//------------------------------//
// Getting to Know Each Other 
// Story: The Captain of Mining 
// by Raybony 
//------------------------------//

Sparklez slowly opened his eyes, only to see darkness in front of him. He had to blink a couple of times to confirm that his eyes were actually open. When the darkness remained he looked around, hoping to see something in the void to serve as a location or landmark.

Wherever he looked, he could only see the darkness of the void as far as his eyes let him. He looked down and he wondered how he was able to stand in this empty space. But his attention was averted when he saw… himself.

“The hell?” he wondered. he saw himself wearing a dark short sleeved t-shirt, he wore a familiar pair of jeans that he was accustomed to when in his apartment back home. And if he were able to, he would also be able to see that his face was normal again, no longer resembling a realistic version of his avatar.

“I’m sure I was wearing something different when I was in Ponyville. Wait, what happened? Wasn’t I stopping a mob attack earlier?” He tried to recollect his memory, the images a bit fuzzy and out of place as he tried to recollect his memory.

“Hrrhhh gggsss”

Sparklez tensed up when he heard the sound. He looked around, trying to spot the source of the sound. “Hello? Someone there?” he called out, expecting a response of sorts. As he turned to look forward again, he froze at the new shape that had appeared about ten metres away from him. But it wasn’t the sudden appearance that made him nervous, but rather what it was.

In front of him stood a man, a square pixelated man which seemed to have a dark jacket of sorts on top of a white shirt. He wore a pair of trousers which had a line running from one side to the other, and Sparklez had to guess that he had a pair of black shoes at the end of the square legs. Its face was hidden as it looked down, only showing his back hair.

T-that can’t be. He shouldn’t be real, he’s...me! Sparklez said in a bit of worry as he stared at the unmoving square man, its face still hanging down as its body faced Sparklez.

“Hrreee hhhs” The sound echoed again, but this time it came from the direction of the sinister looking avatar of Sparklez.

Sparklez was about to say something when he witnessed the square entity shift from one place to another with a blink, now standing closer to Sparklez himself. Did he just teleport?

Sparklez started to take a few steps back. He was feeling a sense of dread creep around him as he witnessed the doppelganger teleport once again. He was now just a few feet from Sparklez. “Phreee oouussss,” it spoke again, and that’s when Sparklez decided to turn tail and get out of there.

He turned around, ready to sprint as far and as fast as possible away from the other “him.” but froze in fear. He now was face to face with his double, and it sent even more chills down his spine as he looked into its eyes.

Instead of the expecting dark azure eyes, he looked at a pair of indigo eyes, which seemed to emit a dull glow of their own. “Free. Us,” it spoke slowly as he looked Sparklez in the eye, filling the man with fear beyond measure.

The doppelganger went and took hold of Sparklez by the shoulders, squeezing them hard; he wasn’t going to let his victim escape. “FREE UUSSSSSSSSHHHTGHHTGHRGH!” Its shout distorted as his mouth opened far beyond what should be possible for him, only to reveal an even darker void inside, even darker than the one they were in, and he brought it closer to Sparklez as if he was about to bite his head off.

“No, no, NOOOOOO!!!” Sparklez screamed just as the jaws of the monster clamped down around him, encasing him in darkness again.





“NOOOOOO!” Sparklez shouted as he sprung awake in bed,  sweat pouring down his face, which was now a paler colour.

Sparklez took ragged breaths as he calmed down, realizing it was all a nightmare. He started to take in his surroundings to help him calm down even more.

He was greeted with a very high-class looking room with matching furniture. The walls and floor were carved from a very elegant and refined marble, while the pillars that went along the walls were carved with elegant and complicated designs by the base and top.

The floor was covered by a very refined carpet which had a golden trimming by the edges, which seemed to have a bit of a reflection on them. The ceiling were arranged into an arch theme, as the pillar by the walls conjoined with their opposite ones as they formed a small arch that went down the small room.

A single walkway window was in the room which most likely lead to a balcony if Sparklez was familiar with castle designs. And a large double door, which towered over as it nearly reached the beginning of the ceiling archway by a few metres.

It was, just a dream. Sparklez gave a sigh of relief when he calmed down enough. He reached to wipe his brow of sweat but was stopped when he felt resistance on his wrist as well as the sound of metal hitting against metal.

“What?” Sparklez wondered out loud as he inspected his arm, he then suspected he had a shackle strapped around his wrist as the chain connected ended connected by the railing of the bed which Sparklez was resting on.

Inspecting the other arm, he discovered that he had the same predicament with his other arm. This confused him and worried him at the same time, he wasn’t sure what was going on anymore. Thankfully, his questions would be answered soon as he heard the door to his room start opening.

Walking through the door came the familiar shapes of Celestia and Luna, but accompanying them were a group of white ponies clad in golden armour, as well as they carried a long spear over their shoulders. Is that the normal attire or did they figure out Minecraft physics? Sparklez thought to himself, but decided to push that thought out of the way for the time being.

The guards, as Sparklez deduced, broke away from the rulers as they circled the bed that Sparklez rested in. As Sparklez eyed the guards with a bit of unease, the voice of Celestia brought his attention back to the princesses.

“Morning Sparklez, is good to see that you are faring well after what happened two days ago.” Celestia said with a comforting smile as Sparklez looked at her a bit confused.

“Two days? What happened two days ago?” Sparklez couldn’t recall the event s that had happened, only that it was Halloween/Nightmare night, and that he and the others were having a nice before- “Wait! What happened to the girls? Is the town alright? What happened with Spike? What-” Sparklez asked frantically before he was threatened by the tips of the spears that the guards had. “H-hey! What’s the big idea?”

“Guards, at ease.” Luna commanded after she saw the action of the royal guards, which was predictable from their training when it came to this kind of situation. The group of guards didn’t follow the command at first but soon lowered their weapons and stood at attention in their spots.

“I’m sorry Sparklez, but after what my sister relayed to me about the events on Nightmare Night, we had to take precautions with you. This is our best way to do that while still serving some hospitality in your case.” Celestia said with a solemn look.

Sparklez looked confused at what they said, had he done something? And why couldn’t he remember any of it if so? “Sorry but, what did I do?” Sparklez asked which elected confused stares from Celestia and a worried look from Luna.

“You mean you don’t recall anything that happened during your confrontation with Spike the dragon?” Luna asked because she witnessed the whole event, as well as probably most of the town of Ponyville.

He fought Spike? He tried to remember more of what happened that night, but could only manage to recall up until his golem friends demise. Knievels. “I’m sorry, but I can’t remember, is it serious?”

Celestia looked at Luna with a worried glance before addressing the human again. “From what my sister informed me, you fought Spike after this, what we are to call ‘infection’, you appeared to have acquired a great deal of strength and skills, but seemed to cloud all judgement apart from a single goal. Protect your friends.” Celestia said as she looked at the man’s shocked and confused face.

He, what? “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything like that, but how is everyone else, how is the town?” Sparklez asked, and he didn’t like the look of Luna’s face as he said it.

“The girls are fine, Rainbow Dash got a few broken bones but nothing too serious.” Celestia paused there as she tried to think how to best word the next bit. “Spike, didn’t fare very well. But do not worry, he is fine at Ponyville’s hospital at the moment.” Celestia said the last part to stop Sparklez from thinking the worst case scenario.

Sparklez looked a bit shocked, only because if what they had said so far, then he was responsible for Spike’s condition, even if he couldn’t remember any of it.

At Sparklez’s silence Celestia decided to continue. “The attack on the town destroyed about twenty percent of the buildings, most of the homes, and the citizens...” Celestia paused as she looked at the ground with mourning look.

Luna decided to take it from there as she knew her sister wasn’t used to the situation. “Forty seven ponies perished in the attack from that creature.” Luna frowned as she said the next bit. “And it’s master.”

Sparklez knew what she was talking about, recalling the white and black stripped girl or pony who was infected as well. If this infection or whatever it was could make a normal individual that strong, who knows what would happen if they get more.

“Which brings us to the next topic at hoof.” The voice of Celestia interrupted Sparklez’s train of thought as he looked back at the royal sisters. “Since that event, I had multiple reports from other cities about sightings of the creatures from your world as well as ponies disappearances.”

Luna continued from there. “So far, there has only been thirteen reports of missing ponies, but the disappearance occurred whenever a large group of monsters entered the towns or cities, terrorising the residents.”

“Which leads us to believe that this individual who you met in Ponyville is causing the disappearance of the ponies during those moments of chaos.” Celestia said as she had a straight look on her face.

“We fear that she is rallying ponies to bring them into her cause so she is able to bring more chaos and destruction to the land.” Luna said as she eyed Sparklez in the eye.

Sparklez stared back, not sure where all of this was leading to. “So what are you saying? That I need to stop this girl as soon as possible?” Sparklez deduced as he was the only one, apart from Rainbow, who could deal with the mobs and possibly infected individuals better.

“While that would help our case, we doubt that you will be able to find her, yet alone fight her without proper preparation.” Luna said as looked a bit unease at the moment for some reason. “No, my sister and I believe that we, as well of all of Equestria, need to learn how to properly deal with this threat without endangering our subjects.”

“What my sister is trying to say, is that we think that you may be able to provide for us a means to defend ourselves as well as some way to restore those that may have been infected.” Celestia said, which caused Sparklez to look a bit surprised.

“Not to be rude or anything, but I have no freaking idea how to do that. So far we know that only me and Rainbow are able to harm the mobs because of our abilities, and I have no idea how to cure those, infected ones.” Sparklez said, the last part a bit uncertain as it sounded weird.

“We know, but we think that your weaponry can be used by others, even if they lack these abilities of yours.” Celestia said as she remembered what Twilight had told her about the multiple weapons that could be created from raw materials thanks to this mysterious magic.

“As to a cure, we are not sure either.” Luna said with a frown before continuing. “But we are certain there is a way, proven by the fact both Rainbow Dash and Spike have been cleansed from this infection.”

Sparklez nodded in understanding, he saw the logic, although he wasn’t sure how Spike got cleansed since he couldn’t remember and Rainbow’s case was too dangerous to try again. “So what now?” Sparklez finally asked after some time of silence.

Celestia stepped forward as she looked at Sparklez. “Now you may return to Ponyville, we believe that it is the best place for you to do these activities and to find ways for Equestria to defend itself, as well as still trying to reclaim the Elements of Harmony, it is still our only chance of ever stopping this chaos.”

Sparklez smiled a bit knowing that at least he could stay near the ones that he knew in this world. “However,” Luna said suddenly as Sparklez looked at her a bit confused. “because of what happened that night with Spike, you will be under watch 24/7 by one of our elite guards.” Luna said as she motioned with her neck at someone behind her and her sister.

Sparklez looked past the royal sisters to see an orange pegasus marching into the room, his mane was azura blue as well as his eyes, and was clad in the same golden armour as the other guards.

“Sparklez, this is Flash Sentry, he is one of our best guards here in Canterlot and has been trained to handle any situation he is put in.” Celestia said which Sentry responded by giving a salute before putting his hoof back down, always wearing a straight look like his other comrades.

“It is an honour to be given this opportunity, and I will make sure to not let this, human, cause any harm should the event arise.” Flash Sentry responded, pausing a bit as he said the alien name that he was given.

Sparklez was about to greet the newcomer before a new pony entered the room. “Please, he could barely stand a chance against a manticore, and those things are easy to trick.”

Sparklez and everyone else present turned towards the door that lead to the balcony, which was now open, but the voice came from the archway of the doorway as he hung upside down with his arms folded and an bemuse look.

“You!? How did you get out of the visitor’s room? It was guarded by my best men.” Flash said as he looked at the new stallion that was by the balcony doorway.

Sparklez noted the features of the new individual as it was the first time for him. He was a brown unicorn with a lighter patch by the mouth, black hair with some red, which was combed into a spiky look, he had three swords strapped to his back as well as some kind of bracelet on his arm, and his cutie mark were three swords crossing each other.

“Pfft, really now? I thought you had put your average guard by the door. They were way too easy to knockout.” The stallion spoke as he found entertaining the look on Flash Sentry. “But that is to be expected if they were trained by you, a poor excuse of leadership.”

Flash glared at the newcomer at the insult, but held his composure. “Don’t you dare insult the royal guard. Captain Shining Armour entrusted his position to me after he had to leave for the Crystal Empire to follow the role as prince.” Flash Sentry said as he was really tempted to just fly there and show him a thing or two about what happens when you insult the guard.

“Flash Sentry, at ease.” Celestia said as she held a hoof in front of the guard before looking back at the unicorn. “First of all, who are you? What did you do to my guard? What are you doing here and…” Celestia raised an eyebrow when she noted the position that the unicorn was. “...Why are you upside down?”

The unicorn looked at Celestia with a raised eyebrow before responding. “Why are you rightside up?”

This made everyone in the room look at each other with a confused expression, not expecting the unorthodox question. Although Sparklez found it a bit funny as he snickered a bit, before coughing to regain his composure.

“Anyways,” The stallion said before letting himself fall from the archway, only to flip around and land on his hooves. “Like I told your sister Lulu, names Cinnamon Shy, but I prefer only Cinnamon. As I said, they are knocked out and inside a closet, in a funny position too, hehehe; and I just decided to look around the place a bit, only a bit more interesting.” He said as he pointed to the balcony doorway.

Luna was glaring daggers at Cinnamon as he called her by her nickname, only Celestia got to  call her that.

“But I still heard what you said about the ape there on the bed.” Cinnamon said as he pointed to Sparklez. Ape? Sparklez thought as he looked at Cinnamon still talking.

“And I’ll be the first to say, that foal wouldn’t last three seconds against him.” Cinnamon said pointing to Flash before indicating Sparklez.

“I’ll let you know, that I have handled minotaur cases before, and they looked way stronger than that human over there.” Flash Sentry said, not letting himself get insulted by this stallion.

“Yeah right. The only thing you’re good at is getting a mare to go to bed with you.” He said before a smirk appeared in his face. “Before they start laughing at the size of your other soldier.”

“WHAT!?” Flash shouted, spreading his wings in aggression, he was really close to just start bucking this idiot non-stop.

“The only reason you get the attention of mares is because of this poor excuse of being a guard.” Cinnamon said before bringing a hoof to his chin and mock thinking. “Unless it’s because you’re a playcolt model, which wouldn’t surprise me if you were.”

Flash Sentry had his eye twitching in rage as he used every ounce of self control to not just try and rip him to shreds. Celestia and Luna gave the stalling hard glares of disapprovement, as well as the rest of the guards. While Sparklez was a bit shocked at the use of vocabulary from this pony, which was far different from what he has seen from others.

“Actually, no, the only reason that you managed to get in the royal guard and rise so much is because you offered yourself to your former captain so he raised you among the ranks, I bet you even enjoy-” He was cut off by the shout of Flash Sentry.

“THAT. IS. IT! I will not let you insult the royal guard any longer! Guards, seize him!” Flash commanded as the four guards that had been watching Sparklez went to arrest the brown unicorn.

“Oh please, at least give me a challenge.” Cinnamon said as he charged ahead and jumped over the lances which had been thrusted forward at him. As he passed over them, Cinnamon turned in mid air a kicked the heads of two of the guards, sending them a few feet away from where they originally stood.

Cinnamon turned around and charged towards the other two standing guards who got ready this time and awaited for anything.

Well, except that Cinnamon dove between the guards, and before they could react to it, Cinnamon quickly rose with his forehooves as he kicked the guards under the jaw hard. Making them rise a bit in the air before falling down to the ground.

The rest of the room looked in shock as one pony took four well trained guards in less than ten seconds. “Like I said, give me a challenge if you want to arrest me.” Cinnamon said as he stretched a bit, making a few popping sounds.

Flash Sentry got over his state of shock as he walked towards Cinnamon, picking one of the spears that had been thrown around in the room during the short fight. “I’ll take you myself if I have to.”

Cinnamon looked at Flash with a bemused look before replying. “Fine then, I’ll make a deal. If you manage to beat me I’ll take back what I said and I’ll do what you say, but if I win...there is  nothing I want really.” Cinnamon said as he shrugged a bit.

Flash raised an eyebrow at that but returned his glare as the notion passed. “Deal.” Flash said as he got into a ready position.

“Flash Sentry, this is not necessary. You don’t need to beat him to prove yourself.” Celestia said as she looked at her guard captain with a small worried look.

Flash let out a sigh as he turned his head slightly to look at the princess. “Sorry your highness, but I can’t let him insult the name of the guard as well as the captain before me.” Flash Sentry replied as he looked at the stallion again, who now stood on his hindlegs. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, just making the fight fair. So I won’t be using magic, my weapons and no forehooves.” Cinnamon replied casually as it was no big deal.

Flash looked at him incredulously as he took what he said. “You are crazy, you know that?”

“Meh, I prefer to say I live life on the edge.” He said before putting his arms behind him and getting into a sort of fighting style. “Come on foal, I don’t have all day.”

Flash Sentry glared at him again before readying himself again, thinking of the best way to deal with his opponent.

“Ok, my move then.” Cinnamon said before jumping back towards the wall, flipping in mid air as he landed his hooves on the wall and propelled himself towards Flash Sentry, aiming for a kick.

Flash Sentry opened his eyes in shock at the speed he was going before diving under the equine projectile and he avoided him.

Cinnamon looked down with a small frown at Flash before looking front and  seeing he was going towards the princesses. “Oh yikes!” Cinnamon shouted as he made his body touch the ground and skidding to a halt, looking up to the deities just a few inches away from his face. “Umm, hello?” He said before backing away quickly and turning to face Flash.

And good thing too, as he was charged by the pegasus and smacked with the other end of the spear. He jumped back to make space between him and his opponent as he he cracked his neck. “Nice move, think you can do better?”

Flash Sentry stared him in the eye as he took off from the ground, going to ram Cinnamon. The unicorn quickly jumped over him to avoid the attack as Flash followed his movement. Turning around, Flash got ready to attack the unicorn, only to find he wasn’t there. “What?”

“Thanks for the ride boy.” Flash Sentry turned his head when he heard the voice coming from behind him, to see his opponent resting on his back. How did I not notice the weight change? Flash thought to himself before Cinnamon continued. “But I prefer solid ground.” He said before headbutting the back of Flash’s head, making him falter and fall to the ground.

Flash regained his footing before turning to Cinnamon who was now charging at him. Flash Sentry only had time to raise his spear before he was kicked in the chest and sent to a wall. Looking up he saw Cinnamon charging once again.

Reacting quickly, Flash moved to the side and let Cinnamon plant his hoof on the marvel wall, making it crack. Using the momentum, Flash used his spear and made Cinnamon drop to the ground hard, before he felt the tip the spear pressed against his chest.

Cinnamon looked to Flash who had a smug look. “Give up yet?” Flash said as he knew he had won.

“Hmm, I think I’ll pass.” He said before delivering a hard kick at Flash from underneath. Right to his Jimmies.

“OH MY BALLS!” Flash Shouted as he now held the inside of his hindlegs. “You little-” That was all he said before he was kicked off Cinnamon and fell to the ground.

Cinnamon picked himself up, looking at Flash with a small smirk. “Well I gotta say, you handle yourself well.” He said before kicking the spear away from Flash’s reach. “But you lost like I predicted.”

Flash sentry growled as he tried to stand up, only to be brought down to the floor by a hoof as it was pressed to his chest. “I said, you’re done.” Cinnamon said as he gave the stallion a glare.

Sentry was about to say something but was interrupted by Celestia. “Enough, you won the match so there is no reason for you to continue fighting.” Celestia said firmly as she looked at Cinnamon in the face.

Cinnamon simply shrugged before going back onto four hooves. “Whatever, to be fair, fighting against ponies that are weaker from the dimension you come from is kind of cheating.” He said which made the guards and Sparklez, who had been watching the whole thing play out, look on in confusion.

Luna gave a sigh as she put a hoof to her forehead. “Can’t believe you are the one we were looking for the past week.” Luna said as she tried to let the incident slip her mind.

“Wait, wait, wait. ‘He’ is the one who could teach me combat!?” Sparklez exclaimed, a bit shocked at the prospect after he saw what the pony was capable of.

“Wait a second, he is the one you wanted me to teach?” Cinnamon asked in return as he looked at the princesses incredulously.

At the same time both pony and human answered simultaneously. “You can’t be serious!”

Luna and Celestia looked at each other a bit uncertain, before addressing Flash Sentry. “Captain, make sure they don’t cause any problems on the ride to Ponyville.” Celestia said.

Flash Sentry looked to the two individuals. One was supposed to be a whole new species to the land, and if Luna’s report was accurate on recent events, also really powerful with no way to affect it magically.

And the other a rough pony who had the look and attitude to be a mercenary for hire. Plus it seems that he could be stronger than even most ponies here, if his story of another dimension was true, plus he wasn’t fond of the idea of being near him.

Flash Sentry let out a sigh as he responded. “Yes your highness.” This is not going to be a normal mission like the others. Flash thought to himself, he knew his stay in Ponyville was going to be a weird one.