The first story in The Journey of Graves.

Ponyville is getting ready for the arrival of Princess Celestia's marshals, elite of royal guard and travelling heroes of the people. But in all the hustle and bustle of party preparations, a lone traveler slips into town, a young man with business concerning Twilight Sparkle. What that business is remains to be seen, but you can be sure Ponyville won't make it easy for him.
After all, where would be the fun in that?

Walking with the paws of an ancient predator, a young man finds himself in a strange world. A world where horses are the dominant species, and he’s a very rare and dangerous animal. How will a speechless man turned wolf deal with society? How will he approach ponies? Would he even want to bother speaking to them?

(Love interest is not revealed in any of the current chapters. So don't freak out when you don't see it. I'm also focusing on a very realistic sense of love. This will be a later part of the story when romance becomes truly relevant. Point out ALL errors to me when you see them, even the ones that have been pointed out already, and I'll see what I can do.)

(Special thanks to my EPIC Proof-reader and Editor ultra1437)

Retiring isn't always easy. Especially when your job title is Evil Overlord. Most of the time retirement from that particular position comes on the sharp end of an opportunistic hero's sword. But Damien didn't survive the past six centuries by playing by the rules. His retirement plans involve running. Running from his country, his continent, and his very universe to escape Fate's long reach. And what better place to run to in an attempt to live peacefully than the utopian land of Equestria?

Currently being edited by the ever amazing Frederick the Saiyan.

Since I've had a number of comments on this I figure I should clear it up here. This is not a crossover witht he overlord game series. Note the lack of a crossover tag.

<subtle hint>I am open to submissions for a better title image</subtle hint>

An alarm sounds. There's a planet nearby. I wonder if anyone can hear me.

My name is James Clark, and I am a Private Military Contractor. No, not Mercenary. Yes, there is a difference, but that's beside the point.

Ok, where was I? Ah yes, I was just entering my office in Downtown Houston one afternoon to hear a job offer. When I got there, I found a beautiful, robe-wearing woman waiting for me. Now, in this day and age, most people would find that strange. I didn't for two reasons.

1) In this line of work, you run into a few crazies. If I had a dollar for every nut-job I turned away, I could buy a small European country.

2) It was Halloween. Hell, I was on my way to a party dressed in a replica suit of Veteran Ranger Armor from Fallout: New Vegas, complete with gas mask and real riot gear I borrowed from a friend on the SWAT team. I was gonna win the costume contest for sure!

I'm getting off topic, aren't I? Anyways, this weirdo offered me a job without going into much detail. No location, no objective, not even a dollar amount The only thing I got out of her was the promise that I would be saving thousands, if not millions of lives.

Every instinct told me to turn the job down, and yet I still accepted it. Maybe the idea of playing hero again had its appeal.

God, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Cloudsdale. Bastion of the Pegasi, linchpin of weather control, home to the Wonderbolts. A magnificent metropolis gracing the skies of Equestria. So what happens when an oblivious human starts stumbling around in a sailplane? As they say, hilarity ensues.

What happens, happens. I think that is one of the rules of Causality as stated by the late, great Douglas Adams. It is a pretty important rule and I use it to guide me through life, no matter what goes on in it. So, when I was driving to an out of town job and found myself in another world, I did my best to take everything in stride.

I would be the first to say the adjustment is not easy. Especially, when the first thing you do is make yourself a pony distrusted, disliked and defamed by some national heros. Thinking about that, I think I have to invoke another Douglas Adams quote. "Don't Panic."

--

This is the result of me getting bored one day and starting writing. Now that I got a bit of it done, I wouldn't mind honest opinions, and flame away if you feel the need. I have thick skin.

As you might notice, there are a few chapters with a box at the top. These are the ones that my editor and I went through again, and hopefully improved. I'll refrain from changing plot but spelling, grammar and flow are all up for grab. Especially for the early chapters.

There comes a point when you can no longer run from the things you've done. Ryan Williams believes that he has reached this point, but sometimes, just as we are about to close one door, another opens before us, changing our lives in ways we could never have imagined.

Update: Redemption now has a live reading! Done by Teraunce, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/W4vLoB3Lbk0
Go give it (and his channel) some love :D

I always wanted to go to Equestria. When I got the chance, I took the deal without reading the fine print. To my surprise, I didn't arrive there as a pony, or even as a human. It seems I get to view this world from a different perspective than what I've imagined.

My name is Echo. I am a Diamond Dog.

-Edited by the one, the only, Nathan Traveler!
-(Cover by Jovial_Shake of fimfiction.net)
-Now featured on Equestriadaily.com!

Skyrim guard travels the magical land of Equestria, making friends and foes, having adventures and lecturing about proper citizen behavior.

But how will our hero fare against the native ponies with such a short repertoire of phrases? Will he help the land or cause its downfall? Should we follow?

Of course we should!

***

Also, all comments saying anything about anything get a prize!