The Armaments of Harmony

by Shadowsciver

In which things begin to progress (edited)

Everything was dark. Wayland could only make out small flits of light in the distance, tiny whispers. "H..Hello..?" he asked uncertainly to the blackness, not expecting an answer.

Life, however, tends not to follow expectations.

"Greetings, strange one," a gentle voice emanated back at him. "It would seem thou hast fallen unconscious. Dost thou require our assistance?"

"Uhh... no?" Wayland almost whispered in reply. "I think I'm just gonna-"

"Wake up?" the voice interjected, finishing his thought for him.

---

Wayland's eyes shot open, those last mysterious words still echoing in his head. Which, incidentally, was now throbbing and sore. He could feel the dull edge of metal digging into the side of skull as he shifted himself.

"Ugh.. by the Valkyries, I gotta stop sleeping on tools..." Wayland sat up, rubbing the back of his head and looking around him. Debris was strewn here and there in a large radius around him. He could see bit and pieces of the entire house scattered over the clearing, hanging out of trees at the edge, half-buried into the earth, even stacked in odd piles.

"Gods damn..." He got to his feet, his joints and muscles protesting in discomfort. Standing back up to his full height, he looked down at himself, somewhat astonished at what he saw. He was mostly unharmed, although his clothes were torn here and there, and he still had his tool belt on. Looking immediately around him, he discovered he had indeed been cuddling up with an anvil. And had there always been a crater where he had been sleeping? Wayland ran a hand through his hair, slightly surprised. None of the air or scenery smelled like his home. There was no scent of automobiles, no sound of people milling about the streets. Everything felt natural, untouched.

'Well, better start figuring out where I am , or if I can at least find somewhere safe to sleep tonight.' Wayland absently picked up a hammer and slipped it through the loop on his tool belt. Running his hand over the worn hand, he began walking towards the setting sun, through the forest.

---

About an hour later, as the moon was rising above the mountains, he began to see faint lights through the trees. Wayland breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed through the foliage towards them, earning several cuts and scratches on the way. After a few moments, the trees thinned and he beheld... a tree house. Or was it a house tree? Whatever. It was a tree someone turned into a house. There was a small stream gurgling softly outside, and he could hear faint voices coming from inside, so he climbed the pathways and knocked on the door.

"Oh, just a minute." A small voice inside practically whispered from the other side.

"Wow, you think somepony wants to throw US a surprise party!?" A very excited, louder voice echoed back.

"Some..pony..?" Wayland muttered, taking a step back as the door suddenly swung open, revealing a shy yellow.. horse? She had a light pink mane, and a picture of some butterflies across her flank. She stared, open-mouthed, at him as he stood there, blinking and speechless.

Peeking his head inside, he looked around the quaint little home, expecting to see any other people. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"You can talk!?" The yellow pony blurted out.

"YOU can talk?!?" Wayland remarked, recoiling back, awestruck.

"WE CAN TALK!!" Another bright pink pony shouted, bouncing up to the door and smiled widely at him, standing next to the other one.

After a few moments of the two of them staring, and the pink one still grinning, Wayland sighed, looking to the sky. "Alright, so.. I'm dead. that's it. I am pretty fucking dead if I ended up here.." He sat down on the stoop, dropping his head into his hands and sighing deeply.

"Oh no, actually, um..y-you're not.. uhm.. dead.." The yellow one finally spoke up, if speaking up was the right way to phrase it. She barely spoke above a whisper, not even making eye contact. She walked out next to him, sitting a couple feet away. "You're just outside of Ponyville. My name is Fluttershy. I take care of all the animals and little critters around here, but I've never seen one that looks like you.."

"You've never seen a human before? That's... new. And I'm Wayland. Nice to meet you Fluttershy." The idea that there were no humans anywhere near here was a little disconcerting, but he didn't want to end up having a panic attack in front of Fluttershy and.. the other one.

"I'm Pinkie Pie!!" The pink one exclaimed, almost as if she was reading his mind. She came up behind him, bouncing lightly. "I like cupcakes and tubas and throwing parties for everypony and *GAAASP*" Pinkie Pie suddenly raced off into the night, leaving the both of them alone, blinking and confused. He turned to fluttershy, hoping for an explanation, but she only said, "Pinkie," and shrugged.

"So...Ponyville, huh?" Wayland stated after their pinkie moment. He reclined back against the wall of the house, looking up at the night sky.

"Mhm. It's a small town a little ways that way. All my friends live there. I can show you tomorrow, that is, i-if you'd like.." Fluttershy said, looking down, hiding behind her mane bashfully.

After a moment, he nodded, smiling a little. "Thank you, I'd like that. You know, its not often you meet someone willing to go out of there way for a total stranger. Where I come from, everyone just sort of keeps to themselves, unless they want something." He smirked, memory pulling up a couple old events from back in his village.

Fluttershy smiled a little wider, opening the door and turning back to Wayland. "You can sleep in here, if you'd-" She stopped as she noticed he was already asleep, snoring softly on her porch. She smiled gently, heading back inside

---

Wayland pushed open the large door slowly, cautiously looking inside. The doorway dwarfed him, though it seemed to be made of moonlight, and was light as a feather, but sturdy as if it were made of metal. The interior was that of a throne room, but darker, and unpopulated. Or rather, dark was the wrong word. It was.. night. The floors were made of smoothed obsidian, with twinkling gems underneath like the stars, mirrored overhead. The roof was open, and he could see a clear night sky, stars stretching into eternity, with a great glowing moon shining down upon it all. A regal carpet ran from the door to the other end of the room, where a throne towered above him. He walked forward, looking around him until he got to the base of the stairs before the throne, where a firm, female voice suddenly echoed outward.

"Welcome to night court. We would have you spea- ..What in equestria..?"

Wayland looked up, half-surprised to see yet another pony sitting upon the throne, looking down at him. This one seemed bigger than the others, with a dark blue coat to match the scenery, and a mane made of the stars.

"Nice place you have here," Wayland remarked, looking around. "So I'm guessing I either really AM dead, or, I'm asleep and this is a dream. And if this is a dream... hmm..." He began to concentrate, holding out his hand, until he started going blue in the face.

"W-what art thou doing in my presence, creature?" The blue pony spoke up again, uncertainty in her voice.

"Trying to see if I can summon up something. Should be possible if I'm dreaming." He replied, exhaling and putting his arms down. "And whats with all the ponies thinking I'm some kind of mythical creature? Haven't any of you ever seen a human before?"

"We can tell you now, thou art not dreaming. Thou hast sleepily wandered into my Night Court, ..somehow. And to answer thine question, nay, no pony has heard tale of this 'human' you claim to be, before."

"Huh..that's weird. Well, I'm still asleep apparently." As he spoke, the sun began to peek over the horizon, lighting up the tips of the mountains. "Well, there goes a perfectly good night.." Wayland sighed, turning and making a polite wave to the pony he had been conversing with. "See you round," And he pinched himself on the arm.

Wayland woke with a start, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and noting that the sun was indeed poking above the mountains. He also noticed that there was a blanket around him and a pillow behind his head. He chuckled, looking back and smiling at the door of the sleepy little cottage by the woods.