‘Get up dumbflank.’
Morning already? It seemed like only a moment had passed since I had crawled into bed, exhausted from another night of stargazing. I opened my eyes wearily and sat up in bed, glaring at the white colt that had awakened me from my slumber until he slinked away like a cat who’d been kicked. As soon as the colt was gone I pulled myself out of bed. My naturally grey hair was a mess and my even darker grey coat was somehow messy as well, despite its lack of length.
After performing my daily morning toiletries I made my way down creaky wooden stairs to the small dining room of “Ms. Hoovlen’s home for the parentless colt.” It was neat and well kept, if a mite petite. At its center was a wooden table with thirty chairs, one for each colt, crammed around its perimeter. At the moment all thirty chairs were occupied, and everyone was a unicorn.
Three colts raised their heads at my arrival to the table, including the white colt that had interrupted my sleep. His name was Atlas Trotter, the local bully and Ms. Hoovlen’s son (although why she had a son despite a lack of a husband or even a coltfriend was a secret the mare had yet to share!) Ms. Hoovlen considered the blue eyed, pink haired colt to be an angel. Everypony else, besides his four cronies, considered him the spawn of chaos himself.
‘Glad to see you finally decided to join us, Mister Circinus.’
The “Mister” was clearly sarcasm; I didn’t have a last name. Deciding not to cause a second incident only ten minutes after awakening, I merely pulled a small stool from the corner of the room and pushed it in the cramped space between my only two friends, Ferro and White.
My friends and I ate breakfast in silence while others at the table conversed loudly. Our quiet eating came to a close when Ferro turned to me and repeated the same comment he had been saying all month.
‘Circ, you gutta stop doin’ dese late nigh’ stargazing--they arr getting you in too much treble with Ms. Hooflen.’
His unusual accent made his words almost impossible to understand, but by now I knew full well what he was saying. Fluttering my wings in a shrug like manner I gave a sly smile to my unicorn companion.
‘It’s no problem. I’ll stop, I “swear.”
After giving my false promise to Ferro I continued eating the dull, grey stuff Ms. Hoovlen called “oatmeal.” When that was finished I casually made my way out the back door and into the streets of Cantorlot.
I prowled the vacant back alleys and bustling roads of Cantorlot in my search for a tasty treat. After at least an hour of false alarms and close calls I came across the perfect target.
Strolling down Pearly Avenue was a family of well-kept upper crust unicorns. A middle aged blue stallion with an even bluer mane strode proudly next to a burly colt who looked only a few years older than I was. Behind the stallion and colt was a mare holding the hoof of a purple filly that seemed to be the colt’s age as well. The filly had a saddle bag laden with books and, sitting at the center of the mass of books and scrolls, a small bag of peppermint sticks could be seen amongst the parchment. The bag wiggled about, cajoled by the filly’s joyful gait, and I waited for just the right moment…
NOW!
Flying from behind the large tower of barrels where I had been waiting, I swooped down and grabbed the peppermints as they fell from her bag, catching a glimpse of a pair of very startled amythest eyes before rocketing off down the street and into the third story of an abandoned apartment.
Settling down to devour my prize I whispered a triumphant ‘suckers,’ before setting upon the peppermint sticks.
I licked the sugary remains of the peppermint sticks and gazed out the glassless window at the many ponies walking below, ranging from the richest unicorn, to the poorest earth pony. The shouts of venders from the nearby market place rang down the streets like a carillon of gruff voices.
‘…You’ll neva find betta carrots like these…’
‘…Fresh fruits, fresh fruits, straight from the tropics…’
‘… Finest jewlery in all Equastria, fit for the princess herself…’
The hot sun warmed my coat and the steady sound of carriage and hoof traffic lulled me until my head rested on my hooves and I was ready for a nice little catnap.
My eyes snapped open when an explosion jolted me from my nap. From the west a beautiful ring of color was dissipating in the sky and a rainbow, despite the lack of rain that day, flew off into the distance. I sat mesmerized by the sight of the fading light of the strange rainbow, but quickly turned away when I heard the sound of mass destruction. Breaking from the roof of the Castle was the head of a massive purple dragon whose eyes darted about in fear.
If that was enough even more commotion could be heard from the streets below as the cart of a stunned vender broke from his grasp and went rolling at faster and faster speeds…
Right towards a lone filly in the street!
There was no time to think, no time to question my own safety, I dived from the window and towards the filly, who simple stared dumbly at the oncoming cart.
I pumped my already tired wings closer and closer, but there was no way I was going to make it.
Suddenly I felt a strange tingling sensation in my wings and my speed seemed to triple. Flying at speeds that I never had done before I slammed the poor filly away from the out of control cart’s path and into safety.
‘Oh my, Celestia, you saved my… I nearly died an AAAAH-!’
Suddenly she was screaming and running away as fast as she could!
‘Was it something I said?’
That’s when I looked behind me,
And saw my wings.
If I could have I would have run away screaming too.
Unlike normal feathered pegasus wings they were blue and bat-like. Three appendages with a deep blue membrane stretched between each… finger?
Upon further inspection I realized that my ears had become longer, with little tufts of fur right on the tips. Not only that, but my teeth had become sharp and piranha like, triangle pointed and deadly as knifes.
‘Wha-wha-wha?’
Suddenly the streets were filled with ponies as they ran from not only the dragon stuck in the castle,
but the dragon colt in the street.
‘What am I?’
The crash of thunder awoke me from my dreamless sleep and cold drops of rain began to drop from a slate gray sky. The smell of garbage permeated my nose and my new bat wings did little to protect me from the cold as I cowered behind a dumpster. Only the occasional sound of galloping hooves could be heard from the streets, but I continued to hide in my stinking niche. As the rain continued to fall it gathered in a puddle before me, reflecting my disfigured face.
Piranha teeth…
Tufted ears…
Slitted green eyes.
Like a dragon’s…
Like a monster’s.
I don’t know how long I stayed there, shivering in the rain, but eventually the call of hunger pulled me out of my stupor.
The scent of fresh carrots wafted to my nose and the rain slowed to a trickle as I made my way through the shadows to the stand of an orange maned carrot vendor, opening shop once more after the small storm. As I moved, the shadows themselves seemed to move with me, making me almost invisible like a grey smudge in the shadows,
Freaky.
At last I reached her stall unseen. I slipped under the carts with a flexibility I had never had before, and waited.
As soon as the mare turned, my hoof shot out from under the cart and pushed a carrot off the cart and into my mouth.
“Stop, thief!” The mare cried as she turned around to find me speeding away, pilfered carrot in my mouth. I was ready to shoot into the air when a white hoof shot out of nowhere and tripped me, sending me head first to the muddy ground.
The guard made himself known, stepping from the alley on the side road he had been patrolling.
“You are und-WHAT IN TARTARUSES NAME!”
That’s when he noticed my wings.
“With the flash of his horn, several armored stallions appeared, grabbed me from the ground and hauled me to Celestia knows where. It didn’t really matter to me. I was a freak-- a disfigured colt whose entire life had been shattered, all because of a filly, a cart, and a carrot.
The guards didn’t seem to know what to do with me. Something like me had never happened before, but eventually they simply threw me in the dungeon and left me to rot. For what seemed like hours I sat in the darkness, replaying all that had happened in my head over and over.
Just this morning I had been eating grey slop; what I wouldn’t give to be back there. Back with Ferro and White and even Atlas. But I was stuck in a dungeon and I had bat wings folded at my side and no hope of escape. At last a warm glow came from the dark corridor, and Princess Celestia herself stepped from the shadows, her very body a light in the darkness.
‘Many destinys have been revealed today--come young colt, it is time to reveal yours.’
With those cryptic words, the door to my cell opened with a click and I stepped with wobbly feet onto the stone floor of the dungeon’s corridor.
She led me in silence through a maze of hallways and arches until at last we reached a dead end. On the wall hung an ancient looking tapestry depicting a bloody senseless war. Thousands of grey soldiers clashed in a sky of black and red, battling wispy looking creatures with pupiless blue eyes. As I looked closer I saw that every grey soldier was just like me with dragon eyes and bat wings.
The Princess’s horn glowed gold in the darkness and the tapestry seemed to melt into the stone behind it and a door of dark wood revealed itself. She opened the door and continued walking silently, while I was bursting with questions. What was going on? What was this place? Why was she helping me?
These questions continued to burn inside my head until we stepped onto a balcony overlooking a vast chamber bathed in pale blue light. It looked like the barracks of an ancient army. Bunk beds lined the far walls and racks of blue armor covered the floor.
‘Long ago there was a race of ponies known as ‘Thestrals’ She began ’Guardians of the night and protectors of Luna herself. But, this race died out with Nightmare Moon. How is it, 982 years later a thestral appears in my dungeon?’
Finishing her speech she opened her giant wings wide and, with a nod of her head, beckoned me to follow. Once we had reached the cavern’s floor I felt a tingling sensation pass through my legs and up my spine, like a spider crawling across my body, and I shivered in the drastically colder air. We walked only a few feet until we reached the first row of armor.
My confusion returned, bringing with it even more questions. How did I become a Thestral? What turned me into a monster? Who was Nightmare Moon? Was she the reason I was like this? My curiosity kept on building up inside of me until I had to ask something, so I went for the most obvious.
‘P-Princess what exactly am I doing down here? What’s going on?’
The wise mare turned the colt with a motherly smile.
‘All your questions will be answered, my little pony, but first I most know if you are ready.’
Then I felt the weight of a steel helmet on my head and I was gone.
It was a strange place, were I awakened, like the Coliseum. It had a vast stone floor surrounded by stone walls and row after row of benches reaching up to a black sky.
As I strode I felt the weight of armor and the sound of metal horse shoes bounced off the walls. Along with my new armor a single black sword lay in the center of the strange theater.
Suddenly from behind me there was a ghastly whinny, like the sound of harsh winter wind beating against wooden walls. I turned in a flash to find the same creature that had decorated the ancient tapestry. The front of a skinny pony and the back only a tail of fading blue fog.
It made its terrible cry once more and charged towards me, eyes ablaze with blue fire. At the last second I dived away and towards the obsidian blade, but, somehow the creature was already in front of me, front hooves poised for a buck to the face. I spread my wings to slow my momentum and merely got a smack to ears. Sliding right under its strange nether tail, I made another grab for the sword when I felt freezing cold teeth bite into my tail, pulling me backwards and away from my salvation. I kicked my legs backwards only to feel nothing but cold air.
Trying another strategy, I began to flap my wings faster and faster until I could feel its grip loosening and with a final flap its grip broke free and I shot towards the black sword.
Grabbing it in mid-flight I turned once more to the strange creature, which was barreling towards me on a storm cloud. I had no idea how to use a sword, but it was my only option.
And just like so many times before I held my sword, and waited.
I waited until I could feel its cold breath and the sound of wind on wood became deafening.
Then, I swang.
I awoke once more, but this time back in the stone cavern I had left behind. Princess Celestia sat patiently beside me.
‘Like thousands before you, you have proven yourself as a soldier and like those thousands before you I now welcome you into the Lunar Guard.’
I was in shock. One minute I had been battling a floaty, ghosty…thing, and suddenly I was being honored as a new guard!
‘And that’s not all.’
‘There’s more?!’
‘You have also earned your destiny and your cutie mark.’
I turned in surprise and just like she said the image of the black sword surrounded by a full moon stood out on my grey flank.
‘You will be trained by my finest soldiers and become the first thestral in my, or any, army in almost one thousand years.’
Then with the flash of golden magic the whole cavern lit up with the glow of the sun and hundreds of soldiers stepped from the shadows and began stomping furiously until that sound was all I could hear.