and out growl them. Alpha, apparently. The others seemed to be staring at us the whole time we talked as if it wasn't supposed to happen; didn't make sense with her being professed in creatures, but I'm thankful for it.

The sun was beginning to set, and I thought it was about the time for me to make a mile to the farm. Jack, Shadow and I said our goodbyes, and made our way to the apple acreage named 'Sweet apple Acres'. I started to yawn, as we continued down the road. I looked to Shadow, and smiled. He smiled back, as he nudged me towards Applejack. She must have thought it was an approach, because she wrapped her arms around mine as we continued to walk. I didn't shake her off, I was too tired to care.

All in all, I'd say I had a pretty productive new day in this new realm.

(Version 1.3(2022))
Minor fixes and corrections to details. Spelling errors, etc.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to see you in the next one. I seek to entertain, and the spotlight is on.
Keep it cool, xXCondemnedSoulXx.