Spike P.O.V.
Zero? That's it? I'm willing to admit that the names in Equestria are pretty unique and more often than not sound like nicknames compare to other names outside the country, but this is the first time I heard a name that is a number. Though I got to admit that it is a cool name. I snap out of my thinking when Smith ask our guest a question that I'm pretty sure that everyone else is wondering the same thing.
"Okay Zero. Mind explaining those found you pass out on the bank of a river?" He asks.
"I don't know. I was trying to umm get away from where I was a few days ago I think and I just kept going and going until I pasted out and ended up... where are we?" He starts than asks. I can tell there's more to his story than he is letting but than again he is almost as much of an open book as Applejack. Though he is being honest about having no idea where he is.
"Your in the Dracoheart Kingdom son." Smith answers and it earns a very surprised look on Zero's face. "Which brings us another question. Where are you from?" That is a good question. From the looks of it Zero is definitely not from around here and his looks, guns, and air around gives you the feeling that he is a gunman from the wild west. I wonder if he is from Appllalsa where Braburn?
"I'm from Gunsmoke." The gunman says in a confuse tone of voice. That is a big surprise but it explains his look. For the most part Gunsmoke is one big desert with most of the population being Earthbounds with a couple of mages where most people there uses guns. I have heard that the mages of Gunsmoke have learned how to combine magic with bullets to give them special powers such as healing, giving a person powers like super strength, and even create monsters. I think they call those kind of people witch gunslingers. But it still doesn't explain how he got here. It is on the other side of the ocean and unless he was on one of those airships from the Magicblade Nation or Vale it would take two weeks by zeppelin and a lot longer by boat.
"If that is the case than how did you get here?" I ask since it doesn't make any sense if he got here on his own. "Did you suddenly sprout wings and fly." I say sarcastically.
"Sort of?" Zero answers with a confuse look on his face. As if he wasn't all that sure himself yet is being truthful. I take a quick glance at Mist and I can tell he thinks he is also telling the truth. If that is the case than is it possible that he is like mom and Luna?
"Are you an Archangel?" I ask. If he is than it is quite huge. How come I never heard of him? Does the princesses know? Was he born an Archangel or is he similar to Twilight and got it from a magical artifact or something?
Zero just looks at his hands with an array of emotions on his face. Confusion, sadness, and...fear? "I...I don't know." From the looks of it it's a bit of a touché subject for him.
Mist looks at Zero and asks, "So, what are you going to do now?"
Zero just looks at the fire with a sad look on his face and says, "I don't know. I don't have any family or a home to go back two."
Mist nods and gives the young gunman a small smile. "How about you come with us. Your kind of like Spike and myself." Mist says while gesturing to me.
"Yeah. We are just two guys trying to make their way through life and trying to find our own paths. And we could always use another friend to join us." I add with a smile on my face.
"What are you two planning on doing?" The blue eyed teen asks with a look of surprise and confusion on his face.
I give a small shrug and say, "We don't have anything concrete planned long term, but we plan to enter the a fighting tournament in the next town over to test our skills and get some prize money. After we'll think of something."
Zero looks back at the fire and appears to be deep in thought. After a minute or two he looks up and says, "It's not like I got anything going right now so okay, I'll join you guys. If your willing to have me."
I smile at our new companion, reach out my hand and say, "Welcome aboard Zero." The young gunman returns the smile and shakes my hand. As I watch Zero shakes Mists hand I wonder what kind of adventures await us and what will Zero bring to this group.
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Zero P.O.V.
I look up at the star field sky while laying down on my back. We have decide to stay where we are for the day and continue the ride to Smoldering Pit I think. Spike, Mist, the man named Smith, his son Jack, and myself are laying on the ground sleeping for the night since it would be cramp inside the truck if we all tried to sleep in there. Besides I don't really mind sleeping on the ground. Since I always wondered from one place to another I'm quite use to it. The moment of quiet gives me some time to think about my current situation. I was killed and tossed into a hole where I ended up is some kind of chamber. In that chamber was that crystal skull like object and where that phantom or whatever appeared and told me about the deal. I was than brought back from the dead and used this new found power to save the love of my life but had to leave since I was close to losing my control and from the looks on her face she probably wouldn't want to see me again. I ended up flying across the ocean and ended up in another country where I meet a group of good hearted people and possibly made two new friends. While most people would find this weird I'm not all that fazed by it all. From my past experiences I know for a fact that life has many unexpecting twists, turns, ups, and down.
"People at their core are selfish. They only think of themselves and they will do anything in their power to get ahead of others even if it means cheating, stealing, or even killing others to do so." That is something I believed in when I was young after I saw our mother murdered and my brother and I were taken in by the man who killed her to join his mercenary team taking part in what I thought at the time a mindless war. My brother thought that he was doing us a kindness taking us in but I knew better. The only reason I haven't told my twin what happen is because we had nowhere to go and if I stay close to the man than I will one day get the chance to kill him to avenge our mother. My brother always believed that everyone is capable of kindness and you should always help others who need or deserve it. I always consider to him to be foolish and believed that if he had to chose between my life or his he would choose his in a heartbeat as I have seen many times before in this war. The battles rage when one day I saw my chance to kill that bastard of a man and took it, but my legs end up under some rumble and the enemy was about to attack with long range cannon fire. I thought my time was up until my brother came to help me. Just as he drags me out of the rubble their was an explosion and darkness consume me. When I wake up I see my brother dying and holding me close. I realized that he had shielded me from the blast.
In a mixture of surprise, sadness, loss, and regret I could only ask one thing. "Why?" I said with tears pouring out of my eyes. My brother just smiles at me as if all is right in the world.
"I want you to be safe and if that means my life has to end so your can continue so be it." He said as the light in his eyes slowly fade. "Make sure you take care of yourself and live a happy life." As soon as he said that his breathing stopped and that told me he had left this world. I couldn't believed it. I always thought people only thought of themselves no matter what. But my brother sacrificed himself for me without a second thought. After a minute to collect myself I decided to not let his death be in vain. I took on his guns, beliefs, and his name. Many battle flow by me as I fought to protect and save as many lives as I can. Than one day the fighting stop. It took a little while for it to dawn on me that the war was over. Everyone that was part of the group was either dead or went their separate ways. I ended wondering from place to place with no real direction perfecting my gun skills and helping as many people as I can along the way. During my travels I met the love of my life Kurohime.(A.U. Kurohime= Black Princess)
Like me she was an wondering orphan who had lost her parents during the war. She was basically a witch gunslinger in training and dreamed of becoming the greatest gunslinger in the world. I will admit that when we first met she was a selfish spoiled brat and the main reason I travelled with her was to keep her safe and out of trouble. As we traveled together she grew as a person and became more kind and selfless. We soon fell in love with each other. Though after what happened we must have not meant to be. However even if she doesn't love or even hates me I will always love her and treasure my memories of her and our time together. Maybe if I travel with these guys I can learn how to control my powers and not be overwhelmed by the voice in my head. As I close my eyes I let sleep take a hold of me and Kurohime fills my dreams.
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Mist P.O.V.
I see a beautiful dark skinned woman with hair like mine. She is gentle and kind. She teaches me about nature, how to make medicine and potions, and how to heal others. I also see a strong man with white skin and blonde hair. He is proud and determined. He teaches me the way of the sword and that if I want something I would have to either earn or get it with my own two hands. My mother and I leave our old home to come to a quiet town in Equestria to live with my father and together we live a happy life, but it is short live. The town that we reside in is experiencing many problems and the townspeople blame my mother and by extension myself for the problems because the two of us are not from Equestria and different from them. One night in a drunk haze a group of townspeople attack my mother and I while my father is away. They set fire to our house, drag us away from the town, and tie my mother to the post with firewood at her feet. As they hold me down and set fire to the wood my mother looks at me and with a sad regretful smile on her face says, "Remember Mist, always try to find happiness in your life and do what you believe is right."
I watch as my mother slowly burns to death right in front of me as the people around me cheer for her death.
They are about to do the same to me, but that is when my father arrives at the scene. In a fit of rage and the need to protect me my father attacks the mob with a fury greater than any demon. He is about to finish off the last person when the town guard comes and one of them shoots my father while my father is focus on the person in front of him. With his dying breath my father looks at me and with a proud smile say, "Remember my son, live your life to the fullest and on you own terms. And if you want something get it with your own two hands."
I watch as the light from my fathers eyes slowly fade away, signaling my father's departure from this world.
I awake with a start. I quickly look around and see that it is night time and that everyone is sleeping peacefully except for Spike. He looks like he is having a pretty intense dream from the looks of it. It reminds me of my own dream. "God damn it, I thought those dreams finally stop." I say quietly to myself.
It's been a little over four years since the death of my parents and has been a couple of months since I had the dream. It might be one of those things that you don't completely get over. Though I will always remember my parents last words and honor their memory. I have spent the last four years training myself in the style my father taught me before he died. Going from place to place, training and testing my skill so I can be one of the best swordsman in the world. Though it is nice to have friends to be with. I lay back down on the ground and I soon find myself fast asleep.
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Spike P.O.V.
I look at the scene in front of me with interest. I watch with a birds eye view what looks to be a battle with a large army of people in armor wielding different weapons fight some kind of dark mage controlling what looks to be a fierce looking undead dragon with green fire and magic spilling out of it.
The battle is fierce with the mage and dragon destroying most of the army that stands against the two. But the army was not about to give up without a fight. The use everything they have to defeat their two enemies, spears, swords, axes, arrow, fire breathes, and fireballs. Showing me that the army is made up of Dragonborns. I wanted to look away from the carnage but I can't avert my eyes. It is like something deep within my very soul is telling that what is happening in front of me is important and I should watch it from beginning to end.
The battle is fierce and the Dragonborns suffer massive causalities, but in the end the remaining ten or so warriors finally kill the mage and defeated the zombie dragon. As the magic the mages used to give the walking corpse life and control over it slowly fades away the dragon looks at the remaining Dragonborns and for the first time speaks.
"Great Warriors," The dragon starts, his deep booming voice echoing across the land. Thou have done a great service by ending the wicked mage's life and freeing me from the wrenched curse placed on me. As a reward I shall give thy the last of my fire and magic and grant thee new powers." The dragon breathes out a gentle wave of ghostly green fire that covers and envelops the warriors before him. As the curse fades away and the dragon's body falls apart the warriors test out there new powers. Their flames turn either ghostly green or blue. Some cover their bodies in their flames, some cover just their arms and create large flaming claws, while a few are doing something similar to teleportation. Soon the scene before slowly fades to black.
I wake up to see that the sun has risen and everybody is slowly waking up. I just sit there on the ground. All the while thinking to myself. 'Was that just a dream? Or was it something else...something from the past?'