That Strange Stallion
The Strange Trick
While some ponies have spent several years living in Ponyville, there was one who'd only arrived today. But this was no ordinary pony. She was the personal student of Princess Celestia. Truly an up and coming genius of the magical arts, if only she would get her head out of the books. But who could fault her? Her diligence was 'rewarded' with a special assignment in checking up on preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, ordered by the Princess herself. There was also some advice for making some friends but first things come first and she was a mare on a mission.
After an encounter with a Stetson wearing earth pony and a rainbow maned pegasus, the lavender unicorn didn't look or feel too good. Her once straight mane was frizzy and her stomach was over encumbered by apple themed food. Her companion was a small purple baby dragon with green spines and underbelly. Despite being at each encounter, he didn't look disheveled in the slightest. He had a checklist firmly gripped in his claws, which showed what they still needed to do.
"Come on Twilight, you should at least give them a chance," the dragon tried to console the unicorn. "I mean getting some free food and a new hairdo isn't so bad. Plus did you see those moves? They've both got to be athletes," he complimented them in hopes of brightening her outlook on the two mares she met.
"Spike, free food is one thing, but back there, I felt like a stuffed potato," Twilight retorted to the small dragon on her back. "Also, I don't think running somepony down is a good first impression. Following that up with soaking them and drying them off while utterly wrecking their mane is not a good sign either."
"She was only trying to make up for what she did," Spike explained, defending the mare he hardly knew.
Twilight sighed, "I realize that Spike, but she could have at least waited to see if I protested her efforts."
"You'd still accept an apology, right?" he fished for her.
"Of course, Spike," she took the nibble
"Then you'll ask to be friends?" But he pulled it in too soon.
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Don't push it."
"I like to think friendship is worth pushing for," suddenly said a new voice next to her.
"Ah!!" Twilight screamed, jumping away from the new pony. She took a few breaths to steady her heart as she looked at the mysterious green stallion. Who was this pony butting into their conversation?
"Hi there," he greeted them with a big smile and a wave of a hoof.
She leveled an unamused stare at him, "Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" What a rude stallion. He should have announced his presence, instead of just listening in.
"Yes," well at least he admitted it. "I'm Martin, who are you?" he smiled at her frown.
A quick nudge from Spike prompted her to stop glaring and actually respond. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my assistant Spike" she introduced them while Spike gave a quick, 'Hi there.'
"Woah," he looked past Twilight, towards Spike, "I've never met a baby dragon before."
The way he emphasized 'baby' piqued their curiosity, "You've met other dragons before?" She didn't think any dragons would come out of their way to a town like Ponyville.
"Yep," he confirmed until his face fell into confusion, "wait, no." He put a hoof to his chin in thought. Twilight and Spike exchanged a look for the odd behavior of Martin. Shouldn't the answer be obvious? You either had seen one or hadn't.
"Are wyverns considered dragons?" He asked them. Are what?
"What's a Wyvern?" asked Spike, very interested in the topic. There were very few ponies they knew with first hoof knowledge of dragons.
"Ok imagine you," he pointed a hoof at Spike, "But you had wings instead of arms."
Spike looked down at his claws trying to imagine them as wings while Twilight questioned Martin, "If it's just a dragon with those kind of wings, then why not consider it that?" It seemed obvious when somepony pointed it out.
Martin's head tilted in though, "Huh, I never thought of it like that. Must be some kind of distant cousin to dragons. Thank you." Good, she was more then happy to educate somepony who was seeking answers. "So where were you heading off to?" he changed the subject while sweeping a hoof in the direction they were heading. Twilight decided to drop it for now and focus on the task at hoof. She started walking again and he followed beside her. That was fine, she could handle conversation along the way. As long as she get's there on schedule.
She took the checklist out of Spike's claws with some magic and held it in front of her face, "Well I happen to be on assignment to check on the Summer Sun Celebration preparation. I've already gotten confirmation on the food with Applejack and the skies are clear thanks to Rainbow Dash. So next is decoration with somepony named Rarity." Hopefully that meeting won't have as much hardship as the other two. Oddly while she was saying that, he was staring at the floating paper mouthing something she wasn't able to catch.
He shook his head, "Oh, Rarity, ya I know her. She was in the town hall getting ready to decorate it." Good they've already started on it. It had to be done by tonight.
"And that's where we're heading," Twilight confirmed. With any luck she could breeze through the rest of the checklist and get back to her research.
"So Martin," Spike began, looking at the flank of the stallion, "I can't help but notice your cutie mark. Is it about making frie-" zzzzzip, don't need Spike finishing that thought and giving Martin any ideas. While Spike fought the zipper on his mouth, she gave the checklist another look over making sure everything was in order.
Martin looked at the spell in amazement, "Woah, I've never seen a spell do something like that."
Twilight blushed a little at the praise and gave a shrug, "Just something I picked up during my studies." It wasn't anything special, "Any unicorn could do it with enough time and dedication." Something about what she said gave him a confused look while he glanced at her horn. What is he thinking about?
"Is that how it works? Huh, I wonder if Theo knew," he looked further up in thought. Now who could that be?
"Who's Theo?" Spike voiced her thoughts as he finally unzipped his lips. The name brought the most honest, heartfelt smile she'd seen on him yet.
"Theo is my best friend. Great guy, fun to be around, good sense of humor, and smart. He is always able to get me out of trouble. We hang out together ALL the time. We were never far apart. That is until today," his smile dropped a little.
"What happened?" Twilight wondered what could have torn them apart.
"Well Theo is an extremely powerful magic user that specializes in assisting others. You can probably tell we bring out the best in each other. Anyway, we were out practicing magic together, and I'm just abysmal at it," that got some raised eyebrows. He was an earth pony. Unless he studied magic thoroughly, of course he wouldn't be able to help much except be a test subject. "Then one botched teleport spell later, I arrive in this town," Martin revealed.
Twilight's eyes widened in shock, "You're a victim of a broken teleport spell?" That was serious, he was lucky to land in someplace safe, much less intact.
"I wouldn't call it broken, but sure," did he know something about the spell, that was used on him, more in depth?
"Do you need help getting home?" she offered. She'd have a few choice words for the unicorn for using such a spell on his best friend.
"Nah, he's probably collaborating with my other friends to reach me. So it's best I sit and wait. Besides, this town is interesting. I think I'll stick around for a while and enjoy it." He certainly seemed to believe in his friend's reliability. "If all else fails, I could try doing my own magic." What? He had to have been joking.
"That's impossible. Earth ponies can't do unicorn spells like teleport," it was just natural law. While earth ponies and pegasi have passive magic, they can't manifest it like unicorns and alicorns.
"Oh ya? Watch me," he said before stepping out in front of her, making them both stop. He stood up on his hind legs and waves his hooves at her while making exaggerated ghost wailing noises. "Ooooooh," Twilight leveled another unamused stare at him, slightly upset that her schedule was being put on hold again. "OOOOOoooh, I call upon the power of the Voodoo Mystics," that got a raised eyebrow out of her. He was bringing voodoo into this now? What's next, a rain dance? "By the power invested in me," he continued in his 'spooky' voice. "Abracawatsits!" he declared while throwing his hooves towards her. They stood in awkward silence, although Spike looked around to see if anything had actually happened.
"You done?" Twilight asked hoping this ridiculous show was over.
"Wait for it" he said unmoving. Then he simply dropped back down to all fours again, "Poof, we are now friends."
Twilight blinked in utter bafflement, "Excuse me?" Spike found the whole thing hilarious and fell off her back laughing up a storm.
"I just used Voodoo Mystic arts, to bind you into making friends with several ponies in this town." Oh he did not just do what she thinks he did.
"Are you making fun of me?" Her stare evolved into a glare. She started advancing towards him while he backed away in fear.
"Well I may have over sold the magic trick-" he tried to explain but she wouldn't have it.
"Voodoo is not a real magic. Maybe potion making is a real thing, but definitely not voodoo dolls or curses. So I will thank you for not treating me like a foal!" she shouted as he fell over a chair outside a diner. He fell over onto his back, hitting his head on the ground. "Come on Spike," she said before continuing her journey towards town hall. Spike sprinted after her and immediately tried to get her to calm down.
"I'm sorry!" Martin called from his position on the ground. "Check please!" A waiter actually came out and gave him a receipt, "Huh, what do I owe them? 'One apology?' I can do that."
After a minute of consoling Twilight did calm down and rethink her thoughts. She shouldn't have blown up on him like that. He clearly didn't take what he said seriously. He was just having a little fun. But when he mentioned the one thing that's been bugging her all day, she just sorta, snapped. She'll apologize later, after this whole Nightmare Moon thing is over.
Did he tip the waiter?
Another well done chapter. Keep them coming, good sir!
When he done meeting main six, but he still not meet the other pony. Like mayor mare and some other pony.
P.S. It's better, he doesn't follow the main six. If will be... "Not unique story - Yeah... we have already met someone do this before twice"
+ Human wakes up in the Everfree Forest.
+ Human takes apple(s) from Applejack's Orchard.
- Human chased by timberwolves
- Human gets magic
- Human gets other assorted super power
- Human enters into romantic relationship with mane 6
- Long annoying flashback that eats up at least one chapter that nobody actually wants to read
- Human wakes up in Ponyville
- Human makes friends with mane 6 within 72 hours of entering Equestria
- Human possesses foreknowledge of MLP
- Human freaks out about foreknowledge altering the timeline.
- Human goes out of their way to alter the timeline
(Note: i'm gonna borrow some text)
Well we're at 8 9 10, thus far, which is better than a lot of HiE stories. Then again it's hard for most to have an original HiE story opening. It really nice he talk like that, not some crazy "BIP". Let's see how this goes.
Maybe make a joke about Nightmare Moon? Just make every pony in town think...
Martin... you are a Wizard!
P.SS
And then, Twilight have a flashback. I like this guy. several! damm right!
While some pony's
and waves his hives at her while making
1: ponies.
2: waved his hooves.
Just a couple typos that slipped through.
I'm really loving the way this story is going. I like how you're showing it from the perspective of the ones he interacts with, but I don't see it lasting forever, is it going to change after chapter 7 if you go further than that? Or do you want to leave it a surprise?
6762271
Don't worry, he won't actively follow any of them, if they leave town then they won't encounter him. As he explained he needs to stay put in order for his friends to find him
6762308 Thank you. It's gonna great. Oh, and... More words - details ok?
P.S. Just done fix my comments.
P.S. Again, Martin... Sound like Martin mystery.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e1/Martin_Mystery_cast.jpg
6762300
There's no definite right now, but it's after 8 things really start to change formula. Chapter 8 will be the series premier ending, with the end of Nightmare Moon. If I can get creative like I want to, then he will have personal episodes where each character will try to delve deeper into his past and/or present.
6762318
Oh, uh, about details, yaa, that bit was always my weakest part of writing. I'm horrible with thinking of descriptions. I'm a more dialogue driven kind of writer, that's why this focuses more on what they say and what they think. There will definitely be more words after chapter 8 because the first few chapters are just each individual characters first impression of our protagonist.
6762318
I loved that show as a kid, I actually had no motivation for Martin's naming, it just had a ring to it when I combined it with his best friend. Just saying Martin and Theo together felt right.
6762340 Now that explain the way he talk now. Now i really miss that show.
91
this is an interesting story so far, it is certainly interesting to see a human with so much chipper attitude in his personalty and that he is more curious about the world and easily goes to interact with the natives of this world to understand it more about it instead of just trying to hide the fact that he is human from the rest of the population. Seeing that he doesn't seem to really try to be discrete in his exploration, I don't mind the fact that this story start at the first MLP episode like it has been done so many times before. I am intrigued on what is going to happen next and I am looking forward in seeing more of this story in the future.
6755523
Honestly, I think that's getting to the point of putting too much thought into things. She just doesn't like the color, especially since it doesn't look very good on her.
The reason the explanation in the story doesn't make any sense is that all ponies no matter if they are pegasus, unicorn, or earth pony have a ridiculously wide variety of colors.
Of course, I definitely have a bias regarding that, since I've never been very fond of head canon being introduced into a story when it is either unnecessary, or if the actual canon has an answer.
Huh. Again not much to go on for crazy background theories. There are (were) multiple real life magicians named Theodore, so not much to go on.
Also:
Snip off the e from the butt of that potato. Also to my knowledge commas are unnecessary before "and". At least in school it was a point minus in grammar.
You accidentally shifted into present for this sentence.
Hmm, I'd recommend taking some extra time to go over your chapters, or find someone to help you with that. There's quite a few grammar issues in this chapter, and one problem I noticed happen quite often is the tense you use. Sometimes it's past tense, then it switches to present, and then immediately goes back, sometimes within a single sentence.
Also, I'm seeing a bit of a possible concern regarding redundancy. Example:
You're having a character state something, and then immediately saying what amount to the same thing outside of dialogue.
With that said, there was one part I was confused about:
Twilight seemed very interested when he mentioned encountering dragons before. And then this part happened when he asked about if wyverns would count. Even after describing them, Twilight made it very clear she had never heard of something like them. For one thing, a pretty big difference such as wings replacing arms means that, no, it would not just be a dragon with a small difference. That she said it like that left me a bit baffled. Second, she immediately drops it the moment he concludes that they would count as dragons (despite Twilight's words not being very logical). Except, that doesn't change the fact that he has encountered dragons, so why is Twilight just no longer curious? It seems like she would have asked about it some more instead of it seeming like they never brought it up in the first place.
I think there is a possibility that his 'friend' might have send him on purpose. He seems to be a little like Pinkie Pie, so he maybe annoyed Theo enough so that he sent him away? Maybe even partying the quiet and peace as we speak?
I agree with Spike. This is hilarious!
I can agree with your author's note on that point; Twilight IS Brst Mane Six... However, Jelly Pony (for lack of a better name, to my knowledge) is Best Pony... Celestia is Best Princess, so my Loyalties are perfectly clear on the Lunar/Solar thing... Unless Changeling Swarm is an acceptable answer...
it all adds up now, he started the main six
Twilight Snapple.
6903950 Changeling Swarm is always acceptable.
Does Twilight say she's sorry for using that zipper spell? Because honestly, that's getting on my nerves?
Is it the all-holy, Steven Magnet?
i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/258/674/9ae.gif
EARTH PONIES CAN DO MAGIC TOO!!!
AHHH HAHAHA!!!
9068920
No that's right, she was saying Martin knew he wasn't being serious
But Twi, Voodoo is just a different kind of Magic.