//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Beyond the Portal 
// by Firestar463 
//------------------------------//

Celestia could see a crowd of ponies exiting the palace as she flew above Canterlot. The trip to Ponyville and her encounter with the Human had taken more time than she had expected, and Night Court had apparently just let out. I’ll have to raise the sun before I can talk to Luna. She thought to herself, groaning at the prospect of her daily duties. And then I’ll have to deal with Day Court… No. This is too important to postpone. Court can wait another day.

Celestia circled the palace and entered through the balcony to her quarters. She walked over to the mirror and examined herself. She looked tired, for sure, and a few hairs in her normally flawless mane were sticking out. Despite the fact that she was an immortal Alicorn, even she had to deal with mortal needs such as sleep. Celestia ran a brush through her mane until the offending hairs were flowing once more, and emerged from her room.

The two guards stationed outside her room bowed as the doors opened. As they rose from their bow, the one on the right looked up. “Are you feeling well, your highness?” he asked. He had apparently noticed how tired Celestia was.

“Nothing to be concerned about, Steady Shield.” Celestia replied. “However, I would ask that you deliver a message to the guards outside the Throne Room. Day Court is to be cancelled today.” Steady Shield nodded, only letting his confusion show for a split second before extending his wings and flying through the corridors. 

Celestia sighed and set off. Cancelling court was quite rare for the princesses, particularly Celestia. Ponies would be upset that their proposals and queries were delayed, and would question what was going on that caused the cancellation. She’d have to think of some excuse. But that was future Celestia’s problem.

Celestia walked through the corridors of the palace, making her way to the tallest tower. Eventually, she reached a winding spiral staircase and began to ascend. As she reached the top, Celestia found that Luna was already present, waiting for her. With a nod, Celestia and Luna closed their eyes. In unison, their horns lit up. Slowly, the crescent moon descended in the west, and the sky in the east was filled with a beautiful amber glow. The sun began to rise over the horizon, hiding the stars once more behind it’s brilliant glow.

Finally, the two princesses opened their eyes and let their magic fade. Without a word, the two retraced their steps back down the tower. Celestia nudged her sister and motioned for her to follow. As they arrived at Celestia’s room, Celestia turned to her guards once more. “Nopony is to enter until Princess Luna emerges.” she ordered. The guards saluted crisply, and Luna followed her sister into the room. Celestia climbed onto her bed and closed her eyes, sighing.

The bed shifted slightly, and a weight flopped down next to Celestia. She opened her eyes and looked over to see Luna, looking at her expectantly. Celestia smiled softly and sighed once more. “How was Night Court, little sister?”

“Senator Wordtwist brought forth his Everfree Deforestation Proposal to me.” Luna replied, her voice icy. “He took up two hours with his rambling. Two hours! And from what I can tell, it was exactly the same as the proposal he laid before you yesterday morning. Several other proposals had to be cancelled because of his long-windedness.”

“And what did you say?”

“Well, it’s the fourth time in the past three Court days that he’s brought it up. So I dismissed it, and banned him from bringing it up again in either Court unless he can provide significant evidence based in specific facts, rather than the vague generalizations he seems to rely on.”

Celestia chuckled. “Well, you’ve likely made an enemy this evening.” She said warmly. “But not a very powerful one. I thank you, Luna. Though a bit rash, your decision this evening has likely saved us quite a bit of headache in the long run.”

“Indeed, but enough about Court.” Luna said in a dismissive tone. “I believe you owe me a story, Tia.”

“Indeed I do, Lulu. Indeed I do...” Celestia closed her eyes once more, her brows furrowed in thought.

“Where to begin…”

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Kyle slowly returned to consciousness, sunlight falling directly on his face. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Man, what a dream. He thought to himself. Gotta stop hitting that Darkmoon Special Reserve before bed. He slowly cracked his eyes open, allowing them to adjust to the light. Kyle froze up as he realized where he was.

Kyle wasn’t in the tent he normally slept in. Instead, he was on a couch in a small house, with a blanket draped over him. He instantly recognized the place from what he had assumed to be his dream. So… it’s not a dream… He slowly realized. I’m actually stranded here… with no way back…

Matthias! Kyle’s mind flashed back to what had happened just before he had charged through the portal. A gunshot. His brother, falling down the ramp leading up to the Dark Portal, blood flowing freely from his shoulder and chest. For a long moment, Kyle just sat there, fighting back the tears. 

“He’s dead…” Kyle’s voice was barely a whisper. “Two bullets and a fall like that… And I can’t even go back to help…” Fear washed over him like a tidal wave, threatening to drown him. I have no idea where I am, no idea what to do, and no way back home. Panic flooded through Kyle’s mind, and he nearly screamed.

Suddenly, Kyle froze once more. The words of his instructor flowed through his mind. Fear. It is among the most insidious of the Sha. The old Pandaren voice said, gentle and reassuring amidst the turmoil in his heart. From it, the seeds of Anger and Despair, of Violence and Hatred are born. Do not let it take hold of your heart. Let go of your Fear, and find Courage.

But.. Kyle had said that day. But… I’ll never be as brave as you. You don’t seem to be afraid of anything.


Ah, my young apprentice. You, like so many others, confuse courage with bravery. A brave Pandaren will run into a burning building to save a young cub with no thought for his own safety. A courageous Pandaren will realize that he is placing himself in terrible danger, and run into the burning building anyway. I have my fears, young one, but I do not let them stop me. True courage is not moving on without your fear, but moving on despite your fear. 

Kyle closed his eyes once more and began to turn his mind inwards as he had so many times before, focusing on the few facts he had to hold onto. These creatures, these Ponies that had found him, they appeared to be friendly enough. They trusted him enough to let him stay. And if he had been able to enter this world, then surely there had to be a way out. Matthias is tough. Kyle thought to himself. He once took an axe to his chest and was on his feet again in three weeks. After a few minutes, Kyle got his breathing back under control and managed to relax himself Feeling more at peace, Kyle took the blanket off of himself and stood up. He wobbled slightly, a testament to his concussion, but managed to remain on his feet. The night’s rest had done him a world of good, as he was able to walk around with little difficulty.

Kyle heard a noise behind him and turned around. The yellow Pegasus - Fluttershy, he reminded himself - was walking down the stairs, but froze as she saw Kyle. “Oh, um, good morning.” she said quietly. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Much.” Kyle replied. “Thanks for letting me stay overnight. I owe you one.”

“Oh, it was no trouble.” Fluttershy replied. “Are you hungry? I was about to fix some lunch.”

“Lunch?”

“Oh, yes. You slept in pretty late. I wanted to wake you up for breakfast, but I wasn’t sure if you were feeling better.”

Kyle walked over to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, the sun was close to its apex in the sky. In the short time he had been awake, the sky had become overcast. Even as he watched, a Pegasus pushed a cloud into position to fill a gap in the cloud cover, hiding the sun. “Well I didn’t mean to sleep so late.” He said sheepishly. “Lunch sounds nice.”

“Alright, I’ll get started. Would you like to step outside for some fresh air?”

“Sure.” Kyle replied. Fluttershy walked over towards the kitchen, and Kyle headed to the back door and stepped outside.

As Kyle looked around, he quickly noticed that he was surrounded by animals. Rabbits, squirrels, deer, birds, chickens, and… Yep. That was definitely a bear, staring at him with wide eyes. Kyle suddenly felt very uncomfortable as every head turned to stare at him.

A few seconds passed, and nothing moved. Then, a white rabbit shook his head as if to clear it. It stepped forward and… glared at Kyle? Kyle hastily choked back a laugh as the rabbit attempted to be intimidating, but instead wound up merely looking grumpy due to its size. 

The rabbit was clearly unamused by Kyle’s reaction to its glare. It thumped its foot against the ground and picked up the carrot it had been about to eat. Without a second’s hesitation, the rabbit threw it at Kyle. Kyle merely raised an eyebrow and snatched the carrot out of the air. The rabbit looked dumbstruck as Kyle smirked and took a bite.

That seemed to really irritate the rabbit. It reached over and grabbed an apple from one of the deer, which bleated in unhappiness. Again, the rabbit threw the apple at Kyle. Kyle frowned as the red projectile flew towards him. Deciding to try to end the rabbit’s aggressiveness with his own display of force, he jabbed forward with his right hand

Several birds took to the air and chirped in alarm as the fruit exploded in a shower of pulp and juice. The rabbit was once again shocked, but this time along with irritation and anger there was a decent amount of fear mixed into his expression. Kyle, having made his point, dropped the carrot and turned to head back inside

“Angel Bunny, that was not very nice!” Fluttershy called out sternly, causing Kyle to jump backwards in surprise. The yellow pegasus advanced on the rabbit, who stood defiantly before the much larger caretaker. “This Human is our guest, and that is not how we treat guests. Say you’re sorry.”

The rabbit folded its arms up and shook its head.

“If you don’t say sorry, you won’t get any dessert tonight.”

The rabbit let out a raspberry towards Fluttershy.

Kyle watched with fascination as Fluttershy towered over Angel Bunny. Her eyes opened wide in a ferocious glare, and the rabbit froze up, petrified in fear. Kyle suddenly felt as though he had been dumped into the middle of a lake in Icecrown, and began shivering. What sorcery is this?! He wondered, slowly backing up. He wasn’t even the main target of this, and he was shaking in his boots. 

Angel Bunny, meanwhile, was trembling even more violently. Slowly, the rabbit backed away and approached Kyle, hanging its head and trembling. It managed to squeak out something in a clearly apologetic tone. Kyle bent down and picked up the half-eaten carrot before handing it to the rabbit. The rabbit grabbed it and held it close, trying to calm itself. Kyle reached down and scratched it behind the ears for a moment before standing back up. Fluttershy had already gone back inside, and Kyle followed.

Fluttershy was sitting at the table with a pair of plates. One contained a hay sandwich, while the other had a pile of peanuts and an apple. The two ate in silence. Kyle wanted to bring up what had happened, but something prevented him from doing so. Finally, Fluttershy broke the silence. “I’m sorry about Angel Bunny. He can be kind of cranky around new creatures.”

It’s… it’s fine.” Kyle stammered. “But… what exactly did you do to him? I was only watching and I felt like I had been dunked in a tub of ice water.”

“Oh, did you get hit by it too? Oh I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy exclaimed, looking ashamed. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just -”

Kyle held up a hand to stop her. “I’m fine.” he said calmly. “But what happened?”

“It’s… it’s one of my talents.” Fluttershy said meekly, her ears drooping. “Other ponies call it ‘The Stare’. If an animal acts badly, I can use The Stare to make them behave.”

“Fascinating… A Mind Control for animals.” Kyle murmured. “How does it work?”

“I don’t know.” Fluttershy admitted. “It just kind of… happens. I don’t really control when or where.”

“I see…” Kyle said quietly, taking another bite from his apple. The rest of the lunch was passed in silence. As Kyle finished, he picked up his plate and moved it over to the sink, looking for a bucket of water to clean with. When he found none, he muttered under his breath and snapped his fingers. A ball of mist coalesced in front of him, and he condensed it tighter than normal before dropping it onto the plate. He cleaned the now-wet plate and dried it before putting it away.

“Well that was… um… interesting.” Fluttershy commented. “But, um, you could have just used the faucet.”

“The what now?”

Fluttershy walked over to the sink and pulled upwards on a lever. Water began flowing freely from a pipe. Kyle watched in fascination as Fluttershy cleaned her own plate and put it away before shutting off the lever. “So… you just pull up on that lever… and water comes out?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes… Do they not have that where you come from?”

Kyle shook his head. While he had seen vaguely similar designs in Gnomish engineering, nothing like this had been introduced to the common man in Azeroth. “Incredible… I wonder what else I’ll learn about while I’m here…”

“Oh, yes. That reminds me.” Fluttershy said suddenly. “Twilight came by earlier to check on you, but you were still asleep. She left this behind in case you wanted to read it.” Fluttershy walked over to the other side of the counter and picked up a book before giving it to Kyle

“A visitor’s guide to Equestria.” he read. “For all of your questions regarding the homeland of Ponies.” The volume was quite thick. While Kyle had never considered books to be an interest of his, he was eager to read this one. Fluttershy smiled as he settled himself on the couch once more and began to read.

After what felt like minutes, but in reality had been over half an hour, the animals began to make their way into the house. The last few had wet fur, and sure enough, as Kyle looked out the window, he could see a steady stream of rain coming from the sky. Perfect day to… not be outside. He thought to himself, looking around at the animals.

Most of the smaller animals seemed to be avoiding Kyle like the Plague. Maybe it was the meat-eater inside him that they could sense, or maybe it was the way he had been able to brush off Angel Bunny’s attack earlier, but the rabbits, birds, and squirrels all maintained a healthy distance, while the deer trotted upstairs. 

In fact, only the bear seemed at all comfortable with Kyle around. It walked over and sat down next to the couch. Kyle looked over at it nervously, and the bear returned the look, speaking in a guttural moan. Though he couldn’t understand the bear, the tone was clearly passive. Kyle reached over and scratched the bear behind the ears. The bear’s eyes half-closed and its tongue stuck out of its mouth in a very comical display of pleasure as Kyle returned to his book.

As the day passed, Fluttershy trotted about the house, tending to the various creatures. From what Kyle could tell, most of them seemed to have some type of injury or illness that Fluttershy was tending to. As time went on, a few of the animals began to investigate Kyle more closely. Kyle was careful not to startle them as they sniffed and occasionally pawed at him. One robin actually worked up the courage to land on his left shoulder for a few seconds before quickly flying back to its birdhouse.

A knock on the door drew Kyle’s attention away from the book. He had only made it part way through the third chapter with all the activity going on around him. Fluttershy trotted over to the door and opened. “Oh, hello girls. Please, come in, get out of the rain.” She said quickly, standing aside. A second later, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash entered, followed by three other ponies Kyle didn’t know. One was an orange Earth Pony with a country blonde mane and tail and a cowboy hat on her head. One was a bright pink Earth Pony with a curly, darker pink mane and tail. The last one was a white Unicorn with a highly-stylized, violet mane and tail.

What’s that on their flanks? Kyle thought to himself as he observed the three new ponies. Each one of them had some sort of symbol on their flanks. The pink one had a trio of balloons, the orange one had a trio of apples, and the white one had a trio of diamonds. Upon closer inspection, Kyle realized that Fluttershy also had a similar symbol, showing a trio of butterflies. Indeed, it appeared they all had these tattoos, which Kyle had neglected to observe before. Rainbow Dash had a rainbow-colored lightning bolt, while Twilight seemed to have a star surrounded by 5 other, smaller stars. 

“Girls, I’d like you to meet Kyle.” Twilight said, flicking her tail towards the human. Kyle waved and smiled.  “Kyle, you’ve already met Rainbow Dash. This is Applejack” - the orange pony - “Rarity” - The white one - “And Pinkie Pie.” - the Pink one. Shock.

“Hello ladies.” Kyle said, standing up and stretching after having been sitting down for the past few hours. He watched as Fluttershy walked out of the house, shutting the door behind her. He was about to inquire about it when one of the newcomers spoke up.

“Well now, yer a tall one.” Applejack exclaimed, nearly drawing a laugh from Kyle as he remembered some of the Gnomes on Azeroth saying almost the exact same thing. Applejack then turned to Twilight. “You sure he’s a predator? Ah mean, he’s tall n’ all, but he don’t look all that strong ‘r durable. Reckon I could beat ‘im in a hoof-wrastlin’ contest.”

Kyle coughed, drawing Applejack’s attention once more. “Don’t think that we’re just muscle.” He said, trying to make a point without sounding intimidating or threatening. “A Human’s greatest asset isn’t his brawn, but his brain. We don’t necessarily overpower our p… our opponents - we out-smart them.” he finished, deliberately avoiding the term ‘prey’.

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but Rainbow Dash spoke first. “Hang on… where’d Pinkie go?” She asked. Doing a quick head count, Kyle found that Pinkie Pie had indeed vanished.

“WOO HOO!” A voice yelled right next to Kyle’s ear, making him jump forward and land in a fighting stance. Pinkie was right behind where he had been. Somehow, she had managed to get a decent-sized cart into the house. As Kyle watched, she hit a button on the side of the cart. the top flipped open and revealed a conglomeration of flags, horns, pipes, and what appeared to be an oven. Music began blaring out of the horns, and the pony began singing and dancing around the room.

“Welcome Welcome Welcome!
A fine welcome to you!
Welcome Welcome Welcome!
I say, ‘how do you do?’”

Welcome Welcome Welcome!
I say hip hip hooray!
Welcome Welcome Welcome!
to Ponyville todayyyyyyy!”

As Pinkie Pie finished her song, the entire room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

“Wait for it…”

The door of the oven opened suddenly, and a cake was flung forth onto the coffee table. From the pipes, a shower of confetti erupted. “Yes! I got it right!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, bouncing on her rear hooves and clapping her front ones together excitedly.

“...Got what right, exactly?” Kyle asked, still trying to process what had just happened.

“Last time she used her Welcome Machine, she put the cake and confetti in the wrong places.” Twilight explained, sounding as though this was a regular occurrence. “Uncooked cake batter everywhere, and confetti blasted into somepony’s face.”

“Okay then…” Kyle began, but he was quickly cut off by a Pink head right in his face, which began to speak very quickly..

“Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie. Were you surprised? Were you were you were you? Of course you were, you jumped forward and were all like *Gasp*. Anyway, Welcome to Ponyville! Oh, I’ll have to get a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party together super-duper quick! I’ll need balloons and streamers and confetti and cake and more streamers and-” Pinkie Pie was suddenly cut off when a white hoof was shoved in her mouth.

“I’m terribly sorry about her.” Rarity said, her voice sounding almost Gilnean. She pushed the pink pony aside, where Twilight began to talk to her with a serious expression her face. “Rarity, at your service.” the white unicorn continued, bowing. 

Kyle returned the gesture. “Kyle Slater.” He replied.

Rarity rose from her bow and looked Kyle over, tsking all the while. “Oh dear, whatever happened to your clothes?” She asked. 

Kyle looked down at his padded leather tunic and greaves, which rested atop a simple pair of black pants. He also wore a pair of burnt-leather boots, and had steel-studded leather vambraces around his wrists. While a bit disheveled, and flecked here and there with dried blood from the day before, they looked relatively normal. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Why, that hideous outfit… What in Equestria drove you to wear something like that?”

Kyle paused for a moment before chuckling. “I don’t exactly wear this stuff because it looks good. I couldn’t really care less about how it looks” he replied, earning a scoff from Rarity. “I wear it because my line of work demands it.”

“Which reminds me.” Rainbow Dash suddenly butted in. “I meant to ask this last night, but… What exactly do you do where you come from? I’m not as big into fashion as Rarity here -”

“Or at all.” Rarity interjected.

“-But even I can tell you that that getup is ugly. What could you possibly do that requires you to look like a tanning rack?” By this point, Twilight and Pinkie had finished their discussion, and Twilight was now listening intently. Pinkie, meanwhile, was furiously writing on a long scroll of parchment, the pencil clutched between her teeth and lips.

Kyle sighed. “I can’t exactly tell you that.” He said slowly. “It’s… a bit much for me to discuss right now. Just know that I need it for my work. Which I doubt I’ll be doing here.” he added quickly, praying that he was correct.

“Well, whatever your occupation, you’ll need something a bit more sightly than… that.” Rarity said, eyeing Kyle’s tunic with a look of disdain. “Come by my shop at some point. I’ll take your measurements and fashion you a new set of clothing.”

“Well that’s very kind of you, miss Rarity.” Kyle said, figuring that Rarity must be some kind of tailor. “But I’m afraid I’ve no money to pay you.” Indeed, Kyle had left his coin pouch back at the camp.

“Think nothing of it.” Rarity said dismissively. “I’d be happy to do it for free. The prospect of creating a set of clothes for a brand new creature… Just the thought of it makes me excited!”

Kyle paused for a moment before smiling. “Well… Thank you.” He said finally. Hell of a lot more generous than the tailors back on Azeroth. He thought to himself, remembering paying over 20 gold bits for a bag that he knew could not have cost more than 5 gold bits and 10 minutes to create.

The group conversed for a while longer, discussing a few of the differences Kyle had noticed between the two worlds so far. Everyone laughed as he recalled the faucet incident. Kyle also learned about what each of the ponies did for work. Applejack was an apple farmer - shock - Rarity was a designer, Pinkie Pie worked at some bakery called Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash was a manager for the Ponyville Weather Team, and Twilight was…

“A Princess?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure, Twilight had seemed important, but she seemed a bit… naive… to be a Princess. “I guess that explains why Princess Celestia called you two equals.”

“Hardly.” Twilight scoffed. “I’ve only been a Princess for a couple of months, but she’s been ruling Equestria for over a thousand years.” Kyle nodded. That would explain her seeming lack of experience.

Applejack let out a mighty yawn, earning a glare from Rarity. “Sorry ya’ll, but I gotta get goin’.” She said, moving towards the door. “Gotta get some rest fer tomorrow.”

“I apologize, but I must be off as well.” Rarity agreed. “I promised Sweetie Belle I’d help her with her homework tonight, and I have an important order to finish as well. It was lovely meeting you, Mr. Kyle.’ she finished, backing out of the door with a small bow.

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie made their farewells shortly after, leaving Kyle and Twilight alone. Fluttershy was still off doing Light knows what. As the door closed once more, Twilight turned to Kyle. “Alright, Kyle.” She said sternly, causing Kyle to hold a small breath.

Great, what did I do this time? He growled mentally.

“You said you didn’t want to talk about your line of work.” Twilight continued. “But one of the questions Celestia explicitly asked me to find out was what your occupation in your home world was. We need to know.”

Kyle closed his eyes, releasing his breath. While not as bad as some of the worst-case scenarios that had flicked through his mind, it was still a subject that he wasn’t sure the peaceful-looking ponies were ready to deal with. “It’s not exactly pleasant.” He finally said, vainly trying to deter Twilight’s curiosity.

“Oh come on.” Twilight scoffed. “What’s the worst that it could be?”

Now Kyle got angry. She was treating this like a small deal, as if he were a farmer or something. She lived such a sheltered life, and here he was, putting his life on the line everyday… and she treated his reluctance to talk about it like an inconvenience to her? He was prepared to say something harsh, something he would later regret, but a small voice warned against it. Instead, he closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, shoving his anger aside.

“Fine. I’m a soldier. A fighter.” Twilight’s eyes went wide in shock as Kyle continued. “I told you that this stuff was a requirement for my job. It’s armor. Armor designed to protect me from those who are trying to kill me…. And whom I am trying to kill.”

For a long moment, Twilight was silent, and Kyle became nervous. Now she knew that he was dangerous, perfectly capable of killing another creature, and in fact did it for a living. And he had just admitted it to a Princess. Finally, she spoke back up. “Well I guess that explains the Army you mentioned last night. But… why?” she asked. “Why did you choose to be a… a soldier?”

“So that others do not have to.” Kyle replied..

“What do you mean?”

“My world - Azeroth - is a dangerous place.” Kyle explained, choosing his words carefully. “In the past ten years, we’ve dealt with over a dozen situations of apocalyptic proportions. It seems every other month we get some new threat rearing it’s head, trying to destroy everything we love. That’s where men like me come in.” he added, beginning to feel that surge of pride for his position once more. Though reluctant to speak of it to peaceful folks, Kyle was indeed proud of what he did. “We stand between these monsters and their victims. I fight and kill - and one day, perhaps die - so that others do not have to deal with these burdens.”

Twilight slowly nodded. "So... You fight to protect others from what you have to do." She said slowly. Kyle nodded in confirmation. "Well, that explains the leather armor. But I'm curious... You seem to be familiar with metal.” She glanced at Kyle’s vambraces and the steel studs embedded within them..” I'm assuming you have knives and such that can be used to... uh… Hurt each other."

Kyle nodded. "Among other things" he said quietly, thinking about all the different weapons that had been utilized in Azeroth. Glaives, guns, swords, axes, warhammers...

"Right. Well, my question is... Why leather armor? It doesn't seem to me that it would provide much defense against a knife. Wouldn't a suit of metal provide more defense?"

"You're partially correct." Kyle explained. "Metal does indeed provide more protection, but I use leather for a few reasons. First, it's a whole lot more comfortable in the desert sun. Second, while it does provide more protection against physical attacks, metal armor does nothing against magic. You'd have to dodge those kinds of attacks, and metal armor tends to hamper your movement. Plus, my style of fighting requires a lot of agility. I’m no warrior. Like I said, plate armor just gets in my way.”

“So you’re a soldier, but not a warrior?” Twilight asked. “I… don’t quite follow.”

“Warriors are a special group of soldiers.” Kyle explained. “They wear heavy metal armor and use either a sword - that’s a long knife - and shield; a single, large weapon; or two weapons, one in each hand. They charge into battle, relying on their armor to protect them.. Whereas I… I am a Monk.” Kyle said this last part with great pride.

“And you fight differently?”

“Very much so. I told you that Warriors use powerful weapons. While this is true for us as well, we Monks place far less emphasis on our weapons. In fact, most of us only pull out our weapons when dealing with heavily armored foes. Instead, many of us tend to use our fists.”

“I’m failing to see how that makes you much different from a simple street-brawler.” Twilight admitted. “I mean, Let’s say a human just walked up next to you with some leather armor and raised his hooves. What separates him from you?”

“Chi.” Kyle said simply. “Chi is what separates me from the common brawler. Chi is the life energy of a being, what gives them life. We monks can harness raw Chi energy from our surroundings, or from ourselves if necessary. With this chi, we can enhance our physical abilities many times over, and infuse simple beers and ales with supernatural enhancements. You’ve already seen me use one of these drinks - My Energizing Brew, back in the forest. In addition to focusing on the fighting style of the windwalker, which I have just described, we can also focus on the use of these special chi-infused brews to avoid attacks while protecting our allies, or in the restorative magics of the mistweaver.”

“And you harness chi to use this ‘mistweaver’ magic?” Twilight asked. It sounded so different from the magic that she was used to, but then again, Kyle was from another world. Maybe things worked differently on Azeroth.

“Not exactly. Chi can be channeled into certain spells, but most magic, for my people at least, comes from another form of energy called mana. The only monks that can harness mana are the mistweavers. They can use both Chi and Mana to perform spells. Certain spells utilize the energy from Chi, and some require Mana. I have a little bit of mistweaving training, but I’m mostly a windwalker. I specialize in polearm and hand-to-hand combat.”

“I’d like to see a bit of that.” Twilight commented innocently.

Kyle blinked. “Trust me, no you wouldn't."He replied. “If you see a monk in action, it means that someone’s life is in danger. Usually the monk’s target. I’ll be honest and say that I’d rather not have to use my combat training while I’m here.”

“Well how about some magic then? Can you show some of that?”

Kyle hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I can show you a spell or two.” He said. “But we’d probably better step outside. Don’t want to scare the animals.” 

Kyle stood up, and the two walked out the front door. The sun was beginning to descent behind the horizon, and the moon rising in the opposite end of the sky. The rain had stopped and the clouds long since left, leaving a clear, star-filled evening. As he prepared to demonstrate some magic, Kyle heard a rustling noise coming from the forest. He turned his head and raised his fists, but quickly lowered them as he saw Fluttershy emerge.

“Oh thank goodness.” she sighed before looking up. “Oh… um, hello.”

“What were you doing in the forest?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, well, you see, Zecora had some herbs I needed, so I went to go get them, but she was out when I got there so I had to wait for her to get back.” Fluttershy paused for a moment. “Um, if you don’t mind, what are you doing out here?”

“Kyle was just about to demonstrate some of his magic.” Twilight explained, sounding excited.

“Right. So let’s start with something you’ve seen before. A spell we call ‘Storm, Earth, and Fire’” Kyle said as Fluttershy settled down next to Twilight. Kyle focused his Chi once more. “Tempestatis, terram, ignis, exaudi vocem meam.” Mist swirled from Kyle’s hands around his body, and pooled into two separate spots on the ground, forming a pair of clones. One glowed blue like before, while the other glowed green. Kyle, meanwhile, had taken on a red hue, looking exactly the same as the clones save for the color.

“Doppelgangers.” Twilight nodded. “Can you summon more of them?”

“No, only two so far.” Kyle admitted, snapping his fingers. The two doppelgangers faded into a mist that quickly dispersed, and Kyle stopped glowing red, resuming his normal appearance. “Next… Can you hold up a bit of log for me?” Kyle asked. Twilight raised an eyebrow but nodded, levitating a chunk of log from a pile of logs near Fluttershy’s house and holding it in the air with her magic.

“Don’t drop it.” Kyle warned. “Viridi fulmine.” He quickly thrust his right arm forward, and arcs of jade-green lightning shot from his fingertips, lancing out at the log. Twilight yelped in surprise, nearly releasing her grip on the log, while Fluttershy bolted into her house. A few seconds later, the top of her head peeped up behind her front window as she watched.

After a moment, Kyle released the spell. Twilight quickly brought the log over to her, and sure enough, the bark was burnt and blackened in several places where the electricity had seared it. She looked up at Kyle, who smirked slightly. “Crackling Jade Lightning.” he explained. “One of a Windwalker’s only options for dealing with an enemy out of our reach. Quite effective, I think…”

“Yes, well…” Twilight coughed, trying to regain her composure. “Maybe you could try something a bit less… violent?”

“Agreed. But I’ll need a volunteer to demonstrate this last spell on.” Kyle noticed the panic on Twilight’s face and laughed. “It’s a healing spell.” he reassured her. “Intended mostly for Mistweavers, but a Windwalker can use it as well in dire situations… or if focused enough. Maybe we could ask Fluttershy if she has any animals with injuries that need healing?” Without waiting for a response, Kyle walked over to the door and walked inside, with Twilight following a moment later.

Fluttershy let out a small ‘eep’ and dove under the couch as Kyle walked in. Kyle instantly felt bad for scaring her so badly. He knelt down next to the couch and reached under, scratching Fluttershy behind the ears in an attempt to calm her. After a few minutes, she slowly climbed back out, still looking at Kyle with apprehension.

“Sorry about that.”Kyle apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll not be using that one again.” Fluttershy slowly nodded, accepting his apology. “Now, there’s another spell I’d like to show. A healing spell.” he said quickly, hoping to deter a panicked reaction. “Something that fixes injuries. Do you have an animal that’s injured that I could use this spell on? Preferably an exterior injury. I don’t think I could fix broken bones or the like.”

“Um... Well... There's a… a deer with a nasty cut along her side.” Fluttershy admitted. “She’s upstairs. I’ll show you to her…. but you promise you won’t hurt or scare her?” She asked.

“I won’t hurt her, and I’ll do my best not to scare her.” Kyle assured. Fluttershy nodded and led him and Twilight upstairs. She opened the first door on the left and walked inside. In the middle of the room was the injured deer, laying in the middle of a pile of blankets. Kyle slowly approached and extended his right hand. The deer leaned in and sniffed his hand before laying allowing him to scratch her behind the ears. The poor thing was obviously in a fair amount of pain, and judging by her muted reaction to Kyle’s presence, she was probably pretty weak as well.

Kyle placed his left hand over the deer’s injuries. His hand began to glow green as he built up the energy needed for the spell. “Perfluctuo.” The green light spewed forth a rapid torrent of mist, which settled over the wound.The deer looked concerned for a second, but as the spell took effect, she quickly relaxed, letting out what sounded suspiciously like a sigh of relief. The mist fell along the long gash in its side, and the flesh and sinew knitted itself back together. As the spell faded, fur regrew over the area. No one could tell that there had been an injury there 30 seconds before.

“Oh… my…” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes wide. Twilight was staring at the deer, flabbergasted. The deer turned her head and sniffed at where the injury had been before licking it. Satisfied that it was healed, she curled up and started to drift off to sleep.

Kyle wiped the sweat from his brow. Performing such a spell as a Windwalker was fairly taxing. As he recovered his energy, he stood up and looked over at Fluttershy and Twilight, grinning at their reactions. “If you could only see the look on your face.” He said to Twilight. “Priceless.”

“What the… how is it… I… how did you do that?” She stammered. Sure, she had seen some Unicorns work some healing magic, but never anything as potent or rapidly-working as what she had just observed.

“Magic.” Kyle said simply. “Maybe I can teach you sometime.” With another grin, Kyle walked out of the room and back down the stairs, sitting down on the couch once more. Moments later, the two ponies followed him.

“Well today has been… enlightening.” Twilight announced. “But I’m afraid I must be off. I have a letter to send to Princess Celestia about what I’ve learned.”

“Twilight…” Kyle paused for a moment, trying to find words to voice his concern. “You… you do realize that, even with what I’ve told you today, I’m not here to hurt anyone. Just… just make sure the Princess knows that, alright? I kind of like being… you know… alive.”

“I’ll try to weave it all in a good light.” Twilight replied. “It’s not exactly what we were expecting, but from what you’ve said, and from what I’ve seen, I can tell that you’re not a bad Human.” With that, Twilight turned and left, closing the door behind her.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence in the house as Fluttershy and Kyle just sat, not talking, barely looking at each other. Clearly, Fluttershy realized that she had missed something important, but Kyle wasn’t about to go through all that again. 

“Um… Are you hungry?” Fluttershy finally asked.

“Yeah… a bit.” Kyle admitted. At that moment, Angel Bunny hopped up on the cuckoo clock and pointed at the face, tapping his foot impatiently. “And it looks like they are too.” Kyle chuckled. “Tell you what. You fix their dinner, and I’ll fix us some omelettes.”

“Some what?” Fluttershy asked. “What’s an ‘omelette’?”

Kyle grinned. “You’ll see. They’re good.” he promised, walking over to the kitchen. “Do you have any eggs?” he asked. Fluttershy nodded and motioned to the icebox. Kyle pulled the eggs out, along with various other ingredients, and set about cooking.

10 minutes later, Kyle set a pair of plates at the table. He had made them each an omelette stuffed with mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, and some cheese. Fluttershy joined him at the table, and he watched as she tentatively took a bite. “It’s… very nice.” She said with a smile. 

Kyle grinned. “Told you they were good.” he said, picking up his fork and turning to his own plate. Dinner passed in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. Finally, when dinner was over, Kyle took the plates and washed them off - He was still amazed by the faucet - before drying them and putting them away.

As Kyle settled onto the couch once more, he had to stifle a yawn. “Well, I think I’m going to call it a night.” he said to Fluttershy as she walked past him. “Good night, Fluttershy.”

“Good night, Kyle.” Fluttershy replied as she walked upstairs. 

Kyle laid down on the couch and pulled the blanket over himself. He closed his eyes and felt sleep pulling at him once more. What a day. he thought groggily. Well, the worst is behind me. Twilight knows about my bloody occupation, and she seems to accept it. With that thought, Kyle finally gave in and lost himself to slumber once more