CRRAK!
The sharp report of a rifle cracked like a whip through the still morning air, as a buck, grazing among the trees, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his side as he fell over, before his vision went black. Two hundred meters away, the owner of the rifle grinned. “Yes! Got another one for the pile!” The teenager cheered, leaves crunching underfoot as he ran through the forest towards his quarry.
Richard “Ricky” Welfork was not a hunter, not by a long shot. But he contributed any way he could to his family’s winter food stores. Winter hit like a boxer up in the rugged highlands of Scotland, and being at his family’s isolated manor up in the rock-strewn mountains meant there was little opportunity to access food. They would take every last scrap and morsel they could get.
Ricky finally reached the buck and gave it a good look over, before grabbing it by the legs and hoisting it up onto his shoulders. He pivoted and began the grueling trek back to the manor. As he walked between moss-covered boulders and small wildflowers that clung to the ground, he wondered about his next battle strategy. Ricky was an avid player of strategy games, especially the Total War series. In his last online battle, he had split his army in two, which prompted the other player to do the same. This allowed for his cavalry to run through the gap between the two halves, wreaking havoc in the rear of his enemies’ army. His enemies’ cohesion promptly collapsed, and it became a massacre. If there was one thing Ricky could do, it was cause confusion and chaos.
Lost in his thinking, he barely noticed he had made it to the front steps of Welfork Manor. At least, not until he smashed his face into the massive oak front doors. Looking around to make sure nobody saw, Ricky pulled his nose to one side, which let out a good crack as it settled back into place. "Aah." Satisfied, he shoved the doors open, letting the warmth of the inside air wash over him like a wave as he closed the door behind him. Reaching the kitchen, he laid the buck down onto the top of the pile of game waiting to be skinned, salted, and smoked. Shrugging off his jacket and slipping out of his boots, Ricky jogged upstairs, back to his room. Once he was inside, he shut the door quietly, before putting his bolt-action .22 on the rack that his father built for him. 'I will still never figure out why he built that for me. I was 6!' He turned on his computer, leaning back in his comfortable leather computer chair. He grabbed his sketchpad and pencil, and began to sketch out a new battle plan. Working out the kinks in his plan, he finally had it: a large force of horse archers would draw the enemy in and skirmish with them, while his shock troops waited in ambush just under the crest of a hill. Once the enemy were exhausted from chasing the horse archers everywhere, his shock troops would run down the hill, taking the enemy by surprise when they were exhausted. 'I never fail to surprise myself.' Ricky gave his reflection a cocky grin, before finding another poor soul for his plan to be executed upon.
In the actual game, the plan went off with just one hitch. The other guy had some scouts wandering around, which came right next to his ambush force. Luckily, he had promptly dispatched of them before his forces were spotted. Ricky was pleased with his victory, and sat back to relax for the rest of the evening, having already eaten. His parents were out in the nearest major town, 29 miles away, getting some more bullets and supplies for the winter before the heavy snows set in. Ricky laid down on his bed, staring at the wooden ceiling above him. The sounds were almost deafening; the tick-tock of the clock on the wall behind his head, the shifting of the floorboards as the house settled down for the night, the whistling of the wind against the stone walls of the manor. It all clashed in his ears, making the quietness of the sounds swell greatly. His mind was blank, with absolutely no thoughts running through it.
Little did he know, he was about to experience a thought overload within the next few minutes.
A white light shining through the gap between his bedroom door and the wall caught Ricky’s attention, as it slowly faded away to nothing. His curiosity piqued, Ricky sat up in his bed, his gaze falling on the fading light. “Mom? Dad?” Ricky called out tentatively. Getting no answer, he stood up and tiptoed up to the door, even more nervous now. Peeking through the crack on the door, he noticed the light had faded off to just around the corner of the hallway, on the landing of the main staircase. Ricky slowly pushed open the door, wincing as it creaked slightly while swinging open. His feet made slight noises as he walked slowly across the floor, with the light growing steadily as he stepped closer. As he finally got to the corner, he sucked in a deep breath before leaping out from behind the corner, to confront whatever was on the other side. What Ricky saw scared him beyond any burglar or home invader ever could.
Just around was a bright ball of pure white light, almost blindingly so. It simply sat there, hovering a foot or so above the wooden floorboards of the landing. Ricky just stared at it, mesmerized by it, before a few thoughts crossed his mind. ‘Is that a ghost?’ ‘Is it even friendly?’ ‘Does it even know I’m here?’ Working up the nerves that he had left that weren’t already fried or frayed, Ricky squeaked out a feeble “Hello?” that cracked hard at the end.
“Why, hello,” came the reply that, frankly, broke Ricky’s brain.
Ricky just stood there, jaw agape and eyes staring off into infinity, completely zoned out. A “Good boy, are you okay? You looked shocked,” brought him back to reality quickly. Shaking his head violently from side to side, Ricky slowly said, “Yeah, I’m… I’m fine. I’m… My name’s Ricky.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Ricky. The name’s Discord.”
“Discord?” Ricky echoed, confused.
“The God of Chaos himself, at your service,” Discord clarified. “Anyways, pleasantries besides the point, I’ve come to recruit you for my… oh, how shall I say this, confederation. I’ve been examining humans for a few months now, but I just came across you yesterday. My, what a promising recruit you are, truly. So much untapped talent and potential!”
“Wait, slow down,” Ricky interrupted. “What do you mean be recruited? And, what about this “examining humans”?”
“Well, this isn’t my true form, you see. I only use this because I can’t become my true form due to the bridge between worlds. You see, I came to Earth, as you call it, to search for a satisfactory recruit. After these last few weeks, it was down to you, some kid in Portland, Oregon, and one other in Bordeaux, France. You should feel honoured, beating out the whole human race for one spot. Your abilities are extraordinary, no wonder I picked you.” Discord stated, sounding proud of Ricky, like a parent would if their child had just graduated college. Nevertheless, Ricky was still confused.
“What abilities?” Ricky asked, genuinely curious.
“Your hand at creating chaos is unmatched in the human race, as evidenced by how you lead armies in that game you play. You manipulate minds to what you want them to think. I think you’d be a great help. All the others on my world aren’t good enough.” Discord said.
“How?”
“Well, griffons, changelings and minotaurs are too aggressive to think clearly, and well, the other inhabitants wouldn’t help me betray their own kind.”
“Wait, griffons and minotaurs? What the hell kind of a world is this, Greek mythology-come-to-life?”
“It’s a weird world. Don’t ask.” Discord answered dismissively, with a metaphorical wave of his hand.
“Okay, but you said that you came to this world, so… how can I help you if we’re worlds apart?” Ricky said, clearly confused.
If Discord’s light-ball could show discomfort and nervousness, it was evident by the fault in his voice as he spoke. “Well, I… want you to come with me back to my world, Equus.”
Ricky had to take a minute to gather his thoughts the best he could. “Um, well, that’s…” he trailed off, unable to really say anything cohesive.
Discord continued on. “Honestly, I’ve been inside your parents’ minds, and it’s pretty sad. Your dad is disappointed by your inability to hunt well,” he continued, ignoring Ricky’s hurt look, “and your mom is starting to lose hope in your responsibilities-shirking. If you left by leaving some kind of explanation, you wouldn’t be missed much, sadly,” a tone of regret seeping into his last words.
Ricky thought about that snapshot of his parent’s minds, and found himself honestly believing what Discord had to say, though. “How would I even get to your world, though?” Ricky perked up slightly as he said this, trying to stay positive.
“Well, if you want to, I could simply cast a spell to take the two of us back to Eqqus. However, we’ll end up in different locations, as I’m… in a special place right now. But don’t worry, we’ll find each other, eventually.” Discord explained.
"A spell? Like magic?" Ricky asked.
"Yes, in Equus, unlike here, magic exists. What's more, it's harnessed by almost every inhabitant of the planet. Most of which are... well, let's just say they're different." Discord answered.
"Well, I... I mean, if my parents..." Ricky trailed off into silence.
"Take as much time as you need," Discord said quietly, before his ball floated off to the side.
Ricky’s mind began to have an internal debate much like a council of war, with different parts offering different opinions. Finally, one side came out on top, with its prevailing logic: ‘If I’m not needed here, then why waste my talents by not going?’ Ricky turned to Discord, his mind made up. “Let’s go. But let me write a letter first.” Dashing back to his room, Ricky grabbed his sketchpad and pencil, before writing a quick note.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I love you both so much. However, I am leaving to put my talents to good use elsewhere. I hope that you do not think any worse of me now, but I also hope that you don’t beat yourselves up over this. I’m happier now, and you don’t have to worry.
Your loving son,
Ricky
Putting the note on the bed, Ricky walked back to Discord, saying, “Okay. I’m ready.” Discord didn’t say anything, but his ball started to grow, both in size and luminosity. Just before it touched Ricky, it suddenly exploded outward, like a sun at the end of its hydrogen cycle. Suddenly, Ricky couldn’t feel the floor below him, leaving him floating in the air as he closed his eyes due to the blinding light. Finally, Ricky felt something - on his back. As he slowly opened his eyes, he say nothing but the brilliant azure of an open sky, with absolutely no clouds around. As Ricky sat up from his laying down position, he took a gander at the vibrant countryside surrounding him. To his right, a giant wall of trees loomed up forbiddingly, like a fortress of nature. Straight ahead was a series of hills, with lush grass and the occasional tree dotting the landscape. To the left was a dirt track that went across even more hills, with a small lake to the far left. It all blended together to make a scene right out of an old Technicolor cartoon, if all of the graininess and murkiness was removed, as if it was real life. ‘So this is Equus,’ Ricky thought. ‘Charming.’ Ricky said as he stood up. His foot nudged something as he stood, however, and Ricky looked down to see his trusty .22 at his feet. Astounded, Ricky picked it up, noticing that it was fully loaded and ready to fire. On the side was a small Post-It note, and Ricky leaned in to read it.
Just in case. Discord.
‘Well, it’s better to be prepared than not, I guess.’ Ricky shrugged as he shouldered his rifle in the manner that infantry-of-the-line did way back in the age of muskets. Ever the history nerd, Ricky grinned to himself as he marched off down the road like an 18th-century soldier.
Off in the distance, a pegasus took off in a panicked manner, her pink mane whipping around as she sped off, paralleling the path that Ricky was taking.
She quickly found her destination, a small town of thatched cottages and wooden buildings. One building in particular was her target, a giant oak tree that had been hollowed out and had windows and a door sticking out of the stubs of what used to be branches. She burst in through the door, panting at the sheer effort it took to go so far so quickly, before she called out, “Twilight? Are you here?”
A purple unicorn came down the stairs off to the right side of the building, which housed a great number of bookshelves, obviously meant to be a library. The unicorn came at a trot to the yellow pegasus, stopping in front of the pegasus. “Fluttershy, are you okay? Has something happened?”
The pegasus, Fluttershy, nodded quickly. “Twilight, there’s a creature on the road, approaching Ponyville, and it didn’t seem very friendly,” she said, obviously panicked.
The unicorn, Twilight, nodded slowly, thinking to herself. “Okay, go and stall it if you can. I’ll gather the other Elements.” Fluttershy nodded before taking off again, hoping that the creature wasn’t at least openly hostile.
Ricky was still marching five minutes later, and was beginning to wonder when he would happen across civilization, when he spotted something on the horizon. It wasn’t like any of the other birds that he had seen on the march along the road. No, this thing was much larger, and was flying much faster as well. Ricky tensed, his steps slowing before finally ceasing completely, staring at the object that was coming up straight towards him fast. As the object got closer, Ricky could make out that it was yellow, with some kind of pink hair. It also sported a pair of feathery wings, with the creature putting them to good use by the amount it was pumping them to fly as fast as it was. It finally began to let up on the gas at least a few hundred feet from Ricky, before finally coming to a halt and hovering about 20 feet away from him. The creature promptly landed, with its eyes shying away from Ricky’s. Ricky responded by lifting his rifle, taking aim and waiting to see if the creature would advance on him. As the seconds kept ticking by and no moves were made by either of them, Ricky slowly lowered his rifle. The creature slowly looked up, keeping its head tilted down and to the side, as if extremely shy and apprehensive to make eye contact. Ricky cleared his throat, and said a greeting, in the hope that this thing could speak English, like Discord. “Um, hi. Are you… okay?”
The creature’s head immediately snapped up to stare into Ricky’s eyes, making a small gasping sound as it did so. It obviously was surprised by the fact that Ricky could speak. “Um… hi. I’m fine.
Despite the fact that he did not catch a single word after that um, Ricky guessed that she (Ricky inferred the gender based off of the feminine tone of voice) probably answered his greeting. “What’s your name, er, what even are you?”
“I’m Fluttershy, a pegasus pony. What are you?” It was still quiet, but at least Ricky could hear her now.
“The name’s Ricky. I’m a human,” Ricky said. Fluttershy’s ears immediately perked up at the mention of a human, and she looked up at Ricky fully this time, not flinching or looking away.
“A human? But those… Get away from me!” Fluttershy immediately stepped back from Ricky, stumbling over herself in her panic. Ricky held up his hands, trying to get her to calm down. “What’s wrong?” Ricky asked.
“What’s wrong, you’re a human! The Princesses say those are evil creatures!” Fluttershy continued to panic. Ricky sighed. “And what exactly have I done that has hurt or threatened you in any way?” Fluttershy seemed to calm down. “Nothing, I guess.” She said in a more relaxed manner.
“See, humans aren’t all bad. I’m a pretty good guy.” Ricky said. Their conversation, however, was interrupted by a small cloud of dust coming up over the horizon from their spot. As the cloud got closer, Ricky could make out quite a few forms headed his way, double-time. They finally reached the two of them, with the forms - undoubtedly ponies - lining up beside Fluttershy. Ricky yet again raised his rifle, ready as always for new possible threats. As the dust cleared, Ricky finally got to see these new arrivals.
On the left was a pure white pony, with a purple mane. She had a horn of the same color on her head, not unlike a unicorn. She seemed to be very pretty, at least by pony standards, and she was wearing a necklace, a gold band with a pink-purple diamond in the center. Next to her on her right was a pink pony, with what was probably one of the puffiest hairdos Ricky had ever seen. She was hopping on her hooves, but for what reason, Ricky couldn’t tell. She had a necklace just like the first one, but with a blue balloon in the middle. Next to her was an orange pony, wearing a cowboy hat like the ones Ricky had seen in old American movies. Her mane was in a plain ponytail, and she had a necklace with an orange apple in the middle. Next to her was one of the, no, scratch that, the weirdest pony Ricky had seen so far. She was a light blue, but had a rainbow-colored mane and tail. Her necklace centerpiece was a red lightning bolt. The last one besides Fluttershy was a purple one, with a horn on her head as well. But instead of a necklace, she wore a crown, which was adorned by a deep purple six-pointed star. She tossed another necklace to Fluttershy with her mouth, who caught it by sticking her neck out and letting it fall around her neck to its usual position. It was a pink butterfly centerpiece. The six stood there, staring Ricky down.
In all of her time, Twilight Sparkle had never seen a human before. The best sources of information on them were myths and fireside tales from ages long past. It had been at least 800 years since humans had ever walked Eqqus, let alone Equestria. But, Fluttershy had told her there was a human, and she wasn’t one to doubt her friends. The human brandishing some weird stick at them was proof that she shouldn’t doubt. A twinge of nervousness passed across Twilight’s mind, as she remember some of the stories that involved humans that she had listened to when she was growing up: how humans ate meats, how they killed for fun, and how they constantly fought each other. She shook those thoughts from her head, focusing on the task ahead. This thing was a threat to Equestria, and must be dealt with accordingly. Twilight narrowed her eyes slowly, taking a deep breath.
‘Showtime,’ she thought.
Ricky was the first one to speak. “Who are you?” he asked. After the ponies got over their momentary expressions of surprise, the purple one with the crown spoke up. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. The white one is Rarity, the pink one is Pinkie Pie, the orange one with the hat is Applejack, and the blue one is Rainbow Dash. I’m assuming that you already know Fluttershy, correct?”
“Yes, I do.” Ricky said. “Now, what do you want with me?”
“Oh, we’re just here because we heard you were coming,” Rarity replied, sounding like quite the prim and proper pony indeed.
“You know, that isn’t exactly comforting…” Ricky said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Yea’ Rarity, that doesn’t exactly seem like a warm welcom’,” Applejack said.
“Anyways…” Twilight said, grabbing everyone’s attention back, “Will you put that thing down and come with us, sir?”
“Woah, woah, woah, I’m not going anywhere yet,” Ricky said, raising his rifle back up fully.
“Sir, please, put it down,” Twilight said. All of a sudden, a purple aura of sparkly light appeared around Ricky’s rifle. To Ricky’s horror, his rifle began to move out of his hands, seemingly of its own free will, towards the ponies. In the middle of his stupefied brain, however, one thought quickly surfaced. ‘If I don’t have my rifle, I’m powerless!’ Ricky sprang into action once this registered in his mind, tugging back on his rifle, fighting the strange power, which Ricky guessed was the “magic” that Discord mentioned.
All of a sudden, Ricky’s left hand slipped off of the trigger guard. Of course, given Ricky’s luck, his finger latched onto the trigger just as the magic pulled again. Only then did everything go to horse… er, pony shit.