//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Question 
// by kudzuhaiku 
//------------------------------//

	A pony awoke in a muddy ditch on the side of the road with no recollection of how he got there, or who he was. It was as though he was waking up for the first time, and there was no memory of anything before waking up in the mud. He knew that he was a pony, and he was aware of certain things, but he was completely clueless as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. 

He stared at his own foreleg, looking at his muddy grey pelt, and stared at it as though he was seeing his leg for the very first time. He felt a strange pain in his body, which his brain told him was hunger. He lifted his head and looked over his body, and as he did so, he saw wings. He did not know what he was, or why he had wings. He had no memory of flight and no knowledge of how to fly. 

The pony with wings struggled to pull himself out of the ditch and then staggered into the road. He didn’t know why it was called a road, he couldn’t recall learning the word, but somehow he knew what it was. 

There was something falling on him called rain. He couldn’t remember experiencing it before or even learning what it was called. He wobbled around unsteadily upon his legs, and it was almost as though he was using his legs for the first time. He nearly fell into a mud puddle and his wings flared out reflexively, which somehow allowed him to keep his balance. He sloshed through the mud which squished and squelched around his hooves. 

His mouth was dry, and he was thirsty. It was as though he was experiencing thirst for the first time. He stared down at the muddy water in the road, but did not drink from that. He stumbled ahead through the mud, finally figuring out a trot and making his way down the road. Ahead of him was a town. He knew what the town was without being able to recall ever seeing one before. 

The air was filled with the flapping of wings and suddenly there were other winged ponies all around him. They landed, and stared at him curiously. The grey pony who awoke in the mud did not know what to make of them. He couldn’t recall ever seeing other ponies before. 

“Halt, who goes there? We’re Luna’s Marauders, and we don’t take kindly to bandits. Who… what are you?” one of the winged ponies demanded. 

“Wings and a horn? What am I looking at?” another asked. 

The pony with both wings and a horn didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t recall ever speaking before. He opened his mouth and no words came out, only a few odd sounds, guttural grunting sounds that held no meaning. 

“Look at him, he don’t look well… we should take him to Luna. She might know what to do with this… alicorn…” a pony with wings suggested. 

“Can you come with us?” a pony with wings asked politely. “We don’t want to hurt you… if you are a refugee on the run from one of the many failed cities, you may find solace here. We have refugee camps, food, shelter.” 

The pony with wings and a horn who awoke in the mud stood there, not knowing how to answer or what to do. His mouth was dry and he stuck out his tongue trying to catch the rain. He stared down cross eyed at his own tongue as if he was seeing it for the first time. 

“You think he’s gone feral?” one pony with wings asked another. 

“I dunno Thunderlane, maybe one of those cultist weirdos running around did something to his mind, might explain how he has wings and a horn,” another pony with wings said. 

“I swear, I catch one of those mind messing nutjobs and I am going to punt them into next Tuesday,” the winged pony named Thunderlane growled. 

The pony with wings and a horn who awoke in the mud jumped when one of the winged ponies touched him. He let out a shrill startled cry and leapt away, slipped in the mud, and fell down. He was immediately helped up by the other winged ponies, who didn’t seem to care that they were getting muddy. 

“Easy you… whomever you are. Luna would snap our spines and pluck our wings if we hurt another pony that we were supposed to be helping. You’re not a bad sort, so you have nothing to fear,” one of the winged ponies said soothingly. 

The pony with wings and a horn who awoke in the mud and then fallen in the mud settled a bit, and one of the winged ponies gently nudged him forwards towards the town. He unsteadily trotted forwards, surrounded on all sides by the winged ponies who had helped him out of the mud. 



 

Princess Luna and Princess Twilight Sparkle looked at the odd pony with both wings and a horn. He seemed to be mute, confused, and quite afraid. He was wide eyed and worried, timid, and appeared to be on the verge of having a panic attack. 

“How odd,” Luna commented, studying her guest. “An alicorn. One would think that with them being as rare as they are, we would know about the existence of each one.” 

Twilight Sparkle peered at the alicorn suspiciously and then looked at Luna pointedly. 

“Don’t worry Twilight, I intend to get down to the bottom of this,” Luna said in reply to Twilight’s glance. 

“We have something that is attacking unicorns, sucking them dry, we have those weirdo cultists that want to steal away control of the sun and the moon from you and your sister, and now he shows up,” Twilight muttered. Twilight smacked her lips nervously and then looked at the grey pony that was the subject of so much curiousity. She heard a loud rumble from the pony's stomach and some of her suspicion melted away. “Aw, poor thing sounds hungry.” 

“First things first Twilight,” Luna warned. The night blue alicorn moved towards the mysterious pony and circled him slowly. “I’ve tried to cast several spells already to peer into his mind… it is most troubling. I cannot make a connection. No common pony should be able to resist me should I want to have a look.” 

“Well, he is an alicorn,” Twilight responded in a dubious tone. 

“Perhaps,” Luna muttered. “But I could peer into your mind with no real effort,” she said to Twilight, which made Twilight raise her eyebrow and stare at Luna. 

“Luna there are times-” 

“Not that I would, well, other than when I bring you dreams,” Luna interrupted. “But what we have here is a special case. He can’t talk. He behaves like he is slightly feral. I doubt he is an alicorn, and I have reasonable suspicion to believe that he has been tampered with by powerful magical forces.” 

Twilight nodded and watched as their visitor studied his wings intently. His feathers were a mess and needed preening. He had been cleaned off before being brought into the library and down into the basement. “He acts as though he has never seen his own wings before,” Twilight observed. 

“Probably because he hasn’t,” Luna replied. 

“But how?” Twilight responded. 

“That is the mystery Twilight,” Luna said and as she spoke, she let out a soft chuckle. 

Upon hearing Luna’s chuckle, the pony with wings and a horn and was found by kind ponies nickered, apparently soothed by the sound. He looked at Luna with his head cocked to the side. After a few moments, he mimicked the chuckling sound and flapped his wings. 

“Well, he is capable of learning, that’s promising,” Luna observed. She smiled broadly at the grey pony and then waited for him to smile back. 

The grey pony did not smile in return, he merely sat down and stared at Luna blankly. Heaving a sigh of frustration, Luna rolled her eyes and snorted. 

The grey pony mimicked the sigh and the snort, and then made a chuckling sound again. 

“Sounds Luna, he is copying sounds,” Twilight stated. 

“Zounds?” the grey pony asked. 

“See!” Twilight crowed. 

“Yes,” Luna replied. 

Twilight’s horn glowed and she pointed it at the strange pony. After a moment, he glowed. Twilight grimaced in concentration, one eye squinting shut as she struggled to strengthen her focus, and then her spell fizzled. 

Luna snorted from Twilight’s failed efforts and then the grey pony snorted, looking at Luna hopefully as he did so. Luna snorted back, and began to harbour a secret fear that she was going to need to create a snort based language if this kept up. 

“Look, I specialised in divination… I should be able to do something,” Twilight whined. 

“What were you trying to do exactly?” Luna inquired. 

“Dispel illusion,” Twilight muttered in defeat. 

“Why illusion?” Luna asked. 

“Well, why not? Gotta start somewhere,” Twilight answered. 

“Fascinating,” Luna quipped. She turned and looked at the grey pony. “He seems real.” 

“I don’t know, I had a hunch that he might be something… look, never mind, it was a stupid idea,” Twilight grumbled in disappointment. 

“You had a hunch?” Luna inquired, now suddenly serious. “Twilight, your hunches have always held out…” Luna paced now, her wings fluttering somewhat. She peered at the grey pony, glanced at Twilight, and then her horn ignited with brilliant intensity. 



 

Twilight found herself in a familiar place. It was grey and misty, and seemed to stretch in all directions infinitely. This was the place where Celestia had rebirthed her to be an alicorn. She looked at Luna, and then she looked at the grey pony. 

He was no longer a grey pony.

Twilight gasped in shock. 

“This is the astral plane… all things are revealed for what they really are here. In this place I have far more power,” Luna explained. 

“He’s a-” 

“Hush Twilight, don’t say it. He doesn’t even know. His first memory is waking up in the mud. He’s been Touched. Just like you were Touched and Buckminster was Touched. Whatever he once was, he isn’t any longer,” Luna said in a soothing serene voice. “Something has a plan for him. As alicorns, we are agents of destiny, and we are obligated to help him.” 

Twilight stared at the black form before her, noting the wings and the horn. The black chitinous carapace. The shiny eyes. The holes in his body. 

Strange magic swirled around Luna and she restored the dark figure back to being a grey pony again. This time, there was no horn and no wings. He was a common simple grey earth pony now, unremarkable in every way. Grey pelt, grey eyes, and a slightly darker grey mane and tail. 

“You are Slate,” Luna said to the now grey earth pony. 

“Thunderlane and the others, they are going to remember him having wings and a horn. We are going to have to… edit those troubling memories,” Twilight Sparkle muttered in disgust. “I hate having to do that.” 

“He is going to need a caretaker,” Luna announced. 

“How do we feed him?” Twilight inquired. 

“We need a loving caretaker,” Luna repeated. 

“I have an idea,” Twilight blurted out as her face pinched in concentration. 

“Go on. Do tell,” Luna said as she gently touched Slate with her wing. 

“I know three very sweet, very loving mares. They are a bit skittish, but they have recently formed a herd and they are looking for a willing stallion,” Twilight responded. 

“A herd?” Luna said in thoughtful reply. “Well, that is a lot of love, certainly. Slate would never go hungry.” 

“I know that he needs love, but to fit in, can he eat actual food?” Twilight asked. 

“Yes,” Luna replied. “But love is what is important. Am I correct Slate?” Luna asked of the grey earth pony. 

Slate snorted and made a chuckling sound as he looked at Luna. He let out a whinny, lifted his tail, swished it from side to side, which seemed to startle himself, and then bucked out with his hind legs at whatever had just made his tail move. 

“We’ll have to make sure that nopony ever finds out,” Twilight said in a worried voice. 

“He is already powerfully protected. And I plan to add my own protections,” Luna replied. 

“What about foals?” Twilight inquired. 

“Good question. He’s a drone, and therefore, sterile. We are going to have to find a clever solution Twilight Sparkle,” Luna announced. 

“This is going to mean more manipulation, isn’t it?” Twilight questioned. 

“You’ve only recently seen the bigger picture, and now understand your place as an agent of destiny. We must guide those intended to go on to bigger and better things,” Luna answered. 

“Seems terrible somehow… what Celestia and even you… you’re not innocent, what both of you have done to Buckminster seems to be so horrible and so loving at the same time. I am still coming to terms with what I now know… and now I am to take part in the manipulation of the lives around me as well. I suppose I will be responsible for keeping an eye on Slate and performing any clean up should there be accidents,” Twilight said to Luna. “What about love?” 

“Once there is actual love and affection there, Cadance and I will step in and greatly speed up the process,” Luna replied. 

“Just like the three of you did to Buckminster,” Twilight said bitterly. 

“My sister guides through wisdom, I guide through dreams, Cadance guides through love, and you guide through the magic that flows through all of us. We are the agents of destiny Twilight. That is what being an alicorn is all about. It is what we do,” Luna explained. 

“And what of Buckminster, when he becomes one of us?” Twilight asked. “What does the alicorn of war do in the greater role of things?” 

Luna shrugged. “I do not know. I suppose his role will be to protect us from those who wish to corrupt destiny and corrupt what is meant to be,” she replied. “Should he survive…” she added in a sorrowful voice. 

Twilight watched as Slate fell over and rolled in the grey mist, acting very much like a pony. He had his legs kicked into the air as he wiggled about and he snorted a few times before shouting “zounds!”

“I guess I will ask if the flower gang if they are willing to be caretakers of a feral pony,” Twilight muttered dejectedly. “Look at him. He doesn’t even know who or what he is, and he is so happy.” 

“This will be a unique opportunity of study Twilight Sparkle, surely you can find some consolation in that,” Luna said in soothing tones. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Twilight replied as she slumped and sat down in the grey mist. “I wish I was like him. Ignorant of everything around me and happy.” 

“We live in troubling times Twilight,” Luna stated. 

To be concluded…