MLP: The Last Mage

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I was awoken the following day to someone poking me with something. The poking stopped when I grunted, so I tried to go back to sleep, but whomever it was began to poke me again. Now annoyed I growled and pushed up from the book I had fallen asleep on with a scowl on my face.

"Dad, if this is another one of your ideas of a joke, I-" I stopped speaking when I beheld before me a small purple figure that vaguely resembled a baby dragon that I'd seen in a video game back home. Though this one, if it was in fact a baby dragon, was much smaller. Then I remembered where I was.

"Sorry to wake you, big guy, but Twilight had some errands to run and wanted me to wake you and ask if you're hungry." He pointed a scaled thumb over his shoulder at the desk that I'd been using before I decided I'd be more comfortable on the floor where I dozed off around the same time the sun started coming up. On the desk was a bowl of, from where I lay, smelled like apple cinnamon oatmeal. My stomach rumbled and I yawned.

"What time is it?" The baby dragon looked out a window.

"I'd say about one in the afternoon. You sure are a hard sleeper! I almost dropped a stack of books on you earlier and you didn't even stir! So, do you want the oatmeal?" I yawned again and nodded.

"Sure. Thank you...?"

"Spike. I'm a baby dragon. What are you?"

"A Human. So far that I've seen, I'm the only one. Say, you wouldn't have happened to hear what I did to one of your kin yesterday-"

"Yeah I heard. You threw a bolt of lightning at him and fried him." He didn't sound upset at all, which surprised me. Apparently my surprise was obvious. "We dragons are about as different from one another as seawater is to snow. Most of the dragons I've met were bullies, and from what I've been told he was trying to eat you. I might have done the same thing in your place." He looked at the book I'd been using as a pillow. "So, find anything interesting? Twilight told me you were doing some research."

"Some, but not nearly as much as I was hoping for. Most of the information seemed to be just an overview of events when I was looking for details. It was better than nothing, but not by much."

"I know the feeling. Or at least Twilight does. I'm just her assistant so she usually does most of the work when it comes time to hit the books."

I sat up and closed the book I'd been reading. I'd already skimmed through it twice and found little of note other than the Everfree incident, so there was no need to keep it any longer. I rose to my feet to put it away and then laughed when I saw Spike's face. If his eyes could become any larger they would have been the size of baseballs. "Wow! You really are a big guy! I feel like a midget!"

"Don't worry," I said as I walked to the bookshelf and placed the book back in its slot. "After sixty years or so you'll probably be taller than everyone in town including myself. After another hundred you'll be bigger than a house!" Spike laughed.

"You're right!" he agreed as I walked back to the desk and picked the bowl up. There was no spoon, so I used my index and middle finger to scoop it into my mouth.

"Wow, this is really good!" I said, delighted at the flavor. Nothing back home could ever hope to match this.

"All the ingredients were grown right here in Ponyville. The ponies here take pride in their work."

"Well, they certainly do a good job! You could beat every other brand of oatmeal back home with this stuff!" I eagerly shoveled more in my mouth.

"You know, you could have asked for a spoon." I stopped scooping.

"Why would ponies need spoons?"

"For cooking and serving food, of course. Did you think they stirred with sticks?" He rolled his eyes. I suddenly felt stupid. They had houses, candles, books, beds, doors, bowls, and they could speak Why wouldn't they have spoons too? I looked at the remaining contents of my bowl. Nearly empty. Not worth getting a spoon.

"Oh. Well, my bowl is almost empty, so no thanks." I swept the rest out on a single finger and cleaned it off. "Though if you'll point me in the direction of where you wash your dishes I'll clean it off."

"Nah, I'll get it later. Just give it to me." I shrugged and extended my arm down to him.

"Suit yourself." Spike took the bowl and carried it out of sight. When he came back he brought along a small plate whose contents made me stare speechless in shock and mild greed: gemstones. Flawless, perfectly-cut gemstones that caught the light coming in through the windows and threw it around the room like a multicolored disco ball.

"And now for my lunch!" Spike reached onto the plate and picked a sapphire up. To my greed's horror he popped it into his mouth like a potato chip and crunched it up in his jaws a few times before swallowing. "What?" he said as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

"You. Just. Ate. A. Saphire!"

"Yeah. So? Don't dragons do the same thing in your world?"

"We don't have any Dragons. Or talking ponies. Or flying ponies. Or Unicorns." This time he was the one surprised. "I can't believe you just ate a gemstone!" He smiled.

"Believe it. They're very good. To us Dragons, anyway." Spike reached down to his plate again and tossed a ruby in his mouth and crunched it too. I winced.

"So you don't have Dragons, Pegasi or Unicorns. What-" Spike suddenly burped and green flames came from his mouth. Spike dropped his 'food' in surprise and I jumped back a step. Out of nowhere a rolled parchment with a wax seal dropped onto the floor. "Ugh, excuse me!" Spike picked up the parchment and unrolled it. He scanned the contents a moment, then walked over to the desk and tossed the parchment onto it. At my questioning gaze he explained that it was a magical way to send a letter. In this case, it was a letter for Twilight from one of their two princesses that ruled Equestria.

"Would I be being nosy if I asked what it was about?"

"Yeah you would, but I'll tell you anyway. It has to do with you." He tossed another sapphire in his mouth.

"Me? What does she want with me? And how did she find out about me when I've been here less than two days?"

"Beats me. All it says is to make sure you stay in town the rest of the day."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard." I said as I looked out one of the windows. There were dozens of various ponies walking around. Most of them seemed to be female. "I'd stick out like a butterfly in a beehive if I went outside." Spike started laughing and I turned away from the window and looked at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing really. What you just said reminds me of one of Twilight's friends. She'd use a silly phrase like that. But on the note of going outside I bet I could disguise you to look like another young dragon if you want." He poured the rest of the gems that remained into his mouth and walked over to a step ladder positioned next to one of the bookshelves that had ot been there last night where he set the plate down.

"You do see how tall I am, right?" I asked, sweeping my hands down my body from the top of my head down to my waistline. "Even if you could whip up a costume for me, I'd still draw a huge amount of attention.

"Trust me, I've got you covered!" Spike declared, sounding so (over)confident that I suddenly had the feeling that this was going to end badly...

"Here ya go!" Spike said half an hour later, excited as he handed me a rolled up outfit. I unrolled it and felt my heart sink. Yes, this had the potential to end badly, alright.

"This is a Yoshi."

"A what?" Spike asked, puzzled. I made a waving motion with a hand to indicate that it wasn't really important.

"A fictional creature my people made up for a game series back home. It was good try Spike, but I don't think anybody or anypony are going to mistake this for anything but a costume." Spike looked a little down, so I tried to cheer him up. "Don't get me wrong, it's great as a costume in general, but-" Suddenly the door burst open and a bright pink pony with big happy blue eyes and a bigger smile bounced inside.

"Did someone say costume?!" She froze for a few seconds when she saw me, then zipped right tup next to me faster than I could blink. First she was directly in front of me, her face only centimeters away from mine, then she was behind and to the left of me, then my immidiate right holding up my arm with one hoof and pressing another against my middle, then below me, then in front of me again, and then somehow above me, and then behind me again. "Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! That is the BEST costume I had EVER SEEN! Where did you get it or did you make it it feels so real how did you make it?!"

"Uhhh....."

"Me and Twilight helped him, Pinkie Pie. Convincing, isn't it?" Spike answered, saving me the trouble of making something up.

"It's so AMAZING!" Pinkie Pie was now back in front of me again about eight feet away and was jumping up and down like a kid that had ADHD that had been given a big bag full of candy ten minutes previously. "Hey! I know! Why don't we have a party where everypony in town makes a costume and at the end we have everypony vote on a winner? It'll be so cool! You guys are invited!" And with that she shot out of the house in the form of a pink blur. The door slammed shut behind her with a loud bang and I looked at Spike.

"Who the heck was the pink tornado and what was she on?"

"That was Pinkie Pie. She's the party pony of Ponyville. It looks like you just got a lucky break! Nopony will want to turn down an invite ot one of Pinkie Pie's parties, and since it's going to be a costume party you should be able ot get away with just walking around as is!"

"That's great! Are you going to go out too?" Spike shook his head.

"Normally I would but I've got some things I need to do around here first. Go ahead and have a look around if you want. Pinkie's party probably won't be ready for a few more hours, so I'll meet up with you later."

"You sure you don't want any help doing those things?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I know where everything is or is supposed to go. No offense but you'd probably just get in my way."

"You're probably right. I'll see you later then, Spike." I waved farewell and headed for the door but stopped at the door when I remembered I was still wearing my backpack. "Hey Spike, one last thing." Spike turned his head. He had retrieved his plate from the step ladder and had been heading for wherever the dishes went. "Would you mind if I left my backpack here?"

"Go for it. Just leave it by the door where it'll be out of anyone's way."

"Thanks." I did so and was about to leave again when I remembered something else: the red magician's cape. "What the heck." I shrugged and removed it. Though old, its color was still bright and the cloth flexible and undecayed. The metal rings (there were two and looked to be an inch and a half wide) at the 'collar' of the cape were tarnished, but I didn't mind. What I did mind was that there was nothing to tie the two rings Or perhaps small hoops, given their size. together to keep it on my shoulders. A small gold chain would look perfect for it. Too bad I don't have one. I stood up from the bag and shook the cape out. When I did something fell to the floor and made a 'clack' sound. I looked down at a small bundle with interest and crouched to pick it up. It was a small bag. Inside it was: A gold- or maybe brass- chain! I wonder if it came with it to begin with or if great-grandpa thought it would look better with a gold chain too? Thanks, great-grandpa!. Grinning like a child at Christmas I fastened the chain to both hoops Yeah, hoops is more fitting. and then tried to flourish the cape like a performing magician. All I succeeded in doing was to tangle my arm in it. I laughed at myself for the attempt and then stepped outside into my night and their daylight.

A flash of colors flew by my face followed by a crash and splintering sound.

"The heck?!" I yelled, drawing the eyes of several locals first to myself, and then to the crash site and then back to me again. Ignoring the crowd I approached the crash site and a pair of hooved legs kicking in the air. A rainbow-colored tail also waved about, but the rest of the body was buried in the remains of an abandoned fruit stand.

"Hold still! I'll pull you out!" I said in a raised voice to whomever was trapped in the pile. The legs stopped moving and I grabbed them and pulled. Nothing. I pulled harder and she shifted a bit but stayed buried. "Okay, new plan. Stay still and I'll dig you out." I threw several boards to one side, half a smashed wooden crate, and a cloth covering that was probably used to keep flies off the merchandise and then was greeted by the dirtied face and spinning eyes of a blue pony with wings and a rainbow mane. She shook her head and her eyes realigned.

"Ugh! Thanks, whoever you-" it started in a girl's voice. She stopped speaking for a moment and recognition filled her widened eyes. "Oh! It's you!"

"Have we met?" I asked as she stood up and stepped away from the debris. I didn't recall seeing this one before.

"Not really, but I know you. I'm one of the ponies that carried you here yesterday. The name's Ranbow Dash! Plesaed to meet'cha!" She smiled and extended a leg. I leaned over and took it and we shook.

"Jacob. Thank you for saving my life." Her smile grew.

"Where ya from? I'm from Cloudsdale, a city in the sky."

"I'm from a place called Iowa. We live on the ground." Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head and looked like she was thinking.

"Iowa, huh? Never heard of it."

"That's not really surprising. I-"

"Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?!" interrupted a voice that sounded familiar. A orange winged pony ran into sight from behind a Twilight Sparkle's library. She slid to a stop when she saw us. Dust swirled around her briefly and then settled.

"You! You're alive!"

"As are you." I replied. "Glad to see it. Where are your friends?"

"Applebloom is at home helping her sister, and Sweetie Bell is out shopping for party supplies with Pinkie Pie. She's arranging a costume party for tonight."

"I know. She invited me already."

"She probably thought that your body was a costume!" Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Yeah she did." It was then I head the murmurs of the growing crowd of ponies all around us. A young one pointed at me and asked her mother if I was already wearing my costume.

"Indeed I am, young miss." I said in a raised voice. Both her and her mother started, surprised that I heard. "Good luck making a better one! And feel free to use magic!" I smiled and winked and the little one smiled.

"I will make a better one! You just wait and see!" The filly started running and the mother hurriedly gave pursuit. Seeing that they had 'real competition', most of the crowd started leaving and returning to their daily business so they could prepare for the night's upcoming festivities.

"So I'm betting you don't know your way around here very well, do ya?" Rainbow Dash asked. She stretched her legs and flapped her wings a few times. "Would you like a tour?"

"Sure!"

A little under two hours and four miles later I yawned. Six or seven hours might be enough for some people, but not for me. I normally slept for nine or more because of all the physical activity I got at my job. Scootaloo looked at me, finding my low energy level odd.

"You're tired already? It's only a little after three!"

"My sleep hours are probably a bit different from yours. It may be daytime here, but back home it's probably still night. I didn't fall asleep after I woke up in the infirmary until a few minutes after the sun started coming up. Spike woke me up later for breakfast at one. Besides, look at you, and then look at me. Your people were built for physical activity. You were built to run."

"Or fly!" Rainbow Dash added, performing a somersault in midair ahead of us. "So what are your people good at, Jacob?" I considered her question for a few minutes. Unfortunately only two things as an overall came to mind.

"We're good at two things overall, I think. The first, we're adaptable to almost any environment, and the second is that we're good at making weapons."

"What's a weapon?" Scootaloo asked.

"A weapon is a tool you use for defending yourself against danger, Scoots." Rainbow Dash answered.

"Not always. Especially where my race is concerned. Sometimes they're used for hunting, and sometimes they're used for war." This time it was Rainbow Dash that asked a question, but though she still looked content she sounded uncomfortable when she asked it.

"Hunting...you mean for criminals...right?" I looked her in the eye, thinking of all the meat I'd eaten over the years. I had known that it had come from animals, but since I myself had never killed any, it normally didn't bother me. But here an now, having a conversation with a talking animal that only ate plants, it sure did. It made me feel guilty. Not wanting to frighten Scootaloo, I answered Dash's question with another question, my face reflecting how I was feeling.

"Rainbow Dash, do you know what an Omnivore is?" Rainbow Dash gulped. She knew. I broke eye contact with her and she landed and waited for me and Scootaloo to catch up with her.

"Our kind?" She asked. I knew what she meant. I pointed at myself and shook my head and she sighed in relief.

"But others have." A sweat droplet ran down the side of her face. Scootaloo looked back and forth several times from me to Rainbow Dash and back.

"Did I miss something?" She asked. I put on a false smile and hoped she wouldn't see through it.

"Nothing that you need to worry about, Scootaloo." Seeking to change the subject I looked around for anything that looked interesting. Nothing except a bird. Grand. Wait, that's it! "What's it like to fly? I've seen others of your kind do it, and we have machines that allow us to fly, but I've never done it myself."

"Flying machines? Ha!" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Nothing can compare with flying with your own two wings! It is the most free and alive feeling that there is. If I lost a leg I could live with it, but I'd rather go blind than lose my wings." I suddenly wondered if I could use magic to grow my own wings. It might hurt, but wouldn't the gains outweigh that? Providing they were functional, of course. Decorational wings wouldn't be of any help at all. "Say, would you two like to watch me practice for next year's upcoming flier competition? It's going to be hard outdo the impression I left last time, and I could use some constructive criticism."

"Yes! Of course!" Scootaloo answered enthusiastically. I also agreed. Seeing a Pegasus was one thing. Seeing one perform like a stunt pilot was quite another, and I might not get another chance later.

"Lead on, and I'll follow."

Rainbow Dash's face lit up like an explosion lights up a moonless night and jumped back into the air.

"This way, I know an open area nearby!" She took off down the dirt path we'd been following like a bullet from a gun and I followed to the best of my ability. Once again Scootaloo outran me and left me in the dust kicked up by her hooves. If not for the clearing being close by I'd have probably lost them again.

The open area was a grassy field with a few scattered trees and small bushes and a few stones. When I finally caught up to them I was out of breath and Dash was telling what she intended to do to Scootaloo.

"-around in a circle while also spinning my own body, then at the top of the third circle I'm going to dive straight down to pick up speed until I'm nearly to the ground. I'll pull up at the last second and flip my body around so that I'm flying back up tail-first. When I slow down to nearly a stop I'm going to shoot forward and spiral those-" she pointed up at three clouds hanging in the sky. "three clouds like I usually do, but once I've got them all spinning I'm going to try to draw all three of them together into one big cloud by using wind force alone. Then, if I've done all of that successfully then I'll try another Sonic Rainboom as the finale."

"What's a Sonic Rainboom?" I asked. I knew what a sonic boom was, but what the heck was a 'rainboom'?

Scootaloo grinned like a fangirl standing in front of her favorite singer and told me that it was what happened when Dash broke the sound barrier.

"She's the only flier to ever get it just right! I think she's the coolest pony ever, and I want to be just like her someday!" I looked at Rainbow Dash and could see she loved the attention.

"I've only done it twice, and both times involved me wanting to protect a friend. I need to be able to do it at will if I'm ever going to be good enough to join the Wonderbolts, and I have every intention of making that happen!"

"Wonderbolts? Who are they?" This time it was Dash's turn to look like a fangirl. Her eyes looked like they were staring through me.

"They're only the best flying team of sky-performers in all of Equestria- no, the world! It's been my dream since before I was Scootaloo's age to be one of them, and I'll never give up trying to get recruited by them!"

"Well then, if you're that set on becoming the best of the best, then we'd better get busy like that competition is tomorrow!" I sat down on the ground and Scootaloo did the same. Rainbow Dash ran a few paces forward then leaped into the air.

She was spectacular. Nearly everything she tried turned out exactly the way she intended, save for two things: She was unable to combine the three clouds like she'd wanted to and was also unable to create her Sonic Rainboom, which, after she landed proved to be very frustrating to her.

"I couldn't build up enough speed for either one! If I had more time then I could fly up really high and then dive and do it, but I've also got those other stunts along with a few other things that I'm going to work in with my performance later."

"Aw, don't worry, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said, trying to reassure her. "You'll get it!" Scootaloo looked at me. I was staring thoughtfully at the clouds that she'd tried to spiral with one arm across my chest and the other with the elbow rest on the first arm and a finger scratching my chin like I usually did when in thought. While they had moved a bit closer together, Rainbow Dash was right: she just didn't have the speed she needed to work the wind into a small tornado after swirling around the three clouds. "Don't you have anything to say?" Scootaloo sounded annoyed. I jumped and looked at Scootaloo. She just looked at me. I looked back up at the clouds again, and then the beginnings of a possible solution began to form.

"Hey Dash?" She looked up from the grass she'd been glaring at in her frustration. "How long do your Rainboom's last?"

"Does it matter if I can't make it happen?" Her tone was brisk like she was trying to keep her anger in check.

"It might."

"I've been told that they last about ten or twelve seconds. It differs from pony to pony when I ask, but those two are usually the answers I get."

"So then let's assume it's ten to be safe. Do you think you could still perform those whirl-spins of yours going as fast as you do when performing the Sonic Rainboom?" Realization dawned and her anger disappeared. Intrigue replaced it.

"I don't know, but I'm going to try it!" She jumped into the air again. This time she skipped the first part of her act and went straight into gaining altitude. She climbed so high that I couldn't tell her from the rest of the blue skies. A few seconds later I could see her again and she was falling faster than an asteroid into Jupiter's gravity. A few more seconds and I could swear that I saw saw flames. I felt a toothy grin spreading across my face, though I had no idea why. Then the air itself screamed and color enveloped her as she dove. Quickly she changed course and headed for the three clouds again leaving a trail of color and a rainbow-colored shock wave that widened across the entire sky in her wake. Moving as to the eye at a distance as Pinkie Pie had in front of me, she spiraled the three clouds in two seconds and then swirled the three together and left one big swirled cone of cloud in her wake. She then continued on to perform the rest of her act all the while maintaining for trail of colors. The start of the trail had begun fading six seconds after it started and drained away along the path like a stream whose source had been cut off, but it was impressive none the less for it.

"WOO-HOOO!" I whooped at the top of my lungs as I jumped from the ground to my feet. "That was incredible! I've never seen anything like it!" Scootaloo's reaction was much the same as mine, but with less coherent speech and more fan-girl screaming.

Rainbow Dash slowed as she approached us and performed one last loop before landing with a trembling body and relieved expression.

"Oh my gosh that was scary! I thought my wings were going to tear off for a while there!" A grin spread across her face as she looked up and saw her handiwork. Her eyes shown with pride, and then she sat down on the grass. "But what a rush! Now I just need to get the rest of my act worked in!"

"And I'm sure you'll have no problem with it." I complimented. No jet pilot could ever hope compare with what I had just witnessed. "How do you feel?"

"Worn out. Flying is fun, but flying as fast as you can for even a short period of time can be tiring if you're not used to it, and I usually walk when I'm not practicing or working."

"Maybe you should change that and fly everywhere." I suggested. "If nothing else it'll build up your stamina if you need to fly like that for longer periods of time."

"Maybe in the future, but not today. Or tomorrow, I think. I'm worn out!" She stuck the tip of her tongue out and slid the rest of the way to the grass and laid her head down too.

"Well if you're tired there's no point in resting out here on the ground. Do you have a house in the vicinity? After a performance like that I'd be willing to try carrying you back into town."

"Yeah, but you couldn't get to it. I live in a house on a big cloud above town."

"I could get a really tall ladder."

"It still wouldn't do you any good. Only a Pegasus can walk on clouds without the help of a magic spell." I had nothing to say to that. "But I would appreciate the lift, if you can carry me."

"You never know until you try." I positioned myself in front of Rainbow Dash and knelt on the ground with my arms behind me, palms up. Rainbow Dash stood up and put her front hooves on my shoulders and hobbled forward and put her knees in my hands. I then tried to stand up. It took some effort, but she was alot lighter than I had expected and I was indeed able to stand with a pony on my back. "A question, Rainbow Dash." I felt her shift a little.

"Yes?"

"Do Pegasi have hollow bones like birds?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Because you're alot lighter than I thought you'd be. I thought I was going to fall flat on my face when you climbed on my back."

"Then why did you offer to carry me?" I had no idea. Habit? Maybe I was too nice a guy?

"Not sure, but now that we're up, I'm gonna walk."

It was slower going in comparison to my normal walking speed, but when we made it back to town I quickly forgot my sore feet and stared at the transformation the town square had undergone in our absence. Pink banners with smiling paper masks glued or sewn onto their middles stretched over-top of streets from one house balcony to another, balloons were tied to guardrails, a few tables had been set up in clusters and were laden with various sweets and a few plates of sandwiches. There were also two punch bowls that were being filled with juice and ice by ponies that already had made outfits and were wearing them. There were small clusters of ponies who also were wearing outfits of their own, or at least masks.

"Wow." Was all I could think of to say.

"You can put me down now if you want." Rainbow Dash said from over my shoulders. I knelt to the ground again and she slid down my back.

"I want a ride next time!" Scootaloo declared from my left. I smiled at her and said that I'd be happy to oblige her. I was about to check out one of the sweets tables when an all-too-familiar voice called out to our group and Pinkie Pie appeared in front of us.

"Hey Dashie! Hey Scootaloo! Hey-" She paused for a second on me and then kept on greeting. "guy-who's-name-I-don't-know!"

"Call me Jacob."

"Hi Jacob! You guys are early, but that's great because we still need help setting up!"

"Actually Pinkie," rainbow Dash objected. "I'm kinda tired from-"

"Tired? No problem!" Pinkie Pie interrupted. She pulled a cupcake practically drowned in pink frosting from...heck if I know and stuffed it in Rainbow Dash's mouth. "Don't worry, this'll give you all the energy you need! I brought this along for just such an occasion!" Rainbow Dash looked like she was going to be sick. Not that I held it against her. Just looking at that cupcake made me feel like a Diabetes demon was laughing somewhere. I fought the urge to run away when Pinkie Pie turned and looked at me with her innocent smile. She probably thought she was being helpful, but in reality she was being scary. "How about you? I've got two more!" I held my hands out and waved them while shaking me head.

"N-no thanks! I'm fine! I'd be happy to help!" Pinkie jumped in the air.

"Great! Follow me!" She bounced away and I turned to Rainbow Dash to make sure she was going to be okay. She looked revolted. Seeing my look of sympathy she tried to smile. Her teeth were so covered in pink frosting she looked like she had been eating vanilla ice cream while her gums were bleeding.

"Are you going to be okay?" She hiccuped.

"I have no idea." She hiccuped again. "The last time she did this when I said I was tired I couldn't get to sleep for twelve hours. Then I crashed and slept for an entire twenty four hours." She hiccuped twice.

"And the hiccuping?"

"Pinkie says that's my body waking up. Twilight Sparkle says what's really happening is my brain is overloading from the sugar content and shutting down my the parts of my body that let me know that I should take a rest. Once the hiccuping stops-" she hiccuped again and her pupils dilated.

"Uh...Rainbow? Your eyes-"

"That's part of it too. Don't worry about it-" she hiccuped again. "right now. If we don't-" and again. "start helping her she might come back and-" Two more. "feed another to both of us! Trust me, one is bad enough!"

"Hey, you stopped-" Her entire body started to vibrate. "Wow. Okay, going to help Pinkie Pie." I ran to where Pinkie Pie was staring at us with her head cocked to one side. Rainbow Dash leaned forward and started bouncing forward, her pupils half-filling her eye's surface.

Another two hours later we finished setting up the town center to Pinkie's satisfaction. I was then given the final task of lighting several outdoor torches.

Guests had been arriving in large numbers for the past forty five minutes or so and the town center was packed. Not everypony wore a costume or even altered their appearance with magic, but those that did for the most part seemed to be wearing Halloween costumes, though there were some others too. There were a few birds, a few types of food, and in one case, somepony came as a letter envelope complete with a giant stamp and an address for delivery. There was also band made up of local volunteers playing a song that reminded me of Weird Al's version of 'Let's get it started in here' but without any lyrics. To top it all off, with so many bodies present it was warm enough for me to take my jacket off, so I walked back to Twilight's house and did so. I tried the door and it was unlocked, so I cracked it open and dropped my jacket onto my bag. I was about to shut the door again when I heard voices inside. One was Twilight Sparkle, but the other I didn't know. It was another female, of that I was sure, but it was deeper and made me think of someone who had been alive for a long time. How can a voice sound old? I opened the door a little wider and stepped in as quietly as I could. I stopped moving in further when I saw Twilight's flank. She was looking into the larger part of the library room at someone, but other than the tip of a shadow there was no way to see whom.

"He's tall and looks strange but seems friendly enough. If not for what Rainbow Dash told me after she dropped him off with nurse Heartblood I'd have thought he was harmless."

"As you well know, my faithful student, appearances can often be deceiving. Has he shown any signs of hostility to anypony?"

"Not that I've heard. Most of the ponies in town think that he's a foreigner that used magic to transform himself for the costume party that Pinkie Pie is holding in the town square right now. They're calling him a cheater for it, but they don't know that it's his true form they're seeing. It helps that he had a cape with him to enhance the belief that he used magic to transform since the last show-off magic-user also had a cape."

"That is good news. What of the other matter I wrote to you about?"

"You were right. The body is gone. I don't know who could have taken it, but it's gone."

"That is not so good news. Where is the Human now?"

"He's probably at Pinkie's party still. I saw him helping to set things up on my way back through town earlier. Shall I go get him?"

I started backing up to the door. If whoever that was on the other side of the conversation said yes, I'd be busted for eavesdropping in three seconds.

"No, let him enjoy himself for now. I will go to the party myself and speak with him in person. For the sake of the transformation ruse I shall commend him on his skill with illusions and then ask to speak with him in private." Twilight Sparkle's shadow nodded.

"Princess Celestia, if I may ask, where does he come from? He said that he came from another world, but none of my books save for one mention his race at all, and even that one doesn't have any information it."

"His people long, long ago once interacted and traded with ours on a daily basis. Unfortunately the Dragon population had grown into nearly a thousand at one point and their king became arrogant and greedy. He attacked our races with the intention of enslaving us all and there was a great war. Towards the end most of the Dragon king's army converged on the Human's capital city and my family in tandem with Unicorns and a small group of Humans with access to magic cast a spell that transported almost their entire race and the dragons that were within their lands into what was known as an Echo Dimension. After that the remaining Humans, again with the help my family forged a passageway between our two worlds just large enough for an Alicorn to walk through but too small for an adult dragon. They ran through it into the Echo-world followed by a few hundred volunteers from our people to help fight the Dragons and try to save our allies and friends from extinction.

"After the gateway shut behind them we didn't hear anything from their world for over five hundred years. Then one day, when I was still a young filly and my mother and father still ruled, one of their kind stumbled over the Stone Arch Gateway on their side and came to our world looking for Unicorns. Or, more specifically, their horns."

"Our horns? What for?" Oh no. I was hoping to avoid this. I didn't want them to be afraid of me, but I was learning exactly what I wanted to be by remaining silent. I decided to hold my tongue.

"Magic. If a Human holds a Unicorn's horn in their hand then they can use magic until it decays too badly and crumbles. The Human that came through back then killed several Unicorns and took their horns before he was caught. When he was finally caught he fought ferociously and he slew several royal guards and my own father before he was finally too tired to stay awake. And passed out on the ground." Twilight was horrified and gasped. I very nearly did too. My ancestor killed innocents for the sake of power? What kind of blood was I carrying?

"Oh princess! I'm so sorry!"

"Do not be upset, Twillight Sparkle. It was a sad event, but it was also a long time ago. I have learned to live with it."

"What did you- I mean your mother do with with him?"

"My mother did nothing but mourn. It was my uncle, Thanatos, that dealt with him. Thanatos turned him into a living statue and placed him in the Canterlot Sculpture garden."

"The same place Discord was in? Why there?"

"So that he could watch as generation after generation of Unicorns passed him by and their power would always be just beyond his reach."

"But Discord escaped once. Could that Human do the same thing?"

"In theory, but for that he would need outside help, and no pony in their right mind that knows who he is will do that."

"Did Discord know?"

"I think he may have suspected, but Discord was only interested in causing chaos for his own entertainment. He never took pleasure in killing even when it would have been to his benefit, as was the case with you and your friends. I do not think he would have freed him or arranged for it." Who or what is Discord? "Do not worry yourself over him. He's not going anywhere." I should go. I've heard enough.

I backed up to the door and went back outside the door, shutting it as quietly as I could behind me and headed back to the party. I'd heard all I needed to, and more than I wanted.

Twenty minutes after returning to the party and discovering the hard way that the sandwiches' fillings were dandelions Twilight Sparkle arrived on scene, and another two minutes later an Alicorn that I assumed was the princess Celestia also arrived. She was as big as a horse with a white body and a sort of rainbow mane (but with different colors than Rainbow Dash) that undulated like a field of tall grass looked at from a distance when wind blew through it. Like the ponies at the party she too wore a costume. Hers made her look like a racing horse with wings.

At first nopony seemed to pay any attention to her, but then somewhere in the throng Spike yelled that princess Celestia was here and the noise level sunk from baseball stadium to dead-quiet. Then suddenly everypony was trying to find space to kneel. I did the same, holding up the ruse.

"Greetings, everypony! I am glad to be here and hope you are all having fun." she said in a warm and pleasant voice. There were murmurings of agreement from the crowd.. "I am seeing some interesting costumes here tonight, but tell me, how many of you used magic for them?" About two dozen hooves out of a crowd of hundreds were raised. I also raised my hand. Of those that had used magic, some have given themselves several variations of wings, others had a third eye or stripes, and one had apparently tried to turn himself into a cow with limited success. She scanned those that had raised a limb. "Wonderful jobs!" She stopped her gaze on me and lifted her eyebrows. "You there! In the red cape!" I acted startled and stood up.

"M-me, milady?" All eyes in the crowd were suddenly turned on me, so it wasn't difficult to look nervous. I was nervous now. She nodded.

"That one is certainly original, and I see nothing else like it here.What is your name and where did you get the idea for that form?" I opened my mouth to tell the story that I'd come up with while waiting for her arrival which involved me as a colt having gone to the Canterlot Sculpture garden and seeing it there, but suddenly the impulsive part of me felt annoyed at once again having to give an introduction on myself and before I could think better of it I spat out the truth instead.

"My name Is Jacob, Princess Celestia. As for where I got the idea, I-" an earsplitting roar shook the town center and I covered my ears to block out the noise. Ponies both male and female screamed, neighed, and whinnied before there was a a second roar followed by a large black and red Dragon landing on what I had learned was the town hall. It collapsed to splinted beneath its weight and the Dragon roared again. But intermixed with the roar was a loud word.

"SILENCE!!!" The screaming and noise stopped except for some whimpering in terror. The Dragon's eye line swept the crowd from one side to another. It stopped on Celestia.

"Princess! Fancy meeting you here!" The Dragon chuckled in a deep gravelly voice. I failed to see anything funny. So did the princess.

"Drahngov. Just what do you think that you are doing here?" Celestia asked, calm but stern. "Does your father know that you are here?" Drahngov hissed like an angry snake and spat a burning globule of saliva on the ground. The ponies nearby screamed and scrambled away from it. Drahngov pretended to ignore them.

"That weak fool is dead! He died of a" Drahngov made a heart shape with his claws and then bent the two apart to make it look broken and spoke in a mocking version of a sad voice. "broken heart when he heard that his younger son-" his eyes flashed and his claws clenched angrily. His mocking voice became enraged. "my brother was killed yesterday, and killed with magic!" He stepped off the ruins of the town hall and stomped closer to Celestia. Two guards inj gold armor that I had not noticed before rain out in front of her and tried their best to look fierce. Facing a Dragon as a possible enemy however, made their attempt at protection look more like a joke in poor taste. Drahngov stopped a few feet away from them, his snout giving off unpleasantly warm heat even with his mouth closed. If he wanted to, he could bathe all three of them, and those around and behind them in flames. "And as you know, Dragons can't use magic, which only leaves your people. In fact, after searching the area nearby thoroughly, my people discovered seven different scents that were present, which implies that your people," he extended a claw to point at Celestia. "were out looking for trouble! Actually," he straightened up and took a deep breath. "I am smelling most of those scents right here in this town square. An odd coincidence, isn't it? Especially since there seems to be a party going on and you even came here yourself to be a part of it."

"How dare you?!" one of the guards yelled. "Our peoples have been at peace for centuries, and all that time our nation has been ruled by Celestia. I will not stand by and let you insult her with accusations of conspiracy!"

"Basen, enough.! Celestia said to the guard sharply.

"But, your highness, are you really just-" Celestia narrowed her eyes.

"I said, enough! If you are unable to hold your tongue in a stressful situation, then perhaps yu would prefer to go back to being a farmer." The guard fell silent. Drahngov chuckled again.

"Well at least one of your subjects has some backbone." He turned his head to look at the crowd of petrified pony party goers. Some at the edges had begun to sneak away. Drahngoc growled and the sneaks turned into full-out running. He rolled his reptilian green eyes and studied those that had remained. Which is when his gaze his gaze fell on Rainbow Dash, still bouncing in place from the sugar rush. He raised an eye-ridge and extended his next over to her and took a deep sniff. He waited a moment, then growled at her. To her credit she did not cower, but she did back away from him until she bumped into a snack table. "You...you are one of those who was at the kill site!" He bared his teeth at Rainbow Dash. Liquid flames began to leak through the few gapes and chips in his very big, very sharp-looking teeth. Ponies that had been around her scattered like a herd of deer away from a downed herd-member when pounced on by a wildcat. I wanted to help, but I was frozen in place. Besides, what could I do without a horn? I could stand by a friend even if it's only to die with her. MOVE LEGS, MOVE! My legs trembled, but wouldn't. Not until Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and three ponies I didn't recognize all ran to stand between them.The three strangers were a white Unicorn with a bluish purple mane and tail, an orange Earth pony with a blond mane and tail, and a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail.

"Back off!" Twilight yelled, horn glowing.

"You're not gonna hurt mah freend!" the orange one said, legs shaking but eyes defiant.

"Be off with you, you brute!" the white one said in a snooty tone. Her horn was glowing too.

"Pick on somepony your own size, ya big meanie!" Pinkie yelled.

"J-just please go away!" the Pegasus whispered.

"I have no quarrel with any of you. If you get out of my way now I'll only take the ones in this town that slew my kin with me when I leave."

"Drahngov, You're not taking any of my subjects with you. If they did kill your brother, it would be out of self-defense!" Celestia objected loudly. Drahngov didn't even turn his head to look at her.

"Celestia, you know the treaty between our peoples as well as I. After all, your mother helped to create it. By the treaty's agreement, if one of our kin are slain by magic outside of your nation's borders, whether they are within ours or not, then I, as a blood relative of the slain, have the right to retrieve and execute those responsible at my leisure. Of course, if you are willing to annul the treaty," Now he turned and looked at her, but with the hungry smile of a predator. "then I have no objections." Celestia said nothing and looked away from him. Unless she wanted another war, she could do nothing. And, as much as she hated to have the thought running through her head, the loss of six ponies was a small price to pay in comparison to the thousands that could die if they went to war. Drahngov's smile widened and he turned back to the girls.

"I won't ask again. Either get out of my way, or die with her where you stand." A forked tongue ran along his teet. "I don't mind either way."

"Guys, get out of his way!" Rainbow Dash demanded. She was visibly crying, but her voice didn't crack. "Don't throw your lives away for me!"

"What are you talking about Dashie?" Pinkie asked.

"We're your friends, sugar cube!" the orange pony declared. "We're not going to abandon you in your darkest hour!"

"Especially not to some smelly dragon!" the white Unicorn made a sound of disgust.

"Friends..." the yellow Pegasus's voice cracked. "to the end." She covered her eyes.

"It's not throwing our lives away if it's for someone we care about!" Twilight stated proudly, horn still glowing.

"How cutesy." Drahngov snorted and smoke exited his nostrils. "Have it your way, then. I hope you like your meat well done!" Drahngov began inhaling and Twilight formed a purple shield of light in front of her and her friends. Any remaining ponies in the town center with the exception of Celestia and her guards fled screaming.

As Drahngov's head arched back and he began to dip his mouth down to launch a stream of fire at the group I found that I was running towards them. Are you crazy?! Stop you fool! Run away from here, not towards the source of the fiery death! my instinct for survival screamed at me. I chose to ignore it. One of those ponies had saved my life, and another had let me into her home when I was a complete stranger. People like that were a rare thing in my world, and we had billions of our people everywhere on our planet. More importantly than that, though, this Dragon reminded me of a criminal that memorized the law specifically so he could find the loopholes and take advantage of them. I hated people like that, and this circumstance was personal!

"Sorry white Unicorn, but I need to borrow your horn for a minute!" I apologized to her as I reached them and ducked behind the shield.

"What? What are you-" Without a second thought I wrapped the fingers of my right hand around the horn on her head. The familiar warmth flowed into me and I tightened my grip. It was a good thing I did, too, because she tossed her head in an attempt to shake me off.

"What do you think you're doing?! Unhand me you-" Drahngov's fire hurled from his throat and slammed into Twilight's shield. Twilight cried out and sank to her knees, but she did not lower her head and faced the fire. Her shield buckled and cracks filled it, but she still held it together. From the other side, Drahngov had begun to laugh as more and more fire poured from his gullet and Twilight's shield started to fade away. I reached out and gripped Twilight's horn with my other hand as well. The familiar warmth turned hot like a shower rather than a sweater and as her shield shattered and fire rained down I pictured a wall in front of our little group that would redirect both the fire and the heat off to either side of us. Expecting to die, my hope spiked when the fire obeyed me. Seeing this, the white Unicorn stopped struggling and stared.

"What?" Was all she could say.

"Jacob?" Rainbow Dash said, staring at me. All of them were staring at me. Me and the invisible shield keeping death at bay. Suddenly the flow cut off and I dropped the shield. Drahngov was staring at us, utterly shocked that we were unharmed and breathing heavily.

"It's not possible!!"

"Time to knock some manners into this ugly snake!" I said between gritted teeth. I pictured a big fist striking Drahngov in the face and knocking him over backwards. Though nothing actually formed there was the definite sound of something hard slamming into flesh. Drahngov roared in pain and shock as he stumbled backwards. When he recovered he glared death at me. I let go of the horns and as the warmth flowed out of me so to did my energy. I felt like I needed a good long nap.I suppressed the urge to yawn and stepped toward the angry Dragon.

"You want to know who killed your brother, worm?" I yelled at him. I pointed at my chest "It was me! I hit him with a bolt of lightning that I called from a storm cloud!" my pointed finger became a fist. "If you think that you can fight me with any more success than your weakling sibling, I'd be more than happy to send you to join him in Hell!!!" It was all a bluff, of course. I had no idea if I could call a bolt of lightning out of a clear sky, and there was a good chance that if he attacked me I'd die or the girls would very quickly once he realized that it was the horns that gave me power and not any innate abilities that I possessed.

Drahngov snarled at me, his eyes narrowed to slits. He lowered his head so he could look at me from my own eye level. He sniffed me twice.

"I am not so foolish as to fight an enemy when I am not sure that I can win. I shall leave. This time. Tell me one thing before I go, however." I nodded.

"What are you? I have never smelled nor seen your kind before, and I have hunted all living things in this world.

"I am a Human." His narrowed eyes became as wide as they would go.

"But your kind are extinct!"

"In your world, yes. In my world, it is your kind that is extinct. Make an enemy of us and we'll wipe you out here, too." Drahngov huffed and straightened up. He looked at Celestia for a moment, then spread his wings and flew away into the now-dark skies.

I sighed in relief and sat down on the cobblestone ground. Six other sighs of relief echoed mine.

Comments

[Alalic]

This fic is getting interesting! Heh, I can't wait to see what happens next.

There is a few spelling and grammar errors here and there, but overall the story is quite good.

[Cryzer]

OMG!! I need more!!. Excellent story, please dont let it die. I dont know why but every fanfic that i start reading gets discontinued. fml

Hmmm... This is actually a fairly solid start. A word of advice: try to avoid the whole "main characters can't solve problem, OC to the rescue!" pitfall. You've only had it twice now, and both of them were sort of debatable if they really qualify (well, in my mind at least), but it's just one of the major issues that I've noted in fanfictions. Not that I particularly think you'll do that. I've just been rather upset by several fanfics I enjoyed because they started pulling those sort of shenanigans, and I rather hope this one won't.

[Shader]

I thought the dragon WAS killed in Equestria.

Being that RD and two other pegasi were present, presumably on (at least) the Equestrian side of the boarder of Everfree forest. Which I would think is Equestrian territory as well considering it houses the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

[WorldWalker128]

27394
True (concerning the ruins), but the only Pony that lives there now (as far as the TV series is concerned) is Zecora (unless that changes in the future). If the sisters had actually cared about that area any longer then they would have moved back in or at least fixed it up. From what I've seen, Everfree is a rather dangerous place. If it were still part of their territory, would it not be patrolled if only to keep anypony that chose to enter it safe?
As to RD and the two Pegasi, they were moving the storm cloud so that Equestria would not be hit by the storm. While in the show it seems that clouds do not move on their own (or at least not as much as they do here), I assumed that they still formed naturally. If this is the case in the show then they would want to move it to someplace where there would be almost no danger of it hurting anypony which is what I had them doing.

The concept for this story is fairly original(not a twilight messed up a spell) I would say for a human in Equestria fic and now I'm curious to see how Celestia and Jacob get along.

[BronyAustralia]

invite ot one

Should be to. :) Great story so far.

[Dragonlover553]

27559 hey author quick question. If humans used magic to bring us here, without horn, how did they do it? Training? Ritual alterations? False horns?

[WorldWalker128]

3317630
It doesn't say they did not use horns, but given that it takes a Unicorn's horn in order to use magic horns would have been a rare gift rather than a commodity given the source of them, which is why the number of Humans in that time period would have been small in comparison to their nation's total population. Only those that would be trusted to not go out 'harvesting' new horns when their old ones wore out would be given them.

[Dark_Night]

bad....ass

[theshinobistallion]

4791585 eeyup

[Kevin Lee]

27559 What Shader said is valid. The dragon was actually outside the forest when he was killed. In addition, the killing was in self-defense as the dragon's attack on Jacob was unprovoked.

[Truthseeker]

Am I the only one miffed that Celestia was just going to let the Element Bearers get roasted?