Chapter 8
The whole next year, we are all pretty familiar with. Twilight’s exploits along with the other Elements of Harmony have been published all across Equestria and become the stuff of legends. Sometimes literally. She made Celestia, Luna and I all very proud.
There are, of course, some things nopony knows. For one thing, the reason Spike was away during Twilight’s first sleepover was because he was visiting me. The reason Celestia invited Twilight for the Grand Galloping Gala was because I asked her to, and it was a riot, in more ways than one (especially when Rarity told Blueblood off). Luna wasn’t missing during the attack on Canterlot during Shining and Cadence’s wedding, she was protecting me up in her tower at Celestia’s direct orders. It was even my suggestion that Cadence and Shining took control of the Crystal Empire, though I’m sure that would have been the result in any case.
Now I was twenty years old. Twilight had become princess. Discord was good. The Crystal Empire was hosting the Equestria Games. Luna was talking like a normal pony, most times, though it was pretty funny when Celestia told her to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Things had started to look up for everypony. Well, almost.
I was feeling more cooped up than ever. As a result, I was sneaking out into the Whitetail Wood more often. I was always careful not to be seen, but nopony’s perfect. Reports of ‘the Monster of Canterlot’ and ‘Bighoof’ had made their way back into the tabloids and rumor mills. This meant Celestia was a little upset with me but she couldn’t fully blame me.
Then, one morning, it all went down the drain. I was woken by Bunny, showered, shaved and went off for breakfast. When I reached the door, something stopped me dead in my tracks.
“HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH SISTER?!” Luna’s booming voice came from inside.
I pressed my ear to the door so I could hear better. A bit underhanded I know, but I wanted to know what was going on before I rushed in.
“I… I needed him.” Him? Him who?
“AND HE NEEDED HIS OWN KIND!” She couldn’t be talking about me, could she?
“I know, I know, but I couldn’t let him go. I’m his mother.”
“NO, YOU ARE HIS ADOPTED MOTHER! HIS REAL MOTHER IS IN ANOTHER REALM!”
“NO! I AM his mother! I am!”
“And if he know you could have sent him back to his own world, do you think he would still want to call you mother?”
No. There's no way that could be right. There's no way Celestia would have kept information like that from me. "That is why he must never know. He may want me to send him back now and that would... I don't even want to think about it." I could practically feel my world shattering around me. It was true.
Both alicorns stopped their argument and turned to the door that I had just slammed open. Hard enough to chip the marble, too. “How long?”
“Honey,” Celestia started to approach me.
“HOW LONG?!”
She stopped, she looked at Luna for support. Luna’s face was one of concern. Celestia turned back to me, “twelve years.”
“TWELVE YEARS?! TWELVE BUCKING YEARS!?!” She could only nod as tears started to fall from her eyes. “I could have gone back to my family, I could have had a life, I could have gone outside without being called a monster. Now, they probably think I’ve been dead for years. Can you imagine how hard that whole thing must have been for my mom.” Celestia was trying to come closer, but I backed away from her, shaking my head. “Luna’s right, you’re not my mother.”
That was the final nail in the proverbial coffin for Celestia. Her knees shook before failing completely, sending her to the floor. Her mane and tail paled and went limp shortly after. I didn’t see much of this though. I was already sprinting down the hall, heading for the nearest exit. From there, I made a bee line for the woods.
I didn’t really have a destination in mind, I just wanted to put as much distance between me and the palace as possible. Though, after the first day, I decided I should pick a point on the map and go for it. I picked Ponyville, Twilight made it sound like a place I could find hope. Besides, my cousin lived there.
It wasn’t all easy going though. Celestia and Luna had both sent out their guards to look for me and bring me back. Luckily, Gurfon had taught me to hunt and Shining and I played hide and seek often, this gave me a huge advantage. I hid my tracks by walking on stones often and walking through rivers to disguise my scent and hide my unique tracks. Any time one of them would get close, I would hide up a tree, or under a bush.
I had managed to avoid being detected for three days and Celestia was getting more and more worried with each passing hour. The only thing she knew was that I was still alive. Or at least, she knew that every time a report came in about the search. They were finding footprints and not much else. Problem was, they were finding so few they could only determine that I wasn’t headed for the palace.
Celestia decided she needed to call in her best weapon. Discord could probably find me in no time, but he was far more likely to help me run than bring me back to her just for the fun of it. No, her best weapon was her newest princess and most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. She sent a letter telling Twilight to report to the palace ASAP. Shining would probably be the best choice, but Twilight was far easier to reach. Besides, Twilight had never let her down before.
I was approaching the edge of the woods, I could see Ponyville through the trees. I could only hope they would be as friendly there as Twilight made it seem. Also, I hoped they would be generous with the grub, I didn’t exactly take the time to grab something on the way out the door. Of course, I could have done some hunting, but I wouldn’t feel right doing something like that to the Equestrian wildlife. Due to the saturation of magic in the land, they all had mild intelligence, unlike everywhere else in the world.
Before I came out of the brush, I saw three little fillies playing. They looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I knew them from. I certainly hadn’t met them before, that’s for sure. From what I could tell, they were having a picnic. I could only focus on their meal and how much I wanted some for myself. In hindsight, I could have handled it better.
I burst out of the bushes, covered in dirt and small cuts, and stinking to high heaven. “Thank goodness I found you girls! I’m sooo hungry!” Yeah, not the best first impression ever.
The second their eyes started to widen, I knew I blew it. All three of them screamed at the same time, in the same cadence no less, “AH, A MONSTER, AND HE WANTS TO EAT US!” I started to protest, but they were already buzzing back to town in wagon attached to a scooter.
*****
Twilight had just received her letter from Celestia in her library. Her five friends were already there helping her reshelf all the books, again.
“Oh my. This is bad. Spike, I need to get back to Canterlot immediately. Can you take care of things here?”
“Sure thing, Twilight, but what’s so urgent?”
“It’s…” she looked around at the ponies in the room, knowing she couldn’t tell them, “it’s a family thing. Um, my cousin has run away.” It took Spike a second or two, but he figured it out and simply nodded with a stern look on his face.
“Oh no.” Fluttershy spoke up, “we’ll come help search too.” All the others agreed.
“I appreciate that, really I do, but you can’t.” They were all shocked and about to argue when the door shot open.
“Twilight, Twilight, you have to help us!” Sweetie Belle yelled.
“What is it?”
“There’s a monster!” Scootaloo called out.
“It tried ta eat us!” Apple Bloom added.
“Well, I uh…”
“Don’t sweat it, Twi. We got this,” Applejack told her.
“That’s right, Darling,” Rarity said. “You need to go back to Canterlot to find your cousin.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.
“Yep-er-oonie!” Pinkie answered.
“Thank you, girls. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I can.” After she teleported away, the others turned to the three little fillies.
“Alright, now tell us about this monster so we can kick its flank back to where it came,” Rainbow Dash said.
The three fillies told them about the giant monster that burst out of the woods and charged right at them. How it said it was hungry and was going to eat them. How it walked on two legs and had claws like Spike. This got the little dragon’s attention.
“Say what now? That sounds like-”
“C’mon girls, let’s get this creature before it comes into town!” Rainbow shouted.
“Yeah!” came four more voices just before they galloped out of the library.
“No, wait!” Spike called after them but he was too late. He knew he couldn’t catch them with his little legs, so he went back inside and started to frantically write a letter for Twilight.
*****
“Princess, I’m here!”
“Twilight, thank goodness. I only wish this meeting could be under better circumstances.”
“How can I help?”
Celestia smiled for a second before she went back to her somber expression. Her mane was still limp, her eyes were bloodshot, and her fur was matted and her normal sheen was gone. “Chris has run off and we aren’t certain were he’s gone. You know him as well as anypony could. Please, help me find him and bring him back to safety.”
“Of course, Princess. I will begin my search immediately.” A thought occurred to her, “perhaps, if I brought my friends in on the search, we could find him faster.”
Celestia was about to protest, but Luna jumped in before she could, “I believe that would be for the best.” Twilight nodded and turned to leave, “keep in mind, he may not be willing to return.”
“Why wouldn’t-” Suddenly, Spikes letter appeared before her. She read it quickly. “Oh no, I, uh,I have to go.” Twilight teleported back to Ponyville.
“Curious, what could have gotten Twilight Sparkle to leave so abruptly?” Luna wondered as she walked over to where Twilight teleported away from and picked up the letter. “Oh no.”
“What? What is it, Sister?” Celestia snatched the letter from Luna’s magical grasp before she could stop her.
Twilight,
I think the monster the girls are going after might in fact be Chris. Please get back here before they do something to him.
Spike
For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the shaking of the parchment. A second later, the parchment burst into flames. Celestia’s coat began shine and her mane seemed to be made from multi-colored flame. With her eyes blazing, she began to power up her teleportation spell.
“Sister, wait!” Luna tried to stop Celestia from doing anything rash, but she was already gone. “This shall not end well.”
*****
I was making my way across the large field between Ponyville and the Whitetail Wood. I was a little stung by the fillies running off like that, but I was used to it by now. I only hoped that the mares and stallions in town would be a little more receptive. Heck, when Twilight showed up, she immediately made five friends and got a party. I was just hoping for an apple and a glass of water. Sadly, it seemed I would not be getting any of what I wanted.
I approached the town, but I was cut off before I could even reach the first building. Twilight’s friends, the other Elements of Harmony, came galloping up the road and they did not look happy. What’s worse, they started coming right for me as soon as they saw me. They all looked like they were itching for a fight.
“There it is!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Oh, it’s so… tall,” Fluttershy pointed out.
“That jest means it’ll hurt ‘em more when he falls,” Applejack threatened.
“That’s right,” Rarity said. “We cannot allow that monster to reach Ponyville. It’s already tried to devour our sisters, who knows what would happen if it got past us.”
“Wha… but I didn’t-” I tried to defend myself, but they weren’t giving me the chance.
“Don’t try lying ta us! Our sisters told us everythin’!’
“I’m not-” I could feel magic being used on me, but nothing happened.
“I-I don’t understand. My magic isn’t having any effect on him.” Rarity observed.
“Then we’ll just have to do this the old fashioned way!” Rainbow Dash said as she started flying right for me.
I managed to dodge her attack by rolling in the grass. “I was only trying to get something to eat! It’s been three days.”
“That don’t mean ya’ll can eat our sisters!” Applejack shouted as she tossed two apples into the air, spun and bucked them both. I only managed to dodge one. The other glanced off my shoulder, stinging like you wouldn’t believe.
That was the moment I decided to run.
Nooo, it finally catches up to the prologue and I gotta wait for the next chapter arghhh .
Annnnnnd cue Benny hills theme
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He better not just forgive Celestia for this.
Her decision literally ruined a lot of his life, that's not something that can be easily forgiven
That makes way too much sense.
To be fair, after being gone for two years, they probably thought you were dead. And it would have been difficult for an eight year-old kid dropped off alone on Earth to find his family again. Especially if he just got dropped off at some random spot on Earth.
I am disappointed by the lack of Discord in this story. I imagine that Discord could have a lot of fun with Chris.
That might not be the absolute worst thing he could have said, but it's certainly up there.
Well, I'm glad the first chapter at least makes some sense now.
4216683
I agree, so far this story's been pretty damn good.
But I've seen enough stupid 'I forgive you despite ruining my life' HIE to fill up several bookcases.
It's dull, annoying and repetitive. Let's hope you break away from the usual shit
Loving this whole thing, can't wait for more!
oh snap, he could have gone back? thats pretty rough to find out now of all times.
4216683 Well...it's tough. She raised him for 2 years. Also not really sure if I would give an 8 year old that decision. She should of told him sooner, 16 or 18 for sure. When he was an adult. I imagine he would of chosen to stay, but demanded to be let out of his cage.
So the story line finally caught up with the present, I'm interested to see what will happen next
4216747 I think there is going to be a serious 2 between celestia and chris.
Damn, I believe this is going to get interesting.
Good chapter! Should be interesting what happens now that everything is caught up to the present.
I rudely demand the next chapter!
Great chapter. Am REALLY looking forward to the next one. I want to see what comes of this all. Especially with Rainbow Dash nearly getting leveled. Some part of me almost hopes the mane 6 gets punished. I feel it is a little OOC for them to blindly lash out at him like they did. I'd imagine him being clearly sentient [talking] would merit something, but meh. I look forward to the next chapter none the less.
Cliffhangers!!!!!
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Great chapter though!
awww I was hoping there would be some discord shenanigans.
ohh well, that least were all caught up.
Another good chapter, though I really do wish you could have told us how he interacted with Discord, what he was doing when Chrysalis invaded and what happened with some of the lesser baddies if anything happened with them at all.
Figures that it was the Crusaders who turned a mountain out of a molehill, and stirred up a ruckus
and, not to sound selfish or anything..but, I have to agree with Celestia on this.
Sure, maybe Chris isn't too happy always having to hide. but, being sent back to his own world wouldn't be a picnic, either.
He's much better off in Canterlot, then on earth where there are guns, knives, poison and bombs.
His return would probably lead to the same kind of treatment the lead character in the movie 'Flight of the Navigator" got, he was abducted by aliens and didn't age a day while he was gone for 7 years, so the he was imprisoned by the government as they tried to figure out where he had gone and what had happened while performing test after test on him
4217575
Really? Because most of the ponies have been behaving horribly OoC most of the story... usually in such a way as to glorify the MC... you know, Chris Stu? The would be protagonist?
It follows original storyline more than it should. While it is understandable that some events were obviously going to happen, sticking a human into story at the beginning of season 3 is like writing a story then putting it into trash. If you keep accepting whole storyline as canon, ponies will tell Christ he looks like ponies after they pass through the portal. Eating meat will be okay since ponies do that in human world too. One day Rainbow will come to his room ask him if he wants to become rhythm guitarist. They will become a band, rocking the skyscrapers of manehatten (While pony architecture is a little better than wood and stone designs...)
I've also noticed some pretty bad ooc throughout this story.
I figure the reason for these over, under, and miss reactions is do to your almost tunnel vision focus on Chris. Every time we see Chris interact with a pony the transaction can be summed up in a single sentence, IE. "The pony runs in fear."
The ponies are uncharacterized. Now, before you go saying how 'You can't characterize every bystander', I'm not talking about that. I'm saying that your treating them less like people and more like plot devises, where they appear, do there bit, and then dissappear, for the sake of the narrative. Forget character, these ponies don't even seem alive.
F U Celestia
4217575 i kinda hope the mane six get punished too
4217898 Well, Discord had pretty much left Canterlot untouched, except for the weather, and gone for Ponyville in the show. With the exception of the Mane 6, almost no-one had any interaction with Discord at all. I said that during the Chrysalis invasion, he and Luna were locked away in her tower.
4219253 A wild flower native to the southern USA
4218120
"Pray not for easy lives, Pray to be stronger men"
- President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, quoting the words of another whom I can't recall -
4221257
There is also truth in that, yes.
4218120 Earth has advanced medical sciences, proper dietary nutrients, public transport, airplanes, cities, electricity, the internet, computers, cellphones, and about 7 billion other humans. I think earth wins out over equestria and it's lack of cheeseburgers.
4221639
It also has crime, corruption, terrorism, global warming and natural disasters.
just saying.
4221659 Terrorism doesn't affect my country, we have little to no corruption, natural disasters only happen once a century where I live, and global warming gave up on my country sometime ago, it once rained, snowed, hailed, was sunny, and windless all in one day.
4221734
How nice for you.
However, I thought we were talking about the Entire planet earth..not just a select country of our choosing.
When one piles up the Pros and Cons between Earth and Equestria, "Ponyland" starts to seem like "Cloud 9"
But, that is just my opinion. one which I do not expect everyone will agree with.
4221754 Something you neglected in your ponyland summary, ponies are heavily racist and xenophobic. It's even canon. So how do you reckon ponyland would fare compared to the much more tolerable, in the grander scale, planet of earth?
4221759
Pros and Cons, man. Pros and Cons.
I am not saying it is absolutely perfect..just that certain things are better than the other.
and, to say that ALL Ponies are xenophobic and racist is also inaccurate.
not only when it comes to some characters in the story showing Chris some grace,
but, also how some other version of MLP couldn't be further from the truth.
mainly, the original G1 show. which had three human children living with the ponies with no problem
(but, you may consider all of that to be moot)
Look, I do not want to argue about this tedious subject. I was just voicing an honest opinion.
there is no need to get so antagonistic about it.
4223451 But I like being antagonistic, it makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside. It also allows me to be a villain.
4223492 it was his imagination, nothing more.
Must read the next chapter! The suspense is killing me!
Ok, I'm gonna hold reading the rest of this chapter to say I'm disappointed we're skipping over the series here. I'd have really liked to have seen what Chris was doing during the Gala, or what Discord might have done to him. Finally, the whole wedding arc really needs to be explained, since Chris' presence just adds yet another person to the list of people besides Twilight who should have noticed Chrysalis' switch. Celestia was busy, Blueblood's an ass who would have seen 'Cadance's' new attitude as an improvement, Shining was brainwashed, and Luna probably didn't know her all that well. What was Chris' excuse? Also, given his resentment towards being kept hidden so far, I would think he would have had a major rebellious flare up at being excluded from two his best friends' wedding. Finally, would have enjoyed seeing him and Luna bond over kicking changeling plot together.
4221659
-Crime
Uh, do the Flim Flam Brothers ring a couple bells? Or how about the thugs Daring Do seems to go up against regularly?
-Corruption
Sombra. I don't think I need a bigger example here. I would have said Blueblood, but all he's guilty of in cannon is being an ass to Rarity. Also, Diamond Tiara as editor of the Foal Free Press.
-Terrorism
Nightmare Moon, Pre-KCAFO Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis and the changelings, Trixie hopped up on Alicorn Amulet...
-Global Warming and Natural Disasters
This one I'll give you in the strictest sense, as I don't think we've seen an actual NATURAL disaster as of yet. But then, in a world where people can control the weather and ancient artifacts can cause global warming magically, I think I'd be more worried about the UNnatural ones...
Huh, color me impressed. Given the other rather idiot ball reactions to Chris, I was expecting him to have just gotten randomly attacked by the mane 6-Twi. But given his...rather botched intro to the CMC, and the revelation from the Chimera in season 4 that some of the pony-eating monsters out there can talk...and well it becomes a bit more believable that this story opened with them trying to beat the tar outta him.
'And that's when I shot him, m'lud.'
Seriously, this is where I lost what minimal sympathy for the character I had (mostly generated by the cold open). Anyone that mind numbingly stupid deserves the Darwin Award his actions almost granted him. This story has one repeating sub-plot:
Ponies see Gary... I mean Chris > Misunderstanding occurs > Ponies run away screaming > Ponies subjected to Reason you Suck speech > Ponies become friends utterly forgetting the supposedly insoluble problems stated as why he's been locked away in the first place.
I'm willing to bet the same thing happens when he finally gets revealed to the general public.
4216648 MAY THE PAIN FLOW
It has been stated many times already... but...
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HahahahHaahahahaa!
And this is the point where I start rooting against Celestia. It's not just stupidity and moral cowardice anymore, it's selfishness. Too bad the royal wedding's already been glossed over, I could have at least hoped for the changelings to win.
But, hey! Plenty of ponies are perpetrating lethal violence on the basis of a single sentence of accusation from foals, so clearly the changelings are still in the game.
yet ANOTHER scene thats REEEEEAALLY SIMILAR to a Certain "My Little Dashie" Scene
8277794
I think it may be an allusion (Reference or Nod) To it
8998076
I think you're giving me too much credit.
*Knows, not "know".
Lots of time skipped.
Must sneak out of the castle, out of the city, cannot use the train, must go on foot, cannot travel along the tracks or roads to avoid being seen. MC is looking at several days of journey along undeveloped terrain just to get to the Whitetail Woods unseen. Then there’s the return trip...