//------------------------------// // Now that's a welcoming! // Story: Sirraf, Redmage of Equestria // by sirraf //------------------------------// The door to the Ponyville library was thrown open wide to let in the morning sun. A large brown leather glove gripped the door frame before a hunched over form moved through the opening. Straightening to his full height Sirraf took a moment to stretch his arms to the sky, crack his neck and take in the view of the snow covered town. He turned his head back to the doorway and called out to this new friends. "Come on out girls. The sun is shining, the air is clean and I have a whole new world to greet..." his voice trailed off at the end of his sentence as he suddenly turned his head sharply to the side. His eyes narrowed at some unseen distress. "Um.... Sirraf? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked as she picked up on the look in his eye. She recognized the look. It was the same look that prey gets while being stalked by a dangerous force. "Back inside..." was all he said. Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion at this new behavior. "Whats going on?" was all she was able to get out before she felt him quickly move her and the other girls back into the door way before placing himself across the entrance. She was about to question what just transpired when she heard five thumps sound out from his back, each followed by a grunt from the living barricade. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as pain shot across his face. A moist red substance began to flow from the bottom of his face mask before he slumped to his knees, his body still struggling to keep the 6 mares separated from whatever was occurring outside. "Come out monster! You shall not be permitted to terrorize this town anymore!" a male voice called from outside. Sirraf turned his body to face the voice. As he turned his back was put into view of Twilight and the others. Five pole like objects extended from it. Upon inspection Twilight realized that these were the grips belonging to the spears issued to the royal guard of Canterlot. His hand slowly reached up to grab the weapons and pulled each from his body one by one, his scream of pain sounding out through the small peaceful town. With each pull the girls cringed in sympathy. By the end many of them were looking a little green and Fluttershy had fainted. "Sirraf are you alright?" Twilight yelled out as he reached up and removed his damaged cape. his clothing and chain shirt armor underneath did little to stop the sharp spearheads. Each of the wounds seemed to be steaming slightly as they slowly began to seal themselves shut. "AH DAMN IT!... yeah... I should be okay... that regen spell I cast earlier hasn't worn off just yet. I knew I should have shelled out the cash for a mithril shirt. All right! What's this all about?!" He yelled out as he stepped forward to confront his attacker. "We are the equestrian royal guard and we have come to arrest you for your crimes!" a set of nine golden clad ponies led by a blue maned, white coated unicorn stepped forward into view. "I don't know about you ponies, but being impaled by five separate spears at the same time tends to sour my mood. You better tell me what crimes I committed before I start throwing lightning around." He growled in a dark tone that unnerved the ponies that still stood out of sight behind him. His hands started to crackle with electrical energy. "Not that a monster like you deserves an explanation, but you are charged with one count of attacking a member of the royal family. Also I wouldn't threaten a group of soldiers that just impaled you on five spears without a single one missing its mark." The voice was familiar to Twilight... to familiar. "Shining?" she called past Sirraf as he continued to breath heavily. Though there were no visible wounds his magic was still in the process of repairing his damaged internal organs. "Twilight? So you have also stooped to kidnapping my sister for your villainous plans? I will show you no mercy!" he yelled as his horn began to glow, charging for an attack upon the damaged creature before him. "Shining no! You have it all wrong!" Twilight yelled as she formed a field around Sirraf's body, just barely managing to protect him from the magical blast. "We are not his hostages! He is our friend!" "Friend? Twilight this creature attacked and defeated Princess Luna last night!" He yelled back, irritated with the fact that his own sister was now standing between him and his duty. A sound moved through the scene. It started low and began to rise as time went by. Sirraf's face was turned downwards, covered from view by his hat. Shining soon figured out that the sound was coming from the creature as it's body shook in time with the utterances. At first it sounded almost like crying, until it picked it's head up to reveal that it was in fact laughing. "What are you laughing at beast!" the captain of the guard roared, thinking that the being before him was mocking him. "I see whats happened. I understand it all to clearly now!" Sirraf said as he began to stand back to his full height once more, the regen spell had obviously finished it's work on his once injured body. "All the ways I pictured this day going. All the scenarios I ran through my mind, and this is what happens. Not once did I think that this could occur!" he said before roaring in laughter once more. Twilight turned away from her brother in concern. The way Sirraf was acting made her consider that he might be losing his mind. "What? What has happened?" "Don't you see Twilight? I fended off Luna last night in self defense after her intrusion into my dream scape. She promised to tell Celestia about me and that I meant no harm, but apparently the farthest she was able to get in the presence of the royal guard and your brother here was the fact that I defeated her before they ran off to right this supposed wrong doing." he continued to laugh, doubling over at the situation before him. "Her promise to put in a good word for me actually back fired when they took the first thing she said out of context! My attempts to befriend the local populous of this world only ended up with an escalation of the panic I was trying to prevent!" He continued to roar as he repeatedly slammed his fist into the ground. A few moments passed as everyone stared at the scene in disbelief. The creature that was supposedly a dangerous monster continued to laugh as though he were just a foal that was told one of the funniest jokes he had ever heard in his life. "Oh gods!" he yelled as he pointed a finger at the sky. "I knew you guys had a twisted sense of humor, but I have to say. You guys really managed to pull one on me!" Suddenly a flash of bright light erupted from the middle of the group of ponies that had gathered around the scene before the library. "Wait!" a voice called out "Stop your attack! The creature is not hostile!" Princess Luna and Princess Celestia had appeared only to find that the scene before them was nothing like what they had expected. They stared in shock as their soldiers were frozen in disbelief looking at the visiting being who was kneeled, doubled over and surrounded by and covered with his own blood. What shocked them the most however was that he wasn't doubled over in pain, he was in fact laughing so hard that he was having trouble breathing. "OH GODS! It never ends!" he yelled through laughs. "Now that the situation has been explained, the princess I was hoping would keep this kind of thing from happening shows up just a moment to late to stop it!" he once again collapsed to the soil as his laughter gripped him once more. The ponies, now realizing that the creature had told the truth and wasn't a threat to the town all began to lightly chuckle along with him. Princess Celestia giggled with a hoof raised in front of her face as Luna stood there with a strong blush of embarrassment painted across her face. "Wait!" Twilight yelled out silencing all the other ponies. Even Sirraf had managed to get his laughter mostly under control. "How can you all laugh at this!? Especially you Sirraf? You were just stabbed by five spears over a misunderstanding!?" Slowly he recovered his bearings. He looked down at Twilight with light in his eyes. "Yeah but I'm still okay right?" "Well yeah but..." She began before he cut her off. "Remember. I used to live in a world where a vicious, uncaring monster could appear at any second of any day. I'm used to being hurt." he said as he waved a single hand in front of his face. "When you go day by day wondering if you are going to live or die you pretty much have to learn to take what pleasures you can out of life." "Yes but you were still..." once again he cut her off. "Besides I can't really hold what just happened against your brother. He was just doing what he thought was right. Even if he was going about it the wrong way." he said before turning his head to the one Twilight had called Shining. "Oh and for future reference. It wasn't that I couldn't dodge those spears, It's that I chose not to." he said as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean?" he asked as he stared at the hard steely eyes that were locked with his. "Well now why don't we think about that for a moment?" he said as he tapped the side of his head with a finger. "Who was it that you saw when I stepped away from the doorway." he asked in a low tone. "Who did you see emerge from the location that would have been carpeted in spears had I made the effort to get out of the way and save my own hide." "T..Twilight..." Shining Armor stammered in realization. "I didn't move because I knew that if any of us could live through that it was me. Seeing as I could recover from such damage through my magic, I made the choice that would give me the best odds for protecting myself and my new friends. I... WILL... NOT... HAVE... A... FRIENDS... BLOOD... ON... MY... HANDS! Are we clear?" his voice became almost venomous as he said these last words. A dangerous fire burning in his now pure white eyes as his emotions began to cause a spike in his magical powers. Shining Armor slowly nodded his head as he stared into the creatures face. He could feel a incredibly sharp increase of concentrated magical energy pour from the red beings body. It felt so foreign... and scary. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. When he opened them again they had returned to the original steely grey that the mares had all become familiar with. "Now then, I do suppose that introductions are in order. I am Sirraf the Red mage from Ivalice. You can think of me as a kind of jack of all trades, being they magical, or mundane." He said cheerfully as he removed his hat and made a deep bow. "Let's see here now." he said as he turned to the rather large pony that stood beside Luna. She stood as tall as Sirraf without including her rather impressive horn. She had a solid white coat with the symbol of the sun upon her flank. Her mane seemed to be blowing in a nonexistent wind and was a sea of constantly shifting colors. A pair of Large wings were folded along her sides and her head was adorned with an expensive looking tiara. He stepped over and looked into her eyes for a moment as though searching for something. "You must be the day time ruler of Equestria. The one and only Princess Celestia." He said after nodding his approval. "I must say that at first I didn't see much of a family resemblance to your sister Luna. That is until I looked into those eyes. They have the same kind of kind passion behind them... though yours is tempered with experience." Celestia smiled for a moment before speaking in a voice that could only belong to a caring and understanding mother. "Hello, I must say that you were not quite what I was expecting when Luna described the being she met last night. Much more passionate than what she led me believe." "Hey come on now, you can only learn so much about a person after one date." he said in a jovial tone before laughing once more as Luna began to blush even harder. "Oh come on now Luna, you know I'm just joking around." "Yes well, it is very nice to meet you. Has your stay in Equestria been to your liking so far?" she asked as she observed the movements and mannerisms of the one before her. "Other then finding out what it is like to be a living pincushion it actually has been pretty nice." he said as he waved a hand through the air. "In fact, your student and her friends have made every effort to make my stay hospitable. In return I have offered them my friendship, as well as the answers to any questions they might ask, and any information that I think might help them better understand me. Oh, speaking of which... Twilight!" he said raising his voice a bit. She ran over to where her teacher and her new friend were now standing. "Yes?" "I told Luna last night that if she wanted any information on me and my world, she should contact you." he crouched down to her level. "Now might be the best time to bring out the notes you've been making since last night. I'm sure Celestia would also like to look over them." "Oh! Of course!" she quickly sprinted over to the library, only slowing to avoid touching the bloodied spears that littered the ground. As Twilight came back out, Sirraf saw that she was followed by more notes than he thought could be produced from the short time he spent with her. "Wow... quite the student isn't she?" "Oh yes, she does have a incredible thirst for knowledge. I'm very proud of her." he heard Celestia say as he watched her rush over. "You know I was at the top of my class back home... though I do admit to taking a bit of a shortcut when it came to my studies." he said as he returned his eyes to the two princesses. "I figured out a way to give myself lucid dreams so I could practice and study when everyone else was asleep." Celestia and Luna were now looking through the notes. Their eyes quickly ran across the in depth reports that Twilight had gathered on him. "Very impressive. So your superior abilities came more from time and effort, rather than natural talent." He chuckled as he scratched that back of his head. "Yeah I guess you could say it like that. To be honest, not many people in my world have a natural knack for magic... well other than the summoners I guess." "Summoners?" the sun princess asked, looking up from the reports for a moment. "Over here sister." Luna said as she showed her sister another piece of parchment. "Ah yes, thank you Luna." she responded after reading the report. "Well those should pretty much cover the basics about me. While you read I'm just gonna go over here and rest in the shade." he said as he turned away and began walking over to the tree turned library. After he sat down and leaned his back against the bark he looked at the town slowly. It seemed that most of the ponies had come out of their domiciles to see what had happened in the short time that he had been outside. Their faces told a great number of stories. Some were fearful, others were concerned, one green unicorns face seemed ecstatic for some reason. All of them however shared one trait. Curiosity. He turned his head downward and noticed that near the tree's base there were small blades of grass peeking through the snow. He reached down and plucked a blade, looking at it for a moment before pulling his mask down slightly and bringing it up to his lips. Gently he began to play a softly soothing tune. As he closed his eyes he let the music remind him of home. The song was soft, gentle, and a little uplifting to those that heard it. As he played this song he seemed to slowly sway side to side with the music. He played for several minutes before finally removing the blade from his lips and pulling the mask back over his face. His gaze pulled upwards, his view was greeted with fewer looks of fear and more smiles than he remembered seeing before. Even Fluttershy had woken from her little fainting spell and was now sitting with her eyes closed and a smile on her face as she continued to quietly hum the tune he had just played. "Well, it's nice to see that music is enjoyed universally and not just on one world." he said as he slowly rose to his feet once more. "Since everyone is out here and I need to introduce myself anyway so there is no confusion about who or what i am. Hello Ponyville!" he said as he cheerfully rose his voice so that all could hear him. "I come in peace. I arrived in your world through a series of events that pulled me from mine. As far as I know, I am the first of my kind to ever come here. I am a practitioner of magic and a hard worker. I am familiar with and at least proficient in every profession in my home world. I look forward to making many friends as I learn about your world and share what i can about mine." he speech wasn't perfect. Very few things about him were. It did however get his message across to the town. He smiled to himself and muttered. "Short, sweet and to the point." After that the ponies began to disperse. Many of them leaving for their jobs, or to get through the errands of the day, but all of them seemingly excited about the new creature. As he looked back to the princesses who had apparently finished reading the notes on him, he saw that Twilight was walking to him with that same curious look in her eyes. "That was beautiful Sirraf! What was that song?" she asked hoping to learn even more. "It doesn't really have a name. It's an old tune from my world, almost like a lullaby. There are those that say it once had words to go along with the notes but time has taken those away from us sadly." he folded his arms across his chest as he pondered what those words could be. His train of thought was interrupted however when Celestia and Luna walked over and spoke to him. "Well then, everything here seems to be in order. I am glad that we were able to solve this situation without anyone getting... well you know." "I take it death is a touchy subject in this world?" he asked bluntly, taking the princesses by surprise. "Well yes it is! I'm surprised with how dangerous your world seems that you can just shrug the topic off so casually." she said, her face devoid of it's usual calmness. He shrugged as he looked at Celestia. "That's one of the first things we learn to deal with as red mages. Everything in life is balanced. There is no good without evil. There is no order without chaos. There is no life without death. Through our knowledge we are able to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst." "Very powerful words for one so young." Luna said as she looked to her older sibling. "I had very good teachers." He responded as he let out a chuckle. "It was very nice to meet you young mage." Celestia stated before turning away. "If there is nothing else, we must leave to deal with the affairs of our kingdom." "Actually... there is one last thing." Sirraf said as a smile formed under his mask.