//------------------------------// // 1: The Arrival // Story: Samneo: The Earth Pony DX // by Samuel-Neocros //------------------------------// It was a wonderful day in Ponyville. It was the perfect time and weather to go for a stroll. Starlight Glimmer had been feeling a little lost inside the castle, so she decided to take a small walk outside for some fresh air. She closed her eyes, feeling the soft breeze brush against her fur. The castle's back was a nice plain, a place where she could see fillies and colts having fun. She let out a sigh of relief as she took in the wonderful scenery. Smiling, she gently closed her eyes and basked in the warmth that Princess Celestia’s Sun brought her. Unknown to her, something else was burning in the sky. As Starlight started daydreaming, she heard something above her. When she looked up, her eyes widened. A comet, probably the size of Discord was heading toward what she thought was her direction. Starlight Glimmer panicked after realizing what it was, not having enough time to get away as the comet crash landed about twenty feet away from her! She stumbled backward from the shock wave. Dust and rubble were in the air, kicked up from the impact. After a few seconds, Starlight cautiously approached the impact. Surprisingly, she didn't see the asteroid or comet in the crater, but rather, she saw somepony laying in the center of the crater. It was a stallion. Starlight Glimmer's eyes widened with horror. “O-Oh sweet Celestia! Are you alright?” she asked. The stallion didn't reply, only hazily opening an eye. His coat was tan colored, his mane was shaggy, and his eye was a piercing Green color. "Oh no! This is bad! I'll... I'll get help for you, okay? I'll be right back!" The stallion watched with blurred vision as the sand purple figure got behind the top of the crater, in reality Starlight ran back inside, and the stallion fainted. ... Eyes opening, the stallion blinked as he lifted his head. He glanced around and saw seven pastel colored ponies staring at him. He was in a room on a purple bed, the walls were almost crystal-like in design. He was somewhat dazed, but alive. He heard the ponies whispering something to themselves, but he couldn't make out anything. Once he was fully awake, he was able to see them more clearly. "Excuse me." the purple-colored mare asked. "Would you mind telling me your name?" He attempted to speak, but grunted from how dry his throat was. “G-Green,” he mumbled, grimacing at how raw his throat felt. The seven of them gave him a strange look, but accepted his name. “Wowie! What a strange name, I like it!” the pink mare replied, bouncing in the air enthusiastically. The room fell into an awkward silence, before the one who he saw earlier spoke up, “A-are you alright? You were in pretty bad shape when I found you.” Green’s head wobbled as he struggled to keep it upright, “Where… am I?” “You’re in Twilight’s castle, she’s the one with a horn and wings,” the blue mare replied, hovering in the air and eyeing him carefully. Green glanced up at her, and for a moment, he felt his heart... beat twice? His eyes widened as it dawned on him that whatever was going on, this was most certainly not a vivid hallucination, he was lucid. He let out a gasp of shock and attempted to scramble out of bed, only to cry out in pain as he forced his aching muscles to move. “P-please, stay still,” the yellow mare with wings said softly, gently holding him down, “You crash landed near Twilight’s castle and you were badly injured. You're still in a state of injury.”  The orange pony wearing a Stetson hat let out a small whistle as she looked down at the Green’s now exposed flank. “Well I’ll be, this fella doesn’t have a cutie mark! Where are you even from, sugarcube?” Green cringed at the acrid taste of iron in his mouth, “I… what? W-what’s a cutie mark?” The seven of them whispered amongst one another, before Twilight eventually spoke up. “Either you hit your head harder than I thought, or you’re something else entirely. You’re not a changeling, I can tell that much, but until you recover, I can’t form any solid conclusion.” Twilight gave him a glass of water with her magic. Green tried to grab it, but left it on his lap. After lifting it carefully, he gulped down the water. He sighed, voice now clearer after the much needed drink, Green laid back down, eyes droopy and staring at nowhere. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of his mental cross-hairs, his eyes lit up, as he once again felt like his heart had a double beat once. He felt concerned, but after observing Dash's mane and eyes, his breathing softened. Rainbow noticed that he was staring at her, making her tilt her head. Some ponies followed his gaze, as Rainbow got a little nervous. "Um...What's up?" she asked. Green blinked, and darted his gaze around the room. Everypony's eyes widened when his chest suddenly began to glow, though it faded as quickly as it came. The pony shuttered, and rested his head, closing his eyes. “Please… let me just… sleep.” ... The group of ponies were talking all about the incident earlier, as Green was napping. He was sleeping in bed as Fluttershy and Twilight kept watch over him. Fluttershy looked over at Twilight. "Where do you think he came from?" "I don't know Fluttershy. He's certainly not your average pony that's for sure." Twilight was pondering on what Green was when Starlight joined the conversation. "I guess he's from outer space, but that can't be possible." Starlight thought out loud. Twilight's eyes shot wide open, as her thoughts went into overdrive. "Wait, ponies... from space!?" She protested. "Ah chillax, he probably just happened to be there when it crashed." Dash said. "But I didn't see him when it was burning in the sky, and it was very quiet before it hit. Surely he would've made a noise or attempted to get out of the way if he did, assuming I wasn't paying attention." Starlight replied, remembering what happened a few minutes ago. Twilight thought of where Green could've possibly come from, assuming that he is from space. Are there ponies on other planets? If so, how and why? As everypony was trying to figure out who or what Green was, the stallion curled his body up slightly, head resting on a pillow as his mind was experiencing a rather unsettling nightmare... ... As he slowly became lucid in his nightmare, the first thing he felt was nausea. He didn't understand what was going on. From what he could get from, he was in a grass field, with darkness around him at night. He couldn't see more than eight feet due to the fog surrounding him. There was also a feeling that he was being watched, but was too nauseous to see who or what it was. Green had to sit down to get himself stable. He slowed his breathing, or at least tried to. He was able to think somewhat, as he turned around. Behind him, the silhouette of a slender figure stood tall, limbs longer than anything he saw, and two demon-like horns on its head stood. It stared at him from the fog. Green instantly froze, shaking before he tried to run away, but his movement was slow and wobbly. He could feel eyes behind him, but the figure had no eyes, let alone any visible features on its body! As he tried to escape the unsettling sight, the aura around him changed suddenly. He paused, feeling off as he looked back. The figure was gone, and everything was feeling... calm. The world around him suddenly got more gray, and then became white. Green found it was all happening too fast, but then he felt a new feeling. When Green turned around, he was met with an unexpected sight. A sphere of glowing blue energy was hovering in front of him. It was larger than him, and inside the sphere, he saw a silhouette of a dragon. Its shape was oddly humanoid, yet lacked wings and had a long tail wrapped around it. It's the last thing he saw, before he saw everything around him fade. ... As the mares were talking, something... or someone, was watching them. A pair of white eyes were staring at them through the window. It was a dark silhouette hiding from sight. It was outside, listening to what they're saying. Patience was not their specialty, so they ducked down and began heading toward the front of the castle. Fluttershy glanced back at Green. "Yeah, he seems to be sleeping fondly—" Fluttershy was interrupted when she saw the stallion suddenly sit up. Everypony noticed he was awake, and saw his rather horrified expression. "Oh, you're awake." "Is there something wrong, darling?" Rarity asked. He shook his head, glancing down at the blanket. He was still feeling unsure of the nightmare/dream he had, he could only remember the creepy parts and the mystifying moment at the end. He looked at them, all staring as he didn't speak. "... what?" He asked. As everypony glanced at each other, the sound of doors being flung open was heard nearby, and the next thing they heard was the sound of Spike screaming. The group of mares' faces turned to concern as they called out his name, running out of the room. Green nervously glanced around, afraid of what's going on, or how things felt were getting weirder and weirder. He was about to get up when his back arched, making him silently groan, forcing him to stay in bed. The group of mares ran down the hallway, and met Spike, who was running toward them, slamming into Twilight's leg. "Oof!" Spike rubbed his head as Twilight asked him, "Spike!? What's wrong?" "Look!" He said, pointing behind him. They all looked, and their eyes widened. A dragon-like creature was standing at the entrance, he had no wings, and had charcoal black scales. There were three gray crests on top of his head, with a black dorsal fin behind his head, and his eyes were ghostly white, with no pupils. He had something on his back, but they couldn't identify what it was. "I've waited for this moment." The mysterious foe said to himself. "I heard about you for a while, and I intend on making you mine." The main six were a little confused by his words, but some pieced together what he meant pretty fast. He crossed his arms, smirking as Twilight eyed him with a glare. "Who are you?" She demanded. The black dragon appeared disappointed by her response, and glanced up at the sky, as if he wasn't expecting her to say that, so he had to think of something else to say. Once he got it, he glanced at the ground. "You really think I'm gonna answer? I'm not a fool like Chrysalis, ya know," He replied, his tone being that of a wise guy. He looked up with his right eye at Twilight. "Plus, I've been busy sharpenin' my blade for this." He uncrossed his arms, and grabbed the handle of the long blade on his back. Tiny shadowy tendrils were sprouting from his shadowy skin, which were holding his sword. The tendrils released the blade, as he pulled it from behind him. He presented it, as if proud to show it off. Suddenly, his right arm holding the sword started to light up with red, fiery magic. It appeared that his arm had orange and red cracks, almost like lava on his skin, and his entire hand was the same color as the lava. At the same time, the magic appeared to be flowing into the blade, the glow starting at the hilt before moving up to the tip, along the sides of the sword, causing the black piece of steel to ignite in flame! "Also, I came for the pony guy." He casually added, lifting his sword to point toward the hall behind them. Everypony's eyes widened. Rainbow Dash glared at the intruder, along with her friends. "What do you want with him?" Twilight said, but Dark simply stared at her. "You think I'm gonna tell you?" Dark taunts. He then glanced up at Rainbow for a second, before looking away once she made eye contact. There was something about his gaze that suggested he was planning something with her. "Well, whatever the case, we won't let you hurt him!" Rainbow protested. Dark smirked, though it was hard to see it. "Fine then, I guess I'll add your friends to my list." He squeezed his grip on the blade, his eyes suddenly darkening to a gray color, revealing two piercing white pupils. As Green tried to get up, he groaned more as he struggled to stay on his legs. The second heartbeat was felt again, and he cringed while he tried to head for the doorway. As he walked, he started to feel strength return to him, the more he thought of Rainbow Dash, which strangely gave his body motivation to move. When he began going down the hallway, he saw the mares he met before facing something, and so walked over to them to see what was happening, hugging the wall. The main six heard running behind them, and turned around. Their eyes widened seeing Green approaching them. Spike glanced at Green. "Green! You shouldn't be here!" Twilight warned. "That guy's after you!" Applejack said. Dark watched as they were telling him he needed to run, though he was still a bit too weakened despite his burst of energy earlier. While everypony wasn't looking, Dark glanced at Rainbow Dash. He's had his eyes on her for a while, and planned to capture her when he crushed Green. His arm began to glow again with red magic, before the sky blue pegasus' eyes widened at her sudden loss of control! "Ah!" She yelled. Her body jerked backward toward the blade wielding dragon, as he tried not to smile from her reaction. Dash struggled hard against his grip, but he was much stronger with his magic. Everypony heard Dash's sudden protests, and turned around, their eyes widening in horror as Dark grabbed Dash, having her floating next to him as he pointed his sword at Green. "There you are, lil' squirt. I've been looking for you." He said under his breath, a hint of distaste in his mouth. "It's time I've got what I deserve, after bein' out in the wilderness!" Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer aimed their horns at Dark, and fired their magical beams. Dark swung his sword in a horizontal slashing motion, causing a magical slash of energy to erupt from the blade from the hilt to the tip to fire at the beams. When the three powers collided, it caused a mini explosion, stopping Twilight and her student's beams from hitting him! "Ha!" Dark laughed. Twilight and her student sat there, jaws at the bottom of the floor, and eyes as wide as dinner plates. He pointed his glowing arm at the other mares. That did it for Green. Seeing her struggle was causing him to change. He began to shake and growl, as Green's body began to glow, and his emerald eyes flashed various colors. Green felt a strange surge of power. Most ponies didn't notice him, but Rainbow saw him instantly, and her struggles stopped. Dark blinked, before glancing behind him, and his eyes also widened, along with him making his best 'oh crap' face "What is this? If this is..." Green thought as he got up. Spike backed away, when he noticed Green's mouth. His mouth opened, revealing dragon teeth. "...N-n... no matter." Spike gasped. "What!?" Green arch his back, and a loud bellow erupted from his mouth. "MuuuAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!" Everypony saw his transformation, and were shocked by this. He bowed his head, panting as his back began to sprout three dorsal fins! He reared back on his back legs, as his body was enveloped in a light blue glow. His height increased to be roughly the same as Dark, as his tail extended and grew longer! As the glow subsided, it revealed a new creature in the place of Green, a dragon. The dragon was unlike any even Spike had seen before. It had blue scales, with long hair flowing past it's shoulders, along with a tuft of hair at the tip of the tail. Three dorsal fins were on it's back, and three going down it's forehead and neck, with orange horns on both sides of it's head. The dragon opened his eyes, revealing multicolored eyes with a hint of blue on the sides. Green had transformed! His chest glowed a cyan blue, the same shade as Rainbow's. He was taller than the main six, and around the same height as Dark. His tail wagged side to side slowly Dark's cocky expression was gone, replaced with his best 'oh buck' face. Green blinked, before he looked at the ponies in front of him. Everypony was both in shock and awe of what had happened. “Hmph, I ain't scared.” Dark said to himself. He then ran towards Green, releasing Rainbow as he was rapidly approaching him. Green shivered, but there was an odd sense of confidence and courage by his side. He squinted, and stepped back slightly. "Bring it on," He said, before he started running towards his foe, while also muttering something under his breath, quiet enough for nopony to hear. “You won’t hurt that girl.” The two charged towards one another, Green gaining the upper hand by going down and ramming Dark's abdomen with his horns. Dark growled as Green pushed him back. Green pushed like a bull as Dark had trouble trying to grip the floor with his feet. Dark saw his exposed back, and then pointed the sword backward, so he could stab him in the back. All of a sudden, Green's tail reared up and lashed out at him like a snake, wrapping around Dark's wrists, and pulling his sword back. “The hell!?” Dark shouted. He tried to turn to the side, but Green's horns were locked on Dark's rather slender abdomen. Dark's arm glowed, he then pushed Green away with his magic, freeing his wrists in the process. Green lifted his head up, his arms spread out, and he roared. His roar sounded like a mix between an incomplete medley and something out of this world. At least that’s what Dark heard. He swung his sword to hit Green's left shoulder, but Green ducked just in time. After Dark swung his sword, Green took this extra time and rolled away from the blade wielding dragon. "Ugh! You’ll be better off running than knowing who you are!" Green got up and turned, making a rather intimidating pose. Dark also tried to intimidate his foe by swinging his blade, and using it like nun-chucks. The blade made all sorts of noises as it was lightning fast. Green, however, stuck to his ground. Dark attempted to hit the other dragon square in the face with the blade, Dark put all of his muscle in this one move, and Green swiftly blocked the sword with his right for-arm, his scales acting like steel. Upon impact, everypony's hearts stopped for a moment, before they realized his arm wasn't hurt. Green pushed the blade to the side, before punching Dark, trying to aim for his head but ended up hitting his shoulder. Dark's body shook at this move, causing him to fly back slightly. Dark managed to catch himself. His arm reignited with magic, as he thought of the strongest spell he could manage. He then shot a red, fiery beam out his right hand. Green’s eyes widened, before he rolled away once again. The flame hit the wall, making a huge burn. Green charged towards Dark. He smirked as the blue dragon was running towards him. “C’mon, hit me.” Dark taunted. Green was then picked up by Dark’s magic, and was thrown towards the wall! Green groaned as he got up, and turned towards Dark. The two dragons were panting as they stared at each other. Everypony watched in suspense as Green's mouth was leaking a bit of liquid, from the outside, it looked to be just drooling, but the way it moved, it suggested that it was water. "What is that?" Dark asked bluntly. Green inhaled from his mouth. Twilight squinted at this, wondering what Green was doing. She received her answer when she looked down. Everypony gasped when they felt water flowing below them, flowing like snakes as the source of the water was from the nearby bathroom! The water was crawling towards the blue dragon, before they then flew into his mouth. Dark felt chills down his spine, causing him to step back as he gazed at the sight before him. Green's hands began to glow a dark blue, his eyes lit up with energy as water began to bubble in his mouth. "What are you doing!?" The blue dragon’s back dorsal spines light up a bright Green. When he opened his mouth, it was glowing a bright cyan, the same shade as his eyes. His chest glowed brightly. He took a deep breath, and Green then fired a big, strong, blast of water out his mouth like a geyser. Dark wasn't able to get out of the way in time, and was hit with the beam. Dark went flying backward, and he hit the wall next to the front doors. Everypony gasped at the moment unfolding before them. Green watched as Dark picked himself up, he then ran out of the room, running with a noticeable look of terror on his face. Before anypony had the change to tackle him, he bolted out of the room, running at a speed that impressed Rainbow Dash. Green panted, as he looked over at the mares watching, they all looked shocked, before they cheered. Green glanced over at Rainbow's face, she was just as surprised as the others. He smiled softly with relief, before he was engulfed in blue tinted mist. When the mist cleared, Green turned back into an earth pony and fell to the ground, falling asleep as he did so. The last thing he heard before he passed out again was Rainbow Dash's voice. "Woah! Green!" ... When Green opened his eyes, he was back in bed. He caught the sight of his new friends, including Spike. He was back in the same room as before, and everypony looked like they had seen a ghost. “Uh... hi...?” The earth pony muttered, nervously. “How did you do that!?” Twilight suddenly asked, referring to the dragon form Green took. He cocked his head to the side, obliviously. “Do what?” “That dragon form you took!” She replied. Green thought for a moment, before he realized what she meant. “Oh... that. I dunno, I guess I just... thought of it?” He replied, eyes barely staying open. He sat up, allowing him to face everypony. Twilight and her friends were whispering among themselves again, before they faced Green. "We haven't probably introduced ourselves. This is Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy." Twilight said. Each respective pony waved as she introduced them. When he heard the name Rainbow Dash, he gave a weak smile, like he had been offered something. He sat up, and rubbed his eyes. His belly rumbled, as his lethargy reached him. Seeing that he was hungry, they went to get him something. As he sat back, he felt his chest pulse again, the glow returning from before. He glanced down to his chest, as he felt breathing in his ear. He jumped, terrified as the breathing stopped as soon as it came. Green was shaking, afraid, yet somehow... his fear quickly subsided, as he thought of his dragon form. "... are you... alive?" Dark was walking down a gravel path, within the walls of a dark cave. He was well away from Ponyville, groaning to himself over losing against not just the Main Six, but the guy he was supposed to distract, yet Green still transformed. He probably wasn't going to get his pay, but at least he got to sneak a peek at the mares' butts while fighting. He shrugged, slapping himself. "Great, now I'm turning into that perv." He swore mentally. He knew of another person he met not too long ago. What annoyed him the most was that freak's hyper sexuality. He just couldn't stop talking about mares' soft buns and other things he dared not go into. The cave's darkness didn't scare him, for that he could see in the shadows. As he looked around, feeling defeated as he remembered their conversation beforehand. "I bet ye can beat da Main Six in one go!" "No I won't fight them. I'm getting paid to harm that boy, remember?" "Not exactly, what ye should do is not let em' know of his destiny.... or somethin' like dat, I dunno." "... fine." He wasn't good at negotiating. At least he's getting paid... right? Dark kept looking around, and was about to give up when he heard a pebble drop nearby. He sighed, feeling chills as he heard a familiar voice. "Eyy, ya winnin' son?" The voice asked. He's like that one friend who knows isn't funny, so he'd fire off every meme or joke randomly in a non-comedic atmosphere. Dark glanced behind him, and saw another pair of eyes. These eyes were circles instead of almonds like his, and a silhouette of a serpent-like body with weirdly shaped horns on top of its round, snake-like head. The eyes were bulging out almost like mantis eyes. Due to the lack of eyelids, the eyes simply fade out when 'closing'. The creature was hanging off the ceiling, with its several arms hooking onto the thousand year old rock, slowly approaching the more humanoid creature. "Ugh... Slaughter, this isn't the time." Dark replied, not wanting to experience whatever punishment the other creature had in store for him. "I saw you lose, no lies mutha--" Slaughter was interrupted by Dark pulling out his sword, igniting the flames around it with his magical hand. "I SAID LET ME BE!" He hissed. Slaughter, for a brief second, felt a bit shaken by this, but decided to let the guy go... ... He'll have to deal with him later...