(H) Chapter 41 -Tight Purple Towel-
-Tight Purple Towel-
"So." Rarity twirled her hair into coils as she walked around, examining the man before her.
"So." Skyfall copied as he sat on a small stool, legs crossed in nothing but a tight, purple towel. He touched his fingertips together as he stared straight ahead, still astonished at his appearance. Much like his new acquaintances, who had different colored bodies to mimic their pony counterparts, his skin was a dark shade of silver and his hair was a solid deep blue with flecks of white, likely due to his incredible age. Deep down, he was glad his body didn't take on his Spiritual color scheme, that would have been infinitely harder to cover up.
Rarity traced her finger down the deep scar on Skyfall's side, causing him to jump.
"Hey, watch the merchandise, sister." Skyfall warned.
Rarity smirked at Skyfall's embarrassment. "You are a big one, aren't you?"
"Yeah?" Skyfall challenged, making the onlookers laugh, adding insult to injury.
"Relax, Sky, they're just trying to help you." Sunset cooed while looking at the various outfits Rarity kept at the school. She pulled out a roman toga and shoved it back frantically when Applejack raised a brow at her. "A towel was the best we could do on short notice, we couldn't know you would emerge from the portal completely naked."
"Not that we mind." Rarity chimed as she measured Skyfall's broad shoulders.
"The helping I appreciate, but I feel like a piece of meat in a shark tank." Skyfall shied away from Rarity's thorough note taking and momentary, uncomfortably close pauses.
"So what will he wear?" Rainbow Dash asked. "These clothes were made for us."
"Then it stands to reason that none of these clothes will fit." Twilight, human world's Twilight, said.
"Well, he has to wear something." Rainbow Dash threw a bobby outfit into the pile of nope. "He can't walk around in the buff." She leaned over and raised an eyebrow to a green cloth that was large enough to fit a man of Skyfall's caliber. "Unless you want to walk around in a kilt?"
"Not unless I have blue paint to complete the look." Skyfall said, making Rainbow laugh.
"Awesome movie." Rainbow said, the reference turning Sunset's head as she understood the reference, but knew he shouldn't have.
"So where did you get the scar from?" Rarity asked, much to Princess Twilight's silent pleading not to.
"That, Madam, is personal." Skyfall said. "I, however, have a question of my own."
"You have but to ask." Rarity turned and opened a closet where more clothes for the drama club were held.
"Why are we in the highschool at seven in the evening?" Skyfall looked to each girl in the room. "Is this even allowed?"
"It is." Applejack said. "After all that hoo-haw that's been coming over from Equestria, Principal Celestia gave up and started letting us take care of things. Plus, night courses for some college classes use the automotive section behind the school; us being here doesn't look that fishy."
"Unless someone were to look in and see eight females surrounding a poor, defenseless, naked, vulnerable man." Skyfall said. "They might even leave me to you wolves. Before you know it I'll be chained up in a basement left to survive the horrors of your whims."
"Is he always like this?" Twilight asked.
"Yes." Both Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer answered in unison.
"He is the king of awkward situations." Princess Twilight grumbled.
"Oh, I'm royalty now?" Skyfall asked and was promptly hit with a pair of black briefs. "Ah, underwear. And clean, not bad." He put on one leg and then the other, noticing that each girl in the room had taken the liberty of facing away from him at break-neck speed.
Standing triumphantly, Sky whistled. "Well, it's a start." As he spoke, the world started to tilt, but only for him. "And I'm going down."
Luckily for everyone, Sky was able to sit on the chair behind him before falling over, he had been on Equus for so long that walking on two legs was now a foreign concept.
"You okay?" Sunset asked.
"Yeah, just not used to legs yet."
Night came slowly, causing the room to hold a soft orange light. Hushed conversation filled the room and Skyfall moved to the window, letting the rays of a setting sun hit him while silently remarking that the world was similar to the one that came before, giving him an unwelcome sense of nostalgia.
"So you two didn't tell us why you're here, and with... him." Rainbow said, jabbing a thumb to Skyfall as he moved to leaning against the piano, attempting to stretch his legs. "Or is he a boyfriend to one of you?"
Princess Twilight and Sunset looked to one another before shaking their heads. The latter fidgeted and glanced to Skyfall. "Okay, so, do you remember the problem that Princess Celestia wrote to me out of the blue about?"
"Evil Spirits, right?" Rainbow asked. "Shingle Cries?"
"Shattered Skies." Sunset corrected. "Well, it ended up being a much bigger problem than any of us thought and it turns out that there are a bunch of Spirits imprisoned here."
"Here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes." Sunset said. "We need to talk to them to see if Shattered Skies has a weakness or if there is a way he can be undone."
Sunset wanted to tell them that she wanted information and the truth about Spirits, but the official reason would have to do as long as Skyfall, Celestia's appointed Captain, was in earshot.
"So why is he here, we've never heard of either of you talk about him." Applejack said.
"Not like I have a name or anything." Skyfall stretched long and hard before taking a few slow, firm steps toward the closet Rarity was still rooting around in. "My name is Skyfall, I would appreciate it if you used that instead of saying 'him.'"
A few of the girls looked at Skyfall, his attitude seemed out of step from the mischievous type person they thought they had figured out. They were speaking about him as if he could not hear them so his ire was at the very least, understandable.
Sunset sighed and gestured to Skyfall. "Girls, this is Skyfall, the Captain of the Ponyville guard unit and probably the only one that can help us find the people... Spirits, we're looking for."
Skyfall smacked his tongue against his teeth and waved his hand in a subtle chop motion in front of his neck to indicate for her to not go into more depth regarding the issue.
"Sky, it's okay." Sunset rolled her eyes. "These are my best friends, they can be trusted."
Skyfall paused at the glass panned closet door and sighed heavily before entering. Sunset looked on in curiosity, she didn't miss his reaction every time he saw his reflection.
"Sunset?" Twilight called, waiting for her to look over. "What's wrong with him? He seems... angry."
Sunset sighed. "I'll tell you all later tonight when he isn't around."
"You sure you wanna tell us then?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah." Sunset rubbed her arms. "I would like all of your help with this. You should know a little bit about him if we're all going to get along." She looked to Fluttershy, the only person Skyfall didn't bother looking at, let alone interact with. "Especially you."
The room fell into silence for what felt like an hour until the sound of soft clapping came from the closet, accompanied by Rarity giggling. The door opened fluidly and bounced off the door stop, revealing a very happy Rarity.
"Why are you so happy?" Rainbow mumbled.
"I am happy because I once again pulled off the impossible." Rarity clapped twice and turned to the side, giving the room the ability to see into the closet. Within, Skyfall looked at himself in the mirror with a slight frown. "What's wrong, Darling? I thought you liked it."
Skyfall turned and left the closet, giving Rarity a soft pat on the side as he passed. "The clothes are nice, Rarity. Thank you."
The girls watched on as Skyfall left the room in silence. No direction of what he was doing, only a simple look to the room before the door shut with a soft click.
"I'll go talk to him." Sunset said as she too left the room.
"He seems very upset." Fluttershy said, placing her hands in her lap. "I wonder if the other world's me has something to do with it?" She looked to Princess Twilight who stood and shook her head. "Did I... she?"
"I have no idea." Princess Twilight said. "I've known him for a nearly half a year and very rarely do I ever get a straight answer from him. He likes to answer questions with questions. He won't even divulge his age, in most cases, we're left guessing."
"How old do you think he is?" Rainbow asked. "He looks young, but his hair has that salt and pepper thing going on. Is he sick?"
Princess Twilight sat down and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Our group is split, some say late twenties, others say early forties. Now that I see his human appearance mixed with his hair, I'm lost."
"He seems like he gives you alotta' headaches." Applejack said.
"You have no idea, let me fill you in on my life since he moved into Ponyville."
As the girls spoke of Twilight and Ponyville, the other Twilight, Canterlot high's Twilight, left to meet up with Sunset Shimmer and Skyfall. She looked through the halls briefly and heard the faint sound of speaking in a nearby bathroom. The closer Twilight got, the more clear the words became. With a subtle push, She looked in to see Skyfall sitting on the floor with his forearms resting on his knees and his head against the back wall with Sunset sat in front of him, talking him down from something.
"You know if you want to vent, I'm here." Sunset said as a shimmer from the setting sun beamed through the window, making her the brightest thing in the room.
Twilight looked over the bathroom mirror and saw that a dark cleaning solution, likely from the janitorial staff, had been opened and splashed on it to obscure the reflection. 'Does he hate the way he looks?'
"Sunset, you're a good person, but I would rather not drag you down with needless drama." Skyfall's cold tone echoed. He looked at the clothes Rarity had assembled for him and bite his lip, realizing he may have been in too much of a hurry to get some alone time with himself.
His white button-up shirt was worn, Rarity hummed at it and likely accepted that's what she had to work with, but the shirt was likely supposed to be thrown away from it's state as the frayed fibers on some bits of the shirt betrayed its age. The shirt was made to fit a smaller man as Sky's shoulders were too broad, forcing him to keep the top four buttons unlinked, revealing a blue t-shirt underneath. The dark cleaning solution stained his rolled sleeves, despite his best attempts to roll without staining.
"You do fit your clothes nicely." Sunset smiled at his pathetic attempt at rolling his sleeves evenly. "Let me redo these."
"It's fine."
"No, you look like a slob." Sunset insisted as she tried to help Skyfall.
"I can do it myself." Skyfall smiled, pulling his arm away from Sunset's outstretched hand, only to have his wrist grabbed firmly and jerked down.
"I'm helping you."
"Yes, ma'am." Skyfall relented and sat still as Sunset fixed his clothes like he was a child on the first day of school. Mentally chuckling to himself as the one that had hunted him for the past few months was now fixing his messy sleeves. "Thank you."
"No problem, if we're going to work together, we have to trust each other." Sunset tugged the rolled cuffs to straighten them out and then went to work on his uneven pant cuffs. "Did Rarity say whose these were?"
Skyfall shrugged. "Mr. Ira's clothes, according to Rarity he is a visiting career instructor and leaves stuff here on occasion. She said that he shouldn't miss these due to not having seen them since he left them six months ago."
Sunset finished up and took a good look at Skyfall. "Huh, I guess that was a bit of luck that they fit." She looked as Skyfall moved, causing some parts of the shirt to strain from insufficient space. "Well, mostly."
"Yeah, and that these boot's previous owners kept them clean, no foot juice." Skyfall rolled on a knee and rose slowly, minding the multiple loops on his loose carpenter jeans. He looked outside at the setting sun. "So where to for the night?"
"I would say my place, but my foster parents would lose their minds if I brought a man home after being away for a couple of months." Sunset rolled her eyes. "They would probably assume I'm pregnant and coddle you to death."
"Ah, so you have the parents that over eager to have grandchildren?" Skyfall laughed for a moment and balanced himself on his feet. "Wait, do they know about you being a Unicorn?"
With a vigorous nod, Sunset stood up to meet Skyfall, but only reached his shoulder. "They do, I told them after Twilight came through the portal the first time and defeated me."
"Defeated?" Skyfall asked.
Sunset winced. "Y-Yeah, once, a long time ago, I kind of stole the crown of Harmony and tried to raise an army. I used the power and it Twilight was able to overpower me."
"You forced the activation of a Spirit's power?" Skyfall asked skeptically.
"Yes." Sunset cupped her hands and bowed her head. "It was too much power for me to take and I lost myself. I felt immense rage and a drive to conquer everything. Well... more of a drive to conquer. Twilight and her friends freed me, leaving me in a large crater."
Skyfall waved weakly in Sunset's vision to get her attention. "Spirit power is a very dangerous thing Sunset. It is possible, under certain circumstances to activate a Spirit's power against its will, but the cost is often too great for those who are not Spirits."
"The cost?" Sunset asked.
"To put it in simple terms, Sunset Shimmer, your life." Skyfall's words struck a deep cord with Sunset, her numb expression told volumes. "It sounds like Harmony saw something in you and chose to spare you from her wrath."
Sunset giggled. "How vicious could the Spirit of Harmony be?"
Skyfall paused to remember a few cases and a few leveled cities before shaking his head.
"That violent?" Sunset asked.
"All Spirits have some amount of power at their disposal. Harmony was near the top of the power pyramid." Skyfall could not help but look at the dirty mirror to see his blurry reflection. "If you're here, then she went out of her way to save you. Had she not, your soul would have been split into various pieces and you would become cursed. And that's only if it was strong enough to not be torn apart."
"Did you once use a Spirit's power?" Sunset asked. "We were all startled when the mirror began screeching." She leveled a stare into Skyfall's eyes. "Does using a Spirit's power curse you?"
"It can curse you, but I have no idea why the mirror did that for me." Skyfall lied. "It could be a multitude of reasons, it could even be the Spirits setting up a warning system for when things come through."
"You really do know a lot about Spirits, don't you?"
"I do. I've lived among them and I have read a great many books that are now considered taboo in Equestria." Skyfall stated. "Although, there is a lot I still need to learn about life, or so Sif says."
"I think I know what she's talking about." Sunset chuckled, much to Skyfall's confusion.
"What's that mean?"
Sunset punched Sky's shoulder. "You won't let anyone close enough to actually tell them anything about you."
"So you want to know more about me?" Skyfall asked, bemused. "I don't know if you know what you're asking. All this is level T-seventeen classified, code Giraffe encryption."
Sunset face-palmed at Skyfall's annoying diversion. "Yes, I want to get to know more about you."
"Not on school property." The bathroom door opened, revealing Vice Principal Luna. "And certainly not in the boy's bathroom."
"Vice Principal Luna!" Sunset exclaimed. "We can-"
"No need, Sunset Shimmer, I have heard enough." Luna raised an eye brow to the bathroom couple. "I will not make an issue of what may, or may not, have happened. All I ask is that you and this ...young man?" Luna paused, confused at the man's approximate age. "-vacate the school grounds along with the rest of your friends. I need to close up the school, all classes have been finished for the evening."
Sunset nodded and made her way to the door. "Aren't the college courses going until eleven at night?"
"They would be, but a nasty storm is moving in and flash flood warnings are in effect so they have been cancelled." Luna placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "You all must hurry home, strong storms are not to be taken lightly."
Sunset smiled and waved Skyfall forward, a siren tone rang on Sunset's phone alerting them of a flash flood advisory. As if to illustrate Luna's warning, thunder crashed over the building, startling everyone before the sun's light gave way to dark clouds, dimly lit street lamps, and the occasional strobe of lightning.
Vice Principal Luna looked at Skyfall thoroughly as he passed. "You."
Skyfall stopped and looked down to Luna's inquisitive glare. "Yes?"
"You look familiar. Where are you from?"
"Are you asking whether or not I'm a pony?" Skyfall asked. He noticed the Vice Principal's pause and smirked. "That question should suffice as an answer."
As Skyfall left, he held up his finger to his lips, the universal symbol for silence. When he turned back around, the girls had congregated outside the room where they had been sitting and stared at Sunset and Skyfall as they walked up.
"There you two are." Rainbow said.
Another loud crash of thunder rolled through the skies above the school, nixing any potential conversation.
"You guys want to come over to my place?" Pinkie Pie asked. "My dad went on a business trip again, so if you all want to sleep over, you're totally allowed to."
Next to no thinking took place as the pitter–patter of of thick rain drops echoed on the schools roof.
"Yeah, let's do that." Applejack said as she and the others took out their car keys.
"That's wonderful." Rarity checked her phone. "Sweetie Belle is staying at Applejack's with her other friends. Everything is taken care of."
"Whose car are we going in?" Sunset asked, gesturing to her and Skyfall.
"I can take you." Fluttershy waved, only for Skyfall to turn and leave without looking at her. "O-Oh, I guess not."
"I'll drive the big guy." Applejack said, taking the sun glasses off her head and shoving them into a loop on her form fitting jeans. "I'll meet y'all there?"
"Will do." Rainbow called, already jogging away from the group. "Last one there buys the Chinese food!"
Those words sent everyone into a mad dash, leaving Skyfall to continue walking at his leisurely pace, alone. After a quiet moment when the footfalls left, he paused in the atrium and rolled his shoulders, cracking them.
"All that deodorant does nothing to hide the smell of formaldehyde." Skyfall boomed.
The sound of a heavy dragging was echoing from the second floor. Darkness grew like a sickness in the atrium as the storm picked up in strength.
"Not even a full day and you've already gained some of your senses as a person." Two, sickly green eyes peeked out from over the banister. His claws seeped over the railing and he rested his body against the half wall. "And here I thought you would disappoint."
"What are you doing here, Lonely Graves?" Skyfall asked. "Is this where you skulk off to every time my scouts get close to pinning you down? Or do you like pretending we don't know one another."
"And you know exactly who I am." Graves cackled. "Or, at least who I've become. I guess it's too much to ask for you to remember me from the time before."
Graves started to descend the stairs. His body lumbered from side to side with heavy steps under a lumpy coat.
"I remember you, Graves, I remember us all." Skyfall turned to the being approaching him.
"Good, then you'll remember what you did to us."
"Yes..."
"Yes?" Graves said, a brown, stinking liquid dropped from his eyes like tears as they widened in anger.
"Psalm told me about some of your lives after that day." Skyfall said, trying to keep an eye on Graves as he started to circle. A dense sucking feeling took him over, forcing him to a knee. "I just want to speak with you all and try to fix things."
"Oh, we are far past fixing anything, dear brother." Two large stallions walked up through the darkness, each clearly being from Equestria and worse, dead. Rot and decay spider-webbed their bodies and stitches tried their best to keep it all together like a thrift store teddy bear.
"Why are you tampering with the dead?" Skyfall put his hand over his mouth from the smell as Graves patted one of the stallion's cheeks before kissing him on the ear, delighting in his brother's disgusted expression.
"Such a shocking question coming from you." Graves growled. "Or do you still keep that a secret? Do you trust Grogar to keep that a secret for much longer?"
"Where are the others?" Skyfall said.
"They'll be along." Graves ordered the stallion to turn and walk. "One in particular wants to see you very soon. Make sure to have your raincoat handy, Big Brother."
The green aura left, leaving Skyfall in a dark atrium on his knees from Graves' draining magic.
"Skyfall?" Applejack asked as she turned the corner and hurried into a light jog until she got to his side. "Skyfall, are you okay?"
Everything slowed and Skyfall's vision drifted in and out of coherence.
"Skyfall?" Applejack swatted his face lightly, dragging him from his daze. "What happened?"
"N-Nothing, just got really, really dizzy." Skyfall got to his feet and stumbled before being helped by Applejack. After a few twists and turns through the school, Skyfall chuckled. "I should be glad you're a strong one."
"Well, thank ya kindly." Applejack chuckled out as she was waved away by Skyfall regaining his footing. She looked on as he stretched and rolled his shoulders. "Is it normal to be in highschools in your realm at night?"
"Nope." Applejack said.
"Then let's get going." Skyfall turned and walked in the direction he knew Applejack went in before coming back for him, only to have missed Lonely Grave by mere seconds. After a moment, Applejack followed behind silently.
The lack of words and the sound of rain brought back memories of Skyfall's human life. Images of school hallways flashed to a rain soaked lake shore and him being up to his torso in mud trying to rebuild retention walls. It wasn't uncommon for Spirits to remember their human lives in bursts, but it was uncommon for them to be extremely vivid like his were as of late. Memories of low points and the feelings of discomfort that came with them. Faces looked back at him when he closed his eyes and words reached him, only their names were kept in anonymity. He shook his head, bringing the dark hallways back.
"You okay, Skyfall?"
"Yeah." Skyfall said. "I think I might just be a little tired, that's all."
The sound of clopping echoed through the halls as lighting lit up the school. The stinging sour smell of formaldehyde wafted around the darkness, causing both Applejack and Skyfall to cover their noses.
"Why does everything smell like pickles?"
"Applejack, we need to run."
"Why?" Applejack turned to look at Skyfall, but noticed a distinct lack of anyone around her. A soft thumping sound drew her to look in the direction they were walking to see Skyfall in a dead sprint. "Hey! Why are you running?"
"Demon pony!"
Applejack looked down the other hall and saw two sickly green eyes and instantly followed Skyfall, catching up and passing him before plowing through the front double doors and rolling to a stop in the rain. She looked up and scrambled to her feet as Skyfall skidded to a stop with an axe and stuck it through the handles of the door.
"W-What was that?" Applejack asked. "Where'd you get the axe?"
"A dead horse. Axe was in the wall fire staion." Skyfall breathed out as he took a few uneven steps backward, cradling his bleeding hand. "That should hold it."
The door buckled outward from the stallions sheer weight upon hitting the door.
"Although, the Maker has made it her life mission to prove me wrong." Skyfall turned and ran, grabbing Applejack and cradling his bloodied hand to his chest. "Which truck... nevermind."
Skyfall altered his course for the only truck in the parkinglot, he slipped in a few of the puddles and arrived as the doors unlocked with Applejack's control button. The eyes of the stallion glowed from inside of the school, looking out at the as it paced like a feral beast needing to feed.
Applejack frantically turned the truck on before Skyfall put his hand on hers. Time ticked by and the tapping of raindrops echoed off the roof as the radio and air conditioning kicked on, having the key turned far enough, but not far enough to turn the engine.
"Why are we stopping?" Applejack asked with sporadic breath, sounding worried.
"Because he has." Skyfall pointed to the eyes that watched them from the darkness of a classroom. "Let's get out of here, safely."
Applejack gasped. "Skyfall, your wrist, it's bleeding."
Quickly, Skyfall moved his hand away from Applejack's and pressed his opposite hand to his left wrist to slow the bleeding. "Sorry, I cut it when I punched the glass to get the axe."
With a few clicks of her phone, Applejack looked up the navigation application while keeping on a lookout for the undead stallion. The engine roared to life as the keys initiated the turnover.
"I need to get you to the hospital." Applejack threw her SUV into reverse and started to move, but Skyfall shook his head.
"Just take us to Pinkie's, I'll be fine."
"I could see the bone, Skyfall, that has to hurt." Applejack jabbed a finger at Sky's face and his poor attempt to conceal his pain. "You need someone to stitch that up."
"Ju-Just get us to Pinkie's." Skyfall adjusted his grip to stop the bleeding. "I have no records in your world, they might get the police involved and that's something neither of us need."
The reasoning was solid, but Applejack still hated the plan. "Fine, but you still need help."
A new, yet familiar feeling washed over Skyfall as the truck accelerated in the rain. He looked on as the surrounding changed and moved as Applejack controlled the vehicle, shifting gears.
"So, you like driving a stick?" Sky asked.
"Stick?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "I thought Equestria didn't have cars?"
Pinkie's House
"Hey, are you okay in there?"
Repetitious knocking echoed through the small bathroom as Skyfall ran his wrist beneath the water. He growled as the small shard of glass he was trying to fish out slipped from his broken concentration. "I'm fine, just cleaning."
"We got the stuff you requested." Sunset said.
The instant Applejack and Skyfall got to Pinkie's house, they were bombard with questions as to why Skyfall had been bleeding like a stuck pig. He tried to cover the story up by saying he accidentally touched Applejack's butt, but Applejack spilled the entire story, minus the part about Skyfall knowing about cars. Now, Skyfall was sat inside Pinkie's now bloodied bathroom, using a pair of tweezers in a way they weren't intended to.
With a quick one handed flip of the door handle, Sky opened and stuck his arm out to grab the rustling bag he heard.
"We want to come in." Sunset said. "Fluttershy has some experience with treating animals at the shelter."
"And I'm good with a needle." Rarity added.
Skyfall used his foot to pull the door open, allowing his audience to see the bloody mess he made. He stared at Sunset, Fluttershy, and Rarity, trying to gauge their reactions. "I'm in the midst of trying to get glass out of my wrist, so if you don't mind blood, you can enter, but if you do, stay here and let me work."
Skyfall backed away from the door and picked up the tweezers once more. "Now, if you'll excuse me."
Without a moments notice, Pinkie Pie took the bag from Sunset's hands as she passed into the bathroom. "It's fine, girls, you can go upstairs and order the takeout. I'll stay here and help."
"Are you sure about this, Pinkie Pie?" Rarity asked.
With a happy nod, Pinkie smiled. "Yup-Yup, my daddy taught me, Limestone, Marble, and Maud alot about emergency medical care from a young age. I'm not as good as Marble, but I know how to dress a stab wound."
"Your dad taught you to dress a stab wound?" Applejack asked, her skepticism not lost on the room of shared sentiment.
"Yup! He teaches us alot of things, but nothing we aren't willing to do." Pinkie pointed to a faded picture on the display case, the man in it was aged, years of stress wore on his skin until permanent grooves folded his cheeks. He was saluting an unknown entity just off the picture's field of view, the tip of his hand neatly positioned between his brow and beret, it's shadow doing little to hide the prominent eye patch.
"That's your father?" Fluttershy said, surprised at the seriousness that the man portrayed.
"He looks... nice." Rarity struggled to be nice.
"You mean serious." Pinkie rolled on her heels. "He can be serious, but I can always get him to laugh."
The sudden rolling of a shampoo bottle grabbed Pinkie's attention. "Whoops, bleeder in the bathroom! You guys get the food, remember, I want Coconut chicken. Skyfall! What do you want from the Chinese food place!"
"Meow."
The room fell silent at Skyfall's dark humor before Applejack, Rarity, and Sunset started to giggle.
"That wasn't funny." Rainbow shook her head and walked upstairs.
Pinkie laughed to herself when she saw how sloppy Skyfall was at getting the shard out and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Do you have Chinese places in Equestria? I can get you a menu."
"No, that's fine." Skyfall said quietly as he grimaced, finally grasping the sharp and pulling it back slowly so as not to cause further damage. "I'll have Mongolian Beef with a side of boneless spare rib."
Pinkie looked back to see Applejack's thumb up as she was already calling for delivery. Pinkie closed the door slowly behind her, almost closing the pant leg of her nightwear in the door.
The adrenaline that coursed through Skyfall's veins had long worn off, his hand shook as he laid down a small shard, bathed red and nearly indistinguishable on the red paper towel. The piece that initially lodged itself in his wrist cracked and splintered, leaving a quick removal to become an arduous task.
"Splintered huh?" Pinkie asked as she moved to sit on the counter, just opposite Skyfall. She quietly took inventory of the bag and tisked. "You had most of what you needed, but missed the iodine."
"I wasn't sure if your world had that or not." Skyfall watched as Pinkie placed a hand on his hip and bent down past him to access the space beneath him. She came up with a brown bottle and ran her hand down his arm, circling the wound.
"That is a very deep cut."
Skyfall continued to observe and noticed Pinkie's eyes weren't wide with amazement as they usually were, they were serious. Her normal bubbly nature flip flopped to the woman that stood before him. Some part of him felt like she was scolding him for his blunder. In a way, she reminded him of how his world's Pinkie acted around him, mature and intelligent.
"If you pulled too hard left or too hard right, you have caused nerve damage." Pinkie grasped his hand and angled it while looking into the gore. "Good job on the glass removal so far, if I didn't know you came from Equestria, I would say you've done this before."
"I'll get the rest." Pinkie held out her open hand and flexed it impatiently when Skyfall wasn't budging. When he did, she maintained a firm, smooth grip on the tweezers and effortlessly removed three clear sharps. She tossed the utensils in the sink and grabbed a hand towel from the hook behind her. Running the towel under water before twisting it tight. She grabbed Skyfall's chin and held it up to his mouth. "You should bite down on this."
"It's fine, I've had worse."
Pinkie wrenched Skyfall's hand up and popped the top off of the bottle of alcohol. "If you say so!"
Skyfall watched as Pinkie braced for a gut wrenching scream, she peaked up only to see a quiet, raised brow. "I found your lidocaine, that's how I was able to dig in my wrist for glass."
"Huh, I should have guessed that." Pinkie thought aloud as she started to apply the iodine to Skyfall's arm to disinfect it. "That takes the pain out of the next part."
Pinkie hovered a flame beneath the needle before getting a spindle out of the bag and chuckling. "We have sutures, but this is good enough. You just need to keep it clean."
"Pinkie, where did you learn all this?" Skyfall asked.
"You didn't hear me say this to the girls?"
Skyfall held up his wrist. "I was a little preoccupied."
"My dad taught me." Pinkie said as she pierced Skyfall's skin with the needle, causing him to hiss in pain. "I thought you said you found the lidocaine?"
"I did, I guess that spot wasn't covered well enough." Skyfall smiled.
Later that night
The storm that pounded the town was nasty. Trees were swaying like the were made of rubber and the wind howled like a train whistle, and every so often, lighting would crash so loud car alarms would go off. Despite this, the girls were sound asleep while Skyfall laid awake in Pinkie's living room.
The rough, cotton blanket felt unusually harsh on his skin and the pain medication Pinkie administered had long worn off, his only comfort was a warm, brown, hoodie jacket that Pinkie said belonged to an ex-boyfriend of her sister.
A sudden weakening of the storm was nice enough to lure Skyfall onto Pinkie's back porch where he sat, watching as sheets of rain poured off the roof.
Time ticked on as Skyfall sat, deep in thought.
Whispers pierced the rain and shadows gathered in the large, open yard among the trees. At first, Sky thought his mind was playing tricks on him until the shadows started to exit the small tree line as one. A shade held up an arm, stopping the crowd before breaking away, presumably to achieve what they were there to do.
Skyfall stood slowly and lifted the hood of his jacket before walking into the rain, instantly feeling it through his only set of clothes.
The shade stopped and its eyes glowed pink for a moment. "Who do you answer to?"
"Wow, just met and you're already trying to bed me." Skyfall's monotonous voice offset the surrounding shades, unsure of who stood before them, be it friend or foe.
"Are you a Spirit?"
Skyfall knew that what magic he brought over would replenish, but very slowly due to the realm's apparent aversion to natural magic, having sensed a slow drag on his soul since arriving. He dug deep and forced his eyes to glow, answering the shade's question. It was then that he knew the shadows were Spirits as glowing eyes stared back from the darkness.
"You are a Spirit, but I must now ask, what name was given to you?"
Knowing that Lonely Grave let slip that his siblings were hunting him, it was best to avoid throwing his name around to those he didn't truly know. Plus, Shattered Skies was the name he chose, the name that was given to him, a name the Maker had chosen, was Ardennes.
"My name is Ardennes."
"I have never heard of you." The shade said calmly, placing it's hands on an unseen belt buckle in front if its body. "I've come to know a great many Spirits and Ardennes isn't a name that I know. Judging from that name, you're under the Earth elemental's sect."
"I am."
"Who is the Forest Spirit?" The shade asked.
"The Forest Spirit was Shattered Skies, but he was slain one thousand years ago." Skyfall answered.
"Right answer so far." The shade chuckled as he waved a few Spirits down, dismissing them. He looked back to Skyfall and ran his hand through his spiky, red hair. "If what you say is true, then Earth would want to see you to get you set up in this world."
"So Earth is here?" Skyfall asked.
"She is. When Celestia started persecuting us, she forced us here and prevented us from returning. Then Earth found a way to cross over on her own." The Spirit smiled before digging into his back pocket. "She talked about being there for the Spirits and about how Equus may be better off without Spirits in this age of peace."
Skyfall shook his head, causing the shade to stop his moving.
"I take it you have news from Equus?"
"I do, it's important that I find Earth immediately." As Skyfall finished, a scroll and four runes were shoved in his hand, each rune etched onto a different conduit that glowed brightly in his grasp before he fought to suppress his Spirit form's influence, causing them to dull. "What's with the junk?"
"If you really are a true Spirit, then you'll know what to do with them." The shade backed away. "We have had to put obstacles between newcomers and Earth to protect her, I'm sure you understand."
With a flash of lightning from the storm, the shades disappeared into the black night.
"Skyfall?"
Sunset called from the porch door as it creaked open. Sky turned to see her trying to look through the darkness.
Silently, Skyfall walked through the rain and ascended the steps. "I'm here, Sunset, just enjoying the rain."
The look Sunset gave Skyfall tore into him, more than he felt it should have. She frowned and shook her head.
"What's wrong?"
"You do this in Equestria too, something is clearly on your mind and you deflect it. Is letting someone close that painful?" Sunset asked, showing less restraint than earlier due to their seclusion.
"Nothing's wrong, Sunset."
"Then why has your face been in a constant frown since we met at the castle?" Sunset grabbed his shoulders to force Sky to look her in the eye. "And your eyes water more, like now."
"It's raining, so it's probably the rain?" Skyfall tried to turn, but Sunset's kung-fu like grip kept him still.
"Your hood is up." Sunset deadpanned and stopped Skyfall's talking with a silencing finger. "I'm not Twilight, I pursue answers, not just demand them."
Skyfall couldn't help but to smile, Sunset was a hard mare to fool. All his wiles and trickery often held up like a wet paper bag when it came to her shrewd ability to deduce.
"So, will you talk to me?" Sunset asked, her eyes burned a look of defiance as she continued the stare.
"I don't think I have a choice."
Sunset giggled as she sat on the cushioned bench, patting the seat next to her. "Eh, not really."
Chapter 1 or 6 in the human world. Please let me know if you would like to see any more escapades in the human world. I can do that without it affecting the story and the quality.
Got some off time this week so I got to writing more chapters and revising what I wrote for the upcoming chapters.
Skyfall does hate the way he looks. I don't believe I go that much into it because I feel it's one of those unspoken things. I believe I do that alot this chapter, much of what I touch on or elude to is much deeper than it seems, especially certain secrets, which Sky is fond of. Much to my dismay.
Lonely Graves. I hate writing him because he isn't comic book style evil, but real world evil. He was the first villain I created and in my opinion, one of the worst (Evil worst). I have head canon on each of the characters I create/write, little things that make them the way they are. For example; when Rainbow says "thats not funny" To Skyfall's joke when that's the breed of sick she would usually laugh at. In that world she also has a pet cat.
Graves is addicted to the dead. Or more simply, killing and recreating something he can control. Each of the villains have their own theme, but each enjoy control in one way or another. Graves, controls through taking one's ability to protest away.
He, like Shattered Skies, hates himself. As a result, he changes his outward appearance and even adorns himself with cutie marks of young ponies to try and bastardize his appearance. And in case I didn't make it overly clear. He knows much about Skies and his past thanks to Grogar. Each of the ones involved are ignorant as to what the other knows, especially among the twisted siblings. (twisted as in evil.)
And yes, I have a unique resolution to each of the siblings.
P.S. making a blog post about a story thing that plagued my mind today.
Anyway, I sincerely hope you enjoy. 
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Neat. You'd think Sunset would become more suspicious if she knows that Skyfall knows human references. Doesn't she still suspect Skyfall of being Shattered Skies?
The plot thickens
Thanks for the new chapter.
Always a joy to see this update. Kinda curious just how many flags Skyfall can throw up with his knowledge before it blows up on him. Although it may have already with the end there...
Great update!
Also,
Could it be?!
livedoor.blogimg.jp/gomashio11/imgs/3/4/34e6a10d-s.jpg
So the spirits chose an edge lordy introduction, all dark and mysterious and gave little information but demanding answers more.
Things will be tricky from here on.
Also at certain points, you used cloths in place of clothes
8264771
Exactly. I have a feeling that's going to cause erhrmm... things to hit the fan
Edit:
Also, Lonely Graves recognized Skies with the colors of his disguised form... Wonder if he (and/or any of the other evil siblings) knows that "Skyfall" is Shattered Skies. Of course, answering that question would probably include spoilers sooooo.....
I absolutely loved what you did with this chapter. It actually gave me shivers
I also have to say that the way you portray Pinkie Pie is by far my favorite , and I do consider it the best representation of her 
Now keep up the great work. I would love to see more done in the Human world. As always I look forward to your next chapter
I'm curious: does Skyfall's human appearance match his original appearance? Or do we find that out later?
8264771
I suppose she might catch on, but he's made the references mostly to the others. She'll only truly catch on if they compare notes.
You want these to be "allowed" - to permit something.
Aloud is to do something audibly.
You spelled "allowed" wrong.
"Because he has." Skyfall pointed to the eyes that watched them from the darkness of a classroom. "Let's get out of her, safely."
And "here" too
Just a minor spelling error. You used aloud instead of allowed in at least 2 sentences that I caught.
and here I thought Skies appears as his original self. that would have been cool.
also still doesn't stop me form hating Graves and his bunch. what do they have agaisnt Skeis anyway.
Is he complementing the cloth or the clothes?
allowed
8265333 that is something I would like to see
8265445. From what I understand of the story,. They are Shattered Skies human siblings, and they hate him for committing suicide. Well that's my take on it Unless I completely misread the story.
Yeah i am shipping Skies and Sunset from now on
And please more human world chapters, no offense to the cast back in Equestria but Skies is interesting and i enjoy his interactions with the other characters
8265848
8264967
I never said, but I love the idea that Big Boss, or a Big Boss character, is Pinkie's human father.
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Sorry,
is fixed
My imagining of the upcoming meeting between Earth and Skies:
All though I know it is a viable narrative technique, and prolly better than what I would do, I find it discouraging when a story alternates updates between two settings and narrative arcs. What always happens (including this time) is that I become heavily invested in one of the settings and any other updates gets processed as filler even when I know it's not.
If after all that you still want my opinion:
Im super stoked for more Skies/Sunset interaction and the group slowly figuring out he know too much about that world. I don't find the Celestrial Journey all that interesting. (Sorry)
8266527
That's actually a really good point. I read stories that do that and have found myself in the same position where I enjoy one but not the other. In lieu of this, the structure my change so that stuff isnt lost from the switching.
As for Celestia's journey, I will not actually be writing her journey out. You'll see what I do with it.
So many questions! Ah!
Thanks for the early update!
cdn.meme.am/instances/59141964.jpg
8266248
... would it be better or worse if they were there to hear that conversation ? 
It would be glorious if it was something like that
asciify.net/ascii/thumb/653/batman-bane-for-you.png
sky need a knight!
I would think skyfall would be better at not tipping people off??
The mention of Human Pinke's dad sharing the appearance of or actually being either Big Boss or Solid Snake makes me yearn for that one fic that had that as its premise...a shame that it might never be updated.
8266248
love the hellsing ultimate abridged reference
I just found this and I am now sad that I'm caught up keep up the amazing work man
Funny meme
Yes, I like driving my 5-speed. My car's one of the few males left in North America. (Two ball joints and a stick)
Ohohoho, that's bad.
I'd faint if this were me. Either one of them. I'm not particularly squeamish, as long as I don't think about it too much, but this would definitely get me.