//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Meeting of Strangers // Story: An Un-Natural Turn of Events // by NinjaMare //------------------------------// “My name is, Barricade.” I simply stated as I remained sitting on the floor with my force field still propped up, and I’ll be keeping it up until I determine whether or not these mini-horses, these ponies, were safe to be around. the unicorn then gave a small bow of her head as she smiled at me. “It’s nice to meet you Barricade. If I may ask, why do you have a shield up?” the violet mare asked me as I just gestured to the pegasus that was still scowling at me. “I felt something coming towards me with ill intent, and my instincts were right. As she attempted to kick me.” Twilight then turned to look at said pegasus, along with the others also looking at the mare with small frowns. “Rainbow?” the violet pony said with a little disappointment in her voice. “What?” the pegasus simply replied. “I thought he was going to hurt somepony, I mean everypony ran for cover when he came to town.” “But did he actually do something bad Dash?” the orange mare named Applejack asked, her voice sounding like a southern bell type of girl to me which I’ll admit, sounded cute and charming. “Well no. But it’s better to be safe than sorry, right?” the pegasus said, trying to justify her premeditated assault towards me. but given the looks the other three mares were giving her, they weren’t exactly buying it, which caused the pegasus to finally land as she scoffed in defeat. “Okay, okay, I get it. I jumped the wagon, so stop giving me those looks.” The unicorn turned to look back at me with a reassuring smile as she sat down. “I’m sorry if my friend tried to hurt you, but I promise she won’t do so again. Nor anypony else.” “Yeah! so come on buddy, drop that shield and come hang out with us.” Pinkie Pie said in a cheerful tone as she hopped, bounced, or skipped, towards me and then once around my field while I just watched her as she spoke. I was skeptical about letting my force field down, I mean these our talking alien multi-colored ponies that could have who knows what kind of powers, I can’t completely take their word. But seeing their rather adorable faces and taking into account that they don’t seem hostile, well at all but one, made me feel like I could trust them. “Alright. But I’ll warn you right now, if you guys try anything I won’t hesitate to defend myself.” The two ponies directly in front of me nodded their heads before looking to the others. The orange one seemed to agree to my statement as she gave a curt nod, but the pegasus still gave me a small frown but her face softened up as the others kept staring at her, until she sighed and agreed to not try anything. So probably against my better judgement, I dropped my field as I stood to my full height, stretching my back before letting out another yawn. The ponies just looked up at me with wide-eyed amusement. “Wow! Your taller than Ah thought you’d be.” Applejack commented as she came closer to me while Twilight stood up. and its true, at full height the top of these little ponies heads barely reached my chest. In fact their faces were eye-level with my stomach. Another yawn escaped me as I rubbed my tired eyes. “Hey, Baricade, are you okay?” the pink mare asked as she tilted her head. “You look tired, and a little exhausted.” “Let’s just say that before coming here to your town, I just gotten off a 12hr shift at work, and I really want to go to sleep.” “Sleep?” Twilight remarked. “But its barely 12:30 in the afternoon.” I just rubbed my eyes as another yawn escaped me. “I don’t know how, or even why, but where I was it was the middle of the night…then I somehow found myself in some dark forest.” a grumble came from the pegasus who stayed behind the other ponies, but only Twilight looked back to her friend, to which I assume was to give her another look which the winged mare just brushed off. “Did ya get teleported here by accident?” Applejack asked, which I just shrugged my shoulders. “It’s possible. Look as much as I would like to play 20 Questions…I’m really tired, not to mention, sore so…is there a place that I can crash and get some sleep?” Thankfully Twilight nodded her head in confirmation, which I thanked her. before she led me to wherever it was I could sleep, she asked her friends if she could spread the word that I wasn’t dangerous and wasn’t going to hurt anyone, and Applejack & Pinkie Pie nodded before they trotted & hopped away. Rainbow took a bit more convincing from Twilight but eventually the cyan pony nodded and bolted into the air, before flying off to who knows where. With her friends departed Twilight led me through the town where I caught sight of some ponies peeking out from their hiding places, some of which quickly darted back into their hiding place when I looked their way, while some emerged to get a better look at me. and as they did so I also got a better look at them, really getting to see the wide arrange of colors, and even body shapes these little guys have. From tall and slender ponies, to short and stubby, and everything in-between, there seemed to be an equal number of unicorns, pegasi, and normal ponies of all various of color and shape in this town. Twenty or so minutes of walking later the little unicorn finally led me to the place that she said I could sleep at. And it was certainly not what I was expecting. Especially since the place she was taking me was a goddamn tree, which was actually turned into a building! I mean seriously, this thing has a door, windows, it even has a freaking balcony, and something at the top that looks like a crow’s nest with a spy glass. It’s even got a weathervane. “Here we are, welcome to the Golden Oaks Library.” Twilight said with cheer as she gestured to the tree library. I just looked at the little thing with a baffled look. “You brought me to a public building…to sleep?” “Of course. I do live here after all, and I can just close the library so that no pony will bother you by accident.” So this little unicorn is not only the curator of a library, but she also lives in it, and can just close it whenever she wants? I’m pretty sure that’s not how library’s work? Well whatever, I’m too tired, and to dumbstruck by this whole thing to really try and make sense of it. Entering the tree library I got a pretty good look of its inside, and there wasn’t much to the main floor room aside from a single table in the center with a wooden horse head, and the walls being the bookshelves. That’s when I noticed that the library’s main open floor was actually kind of small looking, I even spotted a few side rooms and they too looked like the main room, but with a few large sitting pillows around the room. “Hey Twilight, I’m glad your back, I just finished up cleaning the—WHOA!” all of a sudden the voice of what sounded like a little boy called out from a set of nearby stairs, however instead of seeing a littler pony there was instead a small purple lizard wearing a pink apron and holding a duster. “Twilight what is that thing?!” the little reptile sputtered as it pointed its duster at me. okay, rude. “Spike this is Baricade, he’s a…actually you’ve never told me what you are?” the little mare said as she turned to look at me. “We can discuss stuff like that later.” I said before letting out yet another yawn. “Right, right. we can talk about this kind of stuff later, but right now, sleep.” Twilight then trotted up to the lizard at the top of the steps and whispered something into his, head fin, before the little guy waddled off. the mare then gestured for me to follow her up the steps. As I did I was starting to rethink the idea to follow this mare, mostly because after she whispered whatever she said to the lizard, the way he looked at me just made me feel fairly suspicious. That’s when another thought came to me. Why did I accept Twilight’s offer to find a place to sleep so readily, I mean I’ve spent most of my life being suspicious and cautious of others to ensure no one would know that I was an Un-Natural, or get an attempt to hurt me. And yet here I am just following this pony without any of my usual cautiousness. Maybe it’s because these ponies aren’t people and this isn’t my world, maybe that’s why I was willing to just believe and follow Twilight, and taking her words at face value. “Here we are Baricade. This is our spare guest room, the bed might be a bit small, but you should be able to get some good sleep here.” The mare said as she opened the door allowing me to enter. “Thanks.” I yawned back to the little pony. “No problem. I’ll make sure no pony disturbs you while your asleep.” I thanked the mare as she closed the door. when I was alone by myself I examined the room from top to bottom, looking in every nook and cranny to see if there was anything out of place. I wasn’t sure if these ponies had camera’s or anything that could watch me, but its better safe than sorry. After finishing giving the room a thorough inspection I finally flopped onto the bed, which was indeed small but not to small that it wouldn’t bother me, I started taking my backpack, my jacket, my shoes, and finally my shirt and pants off. Luckily I always have a spare pair of shorts in my backpack in case the pants I wear get messed up, which happens fairly often at one of my two jobs. But today the shorts will do for now as my sleep trunks. Once I was changed and ready I stretched out my body while yawning again, and just dropped onto the bed which was incredibly plush and soft! Oh my god, I never want to leave this bed! “How can this little horse bed be so much better than my own.” I questioned myself as I really snugged into the bed as I tried to find a good position to sleep in. it didn’t take to long for me to get into a comfortable spot, but before I finally dozed off I raised my force field to cover me and the bed. while I do appreciate Twilight for offering me a place to sleep, I remembered that I should be more weary until I feel truly safe around them. but for now, sleep. ~~~~ The last few months have certainly been quite the rollercoaster of unusual experience for Twilight Sparkle, from seeing and facing off against Nightmare Moon, meeting and getting to know her new best friends, to even trying to make a dragon leave a mountain, and even having to deal with an ursa minor. And those were just the highlights of the unusual experience among a small series of minor adventures with her new friends. However today, might be at the very top of the list of strange yet interesting experiences that she has ever encountered. Currently the small violet unicorn was at her desk in the adjacent room of the living quarters frantically writing down notes about the strange creature that appeared in town, while also sketching out a drawing of him as she also jotted down measurements and details that she could recall, and theorize, about the creature. Ever since she first saw the creature her mind was buzzing with hundreds, if not thousands, of questions about who & what Baricade was, as there was nothing that the unicorn read in any book that even came close to him. she was also very curious about where he could’ve come from, and if there were more like him. Twilight was even wiggling in her seat about asking him about his culture, his species, and anything else she could think of asking the stranger. But the mare managed to restrain herself enough to deescalate the situations she found Baricade in, and tried to assure the creature that she and her fellow ponies weren’t a threat to him. Once she was done with her sketches and notes Twilight then levitated a new piece of parchment over to her, and started to write out a letter to her teacher. It was rather short yet had the prominent details noted down, while also asking her mentor if she herself had ever seen or met anything like Baricade before. Although the mare was certain that her teacher might have at some point during her rule, given how old the princess was, and the fact that she has met practically every creature in the known world at least once or a few hooful of times. “There.” Twilight said as she rolled up the note, along with the sketches, and bundled them up together. “Now I just have to wait for Spike to return.” It’s only been a few minutes since she asked her young assistant to go and quickly check on her friends, and see how things in the town were, so he should be back at the library pretty soon. And her hunch was correct as she heard the door to the library open and the pitter-patter of feet could be heard, but then she heard the clopping of hooves on wooden floor before eventually hearing the door close. Sounds like her friends returned with Spike, and a moment later she turned to see the little dragon along with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash come into view. But she also spotted Rarity at the back of the group, while looking a little confused. “Alright Twi, we just finished telling everypony that everything is fine now.” Applejack said as she wiped her brow of sweat before readjusting her stetson. “So what exactly is going on here Twilight?” Rarity asked as she made it to the forefront of the group with a questioning expression on her face. “I just left my boutique to go get some material for work, then I see everypony coming out of their houses or other buildings looking either concerned or just baffled, all the while talking about something strange coming to town.” Twilight nodded and started to explain what had happened, or at least what occurred when she found the creature, and what transpired after the initial meeting. “Oh my goodness! And are you sure it was alright to bring an unknown creature back to your home dear?” Rarity asked out of concern for the well-being of her friend. “Don’t worry Rarity, I don’t think that he’s dangerous. At least he didn’t seem like he was going to attack me or anything like that.” Twilight said as she felt confident in her assessment of the creature, and as Rarity and the others seem to accept the unicorn’s provocation she then looked to Spike while floating her notes towards him. “Spike can you send these to Celestia. It’s a report about Baricade.” “Sure thing.” the little dragon said before taking the bundle of scrolls and blew fire onto them, causing them to swiftly turn to smoke & ash before they swished out of the nearest window, and flew off towards Canterlot. “So what are we gonna do now Twilight? Are we just gonna sit and wait until the princess gives you a reply, or are you going to do your own secret personal investigation?” Pinkie Pie asked as she looked at her violet friend with curiosity. “I think that would be the best idea, better to air on the side of caution. Plus, Baricade is asleep, at least I think he is. He did seem incredibly tired while on the way here.” “Let’s check to see if he really is asleep or not.” Rainbow says as she then makes her way over to the guest room. At first the others were hesitant to join the pegasus, but they eventually joined her as she approached the door of the guest room. Partially out of concern for the safety of their friend if things went south, and partially to see if the creature was indeed asleep while also feed their own curiosity. As the group stood at the door Rainbow cracked it open just enough so that she & the others could peak inside, and sure enough the creature was indeed fast asleep. Happily snoring away as it laid out sprawled on the bed, its long legs dangling slightly off the end. They also took notice that the creature was surrounded by its protective shield spell again, which was certainly a surprise to them all that it needed to put it up. But what quickly caught the eyes of the group was that the creature was naked, or at least was only wearing one article of clothing now. However their attention quickly turned to focus on the creatures body. The creatures body was lean looking and seemed to have a fair bit of muscle on it, however the ponies and dragon quickly took notice that the creature had various scars on some parts of his body. Now even more curious the group quietly entered the room and made their way towards the bed, where they stood in front of the shield and really got to see the old wounds close up. Most of them seemed minor, yet there were a small hooful of them that looked more serious, such as one massive scar on Baricade’s left shoulder that looked like it was nearly chopped off, or that the right shin had what looked like a cluster of five small closed up holes on it. “Oh my goodness!” Rarity quietly whispered as she stared at the creatures scars and old wounds. “What happened to him?” Pinkie Pie asked worriedly as she gently placed a hoof on the shield, her poofy mane & tail deflating a little as a sad expression came over the usually peppy pony’s face. “Whoever this guy got in a fight with certainly gave it all it had, and then sum!” Applejack said in a hush tone looking the creatures body over to really get a good look at the scarred skin. “That or Baricade fought with lots of other creatures, and managed to survive those fights.” Twilight said a bit more louder than the others, which seemed to have disturbed the tall creature as he rolled onto his side, revealing even more scars on his back. especially one big stab wound on the right shoulder. “I think we should leave before we accidently wake him!” Twilight said in a more hushed tone as she and the others started to leave the room. except for Rainbow who just stared at the creatures body, a look of shock and surprise on her face. “Rainbow!” Twilight said just loud enough for the pegasus to shake her head and look back towards the unicorn, who gestured to the door of the room which the cyan mare dumbly nodded, before slowly trotting away from the bed. but before she left the room the rainbow maned mare looked over her withers at the creature one last time before exiting, with Twilight being the last to leave the room and gently closing the door so its click was as quiet as it could. Not a moment later when the door closed the group heard a belch come from Spike, seeing a puff of smoke waft out of his mouth which quickly turned into a scroll. “Wow that certainly was fast, Celestia must’ve been really surprised to hear about this.” Spike said as he caught the scroll in his claw before offering it to Twilight, who took it in her magical aura and started to read it. “Well Twi, what does it say?” Applejack asked as she and the others waited for the unicorn to finish going over the scroll’s contents. “Celestia said she’s never seen anything like Baricade by the drawing I made of him.” The ponies and dragon were surprisingly shocked to hear that even the princess didn’t know what Baricade was, and was even surprised to hear that the princess wanted to meet him. “That’s not all though, she also wants to meet him and basically do an evaluation of him.” The ponies were a bit confused when they heard that the princess wanted to, evaluate Baricade, though they suspected it was just a cautionary measure to see if the creature was dangerous or not. For the time being the others decided to head back to their own homes and wait to see what happens next, so they bid the library occupants farewell as they headed out, though before leaving Pinkie Pie assured Twilight that when the time comes she’ll give Baricade a proper welcoming party. As for Twilight and Spike, they simply waited in the living quarters of the library for Baricade to wake up, and talk to him about setting him up to meet with princess Celestia. Hopefully when he does wake he’ll be receptive to the princess’s invitation to meet with her.