Chapter 1: Dust to Dust
Did you know that being encased in stone is not in the least bit comfortable? I do.
More than one thousand years of being effectively covered in cement will give you that perspective. Especially when those one thousand years was imposed upon you for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Seriously. I popped into existence next to this ugly statue that I recognized in passing and everyone flew into a panic. Here, let me show you.
I fidgeted with the hat over my head. It was massive, almost as large as my chest, and covered the top half of my face, so that I couldn’t see where I was going. It didn’t help that the fox ears and stuffed animal pinned to it made the thing unwieldy and heavy.
At least the clothes were nice and light. It was sweltering, and one of the few reasons beyond immersion for keeping the hat on was the obscene amount of shade that it provided.
If you hadn’t guessed already, which is likely considering who I decided to dress up as, I was Dust, the titular character from one of my favourite games: Dust: An Elysian Tail. The only discrepancy in my costume was the plastic sword that had a passing resemblance to the blade of Ahrah if you squinted at it from far away while I was hiding in the dark.
I had been walking through Comic Con, noting what costumes I could recognize from the waist down, while following my friends, who had thought it a good idea to drag me away from home for this. I saw people dressed as various characters from the Bioshock franchise, a few knights and ponies. Gods, there were so many fucking pony cosplayers.
Don’t get me wrong, bronies aren’t a bad bunch, and the show is pretty okay, but some of them take their pony worship a bit too seriously.
Ah, one more thing, before this next part confuses you. I was very lonely as a child, with a very active imagination. Thus it was no surprise when I created my own imaginary friends: Ashley and Niquolais. The surprising part came when I befriended some real people, but the imaginary ones stuck around. Since they weren’t needed to fill the void of friendship, they relegated themselves to the role of the conscience.
I call them my shoulder demons.
Anyway, I was walking along, staring at the asses of my friends (some of which were quite nice) when Ashley and Niquolais spoke up.
Hey, I hear a metalworker. Ashley spoke up. Sure enough, I tilted my hat and saw a stall full of weapons and armour of all kinds. There were also gadgets, apparently, if the guy trying on the arm mounted spray cannon thing was any evidence.
Maybe we can find an actual sword to use. Ashley suggested. Instead of this plastic thing.
Yeah, but it’ll probably cost a bit. Niquolais butted in.
We can handle living on hotel rations for a while. I thought. I knew better than to try and talk to them out loud by now.
I told my friends my destination, and they agreed to wait for me as I browsed for an actual Blade of Ahrah. The man with the arm device must have been satisfied with his purchase, because I heard him turn it on and walk away, probably to spray some water or paint at someone.
“Looking for Ahrah?” I heard the stall keeper ask.
“Yep. How’d you guess?”
“There’s always at least one Dust wandering around with some cheap replacement. Always find it profitable to keep a few on hand. And hell, since they’re so close to looking like keyblades, Ventus and Terra cosplayers generally find them good enough to use.”
“Cool. I’m guessing you’ve got one for sale, then?”
“Ayep. Normally I’d let one go for about five hundred dollars, but you’re one of the first Dusts I’ve seen that didn’t cut eye holes in their hat, so I’ll let it go for four hundred.”
...Wow, I didn’t even think of that. I thought.
Well, there goes the food money. Niquolais grumbled.
“Deal.”
I quickly paid for the blade and tossed my useless plastic sword at some poor schmuck walking around in cardboard armour with a stick. The thing was five dollars and over ten years old, anyway.
Niquolais sighed. We could have sold that.
Ashley chuckled. Yeah, for five bucks. Oh hey, watch for feet.
I was walking back to my group when a kerfuffle broke out nearby. Some brony was having a fit over there being more sun gods than just the one horse princess. He actually tried stealing a sun staff thing from the guy who’d bought it. When the owner, some sun knight, ripped the staff away from the manic zealot, he accidentally bopped my Fidget doll with it, but I don't think he noticed.
I didn’t mind, it was an accident. What I did mind was that the doll got dislodged, fell, and tripped me up. The hat got into my eyes, so I couldn’t see the ground, but when I landed, there was a conspicuous lack of concrete and shoes.
There was, in fact, a whole lot of grass.
“Ow… What was that?” I heard Ashley moan. Something was off however. I realized that her voice was emanating from somewhere near my feet, rather than from inside my mind.
I looked down to see my Fidget plushy sitting and rubbing its head. Her head. Whatever.
“...Ashley?”
“Hm? Wha-ha-ha-huh? Rich?" My name's Richard, by the way. Don't think I introduced myself.
Anyway, Ashley looked at me, then down at herself. She brushed her chest pomf of fur, screamed and darted into the air, her wings buzzing like a hummingbird’s.
I tried to keep her away from my head by waving my hand at her, when I noticed that my hand only had three fingers. And was furry.
I crossed my eyes and saw a snout.
I looked down and saw a tail.
I looked to the side as something started to glow.
“Ugh… Ashley can you be quiet? We have a headache.” The Blade of Ahrah’s glow was pulsing in time to a voice that sounded suspiciously like Niquolais.
“No we don’t. We’re not a we anymore.” I murmured.
“What are you talking about? I can feel- Oh. I can feel. That’s… different.”
I rubbed my face with my hands. ...Paws. Whatever. “You’re taking this awfully easily.”
“Well… There’s not much I can do by panicking. I can see that you’re Dust, and Ashley’s Fidget, so that means that I must be Ahrah.”
“Looks like it.”
“Meh. Not that much different that being in your head.”
I shrugged and grasped Niquolais’s handle. I had expected some rush of memories or instructions or something, but nothing happened.
“Shit, guess I have to actually learn how to use you.”
Niquolais sighed. “I am going to get so scuffed before we get anywhere useful.”
“WHY ARE YOU GUYS SO CALM ABOUT THIS?!” Ashley yelled, hovering in front of my face. It was then that I noticed that all of my clothes had been replaced by a fine silk substance instead of polyester, and my had had become a non-cardboard hat.
I then realized why Dust could move with his big ass hat in the way. The actual material was some form of wire mesh stuff that screen doors are made of. I could see through it, though everything was dark and blurred.
“Because there’s nothing we can do about it.” I shrugged.
Ashley fell onto my hat and started sobbing. “The one time we get out of the house! And we end up lost and weird and separated!”
“Ah, cheer up. At least we’re still tog-”
I was interrupted at that point by something screaming. I turned to look and received a face full of rainbow.
I stopped being able to move.
When the rainbow cleared, I could see two ponies staring at me. Those two ponies happened to be Celestia and Luna.
For the gods' sake, we ended up in Equestria. Niquolais groused. At least I could still hear him.
Could be worse. I thought back.
“Sister, this troubles us.” Celestia said, walking towards me.
“And us as well. It is no coincidence that this creature appears at the very spot Discord was sealed exactly one year after his defeat.” Luna revealed very helpfully.
Wait, what? Ashley asked.
“Verily. We think it best to keep him sealed.” Celestia turned back to Luna.
Wait, WHAT?! I roared inside my mind.
“Aye. It is best not to take chances in such trying times. We're still cleaning up the chocolate lakes.”
"Perhaps when we have finished cleaning up after Discord, we will search his mind for answers."
Could be worse, huh? Niquolais sighed. No crime, no trial, not even a chat.
I was seething with indignant rage. When I get out of here… Ooh, I’m going to slap their shit around so hard…
And thus we stewed for over a thousand years, coming to terms with our new identities. We felt it best to embrace them and keep our true selves hidden from the ponies when we got out. We had hoped that Discord’s release, a thousand years later, would let us escape, but we had no such luck. His reformation, however…
And in case you were wondering, they forgot to probe my mind.
“Stupid Celestia and her stupid rules. One good deed a day. Pah.” Discord rumbled, stalking the statuary garden. He paused mid stride and turned to us. “Well well well. What do we have here? You’re not from around these parts.”
Discord slithered around my stony form and took a deep whiff. “Mm, no, not from around here at all. And given the same treatment I was? Tsk. I suppose that I could deign to help out.”
Discord scratched ‘D was here’ onto my hat. “There. You’ll be nice and limber when the stone sublimates. No, no, no need to thank me. All part of the job.” And with that, he disappeared.
Several minutes later, I was able to move. My muscles stretched, my breathing was deep, and my rage was as hot as ever.
Fidget cracked her knuckles above me. “Time to kick some ass. No offense.” She turned to a nearby donkey that was quaking in his hooves.
“Hafva- Haba-” Was all he managed to stutter before he ran off screaming.
I began to run towards the castle in the distance with Fidget flying behind me, and quickly became winded.
“Fuck… Trapped in… no exercise…” I gasped, doubled over and leaning on my knees.
“Sheesh. Guess a millennium trapped in stone is hell on the muscles.” Ahrah chuckled.
I was about to reply when I heard a shout from the direction of the castle. I looked up to see a royal guard bedecked in his golden armour galloping my way.
I grunted and hefted Ahrah.
"I'm supposed to be held backwards, remember?"
"Oh, right."
I shifted Ahrah to a backhanded position and leaped to the side, dodging the guard's hooves. I swung my sword, and nearly lost my grip when the guard ducked out of the way.
It was then that we realized that I still had no idea of how to wield Ahrah.
"Shit." I groaned.
"Time to run?" Ahrah asked.
"Yep. Fidget! Use cuteness!"
Fidget flew up to the royal guard and put on her best set of puppy dog eyes. She even made a small squeak.
The guard paused, unsure of how to deal with this new form of assault.
Fidget upped the stakes. "Y- You're not gonna hurt my daddy, aren't you?"
I could pinpoint the moment that the guard's heart melted. I kicked him in the face just after that point, and shoved him into a nearby bush.
"Run, bitches, run!" Fidget screamed, tearing off in the opposite direction as I joined her.
I almost didn't notice the cliff that I stepped off.
I quickly turned around and, with my innate knowledge of video game and cartoon logic combined, plunged Ahrah toward the cliff face. His flat tip sparked against the rock, and my fall continued unabated.
That was when I realized that Ahrah is not a stabbing weapon.
I eventually landed on a short outcrop of rock. I groaned, glad that my fluffy tail had broken some of my fall. Nothing felt broken, so I pushed myself up and noticed that there was a cave carved into the side of the mountain. I sat on the wall inside it as Fidget came fluttering down from where I had fallen.
"Oh, there you are. I was worried you'd fallen all the way down."
"Nope. And what was that, back there? Calling me your daddy, I mean."
Fidget shrugged. "Well, it's true. You technically birthed both me and Niquolais into existence."
"Niquolais and I." Niquolais piped up.
"Shush, you. So yeah. Technically, you are our father."
"Yeah, fuck that."
"What?"
"I'm not your dad. Brother, maybe. Friend, definitely. Think..." Shit. Ah well, when in Rome. "Think of Twilight and Spike. Twilight acts more like a sister to Spike than a mother, and she technically brought him into the world by hatching his egg."
"Mmh. That's flimsy and you know it."
"Whatever. Don't call me Dad anymore. Unless you're using cuteness, because that was surprisingly effective."
Fidget cut a bow. "My pleasure. So... Now what?"
"Now... Now we train. We need to know what we're doing so that we can go fuck with the princesses."
"Fair enough. Everfree? I recall that place being called dangerous."
"Maybe later. I want to know how to properly cut things first."
"Well, let's get started then!" Niquolais crowed.
And that was the last that the ponies saw of us for the next year or so.
Not for lack of trying, I later found out.
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No.
so is this a LoHAV story?
i.imgur.com/Ld9Omxq.png
...this is a LoHAV story, isn't it?
cant see why this story has so many dislikes thus far, good grammar, a bit rushed and cliched but our hero/villian is not that bad and you can really understand why he is mad at celestia and luna.
keep it up, im sure it will get better later.
3993187
3993323
i thought that was obvious, what with the cosplayer dressed up as some hero/villian from some game goes to equestria trend that has been going on the last few days.
3993398
I was referencing him saying that he's joining the bandwagon, aka writing yet another one of these stories. It is rather clear that this is a LoHAV fic.
YES. ive been waiting forever for a dust fic. thank you very much
*Edit- Please ignore the upper half, i got a bit excited.
After reading this i have two things to comment on.
1. I like your characters (videogame and story ones) they seem to be pretty well rounded.
2. I think your reason for his imprisonment is pretty flimsy. In my mind. 'Tia and luna would at least give a chance to explain himself.
Also don't be discouraged about the down votes, keep up the good work, and may your days be filled with warm breezes.
-Dust
I like it. It's just a little sudden, that's all. And I'm glad to see Cellis still a bitch.
At first I was wondering what the hell LoHAV stood for. Then I thought I might get my answer if I look at the Groups tag, and lo and behold, it stands for "League of Humans Acting Villainous."
3993342
I think that one of the primary reasons for the dislikes is that Dust is an anthro/furry, though that's just a theory.
3993170
Yes.
I think it's adorable that Ashley became Fidget and badass that Richard became Ahrah. Perhaps they will represent the good and bad.
Also, was it a mistake that we didn't catch his name. Or did I miss read?
and they didnt eat for a thousand years
3993951
Hmm, it's OK I loved Dust, and I think Fidget is adorable. that and I happen to like furry.
3994692
I don't think I did mention Dust's former name. That was more of an oversight on my part than anything else. I'll go pop it in there somewhere.
3994622 Yes no maybe...I don't know can you repeat the question?
3994853 Nice little picture, it goes with your name. Heh
What a surprise, story of human getting switched to anthro and dumped in Equus that not only works, but holds promise for being a good read?!
Nothing to see here, I will steal all of the awesome from the rest of the world!
3993452 Sir eldrazi really...............
A crossover of one of my favorite games?
Cool.
Oh wait, it's following that Cosplaying Crossover/HiE trend where the main character is treated as a villain?
fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/038/1/c/do_not_want_diamond_tiara_by_chaoticnote-d75k06w.gif
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/038/9/7/nope_rainbow_dash_by_chaoticnote-d75jzuh.gif
That was surprisingly different.
3999783 Meh. You take what you can get.
3999783 Now I know how people felt when that whole 'Chess Game of the Gods' (that I actually kinda liked) type of story was in its prime.
3999783 then do a crossover yourself you arse.
4002167
But the whole point of it was the make it the biggest world building collab ever, and they did a pretty damn good job of it. Most of these stories are separate obviously, and are done pretty poorly. I read this story a little bit, and can see it's not one of those bad ones, but there's seriously way too many of them to consider the whole trend as a good thing.
Mostly the whole entire plot about a human gaining powers simply from a "regular" costume and then going to Equestria as that character is weak. You might as well get subtract the OC Human out of the equation and make it simply a crossover.
4003068
Sorry. I don't write crossovers and you ain't my mum.
4003098
I think it's become such a huge fad because of how relatively simple and easy it is to get into. I know that this is going to be my wind-down project for when As It Should Be gets stressful. Besides, the irony of the friendly, loving ponies hunting for someone is just too delicious to pass up.
Another factor might be the relative ease with which characters fall into themselves here. The authors don't have to design a character, just their personality, and they can basically go as wild as they want.
4002167
I've been meaning to do a Chess Game fic, but I can never get around to storyboarding it. I get to who the patron god should be and get stumped during the brainstorming phase.
A Dust crossover?
Definitely gonna read this as soon as I can.
4003306
Well at least it's not on the level on The Conversion Bureau where the ponies are terraforming the Earth and it's human population into their likeness.
Putting this on my watchlist, looking forward to more chapters.
YES! I have been waiting forever for a good Dust: An Elysian Tail story
Finally got the game. Ironically, after I read this. It was gifted to me from a friend.
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6495786496/h41262213/
recently bought, played and finished this game and...well... fuck...
lets just say, update this story soon and well...
dont disapoint me or else you might have a chainsword shoved up your ass.
I'm withholding my like until I see more. Can't be too hasty.
3995632 You're not the boss of me!
...now?
4015066
You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big.
Actually, "me and Richard" was correct, though, if you want to be polite, it should be "Richard and me." The trick is to take the other person out of the sentence. Without Richard, it would have been "You technically birthed me into existence." You wouldn't say "You technically birthed I into existence."