//------------------------------// // Ten Years Old // Story: Only Human // by Merotik //------------------------------// "Ouch!" I said, as nurse Blue Heart gave me a shot. "There, your all set, I'm going to give the results to your mom now, O.k." said Nurse Blue Heart. I quickly leapt off the stool I was sitting on and gave Nurse Blue Heart a hug, "O.K., thanks Nurse Blue heart!" "Your welcome Glee, just make sure you eat your fruits and vegetables, that way you can grow up big and strong!" said Nurse Blue Heart. "I will, bye Nurse Blue Heart! I'm gonna go play with Twilight and her dragon in my room now!" I said excitedly. I quickly sped off and began making my way to my room. When I got there, everything was dark, and quiet . . . too quiet. I picked up a nearby pillow that was on the floor and slowly tip toed my way through my messy room. I heard something crack behind me, and when I turned around, a small blur of something purple tackled me to the floor. I struggled to get what ever it was off me, when I eventually did I saw that it was Twilight! I swung my pillow as hard as I could, Twilight jumped backwards, dodging my attack. I rushed forward to attack, but as I did so, Twilight slipped in between my legs, and bucked me in the back of the knee, causing me to fall to my knees. She then reached for a nearby pillow, and slammed it against my head. I dropped my pillow and fell to the ground. I tried to reach for my pillow, but Twilight jumped on top of me, she aimed her pillow at me in a threatening way and said, "touch it, I dare you!" I laughed, "O.K., O.K., you win!". I rose to my feet and gave Twilight a hug. School had ended early today because of a holiday, and Twilights parents couldn't pick her up on time. So, Twilights parents asked my mom if she could stay here for a couple of hours while they were at work. "So, did you bring Phoenix?" I asked her. "Phoenix? Oh, you mean Spike!" said Twilight. I groaned, "I wanted his name to be Phoenix! Why would you call him Spike? Spike is a dogs name". "No! Spike can be a dragon name too, and besides, he's not even a phoenix, he's a dragon!" said Twilight. "So! I still think Phoenix is a better name, but did you bring him any way?". Twilight nodded, she walked over to my bed and picked up a purple and green baby dragon. Twilight had gotten the dragon a few months ago. She was taken to one of the castle classrooms and was tested by some ponies to see if she would be accepted into the castle private school. When Twilight had passed, she didn't get into the private school, she got something much better! Not only did she get to keep the dragon (the test was to see if she can make the dragon hatch from its egg), but mom had asked her if she wanted to be her private student! To top it all off, Twilight got her cutie mark! It looked like a purple star with sparkles all around it (I guess its because her last name is Sparkle). I asked mom once if I could get my cutie mark someday, but she didn't know. Some creatures don't get a cutie mark, so she didn't know whether I could get one or not. After all, no pony really knows too much about humans. Humans, that's what I was, a human. Mom told me this a couple months ago, one month before Twilight took her test to be exact. Mom told me that I was a creature known as a human. I don't know how she figured that out, seeing I'm the only human in Equestria. She told me that she'll tell me someday, I just had to wait awhile. "Ooh, I can't wait to see how big he'll get when he's all grown up! I'll bet he'll be bigger then the castle!" "Dragons can get pretty big, but I don't think they get THAT big" said Twilight. "Do you think he'll be scary when he grows up?" I asked. "No, Princess Celestia said that if I take really good care of him and show him lots of love and friendship, then he'll grow up and become a nice dragon" Twilight explained. We sat there, watching the baby dragon for a couple minutes, before I got bored and decided to look for something fun to do. I looked around my toy box and found a werewolf mask! I slipped it on and slowly crept behind Twilight. 'Time for my revenge' I thought to myself, as I raised my arms into the air, ready to strike. Twilight saw my shadow, and dodged before I could get her. "RRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I'M A WEREWOLF, I'M GONNA EAT YOU!" I shouted. "Oh no, I can't let you eat Spike! So I guess I'll have to stop you!" Twilight shouted. She went to grab Spike, but I caught her leg before she could grab him. "Ha ha ha! I've got you now!" "No fair, we just started. Can get ready before we play?" Twilight asked. "Sure!" I said happily. It took a while for Twilight to prepare. Twilight wanted me in the corner with my back turned so I couldn't see what she was doing. "O.K., ready!" Twilight shouted. I turned and saw that she had built a blanket fort, and had tied string all around my room. "Try to get through my defenses! You'll never get us!" Twilight shouted. I laughed in the most evil and sinister laugh I could muster, "MWAHAHA!!! You think you can stop me! I shall break through your defenses, and I will eat you!". I began to make my way through the string as best as possible. It wasn't easy, she tied a lot of string, I ended up knocking over a lot of things trying to maneuver my way though. Eventually, I made it to the blanket fort. "MWAHAHA!!! Your silly trap has failed! Give up now while you still can!" I shouted. "I'll never surrender! Take this werewolf!" Twilight shouted. She used her magic and began launching pillow after pillow at me. Luckily, I managed to find my toy shield on the ground. I quickly picked it up and blocked all of the pillows that Twilight shot at me. When she ran out of pillows, I charged at her, accidently knocking over half of the fort. "He's getting closer, don't let the monster escape!" Twilight shouted, as she tried to throw sheets over me, hoping that it would slow me down. Her plan didn't work, I threw the sheets off me and charged, ""Rrrrraaaaaaawwww!!!". I tried to grab her, but she was too fast. She quickly place Spike on her back and ran out of the fort, I quickly followed. "He's going to get us!" Twilight shouted. "Rrrrraaaaaaawwww!!!" "I hope you'll be able to find your way out of this mess". I looked over to the door and saw mom standing there, smiling at us. I gasped from excitement, "mom!". I ran to mom, giving her a hug. "Are you done with your work? Can I watch you set the sun?" I asked. "Of course you can, but your going to have to clean your room as soon as I finished" said mom. "But mom, that'll take forever!" I complained. "Well, if you don't want to clean then why did you make such a mess?" said mom, playfully. "Me and Twilight were playing, I was pretending to be a hungry monster! And Twilight was the brave hero, trying to stop me with her pet dragon!" I explained. "And the string is because?" mom asked. "Monster traps!" "Well it seems that you two have had quite a lot of fun, but I do hope you two are making sure that the baby dragons safe, he has only just recently been hatched" said mom. "Don't worry princess, I'll make sure nothing happens to Spike!" said Twilight, proudly. "Spike? Is that the name you chose for your dragon?" mom asked. Twilight nodded, "I thought it was a good name, but Glee wants him to be called Phoenix". "Phoenix? Why's that Glee?" mom asked. I started hopping up and down, excitedly. "Because, remember that book you gave me about the adventurer that saved Equestria from the Hydra? Well the adventurers name is Phoenix Sprite, so I thought it would be cool to call him Phoenix!". "But Spike's not even a Phoenix, he's a dragon! And that stories just a legend anyways" said Twilight. "I wouldn't be so sure of that" said mom. "What do you mean princess?" Twilight asked. "Well, would you believe me if I told you that I met her?" mom asked. I gasped, "you met Phoenix Sprite!?!" "Indeed I did, I met her quite a few times while she was on her travels, but she never stayed long. She was always running around, running with her companions", as mom said this, she suddenly stopped and stared into the ceiling, as if she was thinking. I looked at mom confused, "but, this story is a thousand years old, Phoenix isn't around any more, right?" Mom awoke from her thoughts, "well, Phoenix was a unique sort of pony. She was able to live for a VERY long time, and even though she was in danger most of her life, she always seem to make it in the end. So, if Phoenix is gone, then I'll bet she lived a full life". "What do you mean "if" she's gone?" Twilight asked. "Well, I'm not sure if Phoenix is truly gone. You see, long ago there was a proud and powerful race of ponies known as the phoenix ponies. They lived on an island made of fire called Alburnia, and just like how I control the rising and setting of the sun and moon, these ponies could control the planets core and help keep it alive. The phoenix ponies also had a unique ability that could allow them to live longer! You see, just like phoenix's, phoenix ponies could burn themselves to ash and come back from the ashes as a foal! So even though its been more then a thousand years since I've seen Phoenix, there could be the chance that Phoenix is still alive" mom explained. "But princess, I've read about phoenix ponies and the books say that they don't exist" said Twilight. "Well, most historians will deny that the phoenix ponies ever did exist. When something's been gone for so long, some will believe that it was never there to begin with. Did you know that there's an empire entirely made of crystal?" mom asked. Twilight and I shook our heads. "Well, chances are, if you ask a teacher or an historian about it, they'll tell you there's no such thing. Because there IS an empire made from crystal, its just been gone for too long" mom explained. "But how come people remember Phoenix Sprite?" I asked. "Some ponies actions are powerful enough to be remembered for centuries. Even though most believe that Phoenix Sprite is just a legend, she still placed her mark throughout history for the things that she did when she was still around" mom explained. "But princess, if Phoenix Sprite is real, and the phoenix ponies were real, then what happened to all of them? Where did they go?" Twilight asked. Mom paused, she thought for a second before answering, "I think you should wait until your older before I can tell you something like that". "Why? Did something bad happen?" I asked. "I'll tell you when your older. For now, you and I have a sun to set. Twilight, your parents will be arriving shortly, you should get ready" said mom. "O.K., bye princess, bye Glee!" said Twilight. She grabbed her saddle bag and departed with Spike on her back. "Bye Twilight" I said, as I waved good bye to my friend. "Now, what do you say we go set the sun now, shall we?" asked mom. "Ya!" I said, excitedly. Together, mom and I walked down the hall, into moms bedchambers and out the balcony. Mom lit up her horn and began to slowly set the sun. I watched in amazement as the sun dropped behind the mountains in the distance. As the sun dropped, Canterlot shined bright, sparkling as the suns rays hit the city perfectly. I thought the city looked so beautiful when this happens. "Glee, what do you think of your friends? Do you like them? And do they treat you well?" mom asked suddenly. "Like them? I love being with my friends! We always have lots of fun together!" I said, excitedly. "And what about the city, and the ponies that live within the city? What do you think of them?" mom asked. "Some of them still feel uncomfortable when I'm around, but most of them are really nice!" "What about this world, what do you think about the world we live in?" mom asked. Why was mom asking me this? I don't know what the world is like, I've never even left Canterlot! Ooh! Maybe she's going to talk to me about my adventuring! I should mention that I want to go to Pony Ville! That way she might let me start adventuring sooner! I shrugged, "Well, I've never left Canterlot before, so I don't really know, but I really like the city, and I really like how we can see Pony Ville from here! When I get older, I want to visit there!". "Why do you want to visit Pony Ville?" mom asked. "Well, an adventurer has to start some where, right? So I figured that Pony Ville would be the perfect place to start!" "You still want to be an adventurer?" mom asked. "Ya! I want to see the rest of the world, and make all sorts of friends!" I said, excitedly. Mom paused for a few seconds, then asked, "Glee, if I told you that there was a place with other humans, would you want to go there?" I gasped, "you found them! You found other humans just like me!?!" "Its a bit complicated, yes we have found other humans, however, their not exactly from around here. They exist within another world, far far away from our own. Do you remember the day Sunset Shimmers ran away?" mom asked. I nodded. "Well, Sunset Shimmers ran away into a mirror that I keep locked in the bottom of the castle. This mirror was a portal to the human world, the world that you most likely came from" mom explained. Oh! This must be the place that mom was going to tell me about when I got older! That's why this place is so special, it has humans! Just like me! "Are you going to take me there?" I asked. "Do you want to go?" mom asked. I shrugged, "I don't know, I mean, I want to see other humans like me, but I've never been with any before. What if their mean?" "Humans and ponies alike deserve the chance to be known, they may seem scary because you don't know them, but they still deserve a chance to get to show you who they really are" mom explained. "I know, I just, feel scared. I've never met another human before", I frowned. "What if you could find your parents in this world?" mom asked. "But you are my mom". Mom smiled at me, "yes, I have raised you as my son. But your real mother and father are probably worried sick about you. Wouldn't you want to meet them as well?" "I never thought about that. Do you think they miss me?" I asked. "I've raised you since you were a baby, and if I was to lose you, then I would search the ends of the Equestria trying to find you. So, yes, your parents miss you dearly" mom explained. I never thought about that before, my real mom and dad could be in that world! And no matter how scared I get, I have to see them! Ooh, and maybe Twilight and Green Bush came come and visit us! "O.K., I'll go to the other world, then I could come back and tell Twilight and Green Bush all about it!" I said, excitedly. Mom frowned, and turned back to the sun, she remained silent for a long time. As the sun was close to setting, she turned to me and said, "Glee, starting tomorrow your going to be home schooled, and I don't want you to see any of your friends any more. Your also not allowed to leave the castle into Canterlot". I looked at mom, shocked. "Why mom? Did I do something wrong?" Mom slowly shook her head, "no, you didn't. Something's just come up, that's all. You'll be able to leave into the world eventually, but for now I need you to stay in the castle at all times, do I make myself clear" I looked into moms eye's, this made scared me. She was so serious, and mom only expresses her seriousness when something bad is happening. She says I didn't do anything wrong, but if that was true then how come I can't leave the castle anymore? I wanted to ask why I was in trouble, but her serious expression scared me too much. Reluctantly, I nodded. "Good, then why don't you go clean your room now, the sun is just about finished. Also, could you get Lyra Cherry Blossom for me as well?" Celestia asked. I nodded, and left. It didn't take long to find Mrs. Cherry Blossom, we accidently bumped into each other in the hall way. "Oops, sorry about that Glee!" said Mrs. Cherry Blossom. "That's O.K., oh, my mom wants to speak to you". "Thank you Glee!" said Mrs. Cherry Blossom. "Your welcome", as I said this, I hung my head low and started walking back to my room. "What's the matter Glee?" Mrs. Cherry Blossom asked. "Don't worry about it, its nothing" I said sadly. Mrs. Cherry Blossom gave me a concerned look, before shrugging her shoulders and making her way to moms bed chambers. I entered my room and locked the door. I maneuvered my way through the messy bedroom and placed myself on my bed. I placed my face into my pillow and started to cry, I was scared. Scared because of what mom said. Somehow I had managed to get in trouble for nothing again! First she wants Mrs. Cherry Blossom to spy on me, then she says that I can't be with my friends any more AND she says that I can't leave the castle! Why! What did I do wrong! Is this because I'm not a pony? She did mention the human world right before getting me in trouble. That's probably what it is, I'm getting in trouble because I'm human. But I never even asked to be human, I want to a pony! I want to have hoofs, and a cutie mark, and be like every pony else! I don't want to be human if moms going to get me in trouble for it. If I get in trouble, I can just fix it and do better. But I can't fix this, I can't change being human. I'm stuck like this, and now, moms going to get me in trouble because of It . . . because of something that I can't fix . . . . What's going to happen to me?