//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Arrival // Story: Eric Sparkle and the Locket of Prophecies // by Skywalker215 //------------------------------// It was the night of August 27th in Seattle, Washington, a boy named Eric lived at the Twin Spruce Orphanage. Eric had black hair and blue-green eyes. He also never knew his parents, since they died of dragon-pox shortly after he was born. Eric was in a closet, hiding from the cruel head caretaker, Maxim Horvath, who took over after the deaths of Ted and Lacey Marks from dragon-pox a year ago. Since then, he’s been the receiving end of Mr. Horvath’s cruelty and abuse, often by leather belt, backhanding, or even the Cruciatus Curse, and he had bruises and healed scars to prove it. While inside the closet, he found a wand and an invisibility cloak. The wand was made of pine and 11 1/2 inches long, with a thunderbird tail feather core. Eric put the cloak on, exited the closet, and got his favorite stuffed animal, which was an orca whom he named Lacey after his mother figure and given to him by her when he was three, along with his spell book, then put his backpack on, which had an undetectable extension charm on it. Eric made his escape and left the area. As soon as he got to the docks on his broom, Eric took off the cloak, then curled up and began crying, until a shooting star zoomed by. “I wish for a loving family,” Eric said still crying. Once he made his wish, he was magically transported to a new land, it was evening and Eric found himself on the edge of a dark forest, near a small town, full of ponies. He crept into town until he found an alley, unsure of what to do, he tried to stay quiet, but he just kept on crying. Meanwhile, the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle was walking back to the Castle of Friendship after picking up some apples from Sweet Apple Acres, suddenly, she heard crying coming from a nearby alley. ”Who could that be? Sounds like somepony is very sad, I better go check it out,” Twilight thought to herself. So Twilight trotted to the alley and discovered a little boy all curled up and crying, the boy looked up nervously. “P-please don’t hurt me,” he said sniffling. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help you,” Twilight replied. He slowly stood up and cautiously approached the purple alicorn. “Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?” she asked. “M-my name’s Eric, Miss Twilight,” the boy said nervously. “Nice to meet you, Eric, you don’t have to be formal with me,” Twilight replied. “Where am I?” Eric asked. “You’re in Equestria, this town is Ponyville, where are you from?” Twilight said. “I’m from Washington, in a city called Seattle, it’s part of a land called the United States of America,” Eric replied. “Interesting, whatcha got there?” Twilight asked. “It’s my plush orca, her name is Lacey, she was a gift from my late caretaker,” Eric replied. “You’re bruised and scarred, what happened?” Twilight asked. “A mean wizard called Maxim Horvath did this to m-me for m-making a mess, even though it was just an accident,” Eric replied. Twilight noticed that Eric looked starved, so she gave him an apple from her saddlebag, he ate it rather quickly, then thanked her and felt cold and tired as the moon rose. “You look tired, here, climb on,” Twilight said as she lowered herself. Twilight carried Eric back to the castle, then levitated him into her bed and pulled the blanket over him and she got Spike into his bedroom, then went to bed herself and wrapped her forelegs around Eric as he slept. He began dreaming about all the good times with Ted and Lacey until he thought of Mr. Horvath. As she slept, Twilight heard Eric crying and whimpering and gently nudged him. “Eric, what’s wrong?” she asked in a sad tone. “I was thinking about my caretaker, Ted, and all the good times that I had with him, now he’s gone, and I don’t want to go back to Mr. Horvath,” Eric replied sniffling. “Shh.. There, there, you’re safe now, and I’ll take you to see Princesses Celestia and Luna tomorrow,” Twilight replied. Eric looked worried and nervous, unsure if it was good or bad news. “You don’t need to be afraid of Princess Celestia, she’s nice and so is her sister, Luna, they are the rulers of this land,” Twilight said reassuringly. “Good night,” she said, then kissed Eric on the forehead. “Good night, Twilight,” Eric replied wearily. Immediately, they covered up and went back to sleep within moments. The next morning, Spike was cooking breakfast as usual, scrambled eggs and pancakes. Eric woke up to this pleasant smell and rushed to the kitchen. “Good morning, Eric,” Twilight said. “Morning, Twilight, I’m starving,” Eric replied. Spike served Twilight and Eric their breakfast first, then himself. “Hi, I’m Spike, and I am a dragon,” he said to Eric. “H-hi Spike, I’m Eric, I’ve never seen a real live dragon before,” the boy replied. “How old are you?” Spike asked Eric. “I am five,” Eric replied. As soon as the three of them finished eating, Twilight and Spike gave Eric a tour of Ponyville. “While we’re in town, I want to introduce you to my friends,” said Twilight. “A-are they nice, like you and Spike?” Eric asked. “Yes, and I’m sure they’ll love to meet you,” Twilight said reassuringly. The first stop on the tour was Sugarcube Corner, Twilight, Eric, and Spike met up with Pinkie Pie. “Hi, Twilight, Hi, Spike, who’s that with you?” the pink pony said. “Pinkie, this here is Eric, Spike and I are showing him around town,” Twilight replied. “Hi there,” said Pinkie. “Uh...hi, Pinkie,” Eric replied. Pinkie then decided to introduce Eric to the Cake family, who eagerly greeted him. Eric warmed up to them rather quickly as he did with Spike, he then played with the twins, while Twilight went to talk with Pinkie alone. “Ok, Pinkie, what do you think we should do?” Twilight asked. “Since Eric is new here, I was thinking about throwing him a welcome party,” said Pinkie. “You may want to keep it down, I want it to be a surprise for him,” Twilight replied. After her discussion with Twilight, Pinkie gave Eric a cupcake. “Thank you, Pinkie,” he said. “You’re welcome at Sugarcube Corner anytime,” Pinkie replied. Twilight and Eric continued with the tour, passing the town hall, while Spike bought a bouquet of roses and then met up with Twilight and Eric at the Carousel Boutique. Twilight knocked on the door, just then, Rarity came and opened the door. “Hello, Twilight, hello, Spike,” she said. “H-hi, Rarity, I brought you something,” Spike replied while blushing, upon entering the building behind Twilight and Eric, he gave Rarity the roses he bought. “Thank you, Spike, these roses are lovely,” Rarity said. “Just like you, Rarity,” Spike complimented. “Oh, Spikey-wikey, you’re really sweet,” Rarity replied, she then kissed him firmly on the cheek. Upon gazing at Eric, Rarity immediately beamed and said, "Twilight, he's so precious and adorable!" “Hey Rarity, there’s somepony I want you to meet. This here is Eric, he’s human, those two legged creatures I told you about from the other world I went to,” Twilight said. “Hi, Rarity,” said Eric. “Hello, Eric, darling. Come and let me make you some new clothes,” Rarity replied. She then took his measurements, then gathered her materials and started working. “I’ll have these ready for you by tonight,” Rarity said. “Thanks, Rarity,” Eric replied. “You’re welcome, darling,” said Rarity. Eric went to rejoin Twilight and Spike, then they left the boutique. “Bye, Rarity,” Twilight, Spike, and Eric said in unison. “Goodbye, Twilight and Eric, and goodbye to you too, Spikey-wikey,” Rarity replied.