//------------------------------// // Ch. 23: "The Newcomer" // Story: The Dawn of a bright, new life. // by Hallowedsoul //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty-Three “The Newcomer” A couple of days after Twilight and I returned from Canterlot, she told me that Spike’s birthday was coming up soon, in about a month or so. ‘Oh, that’s gonna be so much fun…’ Nica thought dryly and I was inclined to agree with her, but I digress. Anyway, Twilight wasn’t able to help me with magic training at the moment because she was busy getting her schedules back on track, though I made sure to visit her when I could. I’d enlisted the aid of Applejack and Rainbow Dash for the physical aspects of my training while Terra did what she could to help me refine my Evocation magic. They were all confused as to why I needed to start training, but I told them the same thing I told Twilight, which was that something big was going to happen soon. Applejack stubbornly refused to accept it at first, but I was adamant that it was all she was going to get. Twilight had somehow managed to find time to start some tests on me, starting with DNA samples… which sucked. After that we conducted a series of tests involving the use of magic while I had some kind of contraption strapped to my head to scan brain activity or something like that, followed by some physical stress tests. It was the next day that Twilight told me the results, which was that while I was able to use magic, it would never be nearly as powerful as hers or Terra’s and that physically, I was about as strong as a unicorn in my same condition which meant I wouldn’t be winning any direct fights against earth ponies or pegasi that kept themselves moderately fit ‘Well, what’d you expect, that you’d suddenly become Superman? That’s even more absurd than getting a free house’. After about five days, something unusual happened. I was sitting at home, examining my Berretta 92FS. I wanted to be practicing my gunplay with it, but I only had three clips and I did not want to waste what little ammo I had on target dummies… I also didn’t want to scare anypony with gunfire. I was still pondering my dilemma when my phone rang with Twilight’s ringtone. “Hey, Twi, what’s going on?” I asked her calmly. “Leon, are you standing?” She replied quickly and I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “No, why?” I asked. “Stand up right now and tell me where you are.” “In my bedroom at home, why-” and she hung up before I could finish. Almost immediately, she appeared in my room, looked around quickly for me and grabbed a hold of my shoulders before teleporting us both to her own bedroom at the library. “Gah, what the hell, Twi?” I exclaimed in surprise at the sudden teleportation “A little advance warning would be nice before you just warp me somewhere.” “Sorry, but this is important.” She said and I looked around at her bedroom curiously “That’s not what I meant, though I would like it if we got together again soon. There’s someone here who’s asking for you.” I looked at her in alarm because she’d said someone not somepony, which meant this was an… Off-worlder, you could say. “Are they downstairs?” I asked carefully and she nodded. I walked over to the door and went through it, looking over the balcony to see someone wearing an unusual cloak with the hood drawn that was colored and patterned to look like flames. I walked quickly downstairs and confronted this person, who turned to me when I approached, arms crossed over their chest. “Okay, who are you and what are you doing here?” I asked the individual. “Are you the one called ‘Leon’?” The mysterious person asked, in a clipped feminine voice. “Yes, why do you need to know?” I asked ‘her’, who only began to walk slowly around me, examining me carefully. “Hmm, you’re not what I expected, at least not according to my father’s description of you.” ‘She’ said carefully “I wasn’t expecting such plain clothing. I thought you’d be wearing something a little more… heroic.” “My green tunic’s at the dry cleaners, now answer my question.” I snapped at ‘her’, which caused ‘her’ to stop in front of me. “There’s no time to explain, I need you to come with me now.” ‘She’ said as ‘she’ grabbed my arm and began to drag me out the door. I tried to pull myself free, but ‘her’ grip was like iron and I nearly tripped trying to dig my heels in. “Let me go, goddammit!” I yelled at ‘her’, trying to pry ‘her’ fingers off my arm, to no avail “Where the hell are you taking me?!” “I just said there’s no time to explain, now shut up and stop struggling, you’re only making this harder on yourself than it needs to be.” ‘She’ retorted irritably. I heard a sound like a fighter jet screaming through the air, and several things happened at once. The mysterious person snapped her head in the direction of the noise, and threw me to the ground before ducking herself just as Rainbow Dash shot past her, though the daredevil did manage to grab her cloak and yank it off, revealing that my kidnapper was indeed female, who looked a few years younger than me. The girl was wearing a rather… unique, outfit to say the least. She was wearing some kind of light breastplate with a silk vest underneath, with gossamer sleeves extending from it that ended just past her elbows, her midriff was exposed and she had a long skirt with light armor plates near the top, and she had lightly armored greaves on her legs along with a pair of form-fitting shorts underneath the skirt. Her right arm had an elegantly designed archer’s brace and her left wore a long glove with light armor plates on it. All of it was artfully colored in a way that made them look like flames. But the most surprising feature was that this girl was human; she had no fur, and her hair was long and a vibrant orange color that, once again, made me think of fire and it was done up in a ponytail, while her eyes made me think I was staring into pools of flame. Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop and threw my abducter’s cloak to the ground in irritation. She turned and glared at the girl angrily though the girl merely groaned and reached behind her to pull out some strange device that unfolded itself into a longbow. “Back off, Rainbow Dash, this doesn’t concern you.” She called out to Dash, causing both of us to blanch at her. “How’d ya know my name?!” Dash called out angrily “I don’t remember ever meeting ya, not that I would be caught dead with a foal-napper!” The other girl blinked in confusion. “A what?” She asked incredulously “I’m not… why would I steal foals? What possible use would I have for one?” “I wasn’t talking about foals, stupid!” Dash retorted “I was talking about my friend, Leon, over there!” The other girl shot a glance at me before returning her attention to Dash. “I’m sorry, but my world needs him and I don’t have time to explain right now, so just step aside and don’t get involved!” “Sorry, sugar, but I’m not going anywhere with you.” I said, rising to my feet and backing away from her while also drawing some energy and causing lightning to dance along my arms. The girl glared at us both irritably and looked like she was prepared to fight us but then Twilight caught up along with the rest of the Elements and Terra, who was about as livid as Twilight. The girl growled angrily at the realization that she was outnumbered significantly and turned to run, but I flung a lightning bolt at the ground in front of her, which exploded and made her stop. “And just where do you think you’re going, missy?” I snarled “Did you think you could just attempt to steal me away and expect to be able to run? I don’t think so; this time, you’re coming with us.” She shot a glare at all of us before sighing in resignation and placing her bow on the ground, raising her hands. She was lifted off the ground by Twilight and then encased in a bubble. Once inside, the girl sat down with her legs tucked beneath her and continued to glare irritably at all of us while I walked over and picked up her bow and all of us returned to the library. I decided to sit with the girl and watch her while the others went to another room to discuss a plan of action. “So what are you going to do with me?” The girl said, her voice distorted by the bubble and I shrugged. “First thing we’re doing is getting a hold of Princess Celestia and letting her know what’s going on.” I replied, but then looked at her curiously when she gave an incredibly deep sigh “Something else not go according to plan, sugar?” “This whole thing was a giant SNAFU from the start; the Princess is just the icing on the cake.” She said irritably “And don’t call me ‘sugar’!” “Well I don’t exactly have a name I can refer to you by, now do I?” I pointed out to her. She stared at me hard for a moment. “… Seeri.” She said with a sigh “I’m called Seeri where I come from.” “A pleasure to meet you, Seeri.” I said, tipping my hat to her “I’m Leon, though it seems you already knew that.” Seeri gave me a curious glance; she obviously didn’t expect me to introduce myself. “Uh, good to meet you too, I guess.” She said, but continued to stare at me in bewilderment “Why are you suddenly being so nice? According to you and your friends, I just tried to kidnap you and dragged you halfway across town.” “Yeah, still irritated by that.” I replied “But that doesn’t mean I have an excuse to be rude to you, I’m just curious as to why you did it.” “I told you I didn’t have time, I don’t understand why you didn’t just come with me and let me explain back at my world.” She said indignantly. “Well, you should’ve found time, Seeri, because now you’ve got nothing but.” I replied with a shrug “Might as well start explaining.” “If Princess Celestia is coming, I think I’ll wait.” She said calmly “That way I won’t have to repeat myself.” “Suit yourself. Want something to drink for when you get out of there?” I offered, and this was met with further bewilderment. “Uh, some lemonade or iced tea would be nice.” She replied cautiously. I got up and walked over to the door to the kitchen “Hold up a second, aren’t you supposed to be guarding me? What if I break out while you’re away?” “You could’ve broken out of there the second Twilight went to the other room and made off with me while they weren’t watching, so I’m not worried about it.” I stated matter-of-factly and her mouth moved like she was trying to say something. I walked in to the kitchen and the girls all stared at me in confusion. “Leon, what are you doing?” Twilight asked me curiously as I got out two glasses and filled them with ice and lemonade. “Getting the girl something to drink. Her name’s Seeri, by the way, though I think it’s a nickname for her full one.” I replied casually, and the girls continued to stare at me. “You’re supposed to be guarding her, not getting her lemonade, Leon!” Twilight protested, her left eye twitching slightly “What if she breaks out?” “I think if she really wanted to escape, she’d have done it whether I was there or not and there wouldn’t have been a whole lot any of us could’ve done to stop her.” I stated matter-of-factly again “She only surrendered because she didn’t want to fight any of you and because we wouldn’t let her run.” I walked back into the living room before any of them could protest and set the glass down on the table next to the girl, who was sitting exactly where I’d left her, but there was no bubble imprisoning her. “Thank you.” Seeri said, as she picked up the glass and took a small sip of it, sighing contentedly. The other girls all stared dumbfounded at her while I just casually took a seat across from Seeri. Twilight was the first one to remember how to speak. “How did you get out of my spell?” She asked incredulously “The only way to dispel it is from the outside!” “That’s not important.” Seeri replied casually “When’s Celestia getting here?” As if on que, there was a bright flash in the living room and Princess Celestia appeared. “Apologies, I had to finish a bit of paperwork.” She said calmly, and then turned to Seeri “May I ask what is going on here?” “My question exactly, Princess.” I said, also turning to Seeri, who sighed irritably. “I was sent here by my own Princess Celestia to try and find a man named ‘Leon’, who was also a friend of my father, because our world is apparently under some kind of threat, though the Princess wouldn’t elaborate.” She said, and all eyes stared at her in disbelief “What?” “You honestly expect us to believe that you came from a different Equestria full of humans?” Rainbow Dash said incredulously “How stupid do you think we are?!” “I probably wouldn’t be speaking if I were you, Dash.” Seeri retorted “After all, you have a record as long as my arm in regards to stupidity.” “That is quite enough, fillies.” Celestia said before Dash could respond “Miss Seeri, do you have proof of your claim?” “Other than the fact that I’m a human in a world full of Anthropomorphized ponies?” She asked, which got a nod from the Princess “Yes, but my behind is going to fry for this.” She reached into a bag at her side (how did I miss that earlier) and pulled out something that looked oddly like an iPad. She tapped at the screen for a moment before flipping out a kickstand and setting it on the table and facing it. After another moment, a familiar, regal voice came out. “Hello, Searing Shield, it is wonderful to hear from you. Are you doing well where you are?” “Umm, yes and no…” Seeri replied nervously, though I cocked an eyebrow at her very Equestrian name. “Please elaborate.” “Uh, yes in that I’m unharmed and am actually enjoying a nice glass of lemonade…” She replied as she started to sweat bullets “No in that, um… I’ve been… captured.” There was a moment of silence before the voice on the other side of the communication began to giggle in a manner very similar to Celestia, who was watching this whole exchange with great interest. “Oh, Seeri. Whatever did you do that warranted you getting imprisoned?” “Not imprisoned, captured… by this world’s Elements of Harmony.” Seeri said, her face flushing scarlet as what I assumed to be her Princess Celestia burst into full on laughter “What’s so funny, Princess?” “Seeri… please explain to me what you did to get captured by Twilight and her friends.” The other Celestia said, with great amusement, but she spoke before Seeri had a chance to respond “OH! Is the other me there as well? Hello, Princess Celestia!” I couldn’t help it anymore, I began to laugh at the same time Celestia did, who was more than happy to move to where Seeri was sitting to respond. “Hello, Princess Celestia.” She said with a smile “It appears there has been a great misunderstanding here.” She paused as she looked closer at the screen, which I couldn’t see “My goodness, so that is what I would look like as a human. I must say, I look rather… sexy.” I was about to move to where I could see the screen, but I felt something hold my legs to the floor. I glanced at Twilight, who shook her head. I heard Seeri clear her throat before the other Celestia could respond. “I hate to interrupt you both, but I still have to report.” She said, and then recounted to her Celestia on the day’s events. There was silence for a moment before her Celestia literally roared with laughter, which I didn’t think was possible. Apparently, neither did the Celestia here. “Seeri, I said you had to find Leon, not bring him back.” Other Celestia said, still giggling after her laugh “Our world is not in such dire straits that we need him, though if he does not mind, could he step into view please?” I did as requested and got my first look at the humanized Princess Celestia. She basically looked like the Celestia standing nearby, but without the Equine features, like fur or hooves. She smiled when I appeared, but then it turned to a thoughtful frown. “How odd.” She said after a moment “I am sorry to say, Seeri, but while you have found a Leon, you did not find the one I had sent you there for.” Seeri gave out a frustrated groan and face-palmed “Great… I’ve been captured by ponies and held in a bubble for the wrong guy… just perfect.” “But it does not matter, enjoy your vacation, Seeri!” Other Celestia chirped and moved to turn her device off, but Seeri stopped her. “Hold on, Princess, did you just say ‘my vacation’?!” She asked incredulously “I thought I was sent here because our world was in danger!” “Yes, it is; of you not enjoying yourself from time to time.” Other Celestia replied calmly “You work far too much, just like your father, so I sent you there to find Leon so that you could stay with him while you relax in another world. Honestly, I thought I got it right, after all I picked up his spiritual signature there. Hmm looking at him now, I can see why I was mistaken; the two of them are very nearly the same, with only slight differences.” There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, while I got up and walked over to Twilight, who was trembling slightly. I wrapped my arms around her and she buried her head in my chest. “Hey, are you alright?” I whispered softly to her, and I felt her slightly nod her head. “Yes… it’s just hard for me to hear right now.” She whispered back “I still miss him.” “I know. Take your time, Twi, I’m not going anywhere.” I murmured and kissed the top of her head while she hugged me tightly. I heard Seeri whisper something, along with the slight sound of the device being turned. “I did not mean to reopen any old wounds, Twilight Sparkle. However, I am terribly excited to see a version of you seeing someone, though admittedly my Twilight is a little younger than you are.” Other Celestia said apologetically, but then she saw Terra “I do not believe I know you, my dear, would you care to tell me your name? I am Princess Celestia.” “I’m Terra Branford, Your Majesty.” She replied with a curtsy, which got a giggle from the other Celestia. “Terra? That is a lovely name. Can you tell me a little about yourself?” Other Celestia asked, causing Terra to blush. “Oh, well I-” Terra began but Seeri interrupted her. “Princess, she’s Esperkin; I can practically smell the magic coming off of her.” She said, and everyone in the room froze and stared at her. I broke my hug with Twilight, who’d calmed down at this point, and was about to approach this irritating traveler when Terra spoke up. “How do you… know what I am?” She asked, her voice trembling. Uh oh ‘Leon, I think she’s gonna lose it soon!’ Almost as soon as Nica spoke, Seeri snapped her head towards me and stared at me curiously, though she answered Terra’s question. “My world is full of magical entities that possess power on par with, or even greater than, the Princesses.” She said calmly, though she never took her eyes off of me “They’re mostly content to stay to themselves, but unions are not unheard of; I, myself, would technically be considered Esperkin because my father was an inheritor to an incredible kind of power, though it isn’t necessarily magical in nature. I got my talents from him.” Everyone was silent, though Terra was trembling visibly. I walked over to her and escorted her outside, and she hugged me once we were short distance away. “Easy, sweetheart, just take it easy.” I said softly, stroking her hair gently “Go ahead and tell me what’s wrong.” “I… I didn’t want anyone to know what I was…” She said, and she started to cry “I was afraid everyone would treat me like a… like…” She couldn’t finish as she broke down into sobs. “Terra, no one’s gonna treat you any different, especially not them and most certainly not me.” I replied confidently “After all, I’ve known you were Esperkin from the start; why would I treat you any different now?” “You… you knew?” She said, looking up at me and I nodded “Why didn’t you say something?” “I did, though maybe not in a way you understood fully.” I said calmly, looking into her eyes “I offered to tell you how I knew who you were, an offer that still stands today I might add, and one of the things I would’ve told you was that I knew full well who and what you were.” “But… if you know, why aren’t you afraid of me?” She asked, her voice trembling again “I mean, I’m… I’m a mo-” “Don’t.” I interrupted her sternly “Don’t finish that sentence, because you most certainly are not; you are one of the kindest people I ever had the pleasure of knowing and it is my great privilege to call you my friend. Don’t ever forget that, sweetheart.” “I am inclined to agree with him, darling, as is Fluttershy.” Rarity said from behind us, and Terra looked at her in surprise “We will not think any different of you just because of your race; if that was so, we would have feared you from the start just for being human.” Terra broke away from me and went to hug Rarity. “Thank you, Rarity.” She said “I was just scared.” “Understandable, my dear, but you have nothing to be afraid of around me or the girls.” Rarity replied soothingly “We are all your friends here and we’ll take very good care of you.” At that moment, Seeri came out with the tablet and held it out to me. “The Princess would like to speak to you, Leon.” She said and I took the tablet with a nod and held it up in front of me while the girls went back inside, save for Seeri. “I apologize for Searing Shield’s directness; tact has never been her strong-suit.” Other Celestia said with an apologetic smile. “It’s alright, Your Majesty, though I think Seeri should apologize to Terra when we’re done here.” I replied with a smile “Anyway, what did you need, Princess?” “I was wondering if you would be willing to allow Seeri to stay at your house for the duration of her stay there.” Other Celestia said, and Seeri made some kind of startled noise. “Wh-what makes you think I’m staying, Princess?!” She exclaimed “As soon as we’re done here, I’m hopping back in my transporter and going home!” “About that; I recalled your transporter roughly half an hour ago.” Other Celestia replied casually, though Seeri’s jaw dropped. “You did what?! Your Majesty, why would you-” Seeri began to complain but Other Celestia interrupted her. “This is no longer up for discussion, Searing Shield, now be a good girl and enjoy your vacation; see you in three months… or so!” Other Celestia said, and then the connection was terminated. I handed the tablet back to Seeri, who put it back in her bag with a look of shock on her face. “Well, at least it’s only three months… right Seeri?” I said, though she shook her head morosely. “Time flow between worlds is rarely so consistent.” She replied irritably “What could be three months to her there could be twice as long for me here, if I’m fortunate; if I’m not I could be stuck here for years.” “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re welcome to stay at my place. I’ve got plenty of room to spare, though you may have to put up with a Cutie Mark Crusader sleep-over every so often.” I said, and extended my hand to her. She sighed and shook my hand in resignation. “It doesn’t make me feel better, actually, but what can you do?” She replied, shaking her head and then she gave me a calm smile “I guess I better go apologize since I’m going to be here a while.” We both walked in and I saw that Terra looked significantly better. I walked over to Twilight and wrapped an arm around her waist, which she mirrored. Seeri went to a spot where we could all see her, snapped to attention and crossed her right arm over her chest before bowing deeply. “My name is Searing Shield, Head-Ranger of Her Majesty’s Military, and I beg your forgiveness for my transgressions; I was deliberately misinformed and my actions were made in ignorance.” She said calmly, and all of us looked at each other. “At ease, Searing Shield.” Celestia said, with a gesture of her hand and the traveler obeyed “We bear no ill-will towards you and are delighted to have you stay with us.” “I’m not…” Twilight whispered to me, and I nudged her playfully. ‘I’m gonna agree with Twilight on this one; this girl is Trouble with a capital T.’ Nica said, and again Seeri’s head snapped to me, this time with a suspicious glare ‘Whoa, can she hear me?’ “Yes I can.” Seeri responded, to the confusion of everyone “I thought I was just hearing things earlier but now I’m sure; tell me, who are you?” “Don’t worry about who you’re hearing.” I said when Nica didn’t respond. I guess she didn’t like this newcomer either. Seeri’s eyes narrowed at me, but she shrugged. “Do you have sleeping arrangements, Seeri?” Celestia asked and she nodded. “Yes. I’m staying with Leon, apparently.” “What?! Absolutely not!” Twilight responded angrily, and then looked at me “Leon, you can’t possibly be agreeing to this, I mean she just tried to abduct you!” “I already have, Twi, but I assure you nothing’s going to happen.” I said and attempted to caress her cheek, but she pushed me away with a look of immense anger. “I can’t believe… Why did you agree to that without talking to me first, Leon?! You have no idea what this girl could do to you!” She snapped at me, but then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning towards the stairs to her room “Will everypony just leave, please?” “Twi, don’t-” I began but she stopped me with a wave of her hand. “JUST… Just leave, please.” She said, her anger barely kept in check and then she stormed into her room and slammed the door. I stared in the direction of her room for a moment before turning to Seeri, who was looking at me apprehensively. “C’mon… let’s get you settled…” I said quietly and we exited the library. We were silent as we walked through Ponyville to my house, my shoulders slumped from the way Twilight had treated me. After a moment, Seeri spoke. “You love her, don’t you?” Seeri asked me, to which I nodded sullenly and she sighed “I’m sorry, really. I didn’t come here to make a mess of things, but it seems that’s just what I did… I can try talking to Princess Celestia about sending me somewhere else for my vacation if this is going to be too much trouble.” “No, you’re fine, Seeri.” I replied calmly “I’ll find a way to patch things up with Twilight. It’ll be tough, but I can manage.” Seeri was quiet the rest of the way, which wasn’t terribly far. I showed her around the house and she began unpacking some extra clothes from her bag, which was apparently magically enchanted to hold vast amounts of junk in a tiny space, kind of like a Bag of Holding. Later that night, I couldn’t sleep; every time I tried, all I’d see was Twilight’s face contorted in rage. I knew my “Go with the flow” attitude irritated her to no end, but she was really angry with me this time. ‘That’s because you took in the chick who just tried to abduct you with virtually no resistance; for someone who promised you wouldn’t take any risks, you just did what could be viewed as the opposite of that.’ Nica said, and I shrugged ‘Leon, this is serious, that girl is beyond dangerous; you’re doing something incredibly stupid by taking her in.’ Be that as it may, I’m sticking to it ‘… Fine.’ I rolled over and closed my eyes in an attempt to get some sleep for tomorrow.