My Little Equestroid: Stompin' is Magic

by ForeverChasingRainbows

Chapter 5 - Fantasy Made Reality

**Twilight Sparkle**

Twilight Sparkle was, for the second time in the last few hours, absolutely terrified. There wasn't time to explain to her friends what exactly a portal like the one in the cave was capable of if it was violently severed from the other side beyond "run very, very fast," but Twilight herself was very much aware of all of the mathematically possible universe-rending cataclysmic things that could happen at any moment.

As a result, it actually felt strangely anticlimactic when, after just a few seconds, the portal vomited forth a giant lightning-wreathed figure and then simply fizzled away into nothing. The new arrival was ejected from the rift with enough force to leave a spiderweb network of cracks and a hefty scorch mark on the wall it hit, and after taking a moment to rein in her friends' flight Twilight moved to investigate.

"What is that? It's positively enormous!" Rarity exclaimed.

Pinkie Pie's eyes almost jumped out of her head. "Wowzers, is that a horse?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight replied uncertainly, tilting her head to one side. "It definitely looks like one, but it's even bigger than any of the portrayals I've seen or read about. Disregarding the size discrepancy-"

"Horses are real?!" Rainbow Dash almost squealed in excitement. "Twi, you told me they weren't real!"

"They aren't. At least, not in our world," Twilight said. "The Headless Horse is about as realistic as they get."

"Oh come on, they were in Daring Do and everything!"

"And just as Daring and I explained to you,"-after you refused to take my word for it and I had to drag her away from her work, again, Twilight added internally-"not everything she puts in those books is real."

"Well is that real enough for you?" Rainbow said, taking to the air to point both forehooves at the fallen creature. "Look at the size of it, it's gotta be at least twice as awesome as the ones Daring took on!"

"I don't know what this is exactly, but it's not some creature out of ancient myth. Horses are a fictional hippomorphic personification of the baser, more animalistic parts of pony nature - a bit bigger, a bit stronger, a bit more primitive and brutal."

Typically, Rainbow Dash missed the point entirely. "What do hippos have to do with anything?"

Twilight sighed in resigned exasperation and tried to remember to use smaller words. "Hippomorphic means pony-shaped."

"Then why didn't you just say pony-shaped? It's not even like that other word is shorter or anything. Plus I understand what pony-shaped means."

"That's not the poi-" Twilight stopped and rubbed at her temple with a hoof. "Forget it."

"So this is a horse. They're real?" Dash persisted.

It certainly seemed like a giant horse to Twilight, even if she was reluctant to slap a mythological label - and all the baggage that came with it - on the alien creature. The thing was huge, the top of its barrel reaching up to her chin even as it lay on its side. Up on its hooves it would be downright intimidating. Probably tall enough to stand over any of the ponies around it without their backs touching its belly. It had a light grey coat, and a long thick white mane and tail. The more wedge-shaped head and pronounced muzzle typically portrayed in images of the beasts of legend was clearly visible, and large flat teeth could be seen in its open mouth. It appeared to be unconscious, lying on its side with its back towards them and its tongue lolling out onto the floor. There was a large red saddle strapped to the horse's back - Twilight guessed it might be cold wherever it was it had come from, but there was something that felt wrong about the design. She decided to tag that onto the bottom of the long list of strange things and move on to a closer inspection.

"Well it superficially resembles a horse, and we don't exactly have another name for it. I suppose you can call it a horse if you like," Twilight said absently. "Just don't assume it's actually going to be anything like the legends."

Rainbow Dash pumped a hoof in celebration. "I've met a real live horse. Ha! Awesome!"

"D-Do you think it's okay?" Fluttershy asked from behind Applejack. "It hit the wall really hard..."

"Eh, it's still breathing. I've hit walls way harder than that," Rainbow Dash proclaimed proudly, striking what Twilight assumed was meant to be a heroic pose, "and I'm fine."

"That ain't somethin' to be proud of, RD," Applejack noted.

"It's not a pegasus, and it's much bigger and heavier than you are Rainbow," Fluttershy explained. "That makes these kinds of injuries much more dangerous - without magical protection, creatures bigger than insects can really hurt themselves with a crash like that!"

"It's mostly a question of inherent magical ability and surface area to volume ratios-" Twilight began, pausing as she began to circle around to the front of the creature to get a look at its legs and belly. Articulated metal plates covered the horse's limbs, from intricate banded segments over the tops of its hooves all the way to large flat pieces over its shoulders and hindquarters. Twilight was also struck by how thoroughly strapped down the saddle was. Rather than a simple belt running across the belly, there were multiple thick straps secured with what looked like heavy metal links.

"Wow. I think this guy might be a guard or something."

"Guy? It's male?" Pinkie asked, dropping the pencil she had been holding in her mouth. She was apparently taking notes on something, as a small pad lay on the floor in front of her. Twilight was reasonably certain that, knowing Pinkie, her writings only related to what was actually noteworthy about the situation in the most tangential of fashions.

"Yes, he's a stallion," Twilight went on, "There's plate armour on his legs, and a badge pinned to some sort of equipment rig on his chest. Can't read it from this far away, but it's not too different from a sheriff's star." Twilight edged a little closer, approaching the prone giant's head.

Now Twilight was puzzled by something else. If he's an earth pony - earth horse, or whatever they call them - then how does he get that saddle on and off? There's no way he could reach half the buckles with his mouth, and any clasp designed to hold armour on in combat wouldn't be easily opened by hoof.

Of course he could be helped in and out of it by somepony else, but that seemed more than a little impractical to Twilight. Wondering if perhaps she had missed a horn beneath the thick shock of white mane atop the giant's head, Twilight decided to risk moving a little closer for another look.

She didn't see any evidence of a horn, or anything similar, but it looked as if the horse was wearing some kind of thin metal headdress. It was a gold-coloured wire affair, with a swept-back vertical arm sticking up from a half-circle band mostly hidden beneath the thick mane.

Well, Twilight thought, at least if it has armour and jewellery on it's probably intelligent. Maybe I can ask him about it when he wakes up.

"Do be careful Twilight," Rarity urged, "That brute did emerge from a portal that was leaking dark magic after all."

"He's wearing what looks like a metal headdress too," Twilight continued, not really listening as she tried to take in every detail. "Doesn't look ornamental, but it wouldn't do much good as armour either. Maybe that..." Twilight trailed off as she moved even closer, and spotted something else the ground that had been hidden by the creature's forelegs. There was an expanding pool of red staining the ground, spreading from beneath the giant's shoulder.

"...That is a lot of blood."

Fluttershy gasped and bolted out from behind Applejack to stand beside Twilight. She took one look at the blood on the rocky floor, and immediately ran to fetch her saddlebags from beside the narrow entryway.

"Roll him onto his back, quickly!" Fluttershy said at a volume that, for her at least, was practically shouting. "Twilight, Rarity, can you figure out how to get the armour off his leg so I can get a better look at it?"

"I can't do that and keep this light on as well," Rarity said, "we can't help him at all in the dark."

Twilight gritted her teeth as Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy roll the heavy creature onto its back, exposing the ragged wound just behind the metal plate covering its right shoulder. Multi-casting was going to hurt, but she had to start using magic again soon or she was going to go nuts.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, gingerly reaching out with her magic. She tried to ignore the occasional stab of pain from her horn as she kept her own light going at the same time. The moment she grabbed onto one of the pieces of metal covering the giant's abused shoulder, however, the situation became more complicated.

"Fluttershy? It's not armour," Twilight said slowly. "That's his leg."

"W-What?" Fluttershy stopped pulling supplies out of her bags, her nervous stammering back in full force as she, and the other members of the group, gave voice to their confusion.

Twilight quickly checked the other three to make sure before she spoke, explaining slowly as she pieced the ideas together in her own head. "None of it is armour, those are his actual legs. The metal isn't strapped to him, it's a part of him. He certainly considers it a part of his body, the external plates are repelling magic in the same way anypony else's skin does. We'd need an x-ray, or a doctor and some proper medical magic to get a look inside."

This is crazy, Twilight thought, the only reason somepony would need something like this done...

"He must have been in some sort of horrible accident some time in the past, and-" Twilight swallowed nervously "-lost his legs. I think they're prosthetics. Artificial legs," she clarified, before anypony asked what 'prosthetic' meant.

What in the world could inflict those kinds of injuries on a creature this size? And how does somepony with four prosthetic legs even manage to walk?

Twilight glanced around at her friends, and it seemed like they were all asking themselves the same question. Only Fluttershy was otherwise occupied, having returned to busily applying what medical supplies she had to the best of her ability.

Rainbow Dash broke the silence first. "Maybe he was, like, trying to escape or something. You know, through the portal-y thing. I mean, how bad's the place he came from gotta be to do that to somepony?"

"There ain't much point fussin' about that now. We'll have to wait 'till he wakes up an' ask 'im," Applejack commented. "But first, we gotta deal with the fresh scrapes he picked up on the way here."

"If we even can ask him, darling," Rarity cautioned, "I'm hardly familiar with other worlds and universes, but I doubt they speak Equestrian there."

Pinkie Pie let out a loud gasp, then exclaimed "Oh my gosh! I totally hadn't thought of that! I'm gonna have to get really creative with the banners now..."

"Pinkie Pie, whatever are you talking about?" Rarity asked, looking askance at the earth pony. Pinkie was still seated behind a notepad, but had dropped her pencil again.

"Well the first ever 'Welcome to the universe' party was going to be tough enough as it is, but I hadn't even thought that he might not speak our language! Maybe I can do something with pictures. Wait! Hold on to your hooves..."

Applejack pulled her hat down over her eyes with a hoof, mumbling something Twilight didn't quite catch under her breath.

"I am just about to be BRILLIANT!" Pinkie finished triumphantly.

"And what amazin' idea has Chancellor Puddin'head come up with this time?" Applejack asked sceptically.

"We can do the entire party..." Pinkie Pie began slowly, as if explaining a complex scheme, "Stay with me girls, this is great. We can do the whole thing," she paused for dramatic effect before finishing in the hushed tones of a pony making a grand revelation, "in charades."

"I know, I know, I even surprised myself at first!" Pinkie continued as her friends' brains stalled attempting to process what had just been said. Only Fluttershy kept moving, still distracted as she bandaged up the horse's injury.

"Wha... how would that- it's completely impractical, you wouldn't even..." Twilight stammered before collapsing onto her haunches and rapidly shaking her head to clear it. "What? Ow!" Twilight folded her hooves over her still-sensitive head, immediately regretting shaking it so hard.

"As interesting as that is, I believe we have a more pressing issue at hoof," said Rarity, pointing to the narrow passageway they had squeezed through to enter the cave. "How are we going to get him out of here?"

**Thirty-Thirty**

Thirty-Thirty had regained consciousness. He could tell by how much it hurt.

It felt like someone had set his right shoulder on fire, and for some reason he could taste dirt. He hadn't been hit that hard since BraveStarr had smashed him through a wall then sucker-punched him unconscious during their first meeting.

The name triggered something in his brain, and the memory of what had just happened leapt to the front of his mind. Still groggy, Thirty tried to roll to his hooves before being rudely reminded that his shoulder was hurt. The stallion returned to lying on his back with a pained whinny, before opening his eyes.

"Marshal? Are you..." Thirty trailed off as the cave around him came into focus. It didn't look much like the one he'd been in a moment ago - there was no sign of the machinery that had been scattered everywhere, and the whole place seemed to be smaller. A glimpse of a familiar shade of yellow drew Thirty's attention, and then the thing that definitely wasn't his partner's uniform drove most of the coherent thoughts from his head.

There was a tiny filly stood just a couple of feet from him.

That wasn't possible, he'd only ever seen equines younger than himself in pictures. She was so small and fragile-looking. She couldn't be more than a couple of years old, which meant parents, a family... maybe even a whole other tribe. Thirty-Thirty stared at the impossible filly in stunned incomprehension, unable to really process what he was seeing.

After a few moments, other things started to clamour for Thirty's attention. Not only was this tiny equine yellow with a pink mane and tail, she had an oddly short muzzle and huge eyes. Her legs were larger than he would have expected for a filly as well. Rather than being thin, unsteady things, they looked to be fully developed - maybe even a little chubby, looked at on the same miniaturised scale as the rest of her.

She also had, of all things, a pair of feathered wings at her sides. Who would do something like that to a child? Mods like that were completely impractical - you'd never be able to actually fly with them, and adding extra limbs to a nervous system just didn't work in practice. Not that they even looked artificial, almost as if they were a natural part of her body. Pegasus was a popular legend of course, who wouldn't want to be able to fly, but-

The filly let out a pitiful little squeak and shrank back, hiding part of her face behind the long strands of her pastel pink mane. Thirty-Thirty was used to people being intimidated by his size and unusual appearance, but he still felt a little guilty about scaring a child. A new wave of pain shot through his shoulder as he tried to reach out to the smaller equine, and Thirty let out another pained sound before glancing down at himself. His body had apparently shifted back when he got hit, as he had the usual four hooves and no hands again. There were cloth bandages wrapped over and around his chest, holding a thick pad tightly to his right side just behind his shoulder - and there was a pretty large patch of his coat matted down with sticky drying blood around it. It only piled more absurdities on an already strange situation, but it seemed like the little filly had patched him up somehow.

Thirty's suspicions were confirmed when he returned his gaze to the filly. She had moved closer again, and now held a small tape dispenser in her mouth. A pair of miniature saddlebags lay open on the ground behind her, and Thirty could see what looked like medical supplies inside - all of which seemed to be as small as the filly was. There were even some tiny wrappers lying around on the ground that had probably held bandages. With the difference in their sizes, she'd likely emptied the whole kit just to get him fixed up. At least the little aid kit had actual supplies in it, and not toy versions. The thought would have counted, sure, but good intentions didn't do much for blood loss.

Tentatively, the small yellow equine moved up to Thirty's injured shoulder and placed the dispenser on the ground. She glanced at him nervously, and pointed a hoof at the bandages before mumbling something that the stallion simultaneously did and didn't understand. The words didn't mean anything to him, but there was something about the message that got across anyway. Thirty moving around had loosened the bandages, and ~Fluttershy~ was going to fix it. He just had to hold still for a second.

What kinda name is '~Fluttershy~', anyway?

It was only then that the question of how exactly he suddenly knew what the small equine's name was - in a language he wasn't sure he could even pronounce, let alone understand - popped into Thirty's head. Then ~Fluttershy~ yanked on the bandages around his shoulder with her teeth.

By the time the pain settled down again, ~Fluttershy~ had the tape dispenser back in her mouth and was using it to re-secure the bandages held together by her hooves. Thirty stared in amazement at the filly's yellow feathered wings, now spread wide for balance as she left all her weight on her hind hooves to work. They really did look completely natural, although the stallion couldn't see how they could serve any purpose beyond that for which they were currently being used. Even gliding with them would probably be dangerous - birds that weighed only a few pounds needed wings that size to stay airborne, there was no way they could keep something equine in the air. Even if she was tiny, ~Fluttershy~ had to weigh far more than a bird. Her weight against his shoulder had seemed about right for something her size, at least until she'd settled her weight back onto her rear hooves.

Thirty's small companion also seemed to have some sort of printed design at the top of her thigh. Three butterflies; with blue bodies, and wings the same pale pink shade as her mane and tail. He wasn't sure what that might signify - his own thigh was bare metal at that point, and as far as he knew there wasn't anything particularly special about it.

Probably just a personal thing, he thought. Maybe she really likes butterflies.

The yellow filly dropped back to all fours and folded her wings to her sides, before looking up at him quizzically. Thirty thought she looked adorable, head tilted to one side with the little tape dispenser hanging out of her mouth, then realised she probably wanted to know if he was okay now she was done.

"Thanks, missy," Thirty said quietly, "Looks like ya took good care o'me while I was out."

~Fluttershy~'s ears twitched as he spoke, confusion briefly passing over her features. Then she shrank back behind her mane, a shy smile on her muzzle.

The moment was interrupted by a high-pitched voice, again speaking in a language Thirty couldn't understand. This time he didn't get any clue as to what might have been said, although he thought he caught his small friend's name in there somewhere. Thirty realised he'd focused almost entirely on ~Fluttershy~ after seeing her, so amazed was he that she even existed at all. Apparently she wasn't alone.

If the four other small brightly-coloured equines standing off to the other side of him hadn't been enough to completely wreck Thirty-Thirty's tentative grasp on events, the fifth one flying above his head definitely did it. The stallion's exhausted brain threw up its metaphorical arms in disgust, and he slipped back into unconsciousness.

**Fluttershy**

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and, to her embarrassment, dropped the tape dispenser. Leaving it where it fell, she dashed back to her patient's side as he fainted. After a few panicked moments where she was terrified she'd done something wrong, Fluttershy relaxed a little.

"I think he's still pretty tired out," she said, raising her voice to an uncomfortably loud level to make sure everypony could hear. "He lost quite a bit of blood, and from how surprised he seemed to be to see me I don't think he was quite ready for all of you as well."

"Whaddaya mean, 'ready fer us'?" Applejack asked, "We ain't the ones that look funny."

"Well, we kind of are," Twilight explained, "at least to him. From his perspective we're the ones that aren't normal. He just woke up injured in a room full of aliens, I'd say he took it pretty well."

That made a little swell of happiness rise in Flutteshy's chest. He really had seemed nice, even if he was big and scary. Sort of like Mister Bear, really, although if he'd been injured in a room full of ponies it might have gone a little differently. This stallion was just hurt and confused, all he'd needed was a bit of care and kindness.

"Now that I look at it," Rarity said thoughtfully, "that saddle he's wearing is awfully strange."

"It's just a saddle," Rainbow Dash interrupted, "what's weird about that? Twi's got one, and I'm pretty sure there's about a million in your shop."

Fluttershy had to agree with Rainbow Dash, but then again pegasi didn't have much cause to wear saddles. Or ability to, unless they were designed with wings in mind. Cold didn't bother them much, and most clothing was pretty impractical in flight. Even though she didn't fly much, Fluttershy still avoided clothing for the most part - it tended to draw attention, and she'd gotten more than enough of that for one lifetime after Rarity had kick-started her short-lived modelling career.

"Yes, and that's exactly it. Even those are quite a challenge to don and remove without magic, and this one seems to be much more functional than fashionable. See how firmly it's strapped on?" Rarity said, indicating the large gold-coloured objects at the crossing points of the various straps that held the garment firmly in place on the giant's back. "Probably to keep it secure during whatever work this gentlecolt does. I don't see a horn anywhere, and presumably those artificial legs aren't as dexterous as, well, actual ones. Even if they were I doubt he'd be able to put this on himself, or take it off. In fact," she continued, a blue glow encompassing her horn, "I'm not sure if..."

A corresponding blue glow surrounded one of the metallic attachment points for the saddle's straps, then fizzled out. Rarity let out a short gasp, raising a hoof to her mouth. "Oh my. I... I don't think it's actually possible to take it off at all."

Fluttershy wasn't sure what made Rarity more upset - the prospect that somepony had forced the saddle onto the stallion, or the thought of only having one piece of clothing that couldn't be changed.

Twilight moved up to stand next to Rarity. "You mean it's the same as his legs?" She asked. "That doesn't make any sense, why would anypony permanently attach a piece of clothing like that?"

"So what're we gonna do now?" Pinkie Pie interrupted cheerfully. "We saved the day by stopping the dark magic getting into Equestria, and we made a new friend, so... party?"

"All he did was crash into a wall and bleed everywhere. I don't think he exactly qualifies as a friend just yet," Rainbow Dash commented, dropping back to the ground and walking over. "Still, we should probably get him out of here and into a hospital or something while we figure out what the hay is going on. Heh, I knew horses were real. This is gonna be so cool."

"And I'm going to have a doozy of a letter to write to Princess Celestia to explain all of this," Twilight said.

Fluttershy spoke up tentatively, "I know Rarity already mentioned it but, um, everypony seems to have forgotten again, so... how are we going to get him out through that passageway?"

"That would indeed be quite the feat, as it appears to have collapsed entirely during the events of the last few minutes," a shadowed area behind a scattering of smaller boulders declared, as a pair of turquoise eyes appeared within. Fluttershy started and took several steps back. She recognised that voice.

"'Tis fortunate that your newfound companion's... unique dreams caught Our attention," the midnight-blue alicorn continued as she stepped into the light, "else it may have been some time before anypony thought to come looking for you all."

Fluttershy didn't want to criticise anypony, but if she was going to then she'd probably tell Princess Luna to be a lot less scary. Life was frightening enough without ponies deliberately hiding in the dark and talking far too loud. The princess did seem to be working on the volume thing though. Hopefully she wouldn't want any more lessons, Fluttershy had had quite enough crushing hugs from excitable immortals for one lifetime.

"Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, cantering over to her royal compatriot as her fellows bowed, "Can you get us out of here?"

"Conveying you all back to Canterlot with me is, alas, beyond me," Luna replied, glancing down briefly. "However I can certainly bring you and your companions to your encampment above before I return to inform my sister of what has transpired here. I will dispatch some of Our-" Luna caught herself and stomped a forehoof on the ground in frustration before continuing, "some of my guards to render assistance in transporting our visitor to a more hospitable location once I have done so. Is this acceptable?"

Applejack tipped her hat back with a hoof before addressing the Lunar diarch. "That'd be appreciated for sure, Princess."

"We'll take good care of him until then," Twilight added.

Fluttershy had wanted to add something, but was far too nervous of Luna to say anything - so she was grateful that Twilight had spoken her mind for her. She did decide to risk a small nod at the comment though. Hopefully that wouldn't draw too much attention.

"Very well then," Luna said, smiling, "gather round and we shall be on our way."

Fluttershy rushed to gather up all the rubbish she had left scattered around while unwrapping bandages and other supplies, dropping it all back in her saddlebags. It wouldn't do to leave all of it lying around where some critter might find it, medical waste wasn't exactly the best thing for them to eat or play with - even if it was only a few wrappers. As she cleared up, a suspicious thought briefly crossed her mind. Princess Luna's appearance seemed awfully convenient, almost as if she'd been watching them or known about what was going to happen in advance.

Dismissing it as a happy coincidence - after all, everypony was due some good luck after the day they'd had - Fluttershy joined the circle around the unconscious newcomer. She closed her eyes and tried really, really hard not to be scared as the shadows in the cavern rose to swallow them all.

Comments

[Another-Unicorn]

Pretty good thus far, please continue.

[Fetch]

Please, for Thirty-Thirty's sake, have Twilight use a translation spell on him once he regains consciousness again.

[CCC]

6327529

Well, he could just manage via the universal translater stamped on Fluttershy's thighs... or run his life through charades, which Pinkie can probably pick up on pretty instantly, no matter how obscure. So it's not as if he's completely unable to communicate.

And given that Celestia/Luna have been in contact with Shaman, they might speak his language in any case...

[ForeverChasingRainbows]

6328964

Those are all good ideas.

Wonder how many they'll get to check before the plot catches up to them?

[Starcat5]

"Guy? It's male?" Pinkie asked, dropping the pencil she had been holding in her mouth.

I don't know if that Ship floats, but I won't complain.

Also, Shaman was speaking to Spirits, not Celestia. Could the Elements, the Tree of Harmony, Twi's Treehouse of Harmony, or some other mystical entity be acting as intermediary?

Edit: Exactly how big is Thirty/Thirty compared to Celestia? The Mane Six's shock at his size is invoking Cognitive Dissonance.