//------------------------------//
// Appearance of a Hero 
// Story: My Little Pony: Wizard of Hope 
// by darkmagician41 
//------------------------------//


My Little Pony: The Wizard of Hope


Chapter 1


Appearance of a Hero


Normally when someone wakes up after a car accident they expect to be in one of two places, the car they crashed in or the hospital. For one fifteen year old boy that was what he expected after his mother and father stupidly took their eyes off the road the one second needed for hell to come in a handbasket. As he rubbed his short slightly shaggy auburn hair, he tried to move his legs only to find them restrained. Opening his eyes fully he looked and saw he was wearing the customary hospital gown, though smaller than what he knew them to be, with his ankles strapped to the sides of the bed.

Another thing he noticed was that the bed was barely long enough to fit his thin foot five martial art’s type body. Before he could figure out how to get out, the door opened up making his eyes widen in surprise as he saw who was at the door.

At the door wasn’t a human but rather a white pony with a powdery pink mane tied up in a bun with an old fashion nurse’s cap on her head and a mark on her flank in the shape of a red cross. The young boy could only stare in shock as he saw and barely recognized her as a character from a show he briefly watched when he was bored and there were no anime showing at the time, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

“Ah, I see you are awake,” the nurse said as she walking up to the bed not scared in the least as she started scanning the chart next to her patient, “You were found by the Everfree forest with some minor head trauma and lacerations. We kept you overnight for observation and strapped down for safety.”

 The boy shook his head to clear it of the final cobwebs before remembering his manners. “Thank you for helping me Miss. My name is Eric …Pendragon,” The teen said pausing very briefly as he decided to use an ancient version of his family name instead of his usual one. “Do you think you could tell me who found me in the forest?”

Looking at Eric briefly, the nurse introduced herself. “My name is Nurse Redheart. Unfortunately the pony that found you wants to remain anonymous for the moment.”

“Rats, I wanted to thank them,” Eric said with a sigh before asking a question on his mind, “Um, not to be rude or anything but…why aren’t you freaking about me?”

Nurse Redheart smiled as she said, “You are not the first human I have seen. The first one I have met was over forty years ago.” Her eyes gained a far off look to them as she remembered the day, “I was with my classmates going to the Everfree Forest when I had gotten separated from them. As I was looking for them I stumble across a human a bit older than you wearing a dark green uniform and a strange metal hat.  He was bleeding profusely from wounds I could not recognize even to this day.”

Her eyes misted a bit as he continued with her story, “I was carrying my class’ first aid kit at the time and tried my best to patch him up to hopefully take him to the hospital but it was no use and the wounds were too numerous. Before he died, he reached into his clothing and pulled out a strange necklace asking me to take it. After that I had found out that I had gained my Cutie Mark –to my surprise- trying to help that human which led me to start training to become a nurse. Of course the day after he died I went back and buried him myself.”

With her story finished up the white pony turned to Eric as she said, “I have not told anypony about that day nor have I figured out why he gave me his necklace.”

Eric thought about it for a bit before he asked, “Do you think I can see the necklace later?”

Nurse Redheart nod, promising to bring it tomorrow when she added, “But now you need some rest. I will see if I can’t get somepony to bring you something to eat since you have been out for almost two days.”

At that moment, Eric’s stomach began to voice its displeasure at being empty making the poor teen blush a bright red as Redheart giggled, “Yes please. And could you release me from these restraints I promise not to harm anyone… I mean pony unless I am attack or someone else is.”

The nurse agreed to this and swiftly released him allowing him to stretch his legs to get the blood moving again as she left. Once she did, Eric began thinking, ‘Over forty years ago... If my math and history are correct that around World War II or the Vietnam War. Could a soldier have come to this world like I did?’

Unfortunately he didn’t get a chance to continue his thoughts as the door open once again to reveal another pony coming in with a cart filled to vegetarian goodness. Not really picky about what he ate unlike other teens –mostly thanks to his family- he gently grabbed the tray and thanked the slightly scared pony who quickly defrosted when he shared some of his food since she hadn’t had time to eat lunch yet.

A day and a half later, Eric was finally being let out with all of his stuff returned to him. Besides the clothes that he wore when he was in the accident –a pair of light brown multi pocket shorts, sneakers, a light brown shirt with some interesting designs on it, and a camouflage Texas Ranger baseball cap. He also had his light brown messenger bag with a hazard signs on the flap which held a lot of things to help him survive pretty much anything and a small suitcase filled with extra clothing.

As he finished up a quick inventory of his bags, the door opened up to reveal Nurse Redheart with something in her hoof –how she kept it in place Eric couldn’t figure out. The teenage boy sat on the edge of the bed after zipping up the bags as the nurse handed him the necklace.

“This is what the human gave me; do you know what it means?”

As Eric took the necklace his eyes widen as he recognized it as a set of dog tags but they widened even further when he saw the name on them, “Uncle Vernon?!?!”

That startled Nurse Redheart, “Do you know the human that I tried to save?”

The teen quickly nodded his head, “Yes he is my Uncle Vernon who was believed to be MIA –Missing in Action- or KIA –Killed in Action- when he went off to fight the Axes powers during D-day!”

Nurse Redheart was a bit confused about what Eric said until he explained a bit of history about his world.  When he finished she looked down with sadness as she said, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to save your uncle.”

Eric on the other hand wasn’t mad at all and gently lifted Redheart’s chin up as he said, “Don’t be. While my uncle may have died he did so protecting the country he loved. You allowed his last few moments in life to be peaceful ones and for that I should be thanking you for not only doing what you could to try and save him, but also for giving him some peace before he died.”

That startled the nurse quite a bit before her eyes began to water. “I believe you will want the tags back,” she said using the correct term for them.

Shaking his head, Eric took the dog tags and gently placed them around Redheart’s neck as he said, “No. You deserve them more than I do for giving him some measure of peace.”

Afterwards Eric walked out of the hospital dibbing goodbye to the few nurses he befriended with his bag handing diagonally off his shoulder and the small roller suitcase behind him. As he walked around trying to find out what he needed to do next, Eric noticed that many of the ponies were looking at him with more than a bit of caution.  The teen wasn’t going to fault them since they have never seen anything like him before –thought if he remembered one episode right he was surprised to see that they weren’t running and hiding.

His thoughts were derailed when he heard someone cry out and quickly ran towards the sound. There he saw three gryphons –more than likely juveniles- harassing a pegasus pony with butter yellow fur, light pink mane/tail, and a mark on her flank –which Eric found out was a Cutie Mark- was three pink and cyan butterflies. Her wide blue/green eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at a basket of food she had just brought. Beside her was another Pegasus pony but with blue fur, a rainbow colored mane, and a Cutie Mark shaped like a white cloud with a tri colored lightning bolt shooting out of it, glaring at the trio with more than a bit of rage as she stood in front of her friend.

“Well, well…” one of the gryphons said, “If it isn’t Klutzershy and her friend Rainbow Crash.”

“I remember you,” the blue Pegasus with a soft and somewhat cute growl, “you three are some of the bullies that I dealt with in Flying Camp.”

“And we remember the humiliation you gave us during that race long ago,” another gryphon replied with a sneer, “I think it’s time we repaid the favor,” he continued holding up his clawed right foreleg.

Eric wasn’t having any of that and quickly placed his bags to the side –briefly fiddling with his messenger bag- before standing up and charging forward. As the gryphon that threatened the ponies started to raise his claw, the teen threw himself forward –right leg first- shouting “WACHA!” and slammed a flying kick into the closest gryphon sending him flying while taking the other two with him. Thanking his self-taught martial arts ability –his parents were too cheap to send him to a formal class as well as too scared he would gain a backbone from it- Eric flipped out of the kick and landed in front of the two Pegasi in the basic Jeet Kun Do stance.

“What the hay?” the blue Pegasus shouted in shock while the butter-yellow one hid behind her friend staring in shock.

Before he could introduce himself, the gryphons got up groaning a bit with the leader glaring at the teen, “What are you freak?”

“The name’s Eric Pendragon,” The dude from another world replied, “A human and the one who will stop you from harming anyone.”

The lead gryphon sneered as the teen stood in their way of their revenge along with his partners, “Stand in our way and we won’t be responsible for what happens.”

Eric just smirked as he stood up straight and reached into his pocket, “If you want to throw down let’s go for it.” He pulled his hand out of the pocket holding a small remote as he said, “Just let me set the tone,” the pressed the button on it causing the hidden speakers in his messenger bag -connected to his iPhone- to ring with the bong of a large gong.

As the music started playing Eric quickly put the remote back into his pocket before cracking his knuckles. He then got into another low Jeet Kun Do stance with a, “Whoooo,” then sprang into action and he shot forward shouting, “WACHA!” With surprising speed, he swung his right fist –which was up in the air- down then back up into a forward punch towards one of the stunned gryphons sending him flying and getting the other two back on track. With low growls, the two other gryphons tried to swipe at the teen. He parted the swipes to the side before making one of the two fly with a quick yet punishing blow to the chest and a “Hi-ya” allowing him to focus on the other one.

With each claw swipe the gryphon unleashes, Eric easily parts them then slams a couple of quick punches to his chest before repeating. After having enough the gryphon tries to take a bit out of the teen only for him to grab his outstretched neck and throw him for a loop. Before he lands, Eric spun around and slammed a spin kick to his ribs with another “Ki-ya” causing them to creak in protest before he lands where he belonged, in the trash.

Gryphon leader tried his luck by blindsiding Eric from the air but the dude from another world already saw him. He ducked the claws and jabbed him in the throat with an elbow before swing the accompanied fist up into his beak. This sent him stumbling back before he lunged again at the teen who grabbed the offending arm with his left hand and held it to the side as he placed the fingertips of his right hand at the center of the Gryphon’s chest. He looked at it dumbly before Eric quickly clenched the fingers into a fist the thrust it forward at the same time performing the famed One-Inch Punch of Bruce Lee, sending him flying once again. At the same time, the only gryphon to stay standing jumped over his flying leader stunning Eric briefly.

“Time to flip,” he shouted as he began to do just that, back flipping out of the claws reach a few times stunning the ponies watching. After a few flips, he jumped higher than normal and spun around slamming a backward roundhouse into his face also sending him into the trash. A few seconds later the leader regained him composure and charged at Eric, only for the teen to push it to the side and stat unleashing a torrent of quick punches to juggling him in the air for a bit all with his right fist. As he did a strange white/crimson aura appeared around his fist –unbeknownst to the human- creating the effect of a meteor shower slamming into the Gryphon’s gut one aright after the other. After a few seconds he let loose a powerful punch with a “KYA!” knocking him out for the count.

As the song died down, the two gryphons in the trash had finally dug their way out only to see their leader out colder than a mackerel. “If you don’t want to end up like him,” Eric said getting the two minions’ attention, “I suggest you leave with him. And if I see you three messing with anybody, I’m clipping your wings permanently.”

With little preamble, the two gryphons quickly gathered their fallen leader and made tracks out of town with nothing but a cloud of dust trailing them. Eric sighed as he started to calm down and started to go back to his bags to hopefully find a place to stay the night when all the ponies that were watching started to cheer. A second later they were all crowded around Eric shaking his hand, thanking him for sending those three gryphons packing.

Surprisingly they three had been causing some trouble around Ponyville –as Eric found out the town’s name was- not enough to get the guards from Canterlot to appear but enough to set back the planning of the Summer Sun Celebration. After a few minutes of thanks, promises of works if Eric needed it or a free meal –which the teen was definitely going to hit up on at least once- the throng of ponies started to disperse with the two Pegasi quickly took their place as the weapons grade adorable butter-yellow Pegasus behind the more tomboyish one.

“That was pretty awesome,” the blue Pegasus said with a confident smirk on her face, “But I could have taken care of those idiots.”

Eric just smiled as he replied, “I don’t doubt it but I have very little patients when it comes to bullies and a few other things.”

The blue Pegasus nodded in understanding before she squinted at the dude from another dimension before her eyes widen in shock, “You’re the creature that Fluttershy had me and Applejack carry to the hospital.”

That shocked Eric some, “You’re one of the ponies that helped me?”

“Yep,” the blue Pegasus said with a nod before sticking her right front hood out which the teen shook, “My name’s Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria!” She then turned her head to the other Pegasus as she added, “And this is Fluttershy. She’s the one who found you in the Everfree Forest.”

The teen smiled as he knelt down to the extremely shy pony and smiled softly at her, “So you’re the one who help me huh? I guess I owe you big time.” Then he took a good look at Fluttershy as she tried to hide from him with her long mane leaving only one eye out in the open. “So your name’s Fluttershy, cute name for a cute pony.”

A second later Fluttershy began to blush brightly before fainting in shock. If it wasn’t for Eric’s quick reaction she would have fallen flat on the ground. “What just happened?” The human asked with some confusion.

Rainbow Dash just snickered before she said, “I think you flirting with her shocked her too much.”

“NANI?!?!” Eric shouted with a bright blush on his face.

The light blue Pegasus just kept laughing her butt off before calming down –though a few snickers still escaped once in awhile, “Well let’s grab your stuff and take Fluttershy back to her house.”

Eric just nodded, his face still red, as he lifted the weapons grade adorable pony up in his arms and took off towards his stuff. An half an hour later, he had dropped off Fluttershy and began walking around with Rainbow Dash lazily flying beside him.

“So what are you going to do now?” The Pegasus asked as she watched the dude from another world go through his stuff once more while walking through Ponyville.

“Well, since I’m pretty much broke when it comes to this world’s currency, I need to find a job and maybe find a cave or someplace to hold up until I get enough bits to pay for room an’ board. If I’m lucky maybe someone can put me up until I get my feet on the ground.” Eric said and when he saw that rainbow Dash was a bit confused he added, “That last part of just a figure of speech.”

Before Dash could offer anything both of them were startled when a cultured English voice sounded from behind them. “I believe I may have the answer to both your problems.”

Both human and Pony quickly turned around to see a light brown Earth Pony with a messy dark brown mane that had an hourglass for a cutie mark and a collar around his neck –like one would find on a formal button up shirt with a tie to complete the look. On his back was a worn but well-kept saddlebag that looked like it has seen a lot of things in its lifetime.

“Hey Doctor!” Dash said while waving a hoof, “How were your travels?”

“The usual trouble I seem to find,” The colt said with a chuckle before turning to Eric, “But back to the point, I have been waiting for you Eric Pendragon.

“Me?” Eric asked with a bit of confusion along with Dash, “What did I do?”

The Doctor chuckled again before explaining, “Actually, A colleague of mine wanted me to give you something to help you get settled in Ponyville.” With that he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small slightly long box with plain brown paper wrapped around it and twine. “Also,” he continued as Eric took the strange box with Dash looking at it as well, “I do believe that Sweet Apple Acres has need of a few good farmhands.”

“Thank,” Eric replied as he began to look up, “but how do you…” To his shock, when he looked up the doctor was gone as if he wasn’t there in the first place. “Da Heck?!” he shouted in shock while Dash sighed.

“He always seems to do that,” the light blue Pegasus grumbled before turning to the human, “So what’s in there?”

“Let’s find out,” Eric replied as he went to a nearby convenient bench and sat down with Dash doing the same on his right. Once he took off the paper and twine –all of which he put in his bag to Dash’s confusion- he opened the box to reveal a letter with a strange Rubix cube sized piece of black metal and another smaller box inside the larger one. He set the larger box down pulling out the letter which he opened up and began to read.

To Eric Pendragon

If you are reading this then my equestrian self has found you and given you the package I gave him. To simply put, I am the Doctor –I’m sure you know what that means despite being on the other side of the pond as the saying goes.

Eric’s eyes went wide in shock as he read that while Dash was just confused, “What did he mean by that?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Eric replied before he continued to read the letter out loud.

Now that pleasantries have been taken care of, I need to explain to you about the two items in the box. The first one is the black cube which is an experiment I have been working on for a while. It uses a few abilities that the TARDIS has but in a more manageable size –just without the ability to move through time and space. It will recreate your home down to the smallest detail when you first use it and once you get the house the way you like it, it will always take the appearance it was last in before you shrink it to take it with you. It will also connect to the internet and television of your world so that you know what is going on back home but will not be able to send anything back. And it is all powered by Green Energy –as you American’s call it- so no worries about where you will get the power to use all of your things. I also added a few extra things for security purposes which I will detail in another letter inside the house.

“That is so cool!!!” Rainbow Dash shouted after Eric finished that last paragraph.

“Well, there solves one of my problems,” Eric said as he took the black cube in his hand and felt that it was slightly heavier than it looked, “not I just need someplace to put it.”

“Worry about that later,” Dash dismissed before all but shoving the paper into the human’s face, “continue!!!”

Rolling his eyes playfully Eric retook the letter and continued reading.

The second item…Well I think you need to open it first before I explain…

Go on…open it!

“A little pushy,” Eric pointed out as he placed the letter to the side and pulled out the smaller box. When he opened it his heart stopped and his breath cut short.

“What is it?” Dash exclaimed as she tried to take a peek inside the box only to get disappointed, “What is that, some kind of decoration?”

“Shut your mouth!” Eric replied with a glare startling the Pegasus, “This is more than what you think.” He reached inside the box and pulled out something any sci-fi fan would know and kill for…  “This is a Sonic Screwdriver Mark VII.”

“A what…”

“A Sonic Screwdriver, one of the many tools of the doctor,” Eric explained as he reached back into the box and also pulled out a small pair of sunglasses, “you could say it the most powerful device on the multiverse. Able to do a myriad of things while looking inconspicuous enough to be dismissed.”

That peaked Rainbow Dash’s curiosity, “Like what?”

“Lock and unlock any door in existence –as long as it isn’t wood-; check for any wounds, poison, along with other medical problems and repair them if they are not too life threatening; and pretty much anything your imagination has to offer... as long as it’s non-offensive.”

“Wow…” Dash said softly as Eric looked over the most coveted piece of Sci-fi hardware.

“But this seems different from the one I’ve have heard my world’s Doctor using,” Eric added as he looked over the Screwdriver without giving too much information away. The Sonic Screwdriver looked like it was a fusion of the one the Eleventh Doctor gave River Song with the Mark VII head but more streamline and without the Neural Relay, the TARDIS Remote Return, and the felt tip bottom. It also had a slider on the opposite side of the ring with a twist dial under it.

“Then what are the sunglasses for?” Rainbow Dash asked her curiosity and excitement peaked as she looked at the second item in the box which was a pair of black MIB style ray-bans.

“We’re about to find out,” Eric said as he took up the letter again to read it.

As you probably recognize this is my famous Sonic Screwdriver… thought it is not as powerful as mine. It is based on the one that my future self-gave River Song but with a few additions from my current one. While it doesn’t have the punch my Screwdriver does it make up for it by having more abilities in it thanks to its power source…magic. To put it simply while my Screwdriver has to be charged by the TARDIS, your takes the ambient magic naturally found in Equestria and stores it to be used later. Unfortunately this also will present a problem in places where magic is not so rich in the air and will drain quicker if you use it in such an area.

There is another way you can charge it up…but I’ll let you find out for yourself. Also the glasses are an external interface I added in since humans cannot mentally interface with Time Lord Technology without some drastic consequences. I won’t tell you what you have on your Sonic Screwdriver, where is the fun in that?

Signed

The Doctor

Both Pegasus and human were shocked by what they just saw until Rainbow shook herself out of it. “THAT IS SO AWESOME!!!”

Eric just nodded with a shocked look on his face before quickly shaking it off and placing the items in his bag despite Rainbow Dash’s whining at him to try it out –thought she would insist that she didn’t. Thankfully a promise to call her when he did start to do so stopped the whining, allowing Eric to pick his new items up. As he got up –placing his messenger bag back where it belonged and grabbing his suitcase- he turned to Rainbow Dash as he said, “Well, let’s see if the good doctor’s hunch was correct.”

“I’ll show you,” Dash replied as she started to hover in place, “But you better remember your promise!”

And with that she raced off with Eric quickly following behind her, as he did, something in his bag began to glow briefly before dying off. Unknowing of what just happened; Eric continued to race after Rainbow Dash though for some reason he heard a low growl somewhere but ignored it for the moment.

A few minutes later Rainbow Dash was sitting in front of the entrance of the Sweet Apple Acres farm watching Eric as he gasped for breath like a locomotive. “Don’t have much endurance do you?” she said with a giggle (though if you asked her she would have said she chuckled)

Eric just glared at Dash as he thought, ‘you try catching a pony version of Kamen Rider Accel: Trial, then come back to me.’ After catching his breath she stood up as straight as he could and looked around, “So this is the place?”

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash replied, “Sweet Apple Acres, best place in equestrian to get apples or anything apple related. “ And with that she took a deep breath before shouting, “AJ, YOU HOME!!!”

Both Pegasus and human heard a female voice –in a thick southern drawl if Eric was correct- replied back with her own shout, “IN A MINUTE RD; YEEHAW!” The two looked towards the shouter and saw a light gamboge colored pony with blond/light olive mane and tail –both tied up what we would call a low ponytail- with a Stetson cowboy and a Cutie Mark made up of three apples racing towards one of the many apple trees only to swing around when she was close and give the tree a mighty buck. To Eric’s shock that caused all the apples on the tree to shake before falling down into carefully placed baskets.

Very proud of herself, the pony turned around as she asked, “What ‘cha need RD?” only to stop when she saw Eric standing right beside the cerulean Pegasus, “Is that?”

“Yep, this is the creature we helped Fluttershy save in the forest,” Rainbow Dash said quite proudly as Eric gained a small cross-popped vein -which appeared on the side of his head- at being talked over.

“The name’s Eric Pendragon,” the human said successfully keeping the irritation out of his voice as he interrupted a slightly irritated Dash. He knelt down and held out his hand to shake as he continued, “A human if you’re wondering.”

“Well howdy doo Eric,” AJ replied as she quickly took his hand with both of her front hooves and began to vigorously shake it, “We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin’ new friends.”

“Not a problem,” the dude from another dimension replied as he tried to keep the shaking out of his voice. Off to the side Rainbow Dash tried to keep the snickers from escaping her mouth but was only partly successful.

“The name’s Applejack,” the earth pony continued as she let go of the hand to introduce herself –which Eric was mentally thanking her for as he tried to keep his arm from falling off from the shaking. Eric and Rainbow Dash both explained what has happened in the past couple of hours –with AJ giggling some when she heard what happened between the Human and Fluttershy to Eric’s embarrassment- before collecting herself.

“Well thank ya kindly for taking care of them varmints,” she started with a low growl, “Those Griffons have been making a right mess of things here at the farm. It’s hard to get ready for both the Apple family reunion and the Summer Sun Celebration without those featherbrains.” The mare then turned to Eric as she looked at him before asking, “What can you do anyways?”

“I’m a bit of a jack of all trades,” Eric replied as he thought, ‘no thanks to them.’ “I can do some woodworking, plumbing, and a few other things. I’m also willing to learn any other trades if given half the chance.”

Applejack through it over for a bit before she made her decision, “Ah will pay yer seven bits an hour and since yer don’t have a place ready yet… Yer can stay here for a while.”

“Thank you very much,” Eric said with a bright smile which the two ponies could not help but return before Applejack began to lead then towards the human’s first tasks.

“Now there are some logs that need a splitting next to some lumber we’re using for an extension to the house,” She said as the trio walked towards Eric’s first assignment.

“Not a problem,” The human said as they reach their destination. A few seconds later Rainbow Dash had to take off for something which had her grumbling while Applejack had to get the bushels of apples she had just buck into the barn before taking off towards Ponyville for a few items. Once the two had taken off, Eric placed his bags down before reaching into the Messenger one and pulling out a pair of good sturdy work gloves.

After putting the gloves on, he grabbed the nearby axe and went to town on the logs. As he worked, the strange glow in his bag returned as it reacted to his feelings. This also brought back the strange growl from last time which Eric ignored once again.


Time Skip


A few hours had passed since he began his work and he not only finished splitting the wood but also moved the lumber closer to the house. There he also met Applejack’s older brother Big McIntosh a big crimson stallion with a cropped dark orange mane/tail and a mark that was shaped like a green apple sliced down the middle showing the seeds inside. With Eric’s help the two were able to start building the addition to the house where the human also met Applejack’s grandmother, Granny Smith, and her little sister Apple Bloom. Unfortunately the little filly fired questions at the human like a machine gun until Applejack thankfully shooed her off.

Of course during the whole debacle, he met one more pony during a quick break. She was a light raspberry mare with a dark raspberry mane/tail and a Cutie Mark made up of two blue balloons with a yellow one between them. Without knowing anything about her, Eric could tell that she was bubbly and cheery. Surprisingly when he said hi to her, she somehow became airborne for just a moment with a gasp before taking off in a blur of raspberry dust.

“Da heck was that?!” Eric asked Big Mac as he coughed out the dust that got into his lungs.

“Pinkie Pie,” McIntosh simply said as he waved the dust away before going back to putting up the frame. The dude from another dimension just stared at the big pony before shrugging and going back to work.

Now with the sun setting, Eric was placing his tools back in their place as Applejack trotted over to him. “Well Ah’ll be,” She said with a bit of shock as she saw the beginnings of the new addition, “Yer certainly are a Jack of all Trades.”

The human winched a bit when she said that –though it was so small you had to actually be looking for it- before turning to the cowgirl/pony, “Well I try boss.”

Nodding her head at that she turned around as she said, “Well Ah was asked to bring yer somewhere for a surprise.”

“Huh?” Eric intelligently asked as he quickly grabbed his messenger bag –his suitcase was put inside a spare room on the house during one of his quick breaks- and followed after his boss. “What kind of surprise?”

“Oh just something we do for folks new to Ponyville,” Applejack said in an offhand/hoof way, though her face slightly scrunched up for some reason.

Shaking his head, the human walked behind the cowgirl/pony going through the town towards a large building that reminded him of a gingerbread house with a large cupcake on top of it. As he walked closer to the building he saw a sign on it that read, “Sugercube Corner” making Eric think that it was a bakery or something similar. Applejack entered the building first with her new hired hand behind her slightly worried since all the lights were out. The second he stepped in and the door closed, that wasn’t the case anymore.

“SURPRISE!”

Eric yelped falling on his backside as the lights quickly turned on revealing the place was nearly filled to the brim with ponies of all kinds surrounding him –at the same time something fell out of his messenger bag unbeknownst to him. “What the heck is all this?!?!” he all but shouted.

“It’s your ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Thanks for Helping Us’ party Eric!” a cute high pitched voice said from beside him in one quick rapid-fire sentence startling him again. He looked to the side and saw the strange pony he met before beside him smiling happily. “Were you surprised, were you, huh; were you!”

“V-very,” Eric stuttered out in shock as Applejack helped him up, “But why throw me a party?” he asked confused.

“It is our thanks for helping protect Ponyville,” a slightly older, cultured voice –which reminded Eric of M from the James Bond series but more lively- spoke out as some of the ponies surrounding Eric parted to reveal an older mare with a light cornflower bluish grey mane/tail and light amber coat walking up to him. She had a collar around her neck that reminded Eric of the collar of a business suit with a green/blue flower like scarf holding it together and a pair of half-moon glasses perched on her nose.

“Because of your bravery,” she continued “We are able to continue our work planning for the Summer Sun Celebration that is scheduled to happen a month from now without their interference.”

All the ponies cheered at that causing Eric to blush with embarrassment, unused to being thanked for his work regularly. “I just did what anyone would have done Ms.…”

“Mayor Mare, Mr. Pendragon” the pony, no Mayor replied with a kind smile, “And while that may be true, it was still brave of you.”

“That’s right Eric!” Pinkie shouted happily as she somehow pop out over his shoulder startling him, “And something like that calls for a PARTY!”

And with that, the party got underway. Eric could only stand with a stunned look on his face before shrugging and going on to check out the party. Though one thought did run through his mind as he remembered that he never told Pinkie his name at all which stemmed from his favorite pastime, ‘I think I just met the resident Fourth Wall Breaker.’


Wizard of Hope


As the party was going on, the griffon that Eric knocked out was pacing in one of the few clearing of the Everfree Forest in front of his two minions. “How could that freak defeat us?!?!” he all but shouted as he paced back and forth, his claws digging into the dirt creating a trench as he walked.

“It was a simple plan,” the leader continued, “humiliate those ponies by ruining their celebration. But that freak how to get in the way. Well it’s time we showed those friendship loving idiots what we are capable of.” He looked to the side as the moon revealed eight more griffons that were dragging a large wooden crate into the clearing making the leader smirk evilly.

“And it all starts with our new toys…” With that he walked over to the crate –shoving his men out of the way as he did so- and with surprising strength ripped off the top to reveal their new items. Once he saw them glistening in the moonlight, his chuckle grew into laughter that sent all nearby creatures running in fear.


Wizard of Hope


Back at the party, Eric was slowly loosening up after his shock. As he listened to Rainbow Dash tell his about another stunt she’s done, the dude from another dimension heard someone call out; “Hey does anypony know what this is?” Eric turned to the voice and was stunned to see Pinkie hold up a very familiar item that was silver with a black hand edged in gold on the front in her left-front hoof.

“My WizarDriver!” he shouted in shock carefully but quickly made his way to the party pony.

“You’re what?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew behind Eric along with Applejack and Fluttershy –who had reluctantly come to the party at Pinkie’s insistence.

“It’s a toy from my world,” Eric replied as Pinkie handed it to him, “it’s a replica an item a hero I…read about in my world uses.”

Rainbow Dash shivered when he said “read” while Pinkie Pie and a few other ponies were  staring in wide eyed shock and awe at the strange object. “So what does it do?” the prismatic Pegasus asked a tiny bit curious.

“It’s mainly a transformation device that the hero uses to change into a special set of armor.” Eric explained as he set the buckle at his waist absently while looking at Rainbow Dash, “It goes around the waist…”

Before he could say anything else, Eric felt something wrap around his waist as a familiar –strange for the ponies- accented voice called out from his waist.

=Driver On - Please! =

Looking down, he saw the buckle had somehow “grew” a belt which wrapped around his waist startling him, “What the heck just happened?!?!” He shouted in shock startling the ponies.

“Isn’t it supposed to do that?” Dash asked, just as stunned as the human.

“It never did this before!” was the reply as he tried to take off the belt without any luck, “Help me get this driver off me!!!”

Just as the Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie trotted up to him to help; the door to the bakery slammed open revealing an earth pony with a scared look on her face, “Those griffons are back, and they brought company!” A second later she had to jump out of the way as Eric raced out of the door while grabbing his bag, only to skid to a stop with what he saw.

In front of him, wrecking anything they could get their hands on, were sixteen griffons in a mishmash of armor with a few wielding some kind of weapon tearing up anything they could get their claws on and nearly harming more than a few ponies. As he watched in shock, Applejack, Pinkie, Dash, and the Mayor quickly appeared by his side and stared with horror.

“What in tarnation are they doin’?” Applejack asked with more than a bit of heat in her voice.

“They are asking for a stomping,” Rainbow Dash replied as she snorted in anger with hints of steam coming out of her nose.

Eric only took a second to think of something before he said, “Ms. Mayor…Get everyone out of here and call whoever you need.” As he stated that, he reached into his nearby bag and pulled out another pair of gloves with some metal between the knuckles for extra kick before tossing the bag to the side. “I’m going to take these bakayaro out for good.”

“Like hay you’re going to fight them alone,” Rainbow Dash shouted as she stepped up beside her newest friend, “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t try to help even the odds a bit in a fight?”

“She’s right sugercube,” Applejack added as she also stepped up beside Eric opposite of the Pegasus while pushing her Stetson down some in front of her eyes giving her a dangerous look, “Ah just wouldn’t feel right if Ah didn’t help Ma friends kick some tail when they need backup.”

“No pony crashes one of my parties,” Pinkie added with a scary smile as she had also stepped up pulling out; a rather large pink bazooka-like cannon from nowhere and cocked it like a pump-action shotgun.

‘Does she have a hammer-space or something?’ was Eric’s random thought before going back to the task at hand as he put on his gloves and tightened them, “Well then, let’s ride with the devil. IKUZE!!!”

And with that he charged forward with his new friends’ right behind him all ready to throw down. The same time, the mayor quickly began to rush ponies away from the upcoming battle while grabbing one of the Pegasi to run a letter to the nearest guard outpost since Ponyville didn’t have one yet despite its age.

Back with the flock of griffons, the lot of them was having fun terrorizing the ponies and tearing stuff up. At least until one of them heard a whistle and looked up in time to get a flying knee to the face. That got all of the griffons’ attention as they were soon attacked by the quartet of heroes. The three ponies were doing surprisingly well against the vermin with Applejack’s strength, Rainbow Dash’s speed, and Pinkie Pie’s cannon -which turned out to fire steamers, cakes, and other party items as ammunition- holding them off pretty well despite the Griffons’ armor allowing them to last longer than they would have normally.

The only one having trouble was Eric who only had his smarts, skills, and a fiery will of justice to help him. To add to it, he couldn’t really attack the griffons because of the armor and weapons so he had to resort to another fighting style, Aikido, to hold the off. Unfortunately this allowed one of the griffons he was fighting to get away and didn’t notice the konoyaro until he heard a cultured female voice close to his age scream as he knocked the three griffons he was fighting together.

“Help me!!!”

He turned around to see a mare with a light grey –almost white- coat, a stylish indigo mane/tail, and a Cutie Mark made of three diamonds getting attacked by a Griffon. Unfortunately she tripped, allowing the griffon to catch up and start to swipe at the mare with his talons. Without even thinking, Eric charged towards them with surprising speed and quickly grabbed the mare to get her out of the way. Alas he was still a bit too slow and caught the attacking griffon’s talons just as he grabbed the mare taking a few good sized chunks out of his back. His momentum along with the power behind the swipe sent Eric and his passenger flying before they rolled to a stop.

Eric groaned as he laid down on his right side, back facing the attacking griffon, and opened his eyes –which he closed during his flight- and looked into the mare’s azure eyes with a pained smile. “Are you okay?” he asked and got a stunned nod in return.

Seeing the nod, the human gently untangled himself from the mare and stood up facing the griffon. As he did so the mare gasped in shock and horror as she saw the large claws marks on her savior’s back. “Your back!” she said in shock with a refined British accent that reminded Eric of some actresses from England.

“I’ve had worse,” Eric replied as he grabbed his ruined shirt and tore it off the rest of the way revealing something that horrified to cultured mare. His entire back had a multitude of scars from a strange item that the mare could not identify with most healed over poorly.

The human didn’t care though as he watched the griffons that weren’t battling her new friends gather in front of him along with the leader. “Well, well look at what we have here, a half dead freak.”

Eric just grinned despite his pain as he shot off a whip like reply, “Better a half dead freak then ugly bastard like you.” His grin quickly turned into a scowl –with the mare he was protecting flush from the curse he just used- as he continued, “If you think I’m going to let you cause any more harm to this village then you got another thing coming, teme.”

The leader just laughed as he countered with, “How will you do that? The only defenders here are three mares who we can easily overcome and you, a half dead freak. There is no hope for Ponyville; all will feel my wrath for what this country has done to me!”

The scowl on Eric’s face deepened as he said, “That’s were your wrong. As long as I am standing I will not let you cause any more destruction to Ponyville, or terrorize the ponies here.” As he said that his eyes began to glow red as he held his right hand up to his face and clenched it shouting, “I WILL BE THIS TOWN’S LAST HOPE!!!”

A second later the WizarDriver began to glow along with Eric’s hands stunning everyone/pony. As Eric looked down at his hands, the light instantly vanished revealing two rings, one on each hand. His right hand had a silver ring with a black stone on the top shaped to look like the hand on the driver but smaller. The other ring –which caught Eric’s attention more- was a ruby ring surrounded by silver with a small yellow gem near the top –nearest to the tip- and a pair of goggle like lenses near the top.

Eric looked at the ring in shock before he began to smirk before reaching for the driver. He grabbed a lever on either side of the hand and pushed them down –for the right lever- or up –the left. This made the hand on the driver twist to the right and to everyone’s shock… it began to sing with a little beat.

=SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN~! SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN~! SHABADOOBIE TATCHI HENSHIN~! =

As it did so, Eric held his left hand up to his face –the ring facing the stunned Griffons- before his brought his other hand to the ring and said one word as he pushed the “goggles” down over the ring.

"Henshin!"

With that he placed his left hand over the buckle stopping the song as it said something else.

=FLAME, PLEASE! =

Eric then threw his hand out to the side as a bright red flaming rune circle appeared an inch in front of it. In the middle of the circle was a replica of the ring he had just used with a dragon circling it, another ring marked with four uniquely shaped gems in the cardinal points over the dragon, and outside of that ring was another one made of Latin words. All of this was on top of another spell circle of light red color that held a sunburst shape in it.

A second later the driver began to chant again as the spell circle passed over Eric from left to right covering him in fiery red energy.

=Hi… Hi… HI! HI! HI! =

When the circle finished passing over Eric it vanished along with the aura leaving the human in strange armor that covered him from head to toe. He was clad in a black bodysuit which concealed his for, except for his silver belt stayed the same but had two new additions on either side of his waist in the form of chains with the links shaped to hold onto rings. The left chain only had three spots filled with rings that each held an orange gem in it; the right chain had nothing at the moment.

His chest was covered in red gem-like armor which was a long line down the middle with three rectangular sections on each side while his shoulders were covered in black armor with silver edges that were decorated with dragon-like crests. From his waist hung a robe-like covering which was red on the inside but black on the outside with silver edging as his wrists and ankles sported bands that were the same ruby red as his chest plate. Finally, his head was concealed with a silver helmet that had a ruby red faceplate decorated like the ring he wore, sporting metal lines making it appear as if it had large eyes with antennae rising from the forehead.

Every pony and griffon was stunned by the transformation including the ones that were fighting. The leader quickly gathered his courage as he shouted, “Who the hell are you?!?!”

[Fairy Tail OST- Dragon Force Extended]

Eric smirked behind his helmet as he began his introduction into a new future, “I am the Ring Mage that lights up the darkness; the one who transforms courage into magic, despair into hope, and tears into jewels. I…Am…Kamen Rider Wizard!!!”

Bringing his left hand up to the side of his face to show off his new ring once more, the newly baptized Kamen Rider looked at the griffons with one last thing to say, “Saa… Showtime Daa.”

And with that declaration, he began to slowly walk towards his opponents as the mare he left behind stared at him with sparkling eyes. The way Eric walked towards the griffons as if they were nothing more than specks of dust irritated the leader who charged at his with a roar, ready to slice the hero to pieces. Unfortunately, the second he reached Wizard, it was already too late.

Easily ducked under the tackle when the griffon idiot was over his head; Wizard quickly threw a punch into his chest cracking the chest plate while sending the griffon up into the air. A second later the Rider followed behind him and performed a bicycle kick to the chest plate once more, shattering it while sending the leader into a couple of his minions before they could blind side Wizard’s friends.

After that, the Rider landed softly on the ground in a crouch before standing up and looked towards the stunned minions before using his right hand in a ‘come on’ gesture as he said one thing… “Koi.”

As if the word was a starter gun, all the griffons charged at Wizard who began to fighting back adding an acrobatic twist to his style thanks to his armor which enhanced all of his abilities evenly. A simple hop over a charging griffon became a mid-air spin kick to another’s face; which canceled into a backflip using the charger as a foothold before becoming a stomp into another’s chest cracking the armor. Any weapons that were swung towards the Rider were easily absorbed by his armor when he couldn’t block them not even creating sparks as they made contact. The tails of his trench coat like armor were used as a distraction as they moved on their own –or with Wizard’s help- to make the griffons look in one direction…only to be attack from another. Each move was like a part of a show with the citizens of Ponyville: the audience, the griffons: the villainous side characters, and Wizard: the main star.

Almost a minute had passed and Wizard skid to a spinning stop near his new friends as a few of the griffons -still conscious- grabbed any weapons that were whole before trying to surround the three ponies and one Rider. Undeterred, Wizard reached for the levers on the WizarDriver and pushed them back to their original position causing it to sing once more but with a different tune.

= RUPATCHI MAJIKKU TATCHI GO! RUPATCHII MAJIKKU TATCHI GO! RUPATCHI MAJIKKU TATCHI GO! =

Pulling on the Driver On Ring, the Rider placed it on the left side chain of rings before pulling one of the other two off;  which had an orange stone with a silver outline of a dragon exiting through a ring on its face. Swiping it over the Hand Author on his driver, both items briefly glowed as the buckle spoke once more.

=Connect, Please! =

Holding his right hand out to the side, Wizard re-summoned his spell circle and plunged his arm into it startling everyone when they saw that it did not come out the other side. Instead another circle appeared above one of the fallen Griffons' swords allowing the human’s hand to come out and grasp the grip before pulling it back into the circle which vanished. When the Rider pulled his hand out of the first portal -which also vanished- the sword had changed.

Instead of the bronze longsword, it was now a single edged sword with a strange finger guard where the handle met the blade on the front and a closed form of the Hand Author on one side of the blade.  Wizard spun the sword around with the finger guard before pointing the tip of the blade at the griffons as he decided to egg them on.

“Come on, I thought you were going to defeat me,” he said smugly causing them to charge forward which Wizard returned.

With skill that came from the suit he was wearing -along with years of watching martial art movies that also had swordplay in it- Wizard was easily able to hold his own against the group. His blade not only cutting through spears with scary ease, but also the magically hardened blades and shields like they were paper. Soon the griffons had enough and decided to surround the human. Bad idea…

Grasping the blade of his sword, Wizard pushed the handle up towards the edge of the sword causing the whole blade to shrink slightly before he took the top third of the blade and folded it back. This new form of the sword reminded the ponies and griffons of a crossbow slightly but the human knew this new form to be a gun. A second later the Griffons tried to pounce on the hero who just started to twist around and fire his new weapon. As he did so, the Rider was shocked to see that the silver bullets acted more like a bean bag round from a shotgun rather than real bullets which would have pierced and probably killed the attackers.

When he stopped spinning, all of the griffons were laying on the ground, groaning from the punishment that was handed to them. Wizard could not help but smirk as he saw the defeated minions while his friends rushed to his side. Unfortunately the after battle talks were interrupted by the lead griffons who stood up on his wobbly legs glaring at the human.

“How dare you stop my revenge!!!” he shouted with a mad look in his eyes.

With a snort, the Rider changed his weapon –the WizardSwordGun or WSG for short- back into sword mode as he stood in front of his friends. “You were the one who tried to challenge a Kamen Rider, Baka.” With a twist of his wrist, the hand on the WSG was pointed the griffons as the Rider continued, “Now, it’s time for the Finale.” He pulled the thumb on the hand out, opening it up as it began to sing while the middle of the hand flash with multiple colors.

=C’MON SLASH, SHAKE HANDS! C’MON SLASH, SHAKE HANDS! =

And that’s just what Wizard did, placing his left hand over the one on the WSG causing both it and the Flame Ring to glow.

=FLAME; SLASH STRIKE! =

Taking in a deep breath, Wizard slowly let it out as he held the WSG in front of him with both hands as it began to chant while small spell circles appearing around the blade coating it with flames.

=HI, HI, HI! HI, HI, HI! =

“Rider-Ryu…” Wizard whispered softly before he swung the WSG over his head and behind his back then slashed forwards as he released a huge wave of flames shouting, “KAEN NO MAI!”

The griffon leader cried out in shock as the flames quickly engulfed him stunning all the ponies watching. The Rider just twisted around so that his back faced the flaming griffon as he held his left hand up to his face –ring pointed forward- and with an even voice said, “The show…is over.” Then to every ponies shock the flames exploded briefly covering the griffon before it died, revealing that the leader was just knocked out –a bit cooked but knocked out.

With a “Whew,” Wizard closed his eyes trying to will away his armor and not a second later it fell apart into crimson shards of energy that quickly dissipated into the winds.  A moment later, Eric heard something cracking and looked down to see the sword that he had transformed into the WSG start to crack before shattering into a million pieces stunning him.

Eric just looked at the remains with shock before he started to feel drowsy for some reason and decided now was a good time for a nap. As the new Kamen Rider fell to the ground, he heard his new friends call out to him before all went black.


Time skip


Sometime later, the only human in Equestria started to come to as the rising sun’s light pierced his eyelids. Opening his eyes while using his arm to block the sunlight, Eric looked around and saw that his was back in the same place he ‘escaped’ from not a day before.

“Why do I have a feeling that this might because a recurring theme?” the newly crowned Rider asked in a deadpan voice as a drop of sweat made its appearance on the back of his head.

Thankfully it wasn’t at all similar to the last time as now he had guests; his four new friends and the mare he saved. All five ponies were all sleeping on any convenient surface with Fluttershy actually sleeping on the bed beside him and above the sheets. Eric could not help but smile at the scene before him and tried to move only to winch thanks to his sore back while hissing slightly.

That hissed was enough for Fluttershy to wake up and gasp when she saw Eric was up, “YOU’RE ALRIGHT!!!” she shouted and hugged the human while awakening the other ponies. A few seconds later the shy Pegasus' bashfulness reappeared and quickly backed off with a bright blush shining through her fur. Though her spot was quickly taken by the mare our hero had saved.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!” she shouted as much as her cultured behavior could allow, “you saved me from those horrible ruffians!” then to Eric’s shock she planted a kiss on his cheek making him blush as red as a tomato.

This earned a few giggles/snickers from the other ponies in the room as the mare stepped back in introduced herself gracefully throwing her mane from one side of her neck to the other, “My name is Rarity; It is a pleasure to meet you darling.”

“Likewise,” Eric replied with a small bow –as much as his aching ribs and the bed could allow- and a bright if somewhat embarrassed smile, “and I was just doing what anyone be they a Kamen Rider or a normal civilian should do.”

“Kamen Rider?” Pinkie asked slightly massing up the words, “What is that, a food?”

Snickering a little Eric explained, “A Kamen Rider -or Masked Rider in English- is a hero of justice. One person –sometimes two or more but usually just one- fighting against an entire organization or something similar that want nothing more than world domination and/or the destruction of all who oppose them.” The girls gasped when they heard that as Eric continued, 

“The Kamen Riders as a whole first started in 1971 in my world with the first Rider; Takeshi Hongo who was captured by the evil organization called Shocker and his body forcefully modified into a cyborg. Before they could finish the process and brainwash him, he was able to escape and decided to fight Shocker to the last man to defend the Earth and his native country of Japan from their monsters and later became known as Kamen Rider Ichigo or Kamen Rider 1.”

“Of course in my world it was all a science fiction story,” Eric added as he looked at his new belt and rings which were lying on a nearby table along with the rest of his clothing as a standard hospital gown covered him, “The Rider whose power I have, Kamen Rider Wizard, is actually the latest Rider in the forty years they have been around. What I’m trying to get in my head is how I got his powers since it should have been nothing more than a story for kids back home.”

Before any of the ponies could suggest anything, a regal woman’s voice replied from the door of Eric’s hospital room, “Maybe you were chosen to help Equestria by our planet’s magic.”

Every pony in the room looked towards the door and gasped in shock/awe before they started to bow which confused the Rider some until he looked himself. There in the doorway stood a tall white alicorn with a mane & tail that was similar to an aurora borealis that wavered in the air slightly without any wind to guide it with a crown/tiara on her head, a thick gold necklace around her neck and golden slippers on her hooves. On her flank was a two-tone yellow Cutie Mark in the shape of sun symbolizing her connecting the solar object that Eric could somehow… feel from her aura? Speaking of her aura; it was overpowering, bursting with light, yet also radiating a comforting calmness and warmth, like the rays of the sun on a cool winter day. Her smile, which reminded the Rider of his grandmother, was warm and inviting with a hint of mischief.

Eric tried to get up and bow himself –guessing correcting that the Alicorn was more than likely royalty- until a light blue aura surrounded him and held him to the bed. “I would not suggest getting up Eric Pendragon,” She said with a kind smile on her face, “According to the doctors your body still needs to recover some after you drained nearly all of your magic.”

With Eric reluctantly back in his bed, the Alicorn began to introduce herself, “My name is Princess Celestia; the ruler of Equestria. I must thank you Eric for protecting My Little Ponies from the griffon outcasts.”

“Mattaku kansha wa hitsuyo arimasen, Celestia Ojou-sama,” Eric replied accidentally and quickly clamped his hands to his mouth with embarrassment as Celestia giggled a bit.

“I did not know you spoke Neighponese,” She replied with a smile.

‘I bit more out of necessity then want,’ the new Rider thought as he said, “It’s just something I picked up You Majesty.”

Celestia continued to smile except there seemed to be a strange emotion that peeked out for some reason as if she just heard something that pained her… nonetheless it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared as she asked, “how did you appear in our world Mr. Pendragon?”

For the next hour, Eric –with the help of his new friends including Rarity- began to explain how he got here as much as he could; starting from what he could last remember before first waking up in the Ponyville hospital –skipping why the car he rode in crashed- with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy telling the princess how they found him. They continued on to how Eric first stopped the griffons –with applejack putting in a word or two about how helpful he was around Sweet Apple Acres- to the realization of his new powers and the fight that occurred afterwards.

After taking a few mental notes and commenting on what Eric had done, Princess Celestia decided to make her decision, “Very well, since it is obvious that you have no idea how to get back home and your selfish sacrifice of your own life I have made a decision.” Flaring her wings out slightly, she began to speak in a more royal tone then the before, “I, Princess Celestia; Ruler of Equestria and Princess of the Day, hereby declare that the human by the name of Eric Pendragon, will be considered a full-fledged citizen of Ponyville, Equestria!”

Barely a second after she declared that, Eric was soon smothered in an avalanche of happy, cheering hugs by his new friends as the rider stared at the princess in shock. “A-are you serious Your Majesty?”

Celestia nodded with a smile that truly reflected her connection to the sun. “I am Eric,” she replied as she walked up to the stunned human –who was trying his best not to cry- as his friends slowly climbed off the human and did something unexpected for someone of her station…Hug the shocked and emotionally conflicted Rider with her wings. As she said one last thing, “Welcome to Equestria.”

That was all it took to release the floodgates as Eric quickly returned the hug –wrapping his arms around her swan like neck as he cried into her shoulder. As he did, Celestia soon felt the ravine like scars on the human’s heart slowly start to heal that she had sensed when she first met Eric. What her subjects did not know was that she had ‘heard” what Eric thought an hour ago and could tell that were was more to his background that what he was saying. Despite that, she could sense that Eric’s heart, mind, and soul were all fully rooted in his values created by heroes from a land different that his own homeland in his original world.

After a while Eric reluctantly let go of the princess, ribbing his healing tears away as he did so. “Forgive me for ruining your coat, Your Majesty.”

Celestia just smiled as he used a bit of her magic to dry her soaking wet shoulder back to the pristine shine it usually had. “It is not a problem Eric,” she replied in a motherly tone, “if I do cannot allow even one of my subjects to come to me when they are hurt or in trouble; then I do not deserve the crown I wear.”

“But there is one thing I would like for you do to…” The Princess added in a serious tone. Everyone in the room looked at the Princess with bated breath wondering what she wanted until her serious face turned mischievous, “Please call me Ojou-sama if you want or even Ojou-chan when we are with friends in private.” That caused the Ponyville mares and Eric to face fault in stunned surprise at the non sequitur request as Celestia giggled at the response she got.

After getting a few more bits of information needed for Eric’s citizenship, Celestia bid them all a farewell before she returned to her castle in Canterlot –which almost made Eric choke on some water he was drinking at the time when he heard the name.

Once the Princess left, he was quickly ‘assaulted’ by Pinkie whose eyes shined like diamonds at the opportunity that was presented to her. “Now not only can I finish your ‘Welcome to Equestria/Thanks for Saving Ponyville’ party but also throw you a ‘Congratulations on Becoming a Citizen’ party as well!!!”

“Y-you don’t have to Pinkie,” Eric tried to tell the over caffeinated mare only for her to ignore him as she rushed out the room.

Rainbow Dash just chuckled as she hovered next to her stunned human friend and elbowed him, “You might as well forget it Eric; she is going to throw you a party no matter what.”

With a sigh and a smile, Eric looked on at his new friends who happily chatted with him and each other, ‘I have a feeling that this is the beginning of a new life for me. Free of the pain and suffering I used to have in my old one.’

That would be true, but it was also the starts of a changing era that would be totally different from other worlds similar to Equestria. What will the eyes of ponies of this world see as they traveled through this new era of heroes and villains of all shapes, sizes and types? Only the fates –and this author- know for certain…