> A Rifting Rebirth > by Undead Night Fury > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A Rifting Rebirth - Friendship is Magic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My name is Alexander Blaze, and I’ve got one really weird story for you all. You will likely think this didn’t happen or that I'm insane, but what I've written here actually happened to me. It all started when I first saw the new Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom trailer. The moment I saw the Indoraptor I fell in love with it. Immediately after finishing the trailer I went online and ordered tickets to one of the first showings I could. Over the next few months it was all I could talk about with my friends, I couldn’t wait for the release date. Finally after 3 long months of waiting I was walking into the theatre to watch it. Sitting bored through the first half of the movie I finally got to see the Indoraptor in all its glory. Watching the Indoraptor fight Blue in the final showdown before getting impaled on the trikes horns made me sad. Soon the credits were rolling and left walking out of the theatre and out into the parking lot beginning my walk home. As I was walking past the mall when I was slammed into the ground hard. Before I knew what was happening, my wallet was torn out of my pocket, and I heard someone sprint off. Getting up, shaking my head to reorient myself before going after the fucker. Running after him, struggling to catch up, as I had never been very athletic. However, I knew my local area rather well, and I took a shortcut that enabled me to gain a lot of ground, enough for me to snatch at his clothes in desperation. Then he turned and pulled a gun on me, I stopped in shock and frantically tried to get away from the weapon, before three loud bangs rocked my world. There was a terrible pain in my chest and I collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath for a while before I lost consciousness. ===---+---=== Waking to utter blackness, I looked around, seeing nothing. ‘Where am I? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?’ I wondered. Suddenly, out of the darkness, a little, bright light appeared in front of me, then began dancing around my palms, as if it wanted me to touch it. Tentatively, I brushed a finger over it, and was blinded by a moment of agony. It felt like I was being boiled alive. Every fibre of my body screamed in protest, pleading for the pain to stop. Instead, my mind was just overloaded, and I lost consciousness. Again. ===---+---=== Groaning a bit as I returned to consciousness. Groggily trying to remember what happened, after a few moments of struggling my eyes snapped open in shock as It finally hit me and I panicked. I’d just been shot! My hands shot to my chest, frantically trying to feel the bullet holes. But... there weren’t any. Instead, I was introduced to a very different problem. Instead of my regular arms, I was graced with the slightly terrifying sight of black-scaled arms with three fingers that ended in long-taloned claws. I won’t lie, I screamed when I saw that I had scaly limbs instead of my normal arms. “What... what happened to me?!” I yelled, feeling something hanging off my lower body and trying to turn and look behind me, I ended up on my back dizzily looking down at what I recognized as a long muzzle, looking up at what I realized was a long tail, "I... I have a tail?!" After a few hours of panically examining my new body I remembered recent memories of something I had watched just several hours ago passed through my brain. It took a moment to click, but I realized that I was an Indoraptor. My brain froze as that registered, and I started to freak out even more. How had this happened?! What would happen to me? Would I be hunted down by the army and killed? Captured and put in a zoo? Forced to kill people against my will? Eventually, my brain just decided ‘no’, and shunted all of those problems to the side, which allowed me to slowly take in my surroundings and become... not ‘satisfied’ with my situation. Just simply acknowledging that it had happened, and that I was, for better or worse, stuck like this. Looking around, noticing that I was laying in the middle of a large ravine. There was a large forest above me, nestled on one of the sheer cliffs that trapped me down here. Twisting my head to a degree that was impossible for a human, I looked straight behind me. The top of the cliff to that side was bare, although there was a large cave at its base. Struggling to get up on unstable, unfamiliar legs, I attempted to take a step... only to face-plant my muzzle into the ground. “Ugh,” I groaned, before getting an idea. Resting a moment, I waited before making another attempt to stand again. This time, I used my new tail to balance myself. Taking a small step using my tail as a counterbalance, and it actually worked! Letting out a small yip of happiness I got to work. Slowly making my way towards the cave entrance when I noticed a familiar crystalline tree inside it. It looked uncannily like the Tree of Harmony from My Little Pony. Cautiously entering the cave to get a closer look at the crystalline tree, keeping a close eye on my surroundings in case of danger. Slowly approaching the tree, I examined it, finding two marks near the base of the trunk of the tree. “It can’t be!” I exclaimed in shock, only now noticing that my voice was deeper than before. Shaking my head lightly I checked again. It was definitely the Tree of Harmony. My brain froze, I started to freak out again at the impossibility of it. Backing away from the tree I turned and ran out of the cave tripping over something. Looking down I noticed a tiny golden key of some kind. Picking it up, I saw it had a picture of a sun and moon on one side, and some kind of floating island on the other side. Odd. Placing the strange key back on the ground next to the cave entrance I left the cave. Looking up, I noticed the sky was getting darker. The sun was setting, and I saw something that made my heart stop for a minute. Looking up at the moon, I saw the Mare in the Moon. ”... Well, there’s no denying it now.” I mumbled to myself. I was in Equestria. “This must be before the show, as Luna hasn’t been redeemed yet,” I mumbled to myself quietly, now knowing that there are other things here more deadly than me. ===---+---=== Over the next few weeks, I learned how to use my new body. After almost starving, I also learned how to hunt, being extremely careful to only kill non-sentient life. Being very aware that almost everything in this world was self-aware, and I was not a murderer; but if I had to defend myself, I wouldn’t hold back. However, I was not alone. I’m almost sure that I was spotted by Zecora a few times, but I never saw her outright. There was only the rustle of branches and leaves when there was no wind, and the occasional flash of black and white. Was she studying me, maybe? I also discovered that, unlike the Indoraptor in the movie, I had the camouflage ability of the Indominus Rex. It wasn’t straight-up invisibility though. It only worked when I kept stock-still, and even then, it did better while I was still hidden somehow. Standing around in broad daylight? No, that wouldn’t work at all. Still, once I had discovered it, I did my best to train until I was fairly capable of using it. Before I knew it, a month had passed since I woke up as an indoraptor. After some thought I had decided to take on the name Phantom instead of keeping my old human name. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and all that. Over the last few weeks I had used my camouflage ability to sneak to the edge of the forest from time to time. Yesterday, I made the trip to the edge of the forest camouflaged and as I sat in the shadows I had overheard that it was nearly time for the one-thousandth summer sun celebration. And so, I sat near the edge of the Everfree forest, waiting for things to happen. Eventually, I spotted Twilight and Spike’s carriage land, and the guards leave shortly after. Now all I had to do was wait until Nightmare Moon returned. So, I slunk away into the trees, knowing that I had hours and hours until anything interesting happened, so I had enough time to hunt. Making my way through the everfree silently, like a shadow listening for heartbeats, smelling for scents. Blinking rapidly my vision changed allowing me to see in thermal, now able to see the heat of my prey, a deer. Moving slowly towards my prey stalking it, carefully so as to not alert it to my presence. Listening to its calm heartbeat knowing he didn’t know I was hunting it. When he was leaning down to eat more grass I made my move. Rushing the deer alerting it to my presence but it was already to late I had already pounced. Digging my sickle claw into the soft underbelly quickly disemboweling it, the deer screamed(idk what else to call it?) in pain as I let my instincts overtake my rational side of my brain and began feasting on the dying animal. Digging my muzzle up into the deers chest and snap my jaws onto the animals barely beating heart tearing it out and swallowing it whole. Finishing my meal I came to my senses as my bestial instincts to subside and I looked down at the remains of my meal before heading to the nearby river to clean off the blood and gore before heading back to the edge of the forest to wait. It was late in the night when I returned with a full belly, I only had to wait a few hours before I looked up and noticed the Mare in the moon disappear and heard Nightmare Moon’s maniacal laughter in the distance. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Rainbow Dash as she tried to fly after her, and I knew it was game time. Seeing the mane six approach and then enter the forest, creeping silently after them, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. It took all my nascent skill in stealth to keep hidden, especially from Pinkie Pie. Who nearly caught me several times when suddenly I saw the cliff collapse, sending the mane six tumbling down the cliffside. Things went normally until the manticore. I could easily tell that something was off, as events started to deviate from those of the show. When Rarity bucked it in the face, instead of roaring, it took a swipe at her with its deadly claws. Twilight was able to pull her away with magic just in time. Knowing that their only chance was if I intervened to save them. So, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took their shots at it, carefully I snuck up behind it and was prepared when Fluttershy yelled “Wait!” That’s when the manticore took its chance, charging Fluttershy while she had her back turned. Taking that as my cue, and rapidly closing the distance between myself and the manticore in a bolt of black lightning, my camouflage dropping. Tackling the monster, the two of us rolled away into the trees, clawing at each other, and allowing the mane six to cross unimpeded. Separating, the manticore struck out at my left side. I saw the strike coming and dodged to the right before backing up and trying to form a strategy. However, I’d forgotten about the manticore's tail. It snapped out and stung me in the thigh, making me yelp in pain. However, committing to that attack had given me an opening I could use. And so, I did, punching it twice in the face as hard as possible, stunning it. “That should keep it down for a while,” I thought to myself. A small part of me wanted to end the hunt and feast on my prey, but I knew I had to catch up with the mane six, as something was interfering with the events of the show. After quickly making sure the manticore was truly unconscious and wouldn’t follow us. I turned to start making my way back to the main cast, but my right leg gave out and I collapsed. The sting hadn’t been as light as I’d thought, and my entire leg was numb and practically dead weight. Thankfully, I still had full control over my three other limbs, allowing me to limp off after the mane six. Limping along I quickly found the mane six at the trees a few minutes later. Thankfully, nothing exciting happened outside of Pinkie Pie’s song. Tripping over a hidden root I muzzle planted into the dirt. “Urk!” I let out a groan of pain while I struggled to get back up. There was a collective gasp from multiple people nearby. Then I heard some quiet talking off to the side. I just lay there for a bit, letting the pain fade slightly. “Oh my gosh, you poor thing!” Said a vaguely familiar voice. Looking up I saw none other than Fluttershy looking in horror at my injured leg. To my surprise she looked about a third of my size, she was tiny compared to me. Glancing down at my leg, I saw blood was leaking out of the wound and running down my right hind leg. Honestly, it looked worse than it felt, but not being able to move the limb probably contributed to the ‘injured animal’ look. Looking back up at Fluttershy and saw she had run back to the others and started ordering them around while I just lay there. After a few minutes, the ponies hesitantly approached me with various items, such as vines and huge leaves. A bright light nearly blinded me for a moment before I noticed Twilight’s horn light up, and felt a fuzzy feeling coming from my hind leg, drawing out what I assumed was the manticore’s venom. After she was done, she immediately backed off, smelling of what I assume was fear. I was then treated by Fluttershy, who placed the leaf onto my wound and wrapped the vines around my hind leg, making a makeshift bandage. “Thank you…” I said softly, looking up at Fluttershy. There was another loud gasp from everyone. “You… You can speak?!” Rainbow Dash asked, I glanced over at her hovering off to the side. “Yes?” I said glancing around nervously looking for any threats. “We need to keep moving! We are running out of time!” Twilight said to the other ponies. Struggling a moment to get up to follow as well, getting some strange looks from the ponies. They look at each other before looking back at me nervously. “What… what are you doing, mister?” Fluttershy asked shyly. “I am coming with you. I don’t like how that manticore attacked you and want to make sure you ponies get to wherever you’re going in one piece.” I said, getting to my hands... err... paws. “Uh…” Twilight looked nervously at the other ponies. “I could help protect you from the other inhabitants of the forest. Not many of the other creatures will want to attack me.” I said softly, trying to convince them to take me along. “Uh… okay?” Twilight said, looking at Fluttershy. The ponies started making their way deeper into the forest while I limped behind them at a slight distance. All of them looked at me over their shoulders from time to time, probably as a mix of concern for my wound and fear of me. Shortly afterwards, things took a turn for the worse when I heard a scream of terror up ahead. Quickly running ahead, arriving on the scene I found Steven Magnet, the sea serpent, brutally ripped apart. There was blood and guts everywhere, I turned and saw the mane six frozen in terror. I was about to try to get them moving when I spotted a small pack of Timberwolves sneaking up on the stunned ponies. Tackling the nearest Timberwolf, before yelling, “Run! Get out of here! I’ll keep them busy!” They jumped and got moving. Biting into the neck of the Timberwolf, while, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the mares run across the river. Shattering the Timberwolf, I had in my jaw, before I turned to find another target when one attacked me from the side. The Timberwolf tackled me to the ground, slashing my side open. Letting out a small roar of pain, I turned and slashed the Timberwolf, shattering it. It took me a good ten minutes to finish off the pack when I realized that I would never catch up with the mane six while in the forest. Fortunately, I knew some shortcuts after spending months in this cursed forest and went straight to the castle, arriving in the room where I knew Twilight would confront Nightmare Moon well before anyone else did. Utilizing my camouflage, I hid in a dark corner of the room, doing my best to see everything while remaining unseen. Losing track of time, I didn’t know how long I had to wait before I heard the mane six enter the other room. Soon enough, I heard a commotion in the other room, and saw NMM appear with Twilight. I could feel something wasn’t right with Nightmare Moon. The look in her eyes wasn’t how the show had displayed it. Watching as the two ponies charged at each other, trying to find an opening to help. It was just after Twilight teleported that I saw something was wrong. Nightmare Moon charged a mana blast with her horn, aiming at Twilight. I knew that Twilight had no hope of surviving such a blast. Feeling something surge inside of me and I moved as fast as I could, dropping my cloak. Quickly tackling twilight out of the way, twisting myself so that I would land on my good side. Letting out a roar of agony as I crashed into the wall hard, while Twilight landed off to the side. I blacked out for a few moments before I groggily awoke to Nightmare Moon blabbering to Twilight about how she had killed Twilight’s pet lizard. I was feeling really woozy when I thankfully heard the rest of the mane six run into the room. Knowing she was going to be safe, I allowed myself to black out during Twilight's speech about the Elements of Harmony. ===---+---=== When I woke up, I found that I was in the corner of a room, everything was so small. Peering out the window that was conveniently placed near my corner, saw it was daytime now. When I glanced down at my body, I saw that I was wrapped in various bandages, which stretched all across my sides and right hindleg. Nosing the band-aids softly sniffing them, I could smell the scent of various medicine coating my wounds. “G-Good morning” A familiar voice said softly from the stairway. Looking over to the voice and saw Fluttershy on the stairs looking at me. She hesitantly walked over to me and checked my bandages before redressing them. “What happened?” I asked her, tilting my head confused. “Well, when you tackled Twilight out of the way, she landed on your bad side, which only made the wound worse,” she told me. “What happened next?” I asked. “After that, the rest of us arrived, and Twilight made a big speech about friendship, before summoning the elements of harmony. We blasted Nightmare Moon with the elements and saved both princesses...” And so, she continued to explain what happened during my impromptu sleeping session. When she had finished telling me, I noticed that it was getting dark outside. Still feeling woozy from my injuries, I laid my head back onto my paws and fell asleep. > A Rifting Rebirth - The Ticket Master > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been a few days since the whole Nightmare Moon incident and I was still laying on my left side allowing my right side to heal. At least I was healed enough that I could stand and move about a bit. It still hurt to do so, but I was able to get out of the house, as long as I returned to have Fluttershy to get my bandages redone every so often. Yesterday I was asked by Fluttershy to head to Twilight‘s library to answer questions about just what I am. Glancing at the door, I knew that there was a pair of royal guards just outside the door. Over the last few days, I was fed a couple of rather large fish a day after I explained I couldn’t eat plants. Figuring I’d start making my way to the library in town, knowing it will take me a while to get there. Getting up and wincing at the aching of my body, I made my way to the door. Opening the door startled the two guards standing outside. “Halt!” the left guard, a pegasus barked at me with hostility. “Where do you think you’re going?” the right guard asked, looking at me suspiciously, while the unicorns horn charged some unknown spell. “I am just going to make my way to the library where Twilight Sparkle has asked to question me,” I calmly explained to the jumpy guards. They eyed me for a moment, like they were sizing me up for a fight. “Alright, you may pass, but by order of Princess Celestia, we are to accompany you everywhere you go until we are ordered otherwise!” the right guard seemingly satisfied with what he found. I just sort of shrug, make my way past them, and start my journey to the golden oak library slowly, with the guards taking up positions right behind me. Over the next 20 minutes, we made our way slowly through the countryside. Taking in the sights around me, enjoying seeing Equestria in person. We passed by some kind of barn-like structure on our way into town. I was curious as to what it was, but I didn’t really want to deviate from the path in case the guards get jumpy. So, after taking a moment to rest and take in the sights around the area, we continued on our way. It took us another 30 minutes to get into Ponyville proper, due to me starting to limp really badly from my injuries. ===---+---=== As expected, the moment ponies noticed me approaching, they panicked. Soon, there was barely anyone left outside, as I, once again, had to lay down and rest for a little bit, or I would risk injuring myself farther. Looking around, I saw that I lay down near the town hall. Sniffing the air, I could smell the poor ponies’ fear in the air. Letting out a small sigh, I knew that it would take time for them to learn to trust me, but it really hurt to see them so scared of me. After resting for around 10 minutes, I got back up onto my paws and continued to make my way to the library. After seeing me lay there doing nothing with two royal guards beside me for 10 minutes, the ponies had slowly started to come out of hiding. Walking past a cafe I made sure I stayed off to the side, well away from the nervous ponies. I saw Twilight and Spike sitting at a table. Twilight looked very depressed, until a pony walked up to her. Suddenly, Twilight shouted out, “I CAN’T DECIDE!” An old memory was drawn to the forefront of my mind. Glancing up and saw the rain clouds being moved into position by pegasi. “Uh… Twi-“ I started, but it was too late, and ponies stampeded into the restaurant as it started pouring rain. Surprising me slightly, the rain felt very pleasant on my scaly hide, letting out a sigh of pleasure and just laid down, letting the rain soothe my aching body and itchy scales. Because of this, I missed warning Twilight to move inside before yelling at rainbow dash to seal up the cloud, I also didn’t notice Rarity walking up on Twilight until she had grabbed Twilight and ran off back the way I just came. Resting until the rain stopped a few hours later, I got back onto my paws and walked the last few blocks to the library. Approaching the library, I saw none other than Fluttershy and a bunch of animals walking up to the library as well. “Phantom? What are you doing outside?” she said so softly that if I didn’t have a heightened sense of hearing, I wouldn’t have heard it. “You said that Twilight had asked me to come to the library when I was able to walk better to answer some questions Fluttershy.” I replied softly in return so I wouldn’t startle the gentle Pegasus. “Oh, my but you shouldn’t have made the journey today Phantom, you’re still too hurt!” She said shocked rushing over to check me over for any additional injuries. “I’m fine, Fluttershy. I took it slowly so I wouldn’t hurt myself and rested regularly if I felt too tired. You can ask my guards if you want” I explained, knowing very well that the shy Pegasus wouldn’t be able to. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say something else, but she saw that I was still ok and went into the library. Waiting for the other animals to enter first, due to them being skittish around me from being a predator. Waiting a moment to give the animals time to move away from the door before entering the library, the guards took, well, guard outside the door. Looking at the small room full of books, I saw Fluttershy, a few birds, a single squirrel, and Angel the Rabbit cleaning the library. Walking over to lay down in the corner of the room, resting my tired and aching body while I waited for twilight to come back and question me. After about an hour, Twilight opens the door and walks in. Immediately distracted by Fluttershy, she didn’t notice me off in the corner. “Gasp! Fluttershy, not you too!” Twilight exclaimed “Oh, hello, Twilight. I hope you don’t mind, but we are all doing a little spring cleaning.” Fluttershy explained softly. “It’s summer.” Twilight deadpanned. “Oh… better late than never, right?” Fluttershy said, blushing in embarrassment at her ploy being caught so easily. Letting out a small laugh at that, catching the attention of Twilight. “P-Phantom, I… I d-didn’t see you there!” She said nervously. “Don’t mind me, Twilight. I’m just resting here until you’re ready to question me.” I explained, motioning for her to go back to what she was doing. Looking excited at me for a moment, she shook her head and turned back to Fluttershy. “You’re not doing this just for the ticket, right?” Twilight asked, glaring suspiciously at Fluttershy. “Oh, no, I’m doing this because you’re my best friend, right Angel?” Fluttershy asks the rabbit who just glares at her, unamused. “Oh… yes, we are just doing this for the ticket.” Fluttershy amended as I let out a slight snort, getting a glare from both ponies for a moment before they went back to their conversation. “No, no, no!” Twilight shouted, knocking over the poor rabbit, ruining the salad he made for her. “Well, this is all very nice of you and your animals Fluttershy, but I’m not accepting any extra favors until I’ve made my decision, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave!” Twilight said, opening the door and pointing a hoof outside. “Me, too?” I asked innocently with a tilted head, knowing that any second pinkie pie was going to appear and swipe twilight away. “No Phantom, you can st-“ Twilight started to say before a lot of ponies yelled in surprise and pinkie pie grabbed twilight and pulled her out of the library. Soon, I was left alone after Fluttershy made another quick check on my bandages and then quickly left with the other animals to do whatever they were going to do. About a half an hour later the mane six entered the library, gave me a glance for a moment and went upstairs to wait for Twilight. Soon afterwards, Twilight teleported into the room with Spike, looking a little worse for wear. When the rest of the mane six turned on the lights, Twilight screamed and started to freak out and rant. “Twilight, sugar, I’m sorry I put so much pressure on you. I don’t want the ticket anymore; you can give it to somepony else.” Applejack said while Fluttershy flew over to the pair. “Me, too, I feel just afoul that I made you feel so bad.” Fluttershy said while the rest continued apologizing to twilight. I watched as Twilight sent the tickets back, saying that if all her friends couldn’t go, then she wouldn’t either. Spike sent the letter and tickets back to Princess Celestia via his dragonfire. A few minutes later, the princess sent a letter and six tickets while the girls celebrated. Spike looked disappointed at not getting a ticket before he burped up another letter. “And one for you Spike and Phantom, each.” Spike read, holding up two extra tickets. It shocked me that I was also invited, despite being an unknown, carnivorous super predator. The mane six turns to look at me, just as surprised at me being invited as well. After a little while, everyone started to file out, and it was time for me to be questioned. It was decided that I was to spend the night here, since it was a bad idea for me to move about in the evening. Twilight lay down on a pillow near me, floating a notepad and a quill in the air around her head. “So, what exactly are you, Phantom?” she asked, looking at me excitedly. “Well, Um… I’m a dinosaur hybrid, an ancient reptilian species that is mostly extinct.” I explained patiently, while twilight was writing it down. “What are your normal habits?” she asked next. “Normally, I wake up and go hunting for food. After that, I find stuff to entertain myself with until it's time to go to bed and start over again the next day.” I listed out what I do with my time. “What about your species’ habitat?” she asked after writing down the information of the previous question. “My specific species doesn’t really have one. As I said, I’m a hybrid of one pure breed and another hybrid, so I don’t really have a specific habitat.” I explained to the genius pony, as she wrote it all down. “What about your… diet?” She asked with slight hesitation, I was really nervous about this question. “...Meat. I am a carnivore. My body cannot- ...um, is incapable of digesting plant matter...” I explain hesitantly, nervous at her reaction. She glanced at me with a look of terror on her muzzle, her fear was so strong I would be able to smell it a mile away. “What about your species’ government?” She asked me still slightly green and nervous. “We don’t exactly have one. We mostly live wild, so we don’t really have one outside maybe elders if they were in a pack. We don’t have any economy either… except maybe food.” I explained in a calm tone, trying to calm her down a bit. After she wrote that down, she noticed it was getting really late and told me she was going to bed. I nodded to her, curled up into a ball, and fell asleep soon after that. > NightTalon - Applebuck Season Part 1(OLD) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After my interrogation by Twilight a few days ago, I was back at Fluttershy’s cottage once again. Resting on my side while she removed my bandages, my wounds had finally healed enough to no longer need them. I was expecting for Pinkie to throw a welcome party for me any day now that Twilight had cleared me of being a threat, so long as I had at least one royal guard with me. While I was allowed to continue my hunting of non-sentient animals, I was also allowed to request fish if I couldn’t catch anything as a compromise. I had put my paws down for them to allow me to continue hunting to satisfy my primal instincts. Also, in my spare time, I had started volunteering my time to help ponies out to get them used to seeing me. Today, I was on my way to help Twilight with answering some more questions about me and what I am. Walking past the town hall, I heard a low rumble sound from behind me; turning to look back at the path I just came from, I saw a cloud rapidly approaching the town, and my heart dropped. “STAMPEED!” Rainbow Dash shouted in alarm, flying slightly above where I was. What happened next was predictable for a prey species: the ponies panicked, retreating into the various buildings. Through all of the panic, I saw that, as usual, Pinkie Pie was being, well, Pinkie; ignoring the possible danger to her life. Running through the ponies, I grabbed Pinkie and limped off to the side, to safety. As the stamped got closer I saw it was cows. “Look!” Rainbow Dash pointed, catching the attention of everyone; looking back towards where Rainbow Dash had pointed, I saw Applejack galloping with the stampeding cows, corralling them away from Ponyville. Applejack, having stopped the cows‘ stampede, let Pinkie Pie go, and she trotted off to the others. It took a few minutes to calm everyone down and for the ponies to come out. I looked around, making sure everything was alright before I continued to the library to wait for twilight. Making myself comfy in the same corner as last time, I waited until Twilight came home, watching Spike do various chores. A few hours later, Twilight entered into the library. “So, are we going to continue with your questions today, Twilight?” I asked, causing her to jump and let out a scream. “EEP! TALON?! Don’t do that!” Twilight shouted while I chuckled softly at having scared her twice in a row. “Well, are we, Twilight?” I asked again. “Yes, we are…” she replied She walked to the table and sat down. While she was checking her notes, I got up and walked over to sit down on the other side of the table. “So last time you explained that you are a carnivore and don’t really have a government.” She reviewed “Yes…” I replied “Ok, so let’s get started Talon. What about schooling? I know you can read and write, but what about other things?” Twilight asked looking at me expectantly. “Uh… I was taught by my pack how to hunt and how to find water and shelter. They also taught me some of my pack’s history and its, for lack of a better word, politics.” I explained calmly, examining my right paw while I waited for a few minutes as she wrote that down. “Ok, so what about your… pack, was it?” Twilight asked. “My pack? Hmm… I haven’t thought much about them since I left it to make my way on my own.” It hurt to lie about having a pack, but I knew Twilight wouldn't believe me if I told her the truth. “Well, my parents were both Indoraptors like me, and my grandparents were a velociraptor and an Indominus Rex.” I replied after thinking for a moment. She wrote that down excitedly. “What is a velociraptor?” she asked “Uh… Velociraptors are a specie of biped reptilians, they have 3 fingers and lack the thumb I have, their forelegs are short, but their strong legs make up for it with speed.” I explained as she wrote it all down. “Hmm… what about the… Indominus Rex, was it?” she asked “Yes, that’s it… that’s a bit more complicated, the Indominus Rex or I-Rex for short is a hybrid like me just with different aspects, the I-Rex has more Tyrannosaurus Rex or T-Rex then it does Velociraptor… it is a very big carnivorous biped reptilian with the ability to camouflage like me. And before you ask about the T-Rex they are about the same size of the I-Rex, maybe 3 times my size with really short arms.” I explained to her while she wrote it all down. “Hmm… we only have enough time for one more question… have you made any friends since you left your pack?” Twilight asked. “Err… not really, the closest I have come is with you and Fluttershy.” I explained, feeling down. At that, she looked up from writing down my answer, seeing my sad expression. “Hey now, it’s ok… you’ll make some new friends Talon, I know that Fluttershy already considers you a friend.” Twilight said softly, I just sighed, nodded, and got up to leave. “Thanks… Goodbye, Twilight. I’m going to head home, I have been itchy lately to hunt, so I think I will be gone for the next few days.” I explained as I got up to leave. Twilight turned a little green at that but said nothing as I left the library. Walking through the town, I saw that I wasn’t getting as many hostile looks as I was a few days ago. That brought a small smile to my muzzle, causing a few ponies to recoil at the sight of my sharp teeth. Leaving the town, I started to make the journey to Fluttershy’s cottage to let her know I was going to be in the Everfree for the next few days hunting. Suddenly, I heard a rustle and a light “thump” behind me. I jumped a little bit before turning around and coming face to face with... A giant eagle that was as big as me. “Finally! I was wondering when you’d be alone!” The eagle talked, to my surprise. “You can speak?! Who are you? Wha… What are you? Why do you want me alone?” I exclaimed in surprise. “Let's just make sure first. Can you confirm you died, and you touched a blinking light in that void between worlds?” “H… how did you know?” I asked shakenly. “Because that was the same for me... A long time ago, I admit, but I went through the same thing as you.” “Y… Yes, I d-died, I found myself in a place with nothing but a light, I touched it, and then I woke to find myself like this.” I explained. “Let me say something immediately then. You’re not alone. Not at all, you’re now part of a group called the Plainswalkers. Our role is to guard the Multiverse, because, yes, it’s not limited to Earth and Equestria; the Multiverse is real, and all works of fiction you may have read or watched were, in fact, real.” “I knew it was real!” I exclaimed excitedly. “However, we’re not here just to mingle with the inhabitants of our inhabited realms, as we call each universe. I said that we’re Guardians of the Multiverse, but you may be wondering ‘What are we guarding it against?’ The answer is short: Shadows. They’re not your literal shadows created by light, mind you, but powerful beings that have a single goal; to destabilize realms and assimilate them into their own realm without caring for the lives of their inhabitants. Our presence makes them unable to destabilize the realms, but I must impress on you that you do not try to fight one alone - you WILL lose. Shadows are really powerful, and we need to bring an army just to kill one. Do you understand?” He said with a glare that did not leave place to question. “Uh… yes? These shadows, could they have been what made Nightmare Moon try to kill us?” I asked. “You mean there has already been a canon divergence? You’re sure you haven’t interfered before?” He seemed alarmed by now. “No, the first time I ever directly interacted with any of the main cast was after the manticore tried to kill Fluttershy. Well, outside of being occasionally spotted by a few ponies in the Everfree.” I explained. “That wouldn’t have been enough for such a major canon divergence indeed…” He scratched his beak with his claw in thought. “The fiction works you watch or read are what happen, should no Plainswalker or Shadow intervention occur, so if you’ve not interfered, and as you’re the first Plainswalker in this realm… That means a Shadow has already entered this realm… I'll finish the introductions, then I’ll have to report back to my fellow Elders.” He took a breath, then resumed. “Where was I before I got interrupted? Ah, yes. We travel between the realms using what we call the Rift, which is a network that links them. And to travel the Rift, you need a Key. That should have been next to you when you woke up here.” “Uh… is it a golden key with a sun and moon on one side and some kind of floating island on the other?” I asked. “Yep, the floating island represents the realm where every Plainswalker gathers together, and the other side represents the realm you got dropped in. You have it on you?” “Where would I put it? It’s at Fluttershys cottage, I moved it there after I recovered enough from my injuries to go and get it.” I replied. “Hmmm, can you go there, grab it and say that you’re gone for the day? We’ll be gone for a long time, after all.” “Sure! I already got an alibi anyway; I was planning on going hunting… my predatory instincts have been giving me urges lately…” I explained as I turned to leave and continue on the path to Fluttershys cottage. “We’ll probably work on that. If the worst comes to worst, we have hunting grounds on Locostral, our home. That should allow you to quench those urges without putting your realmmates in danger. I’ll wait here for you. Go grab your key, I need to teach you how to use it.” “Err… I’ve been hunting the non-sentient animals here for the past month or so… did I do something wrong there?” I asked turning back to look at the eagle. “Not really, you can keep doing that. I was just giving you the option to hunt without risking having your realmmates stumble upon a lot of blood and gore. Go, I’ll wait for you.” “Oh, ok. Well, we kinda have reached a compromise on that issue, allowing me to continue hunting while they would provide a meal if I couldn’t catch a non-sentient animal.” I explained as I turned to leave again and started back down on the path. Hurrying down the path, I opened the door and entered into Fluttershy’s cottage, looking around I saw that she wasn’t home. Walking over into my little corner where I stashed the key, I grabbed it and left the cottage, making my way back to the giant eagle. “Here it is. This is what you were talking about, right?” I asked, holding up the golden key. “Exactly. Before I train you to open a Rift portal though, I’ve got to bond the key to you. It’s a security measure we put in place after a Plainswalker went rogue and stole a bunch of keys and destabilized dozens of realms.” He grabbed the key from my claws with hers, reversed her grip, then stabbed me with the pointy bits. I yelped as the eagle stabbed me with the key, I was about to yell at him when I collapsed to the ground in agony. My blood felt like it was cooking my body. After a few seconds, the pain started to subside, leaving me gasping for air on the ground. “That’s… the second time in the past week I’ve been stabbed by something…” I said panting. “Sorry. I didn’t want to warn you, we think that it’s less painful when you’re taken by surprise… No love lost.” “Well then… what now?” I asked while flexing my injured foreleg as it healed the wound. “By the way, I just realised I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Aegis. And now, it’s the moment where I go full Yoda to you and ask you to open yourself to the Force.” “… What?” I asked tilting my head to the side in confusion. “Sorry, couldn’t stop myself; In reality, you should meditate and try to sense the Rift energy surrounding us. It’s always there, and you’ll always be able to access it. You’ll quickly recognise it, it’s quite wild.” “Ok. Should we move to somewhere more… private? This path does get used by some ponies and cows, after all…” I asked. “Good idea. The portal will be quite noticeable, and you would get a lot of questions about me, so let’s head into the forest.” “Uh… that’s not a very good idea… there are quite a few creatures there that I wouldn’t want to mess with…” I explained to the giant eagle. “Eh, don’t worry, they wouldn’t stand a chance against me.” “Ok then…” I replied as I started to walk down the path to the entrance to the Everfree. We arrived at the forest after about 10 minutes of walking. Entering the forest, I sat down and started meditating, looking for this ‘Rift Energy’ that Aegis told me about. After about 20 minutes, I finally felt something coiling around my heart, mentally reaching, I grabbed a hold of it, occasionally causing some kind of orange energy to make small sparks around the area. “Uh… did I do it?” I asked, looking at the colourful flickers. Aegis inspected my work critically, then nodded. “That’ll do. Now, to open a Rift portal, you’ve got to hold your key, force the energy into it, then… Open a door, I guess?” “Uh… ok?” I said as I tried to force the energy into the key. “Do I turn it like a key in a door?” “Exactly.” Nodding, I turned the key around as if unlocking a door, creating a portal of sorts, which was swirling like an orange kaleidoscope. He examined the portal critically before nodding. “Safe enough for travel I’ll say, we can use it. Now how to navigate the rift? You just jump in and the key will guide you through it. Oh, before I forget, never, and I repeat, NEVER travel the rift when you’re inebriated, this is much more dangerous than driving a car.” “I understand… So, do we enter now or…” I replied. “I’ll go in first. The portal will close behind you; just follow the key’s direction, and you’ll soon understand what I mean by that.” And with that he jumped directly into the portal, creating ripples on it, but not making it close. Readying myself, I jumped into the portal after him, instinctively following a path. Running along as fast as I could, I surface in a pool-like area. Quickly swimming to the edge, I get out and look around for Aegis. “Enjoyed the trip?” I heard above me. Thankfully, it was just the eagle. “Well… it was an experience at least… where to now?” I asked, looking up at the giant eagle above me. “Follow me. We must make haste to make it before the Gathering ends. Don’t hesitate to run to keep up with me.” Then he flew towards a giant stadium. Running after Aegis as fast as I can on all four legs, I manage to keep up with him… barely. Reaching the giant stadium, I take a moment to rest. “What is in there?” I ask, panting. “This is where we gather once per week. We exchange news, inform every one of the events, and report Shadow activities. And we also introduce newcomers. Come, and prepare yourself, you’ll draw quite the attention, so I hope you aren’t shy!” He said before leading me into the tunnel. “Ok, ok, I’m going.” I say as I am pulled into the tunnel, leading me into a football-like stadium. I could hear loud clamour coming from the end of the tunnel, and, at the command of Aegis, I stopped before going into the light. He told me, “Wait for my signal before coming into the light - I have to warn my fellow Elders.” “Ok.” I said as I sat down to catch my breath fully and waited. He joined the others Elders that were assembled at the podium. They were discussing something, but stopped when Aegis joined them, whispering to a Marty McFly lookalike, then he nodded to him and announced into the microphone. “And finally, to conclude this Gathering, as usual when this happens, I ask you to welcome our newest member!” Taking that as my cue, I walked out of the tunnel and into the stadium; looking around, I see loads of different species, some living, some undead. I even saw what looked like a green version of Smaug off to the side. Looking over to where Aegis went, I saw what looked like a robot and a duplicate of Marty McFly from Back to the Future sitting next to him. Walking out of the shadows of the tunnel, I walked over to stand near the Elders. The robot then said, “Welcome to Locostral!” “Thank you, sir.” I said. “What’s your name?” “My original name was Alexander Blaze, but I now go by Night Talon or just Talon.” I replied. He nodded and then said, “And Aegis said that he brought you back from Equestria…” He turns around towards the stadium and called out. “Clan leaders! Who is willing to offer our newest member a place in their group?” A large Tyrannosaurus Rex that looked very familiar stepped forwards. “I will, Elder.” She said. “That doesn’t surprise me that you chose to bring him in, Lydia, you’re a clan of dinosaurs after all! Does this arrangement suit you, Talon?” “Yes, sir.” I replied. “Then it’s decided. With that our gathering is concluded, have a nice day guys! Do cool stuff, photograph it, and send me pics, okay?” Aegis came to wish me good luck, then flew away. I walked over to join my new clanmates with Lydia the T-Rex as everyone left the stadium. I followed Lydia as we joined what looked like Blue, the Velociraptor from Jurassic World and another T-Rex looking dinosaur with a sword-like blade on its tail. We walked through the city towards the edge where there were huge mountains, approaching the side of one mountain Lydia walked up to it and pressed a semi-hidden button that caused a rock door to slide up, revealing a nicely furnished cavern with dino-sized furniture. After everybody took a seat, I was introduced to my new clanmates. “Now that we are here, Talon this is Luna Hunt, who’s form is Blue the Velociraptor from Jurassic World; she protects the Star Trek realm on Voyager.” Lydia said, pointing at the other raptor. “Hi!” Luna said cheerfully. “Hello.” I replied politely. “This is Spada, whose form is a Glavenus from Monster Hunter World; he protects The Dragon Prince realm.” Lydia said, gesturing at the other T-Rex creature. “Nice to meet you, Night Talon.” He greeted politely. “You, too.” I replied. “And I am Lydia Palmer; my form is Rexy the Tyrannosaurus Rex from Jurassic Park. I protect The Land Before Time.” She said. “Hello, and thank you for taking me in.” I said. “No problem.” She replied. “Well, my old name was Alexander Blaze, but I decided to take the name Night Talon or just Talon for short. I guess I protect Equestria from the My Little Pony G4.” I introduced myself, getting some more “hello”s from everybody else. Soon, I was shown to an empty room that was now mine. Looking around, I saw that, unlike the common areas, the bedrooms were modern. I set about arranging things as I liked. By the time I was done, it was getting dark, so I said goodnight to my new clanmates and went to bed. > NightTalon - Applebuck Season Part 2(OLD) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I groggily woke up the next morning, I felt something was wrong, not remembering the day before just yet. I was laying on something very soft. Lifting my head and looking around, I saw I was inside a modern-looking room, when yesterday came slamming back into my mind and I remembered where I was now. Getting up, I stretched my legs and tail before leaving my room to head to where the kitchen I was shown was. Walking into the room, I saw that Luna was already there, putting some kind of liquid into what looked like a bottle of coke. “What are you doing?” I asked as I walked over and got some of the raw meat that was kept in the fridge. Walking over to her, I munched on my meal. “Wha?! No… Nothing!” She stammered, startled at my sudden appearance. “Mhmm.” I said unconvinced. “I was just getting you a coke.” She said innocently. “No, thank you, I don’t like coke.” I said truthfully while also knowing she had done something to the drink. She looked disappointed at something, but I just finished my meal and left my clan’s home to explore the city a bit before I had to return to Equestria. After some time looking around the city, I had found some kind of video games store; curious, I entered and, after some time I had a cool console that can play any game, some weird controller and some neat wireless headphones altered to fit into my earholes. Leaving the video game store, I saw a store offering high tech, curious I went inside and soon I had what looked like a miniature version of the arc reactor and an omni-tool device from the Mass Effect series. It was DNA-locked to me and it would camouflage with me, so nobody else could use it if I lost it. Taking my new console back to my room in my new home and putting on my omni-tool, I spent some time learning how to use the omni-tool. I downloaded the entire MLP TV series, including the 3 seasons that weren’t released before I died, all my favorite music, and some video games I enjoyed, before I went back out to explore more of the city, as it was getting close to the time when I had to return to Equestria. After seeing the sights of the city, I figured I better get back to Equestria, so I walked back to the clan house, finding only Luna there. “Hey Luna, where is everybody? I wanted to say goodbye before I returned to Equestria.” I asked her. “They have already left to return to their realms.” She explained. “Ah, damn, I wanted to say goodbye. Oh, well. Why are you still here?” I asked curiously. “It’s a slow week on voyager, so the Captain has given the crew some free time. I have to report back to her in another few hours.” She explained. “Oh, okay. Well, have a nice day, I guess.” I say before I turned and left. ===---+---=== Upon returning to Equestria, I found ponies putting decorating the town square, looking around I spotted Twilight with spike on her back. “Twilight! What’s going on here?” I asked. “We are celebrating Applejack saving the town.” She explained as Rarity levitated a huge banner on top of city hall. “Is Applejack all set?” Twilight asked “I actually haven’t seen her in days.” Rainbow said, causing me to frown. Leaving the area as Pinkie joined the conversation, I went to check on Applejack. Upon reaching the farm, I took a whiff of air, trying to find her scent; I had taken the time to memorize the mane six’s (plus spike’s) scents in case I needed to find them. Following her scent, I found her in a state like a near mindless zombie, she was bucking the apples out of the trees. “Applejack, have you slept at all in the last few days?!” I asked concerned. “Huh, what, who’s there, Talon?” She asked confused while looking right at me. “Applejack you need to take a rest before you collapse from exhaustion!” I exclaimed. “I don’t need sleep, no way, I need to harvest these apples.” Applejack replied stubbornly. Knowing that there was no way to convince her, I decided to take another route to get her to sleep; walking off to an out-of-the-way part of the orchard, I got out my key and rifted back to Locostral. First, I made my way to a store that I saw made expanded space saddlebags, to have one created for me. After requesting the bag, I left to run over to what appeared to be a potions shop. Upon entering the shop, I walked over to the person manning the store. “Hello, what can I get for you?” the shopkeeper asked. “Hi, I need something that will put my friend to sleep, she’s a pony from Equestria and she hasn’t slept at all in days, at least.” I requested. “Hmm… A sleep potion safe for an equine…” the shopkeeper thought for a moment before pulling a blue potion off the shelf and handing it to me, “This will put her to sleep for a solid 24 hours.” “Thank you.” I said, taking the potion and leaving the shop. Returning to the bag shop and picking up my new saddlebag, I put it on, placing the potion into it and returned to Equestria, where I followed Applejack’s scent back to her. “Hey, Applejack. Here, have a drink.” I offered, giving her the potion out of my saddlebag. “Huh, what? Oh, thank you Talon.” She said, taking a drink before slumping to the ground, asleep. Picking her up, I placed her onto my back before taking her to the farmhouse. After explaining to Big Mac what I did after finding out she hadn’t slept in days, I made my way back to Fluttershy’s cottage. On my way there, I saw Twilight speaking to some ponies who looked to be building something; walking up to her, I waited until she noticed me this time before I said anything. “What is going on here Twilight?” I asked, confused, once Twilight saw me. “Oh, Talon, these ponies are just building your new house.” Twilight replied. “What?” I asked, confused. “Oh, you didn’t know? Princess Celestia has requested a house be built for you on the edge of the town for your efforts in helping save her sister after I sent her my report on you.” She explained to me. “I… get my own house?” I asked again, tilting my head to the side in confusion. “Yes, you get your own house, it will be ready by the end of the month.” Twilight said. “Oh, before I go, Twilight, can you gather the others and come help out on the Apples farm? Applejack wasn’t sleeping and refused help before I was able to trick her into drinking a sleeping potion.” I asked. “Uh, sure. I’ll gather the girls tomorrow morning.” She said uncertainly. After I gave her my thanks and requested her to send Princess Celestia my thanks as well, I left her to do what she was doing. I continued to head to Fluttershy’s cottage to get some sleep. ===---+---=== Waking up to Fluttershy’s cottage, I helped Fluttershy take care of the animals, before we made our way to the apple farm to help with the harvest, supervised by Big Mac. It took us working together over the next few days to harvest the apples and store them in the barn. Afterwards, we all had a talk with Applejack about how she could ask for help if she needed it. Later that day, I was wandering around town, wearing my headphones that were hidden inside my earholes playing some music, just exploring the town now that I wasn’t getting fearful or hostile looks all the time. When I came across the now- (thankfully) well rested Applejack and Rainbow Dash getting ready to perform some kind of trick. Quickly turning off my music, I camouflaged myself off to the side and pulled up the video recorder. Applejack climbed up the diving board while Rainbow Dash got onto some kind of seesaw, before Applejack jumped off launching Rainbow Dash into the air, where she proceeded to do some pretty cool tricks. After she was done and had landed, I quickly saved the recording and reverted back to my normal colors, clapping my forepaws together, surprising both ponies. “Talon?! How long were you standing there?” Rainbow Dash was shocked at my sudden appearance. “For the entire thing.” I said smirking. “H… How?” She asked. “Didn’t Twilight tell you I can camouflage?” I asked, tilting my head, before proceeding to show her by changing colors a bit before reverting back to my natural colors. “Oh… yea, right…” she replied blushing at having forgotten this. “It’s ok, Rainbow, it's not an ability I use too often. I’ve got to go. Fluttershy asked me for some help with some bunnies… I don’t know why she thinks I’m the best for this, but meh.” I explain, chuckling softly before continuing on my way. Making my way out of town, following the path Fluttershy showed me the other day. It wasn’t long before I had arrived at the rabbit’s burrows; Fluttershy was there, waiting for me to arrive. “Talon, you’re here.” She said softly, having noticed me. “Yea, so how am I supposed to help?” I asked. “Can you pretty please help corral the little bunnies so I can count them?” She asked, looking at me hopefully. “Uh… Ok…” I said uncertainly before I set about trying to corral the various rabbits into one group for Fluttershy. It took me a good 2 hours of carefully leading various rabbits into one large group for Fluttershy to count. Finally, we had finished counting 257 new rabbit babies, and I walked Fluttershy home before I went into the Everfree forest to go hunt. When I had filled my belly, I went to the Cave of Harmony and went to sleep. > NightTalon - Griffon the Brush Off(OLD) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laying on one of the couches I was getting comfy in the common area of the Saurian Sauna and watching season 1 of My Little Pony on my omni-tool. Having just gotten back from one of the weekly meetings, I looked up when Lydia walked into the living room with something in her paw. “Hey, Talon, want to watch How to Train Your Dragon?” she asked. “Sure, I have some free time before I am due back in Equestria.” I said, shrugging and turning off my omni-tool, while Lydia set up a holo-projector. While Lydia setup the movie, I curled up and got comfy. The movie started, showing the DreamWorks logo flashing toothless across the sky. “Say, is there a Night Fury Plainswalker?” I ask, turning to Lydia. “I believe I saw one with Luna a few weeks before your arrival.” Lydia said. “Huh. Ok then.” I replied before I turned and continued watching the movie which had just started now. As the movie progressed, I winced when Hiccup shot down Toothless and rubbed my chest uncomfortably when Hiccup told Toothless ‘he was going to cut out his heart and take it to his father’, which Lydia seemed to notice as she glanced over at me in concern but didn’t comment; before we knew it, we were at the battle of the red death and the movie was ending. “Well, I should probably get back to Equestria now. Bye, Lydia!” I said as I got up and started to walk out. “Ok. Bye, Talon!” she replied. After quickly making my way to the riftpools, I rifted back to Equestria, getting back just in time for a griffin to roar in Fluttershy’s face. Enraged by the brutal act, I marched up to the griffin and let loose the most vicious and loud roar I could, deafening everypony around me. Shaking with anger, I started approaching the idiotic griffin, panting with fury before my guards tackled me to the ground to prevent me from attacking the stupid griffin. “Talon, don’t! The griffin isn’t worth it!” Onyx Amor yelled in my face, attempting, and somehow succeeding, to calm me down. The other guard, Wild Strikes, got off me and walked up to the still-stunned griffin, giving her a dressing down for yelling at a pony. After Onyx Armor got off me, I went over to check on Fluttershy. “Are you ok, Fluttershy?” I asked softly to the kind pegasus. “Oh, um… yes.” She replied softly, still shaking and hiding behind her mane. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Fluttershy.” I apologized to the kind pegasus, “I just saw that griffin roaring in your face and saw red; I gave into my instincts. I fear I would have attacked her if Onyx Armor and Wild Strikes didn’t prevent me from doing so.” “It’s… it’s okay, Talon, you were only protecting me.” She replied, forgiving me. ===---+---=== Shaking my head and turned to walk off not totally sure if I should accept that just yet. Rifting back to locostral I walked to one of the hunting areas to work off my built-up rage. After a few hours I had finally calmed down enough to go back, I headed back home to my room where I climbed into bed and fell asleep. Waking up in my clan room was a nice change of pace, stretching my limbs and tail I went through my morning routine before going to breakfast. On my way to the kitchens I ran into Luna. “Luna, how are you today?” I asked “Talon, I didn’t know you were here!” she said, “Captain Janeway gave me a week off after me and Neelix had our organs stolen by the Vidiians.” “Wait isn’t that fairly early on in the series?” I asked tilting my head “Yes, it’s the 5th episode of the first season, I arrived several months before the start of the show, in the delta quadrant at that. I got lucky enough to be on the Ocampa homeworld when Voyager arrived, so I’ve been on board since the beginning. I didn’t know you watched star trek, Talon?” she explained “Yea, I watched it with some old buddies of mine… before… you know.” I explain sadly remembering that I will never be able to see my old friends again. We walked the remaining distance to the kitchen I opened the fridge and noticed puddings in containers with everyone’s names on them, as I got a lump of meat an idea sparked. Putting my breakfast onto a plate I went to sit down and began to eat. “Who made the pudding?” I asked Luna who was just sitting down with some cereal. “Spada did.” She replied “Really?” I said surprised, “He didn’t seem like the type.” “I know it surprised us when he joined but he is really good at cooking.” She replied We finished eating, cleaned up our dishes and Luna went to go hang out with a friend, giving me time to go through with my idea. After making sure Luna was gone, I went to the fridge and took out her pudding and a bottle of ketchup. Placing the container on the counter I grabbed one of the extra containers out of the cupboard and filled it with ketchup, then I put just enough of the pudding into it to make it the right color and placed Lunas name on it before placing it into the fridge. Smirking evilly as I walked out of the kitchen eating the remaining pudding on the way out the door. ===---+---=== It was raining and I was outside in a field laying on the ground enjoying the rain on my scales. It was a few days after I pulled my prank on Luna and I can’t wait to see what happened when I go to see her next. There was a meeting the day after tomorrow, so I am going to rift to Locostral later tomorrow and spend the night there. After a few more hours the rain lifted it was time to go to bed, making my way back to Fluttershys cottage I curled up in my corner and fell asleep. ===---+---=== It was a rainy night with a full moon looming over a huge mansion, I was walking the walls hunting my prey through the hallways frustrated at having failed to catch them again. After 20 minutes of chasing my prey I finally had them cornered on the glass roof, I was carefully climbing up to chase after the yellow coated pegasus. My muzzle salivated at the thought of ripping her open and feasting, just as I lunged at the pegasus that annoying blue raptor tackled me through the glass, and we fell. My eyes widened in fear as the deadly horns of the triceratops skull was rapidly growing closer, just as the horns were about to pierce my hide someone shouted ENOUGH and the horns were gone, as was the blue raptor. Confused, I shook my head clearing my thoughts and was horrified to realize what I was about to do, when Princess Luna appeared before me. “Princess Luna?!” I asked confused tilting my head to the side slightly “Night Talon is that thou?” Princess Luna asked shocked It took me a moment to realize this was a nightmare and not real. “It… it was a nightmare…” I let out a sigh of relief Over the next few hours, I explained to Princess Luna about the movie, about what I used to be, about dying and being reborn as a Indoraptor, about Locostral and the Plainswalkers. “Thou hast given us much to think about, when tis morn arrives come meet us at our palace in canterlot” she commanded me “Yes Princess” I replied. Afterwards Princess Luna left leaving me in a dreamless sleep for the remainder of the night. ===---+---=== The sun rose shining directly onto my muzzle waking me up, opening my eyes my pupils narrowed into slits letting out a groan I lifted my head and started to get ready for the day. Grabbing my saddlebags, I started making my way to the library to let Twilight know I was going to Canterlot, Onyx Armor and Wild Strikes trotting behind me. “Where are you going, Talon?” Onyx Armor asked “Princess Luna visited me in my dream last night and asked me to come to Canterlot.” I replied and I explained my dream leaving out the details about me being a Plainswalker and Locostral or that I used to be a human. We arrived at the library tree and I enter to let Twilight know where I am going and why before making my way to the train station to buy a ticket to Canterlot with some bits I earned helping ponies out. > NightTalon - Meeting the Princesses Part 1(OLD) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I stepped onto the train ponies started to panic not used to seeing me, Onyx Armor and Wild Strikes were quick to reassure the panicking ponies that I am safe. Deciding to sit as far away from the ponies as possible I walked to the far back and sat down, Onyx Armor and Wild Strikes sat in the opposite seat seeing as I took up the entire bench on my side. The train begins its journey to the capital I stared out of the window watching the beautiful scenery that one wouldn’t find on earth anymore. After several hours of watching the scenery pass by we finally arrived in the capital of Equestria, canterlot. Getting off the train to more of ponies terrified screams was unpleasant to say the least, thankfully Onyx Armor and Wild Strikes were once again quick to calm the ponies down before we made our way through the busy streets of canterlot towards the palace. Walking through the busy streets I took in the sights, soon enough we entered the palace courtyard. As we entered the courtyard, I received stares of terror and panicked nobles, it took nearly half an hour for the guards to restore order while I laid down to remain non-threatening. “Are we good?” I asked as Wild Strikes approached me again. “I think so, come on we need to get you inside before they start panicking again!” He replied as he ushered me quickly inside the palace. Looking around the palace and seeing all the heroes of the past, as we approached the doors to the throne room, I began to get a little nervous as I would be meeting Princess Celestia before my meeting with Princess Luna later tonight. Upon going through the door, I saw Princess Celestia, wings out looking majestic on her throne looking down at me. Walking up to the princess I knelt my right foreleg in a bow. “Rise, my little creature.” She said with a slight frown, standing up I glanced up at the princess. “I have arrived at the request of Princess Luna.” I replied keeping a passive stance, she looks at the guards who were assigned to me. “You may take a break at the barracks my little ponies.” She said calmly, “I will send for you when your charge is ready to leave.” My guards bowed and turned to leave, Onyx Armor gave me a small wink as he past by and left the room. “My faithful student, Twilight has sent her reports concerning you.” She got up and walked off the throne and into a room off to the side of the room, “Your name is Night Talon, correct?” “Yes, your highness.” I replied following her into the room. “None of that my little creature, you aided twilight in saving my sister and for that you have earned my eternal thanks.” She said looking down at me slightly, “You may call me Celestia or if you must be formal Princess.” “Er, ok P-princess.” I Sutter slightly causing Celestia to frown slightly, “Sorry Princess this is my first time meeting royalty.” “Be at peace young Night Talon, your willingness to aid my student in saving my sister has proven you are peaceful.” She calmed me down a bit. After several hours of conversation, it was soon time for the sun to set, I followed her out onto a balcony and stopped short at the sight of a small Luna with her flowing starry mane. Celestia walked forwards to stand beside Luna, both spread their wings with their horns glowed. Stunned at what I was witnessing as the sun rapidly set below the hills before the moon rose a moment later. Afterwards I followed Princess Luna into a meeting room she had set aside for this. “Tis good eve friend Night Talon.” She said in her olden language. “Yes, it is, Princess Luna.” I replied more at ease with the lunar princess then with Celestia. “Come let us speak about this, Locostral.” She commanded as she sat down, following her example I sat on a chair. After about an hour I had explained what I knew of Plainswalkers and Shadows, she had wanted to see Locostral. So, I got out my golden key and opened the rift portal to locostral. “Now before we enter make sure to stay next to me or you could be lost forever or even killed!” I explained to the shocked lunar princess, who nodded after a moment. After affirming that she understood we entered the portal and following the path, soon we surfaced in the rift pool. Looking over ensuring the lunar princess surfaced with me I swam over to the edge while she flew over to the edge. Climbing out of the rift pool I began leading her through the vast city towards the mountains at the edge of the city. We finally reached the base of the mountain, hitting the hidden trigger with my tail, opening the door to the Saurian Sauna. “Welcome to my home, Princess.” I said gesturing to the entrance hall. Leading the lunar princess into the living room where Lydia and Spada were talking about events happening in their realms. After a moment they noticed us and stopped their conversation. “Hey Talon, who’s this?” Lydia gesturing to Luna. “Hey Lydia, this is Princess Luna, yes the actual Princess Luna.” I replied to her shock, getting up off the sofa. “Welcome, Princess Luna of Equestria to the Saurian Sauna home of the Carnivorous Crusaders Clan.” She bowed her head in respect. “Rise kind creature, you are not one of our ponies nor are thee a citizen of Equestria.” Princess Luna replied in her formal tone, “We thankth thee for thou kind welcome to thy home.” “Wow you don’t need to be so formal princess.” Spada spoke up still on the sofa. “She hasn’t had time to adapt to the modern era yet Spada, its only been several months since her return to Equestria, she hasn’t had a chance adapt to the language changes of the last thousand years.” I calmly explained to Spada. “Wow really?” He said surprised, “I should really watch the show.” “What is this, show you speakth of?” She replied, I winced at that as I had totally forgotten to inform her of this. “Buck! I totally forgot to tell you Princess Luna, each realm is a work of fiction on earth, Equestria takes on the form of the My Little Pony cartoon.” I tried to explain before getting an idea that might backfire, “One moment, Princess.” Walking over to the smart TV set in the room, linking my omni tool to the TV and pulling up My Little Pony Friendship is Magic Part 1 onto the screen I gestured for Luna to have a seat. A moment later I sat down on the couch on the left side of the lunar princess and hit play, carefully watching the lunar princess with my right eye as the opening began with the legend of nightmare moon story. For her part Princess Luna tried to keep a natural face but it quickly fell apart and she looked away in shame as the scene played out and transitioned into Twilight speaking. About an hour later we had finished part 2 of Friendship is Magic, Princess Luna had stopped watching after Nightmare Moon had arrived. “Tis not what happened.” She said so quietly that had it not been for my enhanced hearing I would have certainly missed it. “I know Princess, I suspect it was a shadow somehow getting involved.” I explained calmly. “Thou thinkth a vile fiend hath invaded our realm?!” The Lunar Princess said shocked at such a possibility. “Yes, when things derailed during… er… your return to Equestria it was brought up that it might be possible that a shadow is in Equestria.” I explained trying to think of a way to calm the princess down. “I think its time for bed.” Lydia said getting up from her place, she bowed her head again, “Goodnight, Princess Luna.” She turned and walked away, signaling that it was time for us to return to Equestria so Luna can preform her nightly duties. Making our way to the rift pool and after quickly reminding Luna to stay close to me, we entered the rift pool and quickly made our way to out into the meeting room. As the rift portal closed behind me, I let out a yawn that displayed my teeth before snapping my muzzle shut. “Our sister hath ordered a room prepared for thou stay, friend Night Talon.” Princess Luna informed me turning to the door, “Guards please escort fair Night Talon to thy room.” Thanking the lunar princess I turned and followed the guards to my guest room for the night and quickly got into bed, falling asleep soon afterwards.