The flash of light dimmed down, and as the ponies were able to stop shielding their eyes, they stared at the obscured figure within the circle. Within seconds, the ponies could see clearly again- staring curiously at the figure that seemed to be sitting upon its own legs, hands bound by shackles and chains. The creature's eyes were closed, as if it was expecting something to happen and did not wish to witness it. Lyra was the first to approach it, gently prodding him with her hoof.
"Hello?" she asked, startling the creature, who panicked and fell onto its side, shouting 'woah!' really quickly. The mare stared as the creature took its time to register what just happened. Trying to push himself up, his chains rattled audibly as he finally got onto his feet. Twilight Sparkle took out a book on monsters, flipping through the pages as she kept glancing at the strange creature.
"Any idea what this weird thing is?" Rainbow Dash asked, but to her surprise, Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "What do you mean you don't know? You got a whole book on this sorta stuff!" she questioned in disbelief, and the purple unicorn looked at her, closing the book.
"And it fits none of the descriptions in this book. This is something nopony has ever seen, that's all I know." she replied before trotting over to see the being up close. She quickly took out a note-pad and a quill, jotting down what she could ascertain. "Light yellow mane, no fur elsewhere on the body, light skin...bipedal, wearing faded cloth over most of body." she spoke aloud her observations, and the creature looked at her curious face with equal curiosity, as she noted another part. "Blue eyes..." she added before the creature cleared its throat.
"EEP!" Fluttershy panicked, hiding behind Rainbow Dash, who sighed and stepped aside to look at her.
"What are you so scared of? It just coughed, that's all." the blue pegasus told her timid friend, who looked at her, then the creature. None of this made sense to any of them, but soon the creature spoke- surprising them all.
"Ok, I'll bite. What the hell is this?" it asked, raising an eyebrow as Twilight Sparkle wrote down another note.
"Capable of speech, based on the voice, sounds like a male.." she murmured before looking at the creature. On four legs, she was slightly taller than him. "I will assume that by 'this', you mean what is happening. You have been transported to the Land of Equestria, the home of ponies such as the eight of us." she replied, gesturing towards Lyra, Bon Bon, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. However, Twilight Sparkle did not explain any further, as her curiosity got the better of her. "I have a question for you now. Can you tell me what you are?" the unicorn asked, and the creature smiled softly.
"I guess I've seen weirder than talking ponies." he mused before answering Twilight's question. "Sure, I'll tell you. I'm a human." He told them, only to notice the immediate reaction of the group- each of them, aside from Lyra and Pinkie Pie stepping back and falling over. Lyra had been just stunned, staring at the one who claimed he was a human, as if unable to properly register the words. Pinkie was hopping up and down, much to the surprise of Applejack.
"Aint'cha a bit shocked, Pinkie?" Apple Jack asked, while the pink earth pony giggled.
"Shocked that I haven't figured out how to throw a party for these two!" she replied, earning a confused look from the human and a face-hoof from Applejack.
"So Lyra was right?!" Bon Bon and Rarity asked in a shocked unison, while Fluttershy began to shrink a bit.
"I hope it isn't going to hurt us." the yellow pegasus whimpered while Rainbow Dash stared in awe.
"I don't care what he can do- He looks awesome!" the rainbow-maned pegasus commented, like Twilight, discerning the human's gender through his voice. The human, on the other hand, decided to speak up again.
"Well, if you want to get into technicalities, I am a-OOF!" he explained, only to be knocked clean off of his feet and pinned onto the ground by Lyra, who stared down into his eyes, hardly able to contain her excitement.
"Did...you just say you're...a human?" she asked him, receiving a hesitant nod before nuzzling his face. "Oohhhh~ you have no idea how much I wanted to meet a real live human!" she exclaimed. Unlike any horse fur that he felt, this pony's coat was soft, almost comforting as she nuzzled him. Stopping for a moment, the mare used a hoof to gently ruffle the human's hair, nothing but a warm smile on her face. "There are so many things I want to ask you...so many things I want to know about you.." The aquamarine unicorn told the human, only for Bon Bon to clear her throat loudly.
"Sorry to ruin the moment Lyra, but don't you think he should know why this human is here?" the beige earth pony asked, and the unicorn got off of the human, blushing as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Right...Well, first let me start with names..My name is Lyra Heartstrings, that's Bon Bon." she started, gesturing to the earth mare who 'ruined the moment' before counting off the rest. "There's Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy." she introduced the ponies, and saw her human smile.
"Those are all nice names. My name is Miles Skylark..." he trailed off, blinking before raising his bound hands up. "Sorry- but would anyone mind taking these off? They're starting to itch." he requested before chuckling, confusing the ponies before Twilight Sparkle cast a spell to break the restraints on his wrists and ankles. As the human rubbed his wrists, and soon knelt down to do the same for his ankles, Lyra continued to speak.
"OOH! I like that name- Skylark." she giggled before smiling. "I summoned you here to..." she hesitated, only then realizing the gravity of the situation she was going to put this human through. She knew nothing about humans- and she was going to send the only one she'd probably ever meet to his likely death! Just the thought filled her with regret, but she worked up the courage to continue. "To be my representative in this year's Gauntlet....You, along with other monsters, will be putting your lives on the line...competing with one another in a series of games while other ponies bet on which one will win each round." She slowly began losing her nerve, but Twilight decided to take the reigns for her.
"Lyra ran into some trouble, and this is the way she chose to solve it. She summoned you because she needed your help with it." The purple unicorn began to explain, only for Skylark to begin laughing.
"You don't need to convince me, Twilight." he started before kneeling down, his left knee on the floor, his right arm across his chest, his hand over his heart as he smiled to the aquamarine unicorn, staring up into her eyes. "If participating in this competition will help Milady, I don't see why not." he finished, a cheerful look on his face. Tears formed in Lyra's eyes before the unicorn pulled her human into a hug. That was right, her human.
"Thank you so much..." she sniffed, crying out of joy that her problems had a good chance of going away. Hugging his master in return, Skylark remained silent for a bit before Rarity chuckled.
"Darling, you can't expect to be going into such a competition in those rags, can you?" the unicorn asked in a somewhat posh manner, causing the human to blush as he looked at his clothes. A faded brown shirt and worn-down slacks, something he had not cared much about until Rarity brought it up. As Lyra let Skylark stand, the white unicorn nudged him. "We simply must get you fitted for a more graceful outfit. Some silk will do you wonders, darling." she trailed off before a pony called out to them.
"Hold on! You and your monster have to go to the rookies hall first." the stallion called, annoying Lyra.
"He's not a monster!" she shouted, but stopped once Skylark chuckled.
"Who's to say humans can't be monsters?" he asked in a somewhat sardonic manner, and with that, he and his master made their way to the 'rookie hall', where they met up with four other ponies, each one with their own familiar. There was the cobalt unicorn stallion with his minotaur, an emerald mare with what looked like another mare made out of pink ooze, a brown mare with a manticore- who seemed to glance to the side at the final of the five within the room- a black stallion with a six-legged panther with tentacles coming from its back. The panther roared at the immediate sight of the human, but before it could pounce, a powerful restraint-spell caught it by the throat.
"Calm down. You will get your chance in the first challenge." the black stallion told his beast in a sharp, menacing voice. '
"Is that everyone for this block?" the pony who called them here asked, and after a moment of silence, he nodded. "Good, then we will be able to begin with the orientation." he smirked, glad to see a diverse cast of rookies.
(To be continued)