20-The Sparks of New Beginnings
Chapter 20
Alan’s face was buried in a plate of what he could only describe as the most delicious salad he had eaten in his life.
“Grass!” he moaned in culinary pleasure. “How did I eat anything before grass?!”
If someone was going to answer, they didn’t have the chance before he buried his head back into his bowl.
The ten ponies and one dragon seated around the table watched as he ate in amused silence. They all sat at the long table in Celestia’s throne room, which now stood empty of the army. Around the human-turned-pony lay his clothes, all of which were now too big and/or couldn’t fit, and leaning on the table was Judgement, still in its scabbard. He’d get the belt fitted later.
Celestia and Luna watched with amused smiles as their Pendragon ate his first meal with his new pony tongue. The Mane Six, Shining, and Silver surrounded him, watching him scarf down food. Spike sat nearby, his chest covered in a fresh bandage.
Alan lifted his head from the bowl to gasp for air before burying it in another bowl of hay fries. “So good.”
Apparently his original outburst of manic speed and giddiness was due to his brain suddenly having to adjust to the pony metabolism. However, he needed some more energy after that, and so the Princess had a small feast brought to him after she dismissed the soldiers.
It was odd, being a pony. While his human form had been strong, his new body was built for speed. He felt the need to find a field and run in it. He felt like finding a bunch of stallions to race against. There was no fence too high he couldn’t jump, and no track long enough to wear him out. While that was good, there were still a few things that felt out of place. For example, his tail. It had muscle groups that he had never encountered before. Never even imagined. Yet, there they were, more obvious to him than anything else. His ears shared the same feeling of oddity, and he almost couldn’t stop them from turning this way or that at the slightest sound.
He reached for his glass and almost tipped it over. Luckily, Twilight was watching closely and caught the liquid in her fuchsia grasp.
Also he was really missing his fingers.
“Thanks,” he muttered to the unicorn before he carefully slid the glass closer. Alan had tried to use magic to grab the glass once already, however, he just wound up staring at the chalice for a few minutes.
Awkwardly taking the cup in both hooves, he tried to bring it up to his snout, which was also weird, having his lips so far from his face.
And yet it felt so natural.
He tried to raise the glass, moving slowly, only for the glass to slip a little. So he added a little more pressure.
And then the crystal shattered into a million pieces.
He sighed.
Before the glass re-materialized by Celestia’s own magical aura.
Alan didn’t even need to look at it to know it was hers.
Like the muscles in his tail and ears, Alan was very much aware of the plane of magic.
It was everywhere.
Literally everywhere.
He could feel the distinct...tastes, for lack of a better word, of everyone in the room. Celestia’s almost overpowering taste, followed by Luna’s barely gentler one, and then the much weaker tastes of the ponies around him. Spike’s was by far the most unique, but not out of place.
Of course, even with all of this sensitivity to the magical plane, he had no idea on how to control it.
Taking the carefully cut chalice a little more cautiously this time, he sipped the sweet cider and set it down before diving back into his food.
Shining stifled a chuckle.
He mumble something into his plate which sounded faintly of “shut up.”
Alan ate as fast as he could, his new body happy for some nourishment. When he was finally finished, he leaned backwards into his chair. The he sat up straight because his back did not feel good in the position.
“You finished?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Alan shifted in his chair a few more times, trying to figure how best to sit before saying, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Twilight spoke up. “Well then, we have a total of 18 griffons captured, we have 523 stabilized patients, and 245 casualties.”
“Do you know of any good ways to make memorials for the casualties, Pendragon?” Celestia asked.
Alan nodded, as he continued to shift in his seat. “A few come to mind. Those trips to Washington D.C. weren’t to listen to more politics.”
Celestia stifled a chuckle. “I’m sure,” she said. “I’ll want your suggestions on my desk tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Alan said, finally getting comfortable, “once I figure out how to write, of course.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes, well now that the war is over—”
“Excuse me, what?” Alan said, blinking at her.
She looked up at him. “The war. It’s over...right?”
Alan blinked again. “This was one battle, Twilight. One battle in a war that Celestia could not prevent.” He sighed. “Twilight, as much as I hate to admit it, this war is far from over. If we are going to have peace, we’re going to have to set it on our terms and from a position of power.”
Luna nodded. “A grim, however astute observation, Pendragon. Luckily, we need not fear another attack for a while yet.”
“By the time their messenger returns with news of their loss,” Celestia explained, “the winter storms will have made a crossing impossible for the next three months.”
Alan furrowed his brows. “Wait...if crossing is impossible during winter, then why did send their army so late in fall? Even if they were successful they would probably need supplies, wouldn’t they?”
“Your question is worth merit,” Luna said. “However, its answer eludes us.”
“We may be able to lift the sun and the moon, but we cannot guess a griffon’s motives,” Celestia pointed out.
Alan nodded. “Yet another thing I’ll mention when I speak with the prisoners.”
“So what will you have the army do until then?” Twilight asked.
Alan paused for a second. “Well,” he said finally, “I’m probably going to give them a month off.”
“Yeah?” Shining asked. “You sure?”
“Definitely,” Alan answered. “It’ll give the soldiers some time to relax, say hello to their friends and family again, maybe even get some more recruits. After their time off, we’re going to have to do some more training over winter.”
The others nodded.
“Of course, not everypony will be getting a month off,” he finished.
“And what do you mean by that?” Celestia inquired.
“Well, before you were going to ‘send,’” he said, subconsciously raising his hooves to air quote the word before realizing that it was impossible to do so, “me back home, I was going to tell you that I still have some business here. I need to take a trip to Appleloosa, as well as Trottingham...” he sighed. “Anyway, with the addition of being a pony I’m going to have to learn a few things. Like magic, or just being able to use my hooves for starters. So I’m going to need somepony to go with me to help me learn. Hope you don’t mind, Twi.”
She shook her head.
Celestia nodded. “I’ll have a train prepared for you immediately. However, I—”
She was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like a cross between a buzz and a screech.
Alan recognized it instantly.
He turned to face the wall, and sure enough, a tall blue box began to fade into view.
Everypony else at the table stared at it with wide eyes.
Then the noise stopped, and the box simply sat there off to one side.
The door opened, and a familiar face popped out. The Doctor took a second to check his surroundings before breaking out into a grin. “See, Derpy, you’re a natural!”
“Doctor!” Alan greeted, “When did you get the TARDIS back?”
“Next week,” he replied, walking out of the blue box followed by the grey pegasi mare. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, no, nothing major. Besides, I’m sure you won’t be staying long.”
“Quite right. I promised Miss Do here a few adventures, and the like.”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Twilight interrupted. “Didn’t you say it’d take three thousand years for you to get your Tartis back?”
“TARDIS, Miss Sparkle, with a ‘D,’” the Doctor corrected, “and it has been three thousand years, for the TARDIS.”
Twilight blinked.
“Anywho, I came to say a few things before we disappeared for a while. Firstly, we won’t be coming back for the rest of the war, both Miss Do and I have had enough of killing for a good, long time. However, in exchange for leaving I’m willing to give you a ride back home.”
Alan blinked. “Um...that would have been nice a few hours ago, but the Princess has it handled.”
The Doctor smiled. “You misunderstand. I meant roundtrip. After all, there are probably a few things you forgot, aren’t there?”
Alan blinked, again.
“Besides, as someone who’s made the switch from humanoid to pony, the least I can do is give you a few tricks.”
Alan smiled before standing, first on two legs, before dropping to all fours. “You’ve got a deal.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Applebloom stared at her quiz and twiddled her pencil around.
The classroom was deathly quiet, and Cheerilee sat at her desk, her face sadder than usual. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were equally quiet. Rumble sat nearby, also missing his sibling. Even Diamond Tiara had left the foals alone lately.
Applebloom chanced a look at the window that overlooked Ponyville.
Still no sign of the train she was waiting for.
Sighing she turned her attention back to her test and try to fill out the lyrics to the ancient song sung by warponies during the months before the founding of Equestria, when the new nation was still under the threat of Windigoes.
From the mists of the mountains a deafening call
Bellows down over the plains
On a host of battle-worn ears it does fall
Pushing out through the thunder and rain
These sons of the north, they have suffered too long
The anger it swells in their veins
Of the spirited roars of lost warriors' songs
Distant echoes are all that remain
She was stuck on the chorus. There was one word she just couldn’t figure out.
And my words are my violence
Clear the sky's frozen tears
And no more we'll be silent
With this ________ song in our ears.
And we stand tall
Sons of the snow
We will not fall
Under these blows
For our hearts they are hardy
Our spirits are strong
And our voices are lifted into
This__________song.
It was driving her mad. She could practically hear the song in her head. She should know it. It was in the title of the song for crying out loud! It was The Blankity-blank Song.
Come on, think Applebloom.
It was taunting her. The melody of the song was so easy to remember, and yet, she couldn’t get that one word.
She could almost hear it.
“And my words are my violence
Clear the sky's frozen tears
And no more we'll be silent
With this Paradise song in our ears.”
She blinked. She was hearing it.
“And we stand tall
Sons of the snow
We will not fall
Under these blows
For our hearts they are hardy
Our spirits are strong
And our voices are lifted into
This Paradise song.”
Her head snapped to the window, where the faintest notes could be heard. A trail of smoke, coal smoke, from a train wafted across the sky.
“Conquer the anger and ravenous rage!
Make it a part of your power
Pummeling down let your warcry engage!
Under your force they will cower
Feeling the fury so pure and so bright
Breaking the bonds of surrender
Under the moon for our home we will fight
And we will die to defend her!”
The other foals had noticed, and even Cheerilee was staring at the door.
“And my words are my violence
Clear the sky's frozen tears
And no more we'll be silent
With this Paradise song in our ears.
And we stand tall
Sons of the snow
We will not fall
Under these blows
For our hearts they are hardy
Our spirits are strong
And our voices are lifted into
This Paradise song!”
Cheerilee couldn’t have kept her students in her classroom even if she tried.
The students charged out of the classroom as though Tartarus was behind them. Rumble and Scootaloo had taken the lead, the former in the air, the latter buzzing on her scooter as the promise of returning loved ones spurred the children on.
Applebloom smiled, happy tears in her eyes as she galloped towards the train station. The song was now ringing in her ears as the voices of the returning soldiers echoed against the nearby mountains.
“These perilous peaks
On the rim of the sky
I move in the midst
Of the clouds drifting by
At the top of the world
On a white doomful day
Mares of wisdom will show me the way
And we stand tall
Sons of the snow
We will not fall
Under these blows
For our hearts they are hardy
Our spirits are strong
And our voices are lifted into
This Paradise song!”
The happy stampede of the foals through the center of Ponyville caught the attention of the passing crowds, and they too, took notice of the song.
“They’re back!” someone yelled.
“Ya Ya Huley!
Ya Ya Tarvisa!”
The ponies, all of them, rushed to the train station.
Applebloom arrived at the platform just in time to see the train pull up, the steam brakes hissing as it came to a stop.
And then she saw them.
Applejack, dressed in golden armor, followed by the now lightly bandaged Big Macintosh.
Applebloom had never been so happy in her life.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan stood before seventeen of the captured griffons.
The eighteenth would be dealt with later.
Each and everyone stood, head hung close to the ground, too ashamed to meet the eyes of the pony in front of them.
All except two.
They were both the same height, Alan noted, however, the one on the left looked bulkier than the other. His face was stern and hard, along with steel-grey eyes. The feathers on his head were a darker shade of white than his other defiant friend, and turned a grey at the tips. Despite the amount of decent amount of grey, his fur coat was still golden, all the way up to his wings. He was probably quite young yet.
The other, lankier griffon’s feathers were pure white with just a hint of red at the tips. His immaculately golden coat was covered in dirt, and his blue eyes looked to the horizon. His beak was turned into a slight frown and Alan could almost detect a disappointed look on his face.
An eagle cry sounded, and a bald eagle lighted on Alan’s back. “Careful there, Volo, I don’t have any protection back there yet.”
Alan paced down the line of griffons. “So here they are. Griffons. Half lion, the King of Beasts, and half eagle, King of Birds. Yet for all the royalty in your blood you were bested by a bunch of ponies.”
The larger griffon spoke. “We were bested by a human.”
Alan gave the larger one a look. “I suppose you were.”
“Where is he?” the larger asked again.
“Gone,” Alan replied.
“Gone where?”
Alan stopped and turned to a small end table that had been set up in the courtyard where they stood. Taking the bottle of dandelion wine in one hoof, he poured himself a drink.
Silently, he thanked the Doctor for that lesson on hoof manipulation.
As he poured his drink, he began to form a plan in his mind.
“The Human you knew as the Pendragon is dead,” he said, taking the goblet in one hoof. “However, tradition dictates that a Pendragon cannot die by any means other than by the hands of time.”
The griffons looked at him in confusion.
“I am now the Pendragon. The human chose me to take his name, his titles and his deeds. I am Alan Goldenhoof, and I technically defeated you.”
They all gave him a look.
He shrugged. “Hey, it’s not my rule.”
Silence.
“You are all now my prisoners,” Alan continued, “and I would like to start by getting your names.”
The larger griffon blinked for a second before suddenly spewing. “I am Prince Julius Ironblood.”
The smaller griffon shook his head. “Talius, please.”
“I am the Prince!” he shouted again.
“Talius, I doubt he wishes to execute me, much less the rest of us.”
The larger griffon bit his lower beak as the smaller took a step forward. “Do not mind him, he is Talius Shieldhide, and his family has been in the service of mine for twenty-six generations. I am Crown Prince Julius Ironblood, but please, Pendragon, call me Julius,” he said, extending a claw.
Alan paused as he took a look at the surrounding griffons. Their mouths were hanging open as they stared at their prince, and Alan thought he knew why.
Rainbow Dash, in the month before the attack had mentioned that most griffons referred to each other by their last name, and only close friends called each other by their first names. It had taken her two months to learn Gilda’s first name, she recalled, and they had stuck close in flight school ever since then. She then sighed and spoke no more of the subject.
“Then call me Alan,” the unicorn said, dropping his hoof into the claw.
Julius nodded, “Yes, I was actually hoping I would speak to the human. He did well and was a worthy opponent.”
Alan nodded, “I’m sure he would appreciate it, and would wish you had met under better circumstances.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Alan gave a soft smile. “I will try to get you all something to eat. In the meantime, I would like to speak with you. Privately.”
“Of course,” the prince replied.
Talius gave a grunt.
“Ah, provided, Talius comes with me. He is under orders from my father, you see.”
Alan nodded. “Very well, I’ll just bring one of my generals.”
“Sounds fair.”
The two griffons and pony began walking away, and as they did, the others were herded to a safe place where they could not escape.
“I do hope the accommodations are comfortable?” Alan said as he led them into the palace.
“Comfortable enough for prisoners of war,” the prince answered. “Which does of course, beg the question, why are you treating us so nicely?”
At that moment, they walked into the last medical tent of the more wounded ponies. The deathly quiet tent was filled with ponies that had broken and missing limbs. The prince noted with horror that there were more than a few bite marks on a few of them.
Alan continued to walk forward. Not saying anything until they passed the through the tent. “Have you ever seen the Pendragon’s sword?” he asked. “It’s a beautiful piece of work. The blade in particular is especially interesting. On one side it reads ‘Justice.’” He paused to look at them in the eyes. “The other side reads mercy.”
Alan took a turn to one of the tower doors and pushed it open. Inside was a simple table with a chess board and four small plates, two with grilled fish, the others, daisy sandwiches with hay fries on the side. Around the table were four chairs, and a purple unicorn mare was already waiting for them.
Alan gestured towards the mare, “Sirs, I would like to introduce you to General Twilight Sparkle. She is in charge of the Sunbeam Division, and is also Princess Celestia’s personal student.”
The prince blinked. “How did she know to meet us here?”
Alan smiled, secretly glad to know that his communicator was well hidden. “Trade secret.” He turned to the other pony, “Twilight, this is Prince Ironblood, and his protector, Lord Shieldhide.”
The larger griffon shifted nervously at the title.
“Greetings to both of you,” Twilight said, making a slight bow for the prince. “I hope everything is well?”
The Prince laughed. “Am I a prisoner or am I back in my own court? I am fine, and I cannot ask for any more mercy or hospitality on your part.”
Alan smiled. “Now I really wished we had met under better circumstances. I like you, unlike the general that came here a couple of months ago.”
“Well, my uncle can be rough at times...”
“Which does beg a question,” Alan commented. “Why wasn’t he leading your army?”
“He wanted to give me a victory to my name,” the Prince explained.
Alan nodded slowly, letting the information turn in his brain. “Do you play chess by any chance?”
“I do, in fact.”
“Care to play me a match?” Alan asked. “I am a little out of practice.”
“I would love to.”
As the two sat down to a match, Alan continued speaking. “I wanted to let you know that I believe there has been enough bloodshed between our armies, and that you and your soldiers will be treated with the utmost respect. Provided, of course, that you keep them restrained.”
The Prince smiled. “You have honored me; I shall honor you,” was his simple reply.
“Excellent! Now defend your king,” he said, moving his knight.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Knock knock-knock-knock knock. Knock knock.
Applejack’s ears turned toward the door. Somepony was knocking on her door? This early?
She checked the clock hanging on her wall. 6:30 AM.
Who in their right mind (farmers excluded) would get up this early? To be perfectly honest, she wouldn’t be up this early if it weren't for the fact that she had to finish harvesting apples.
Trotting to the door, she opened it and was surprised to see a bronze-colored stallion in front of her door. He had a silver mane and sky-blue eyes and a very tired smile on his face. She took a quick look at his cutie mark and saw a gold-colored helmet.
“Mornin’, Miss,” he said in a familiar voice.
She blinked. “Captain?”
Silver Pauldrons smiled, “A little hard to recognize me without the armor, huh? Secret’s in the chest piece. It’s enchanted to color our fur so we all look the same.”
Applejack blinked again. “Uh, if ya don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here before Celestia gets up?”
Silver paused at that. His eyes went straight to the ground and he began to fidget with his hoof. “Well, I, uh...I haven’t really...I’ve never really told anypony this before, but I’ve kinda always wanted to be a gardener.”
Applejack blinked.
“I’ve always thought it’d be a good hobby, you know? I heard from Alan that you run Sweet Apple Acres here, and I got this crazy thought in my head that maybe you’d...teach...me?”
A cricket chirping was the only sound from between them.
Silver was still fiddling with his hooves, and Applejack just kinda stood there blinking.
“Well, I’ll let you get to work then, ma’am,” Silver said finally before he began to trot off.
Applejack blinked. “And just where do you think you’re goin’?”
Silver turned back to her, confused.
The farmpony smiled before pointing with her hoof. “The orchard’s that way.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
It was dark in the room.
Almost perfectly dark.
He was strapped to a table, his one claw chained while leather bindings ran across his chest. His one eye danced around the room wildly, wondering, fearing for the moment when he would return.
The maimed griffon couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t even think properly.
All he could see was that man. And that sword.
“Hello, Coward.”
The griffon inhaled sharply. That was his voice.
“I thought long and hard about what to do with you.”
“It was a tough decision. Of the numerous forms of torture that came to mind, none of them seemed painful enough. Even the idea of breaking every single one of your bones came to mind, but I had to reject that one because it would take too long for you to heal.”
The griffon began to sweat as the Pendragon then spoke of the most terrible forms of torture that the prisoner had ever heard of. He shuddered at the thought of that kind of horror as the leader of the Equestrian armies went into great detail as to all of the gore and pain he would feel.
“But I decided not to do that,” Alan said. “No. As I said, death is too good for you. So listen, Coward. The pony you killed lived in the town of Trottingham. So I’m going to send you there. A sign will be fastened around your neck and it will read ‘My name is Coward,’ as well as list your crimes against that pony’s family. You are going to live as a beggar in the streets of his home town. May those ponies have mercy on you. Because Celestia knows I won’t if you try to leave. Goodbye, Coward. May we never meet again.” The door closed behind him, and again the griffon was met with total darkness.
Outside, Alan was met by Twilight, who only said, “You did the right thing.”
Alan nodded, even though it felt wrong.
He felt like he should run in there and stab that griffon until his blood made the floor slick. He felt that he should burn Thundersight's cutie mark into his face as an eternal reminder. He felt that he should strangle that monster until his lungs burst.
But she was right. It was the right thing to do.
It still felt wrong. “Tell that to Thundersight’s kid.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Spike shifted nervously in front of the Carousel Boutique. He was going to do it. He was going to ask her out.
He had dressed in his Gala suit, dusted it off, and had gone and bought a few flowers for her to enjoy. Now he just needed to knock on her door and ask her.
Yup. That’s all he needed to do.
Any moment, now.
He bit at his lip.
“Oh, come on! You faced down hundreds of griffons, but you can’t ask Rarity out on a date? And you call yourself a dragon.”
Standing straighter after the mental pep-talk he reached out a shaky claw and knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before it opened, and he saw the mare of his desires.
“Oh, hello, Spike,” Rarity greeted with a smile.
“H-hello, Rarity. You...uh...you look lovely today, not that you don’t usually look lovely. It’s just you look lovelier than—”
“Is there something you wanted, Spike?” Rarity interrupted.
“I...I...I...” Spike muttered as his brain went blank. What was he doing here?! What was he saying?! Why was he dressed up like this?! Spike! Spike think of something!
His mind suddenly produced an answer. However, instead of going into the “answer mental questions” file, it somehow got misplaced into the “blurt out now” file.
“I’d like to ask you on a date,” he said before wanting to slap himself. “That’s not how you ask somepony out on a date! Especially not Rarity! What were you thinking! Now she’ll say no, and we would’ve made a total fool of ourselves and—”
“I’d think I’d like that,” Rarity replied.
Spike blinked.
What?
“I would love to go on a date with you, Spike,” Rarity repeated.
Spike couldn’t believe it.
She had said yes.
Oh, this was the best day of his life! This was—
“On one condition,” she added. “If you are to court me, Spike, then I expect you to act your age.”
The drake froze. His grip on the flowers tightened as he felt his jaw go slack. “W-What?” he squeaked, his voice quiet.
“Spike,” Rarity sighed, giving him a soft smile. “When you were injured, and asleep, you said a lot of things.”
The dragon’s eyes widened, and he felt his chest constrict.
“I know what you’re afraid of, Spike. I wish there was a more tactful way to put it, Dear, but I know you don’t want to be alone.” Rarity’s eyes turned gently toward as she knelt down to look him in the eye. “I understand Spike. You’re going to live much longer than us, and we won’t be here for the majority of your life. But acting like a child will not stop time.”
Spike stared at her, his mind spinning crazily. He, he wasn’t? Was he?
Rarity simply stared at him before giving him a tender kiss on his forehead. “Perhaps the most immature thing about you, Spike, is that you think acting like a child will keep time from doing it what it does. You cannot stop it, dear. But I promise you, if you act like who you really are, I will be there for you as long as I can.”
Spike stared deep into those eyes. Those perfect, sapphire eyes. Those eyes that would be gone in just a few decades.
Why couldn’t things just stay here? Why couldn’t everypony just stay alive? Why did everything have to grow up?
“You can’t have it both ways, Spike. You can’t move forward if you want to stay put.”
The young dragon blinked, as his mind spun.
Without a word, he dropped the bouquet, and dashed away.
As he left, tears stained Rarity’s doormat, and her door shut behind her.
<<<|Ω|>>>
“No, no!” Twilight sighed in exasperation as Alan tried yet again to lift the rubber ball in front of him, and failed, yet again. “Try again!”
Alan sighed before his eyes locked onto the rubber ball, his whole being straining as he did so.
Volo watched from a nearby perch, slowly munching away at something.
Alan’s horn began to glow with a silver light, as he pulled on the magical plane. The Doctor, in his attempt to teach Alan how to use his hooves, had unknowingly taught him how to manipulate the magic that seemed to be everywhere around him.
Of course he still didn’t know how to make it do anything.
The energy began to build around his horn, seeking for release. The silver light began to get brighter and brighter.
The ball didn’t move an inch.
Suddenly, there was a loud pop as the magic around his horn released itself, and a small ball of light appeared, only to fizzle out a second later.
Alan sighed. “If I want a light, I’ll bring my flashlight!”
Twilight sighed with him, before turning to look out the train window. As she watched the scenery fly by, she quickly went through a list of spells and training techniques she could use to help the newly-made unicorn.
Alan batted the ball away in frustration, before going to angrily stare out the opposite window.
The mare had a thought and turned to face her student, when she suddenly stopped.
Alan certainly had a...healthy body. She wasn’t sure if he knew that or not, but she could tell that the lean muscle meant he was built for speed and endurance. His ebony tail ended in a jagged edge and his mane looked ruffled and messy. Judgement was slung across his back, held on by a new baldric-like belt.
She blushed as she realized she was staring.
“Come on, Twilight, be professional.”
Another part of her mind was quick to argue. Since when have we ever had a professional relationship with Alan?
“Since now.”
She cleared her throat, “Well, since telekinesis seems to be out of your reach at the moment, let’s try something else that you could use in combat.”
Alan turned his head toward her, “Oh, what do you have in mind?”
“Well you saw how well Shining did.”
“Shields?”
“Exactly,” Twilight answered, “There’ll be two steps to this lesson, first, creating a hard-mana construct, second, fortifying it against attacks.” She began to explain in further detail, slowly slipping into teacher mode. “The creation of a hard-mana construct first requires a shape. For shields, normally a dome or circle is suggested. Once the desired shape is decided, the caster then must focus an amount of energy proportional to the strength and size of the desired construct. Once the proper amount of strength and size is determined, the caster then must channel his energy to the desired position.”
There was a hum of magic behind her, but she continued her lecture, reciting it with closed eyes. As she did, though, an idea popped into Alan’s head.
“Once the position is decided, the construct can move according to mental commands. However, it cannot change form after appearing, and attempting to do so will cause it to—”
“Um...” Alan interrupted, “Is this right?”
She turned, opening her eyes, and her mouth dropped as a perfect hard-mana replica of Judgement hovered in front of her. The silver pseudo-sword spun slowly in the air as Alan slowly tested his creation, “Because that was way too easy to be right.”
Twilight blinked, before her own magic took the sword. The color changed from silver to Twilight’s purple aura as she began to inspect it.
She looked up at him, “How did you do this?”
Alan shrugged.
“Do you know how hard it is to create multiple shapes in a hard-mana construct? I mean, this isn’t that difficult, and this is a little weak, but you can’t do a telekinesis spell! You shouldn’t be able to do this this fast.”
Alan shrugged again.
She gave him the sword back. “Make another.”
Alan’s horn glowed for a second, and then another sword appeared, a perfect twin of the first.
Twilight blinked again before looking down at his cutie mark. “I think you’re special talent may be swords and shields,” she said.
Alan blinked before a smile began to spread across his face. “Do you know what this means?” he asked excitedly. “Infinite number of blades! They’re not on my arm, so infinite range! They aren’t held back by muscle, infinite speed! I’d be invincible!”
Twilight stared at him.
And then broke into uproarious laughter. She laughed so hard she fell to the ground, rolling on the floor as Alan looked down at her.
“I’m guessing not?” he asked, while Twilight continued to laugh.
Finally she pulled herself together enough to answer. “Not even close!” She then took Judgement in her magical grip. “Hold one of your swords out,” she ordered.
Alan complied, holding the blade sidewise.
And then with a quick slash, Twilight brought Judgement down on the mana-sword.
It shattered on contact, and as it did, Alan’s world suddenly spun. He dropped to his knees, and was faintly aware that his other mana sword had disappeared. The train car tipped crazily, and he fell on his side. All the while Twilight watched, just to make sure he was alright.
Finally, everything stopped moving, and he regained enough control to ask, “What in bucking Tartarus was that?”
“That is what’s called Magical backlash,” Twilight lectured, sheathing Judgement along his back as she helped him up. “It’s actually a very common phenomenon in hard-mana magic. If a construct is broken violently, it shatters, and the magic you had been focusing into the blade suddenly can’t go there anymore, so it rushes back to your horn. The next thing you know, you’re on the floor.”
Alan stood, cradling his head in a hoof. “I feel like I just got hit by a truck.”
Twilight smirked, “Which is exactly why I didn’t volunteer a bunch of my own mana-pony constructs to hold any of the gates. As it is, having too many of them active at one time could cause backlash, much less if they are being attacked.”
“Alright, so I shouldn’t use these for battle, then.”
“Oh, I never said that,” Twilight said before explaining, “You just can’t make them too fancy or have too many.”
“Huh?” Alan said, sitting as he held his forehead.
Twilight sat beside him as she explained. “The more polygons used in a construct, the harder it is to keep from shattering. The same goes for the number, size, as well as distance from the caster. If, for example, I made a mana-pony the size of Big Mac and had him run away from me, he’d maybe be able to get all the way across Ponyville before collision with the air molecules could break him apart. If there were two, they’d each get halfway through, etc.”
“Hang on,” Alan said. “Too much info for a magic hangover. Give me a sec.”
Twilight sighed, and waited before explaining it again. Alan did his best to follow through, and for the most part, he caught it. “So you’re saying I can use these for combat?”
“I’m saying you should start smaller and practice more,” Twilight corrected. “Why don’t you try making some knives or daggers? Just the blades.”
Alan nodded before standing.
“Oh, Al? One more thing.”
“What?” Alan asked, as his horn began to glow.
“Four legs,” she said simply.
“Huh? Oh.” He then lowered himself on all fours, realizing he had been on his hind legs. “Right.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Thunderlane sighed as he moved through another Kata of the Standing Dragon Style.
Whump-whump-whump.
The punching bag gave under each strike, spinning almost out of control as the hit smashed into it.
Whump-whump-whump.
A quick flurry of punches and kicks slammed into the bag.
The Dojo was empty, except for him. Dash had given him the day off, so he took the opportunity to spend more time on his routine. Nopony else had done so. They were too busy being with each other after the battle. So it was just him. Alone.
Whump-whump-whump.
With each punch, the pegasus released a controlled exhale through the nose. Control. It was about control, strength, and speed.
Whump!
A particularly powerful punch slammed into the punching bag. However, instead of his controlled breath, he had let loose a gasp.
For a second, he could have sworn he saw a face.
The face of the griffon he killed on the cloud.
No. No it was just cloth.
Thunderlane shook as he ran a hoof through his mohawk.
“Yo, Thunderlane, how’s it hanging?” a voice asked behind him.
He turned to see Rainbow Dash, dressed in a sweatband as well as the white robe known as a gi.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, trying his best not to sound annoyed.
“What? Did you think that you were the only one to get the day off? Ponyville is scheduled for clear skies for the next few days, thought I’d let everypony go home to their families, y’know?” She dumped a gym bag on the floor next to her. “So what are you doing here? Wasn’t your brother one of the first ones to the train?”
Thunderlane didn’t answer.
Rainbow Dash gave him a long hard stare. “How ‘bout a spar?” she said finally
The black pegasus gave her a look.
“It’s been awhile since I got a good warm-up that wasn’t life-threatening. C’mon, let’s see what you got!”
Thunderlane simply stared at her before sighing and preparing himself.
Rainbow Dash smiled as they began to slowly trade blows.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Outside the Dojo a small crowd of ponies had gathered, drawn to the rarely-used building by the loud crashing sounds that emanated inside.
A loud, high-pitched yell followed by the sound of splintering wood caused the crowd to collectively tilt their heads.
What was going on in there?
Everypony was curious to see what was happening, but none were particularly brave enough to open the door and see just what was going on inside (lest they prove those of dirtier minds correct).
A more masculine yell, followed by the sound of a crashing gong sounded from behind the rice-paper walls.
This answered no questions.
And then, both the male and female voice rose together in a single crescendo, punctuated, of course, by the sounds of breaking furniture.
And then silence.
This answered less questions.
Suddenly the doors slid open, and two bruised and bloodied pegasi, each supporting the other, stumbled out of the dojo. They both wore exceedingly stupid grins on their face, as they walked out, leaving a dojo filled with broken equipment behind them.
Dash’s gi was torn in a few places, and Thunderlane’s mohawk was ruined, but they were smiling.
“You know what, Thunderlane, you’re pretty cool,” the pegasus mare said as they walked through the crowd that parted for them, staring at them with curious eyes.
“Look who’s talkin’,” the stallion said with a grin as he limped away.
Meanwhile the crowd watched them go.
And they still weren’t sure what had happened inside.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Daisy Chain, a pale yellow unicorn with a white mane carefully moved papers around for her husband. He had to go to war, and so he had left her, the only pony he really trusted, with taking care of weather duty for him. Of course, since she was just a unicorn, she couldn’t really help directly. So instead, she had reorganized his files, gave orders, and overall improved the efficiency of his office by 16%.
He’ll be happy when he gets back.
If he gets back.
“Don’t think like that,” she told herself. “Thundersight will be back.”
“Hey, mom!” her son, Pipsqueak yelled. “Somepony’s at the door, they want to talk to you.”
Panic rose in her chest before she battered it down. It was probably nothing. Just someone asking a question about the weather in town. Nothing big.
Daisy exited the office before she descended the stairs, her eyes on her spotted earth pony son. As she finished coming down the stairs, she then saw two unicorns at her door. One was a lavender mare, with a purple mane and two streaks in her hair, and the other was a white stallion with jet black hair.
But it was the sword on his back that got her attention.
Only someone from the army would carry a sword.
“Miss Daisy Chain?” the stallion asked.
No. No, no, no.
“That’s me,” she answered.
The white unicorn looked down at the young colt, before coming back up to face her. “Can I speak with you alone?”
The look in his eyes told her everything.
He was dead.
Her husband was dead.
Her knees went weak, and she just barely caught herself.
“Mom?” the little colt asked in concern.
She looked down into her son’s eyes, and she couldn’t bring herself to tell him.
“I’m alright, Pip, just go sit in the living room, please.”
The colt slowly walked away, checking on his mom as he walked until he turned a corner.
Daisy went straight to the floor.
Tears fell from her eyes in rivers as she did her best to bite back her sobs and whines.
Alan looked down at her before whispering to Twilight, who nodded, before leading the mare away.
Alan, however, gave a long look at the living room before following the colt in.
He saw the young brown-spotted foal sitting on the couch, looking up at him. “Hey buddy,” Alan said, “what’s your name?”
“Pipsqueak,” he answered.
“Pipsqueak, huh? Well my name’s Alan Wil—I mean Goldenhoof.”
Pipsqueak blinked, “That’s kinda a weird name.”
“Well I’m not from here, originally,” Alan explained before sitting on the couch.
Pipsqueak eyed the sword. “You’re from the army aren’t you?”
“I run the army.”
“Oh,” Pipsqueak said, before looking up at the Pendragon, tears in his eyes. “Dad’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Kids these days, too smart for their own good,” he thought before answering. “Yes. Yes he is. But I’m going to take care of you and your mother from now on, ok?”
Pipsqueak nodded, tears falling.
“Hey, Pip, look me in the eyes.”
The foal looked up, tears falling faster as the floodgate began to burst.
“Your Dad,” Alan said, tears forming in his own eyes, “was the bravest stallion I knew. And he loved you and your mother very much, and he couldn’t bear the thought of you guys getting hurt. That’s why he went to fight, you know. So that you would be safe. Understand?”
Pip nodded, before he began sobbing, and he buried his face into Alan’s coat. “I’m gonna miss him!”
Alan patted the colt’s back as wiped tears from his own eyes. “He misses you too.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Pinkie Pie hummed to herself as she bounced around Sugarcube corner. Today was pie day, and while Applejack had apple pies mastered to the point of monopoly, Pinkie had everything else from rhubarb to cherry locked down tight.
Currently, she was working on three separate pies. One blueberry, one blackberry, and the Cake’s own secret recipe, the Surprise Pie.
She hummed one of the many tunes of the soundtrack as they played through her head, smiling as she carefully, oh-so carefully, laid the filling in for the next batch of Surprise Pies. When suddenly she stopped.
Her hind-left hoof was tingling.
That meant she was going to get a surprise!
“Oh no! Now I’ve ruined the surprise!” she thought to herself.
If the pony that was going to surprise her didn’t get the satisfaction that he/she was going to get from surprising her, then that could make him/her sad.
She would not stand for that, Pinkie Sense be...well that word was kinda strong, how about darned? Would that be alright? Pinkie Sense be darned? Well, it technically worked, so long as nopony thought she was talking about socks.*
But more importantly, she had to keep that pony happy. Thinking quickly, Pinkie took a few seconds to practice her surprised gasp.
“No, no, that’s way too airy.”
Meanwhile, outside the door, two ponies, a stallion and a mare were waiting.
“So why are we here?” the stallion asked.
“We’re surprising her,” the mare answered as she hung next to the door, stretching her muscles.
“Well, obviously,” the stallion said, rolling his eyes, “But why am I here?”
“Because I think you two would look so cute together.”
The stallion sighed. “When will you stop playing Matchmaker? No one on the team appreciates it.”
“Once everyone on the team has a special somepony, obviously. Now hurry up, we jump through in three, two...”
Inside, Pinkie had just approved her gasp when a white pegasus with a yellow mane, done in a very familiar manestyle burst through the door. “Surprise!”
Pinkie let out a gasp.
A real one, actually. Surprise always managed to surprise her, even when she knew it was coming. “Surprise! it’s been so long!”
“I know, right?” the white pegasus said, bounding over to the counter. “I mean, we got to see each other in Canterlot, but you were so busy training ponies to shoot things, and I was busy flying around, and...”
As the two energetic mares spoke, the stallion finally walked in.
Soarin took a quick look around the room, and was not incredibly impressed.
Then the smell hit him.
It was, for lack a better word, heavenly. Soarin’s nose twitched as the faint hint of a delicious scent wafted under his nostrils.
No. “Heavenly” wasn’t accurate either.
No word in his vocabulary could properly describe that smell. It was just so...so...perfect.
“And this is Soarin!” Surprise said, introducing the blue pegasus. “He’s the one who was keeping the big sun ship safe on the first day!”
“Oh yeah,” Pinkie said, “I remember you! That one griffon had you caught pretty bad, and then I shot him.”
Soarin blinked. “Wait, that was you? Surprise’s cousin was leading the artillery?”
How was Canterlot still standing?
“Yuppers! I’ve had lots of practice with my Party Cannon. It was no big deal.”
Soarin was about to comment, when Surprise interrupted. “Yea, so anyways, I just wanted to introduce you two, because—”
“Because you wanted Soarin and I to get together!” Pinkie finished.
Two jaws hit the floor.
“How did you know that?” Surprise asked.
“Because Dashie told me all about Soarin’s love for pies. SoarinXPie would just be too good a pun to pass up.”
Soarin blinked.
“Oh, well, I guess that makes sense,” Surprise said.
“Sense? Sense?! This makes no sense! And here I thought I was the crazy one on the team!” Soarin yelled.
A ding sounded from the back. “Ooh, pies are done!” Pinkie said, before disappearing into the kitchen.
“I don’t know which is worse!” Soarin ranted. “The fact that Surprise of all ponies is playing matchmaker, or the fact that her cousin seems to be in on it! Which wouldn’t be so weird if not for the fact that she figured it out through a pun!”
Pinkie came back, balancing the pies on her head, before setting them on the counter. Soarin continued his rant, all the while, Pinkie began to carefully cut a small slice of pie from the Surprise Pie.
“And another thing! How on earth did Surprise navigate through the town, even though she told me this was her first time to Ponyville!”
Pinkie took then took the small slice of pie, and with a well-timed shove, sent it perfectly into Soarin’s mouth. “Free sample!” she yelled.
And then Soarin shut up.
Everything was...perfect.
The texture! The flavor! The sweetness! Perfect! Perfect! Perfect!
Words...were there even words for this level of culinary perfection?
Meanwhile, outside of his head Soarin simply stared at the wall, his jaw slack, and his eyes wide.
“I think you broke him,” Surprise said.
Suddenly the blue pegasus burst forward, and in one quick, smooth motion, dipped the pink pony back, reminiscent of tango dancers. “Marry me,” he whispered.
Pinkie giggled. “Hey, now, you haven’t taken me to dinner yet. Walk before you fly now.”
Soarin smiled. “Of course, Dinner it is!” he said before spinning the pink Pony to the door. “This way,” he said, before suddenly pausing. He looked over at her. “Any good restaurants in town?”
Pinkie smiled, before leading the way.
Surprise, meanwhile, giggled. They did look cute together.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan gave himself one last look over before heading off into the desert.
He had purchased a new hat, but it felt a little weird having to sit it around his horn. Around his shoulders hung a green and red poncho that he had picked up from one of the shops until Rarity could either fix his old duster or make him a new one.
Over the poncho hung Judgement, glimmering in the morning light. The black baldric was sown together with silver thread, and a gold, sun-shaped buckle was hung over his shoulder.
His new hat was the same black material his first was, however, it lacked the band with the silver ornaments.
“You ready?” Twilight asked from behind him, a hat on her head (purchased with Alan’s bits), and her saddlebags ready.
“Canteens?” Alan asked.
“Check.”
“Map?”
“Check.”
“Compass?”
“Check.”
“Hats for the sun?”
“Double check.”
“Rope, just in case?”
“Check.”
“Firestarter?”
“Check.”
“Books to read when we make camp?”
“Triple check.”
“Ipod, which I can’t use because I lack fingers, but brought anyway?”
“You have a stylus and check.”
“Granola Bars?”
“Check, but we may need to restock soon,” Twilight said before mumbling, “They’re just so good.”
Alan rolled his eyes. “And finally, one ridiculously awesome eagle to help me impress the Running Thunders, and try to convince them that I am actually the human that showed up about six months ago.”
Volo’s cry from above them was his answer.
“Great. Well, let’s go. It’s not like this will fail miserably or anything.”
Twilight gave him a look as he began walking. “I’m not going to comment on that one.”
Alan smirked. “You know, I think you pull off the hat look very well.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, the poncho look suits you.”
“I hope the duster looks just as good.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
This was a huge mistake.
She probably didn’t even want to see him after he ran like that.
She was right, though. Acting like a kid won’t stop time. It was time for him to stand up, and act like an adult.
And the first things adults did, was face the consequences of their actions.
Spike lifted a shaking claw to the door.
Before pulling it back.
He really should have flowers or something, make the apology more sincere.
“You’re stalling.”
Spike silently cursed his conscious, before reaching out his claw again.
Be an adult, face the music.
He knocked twice on the door.
He waited for a few agonizing minutes of deathly silence before the door opened.
Sweetie Belle answered, her voice calm and controlled as she said, “Welcome to the Carousel Boutique. Unfortunately we are currently cl—” she stopped suddenly, and her eyes narrowed as her face turned into a scowl.
She was not happy to see him.
Before Spike could say so much as a word, the door slammed shut in his face.
“Ok, I probably deserved that...”
Probably? the other part of his brain asked, a mental smug look on its face.
“Shut up.”
Well, if Sweetie didn’t want to see him, then it was quite possible that Rarity wouldn’t even look at him.
He shouldn’t stay...
“Man! I knew being responsible would end up badly!”
As Spike turned to leave he suddenly heard the doorknob turn. “Spike?”
He turned again, and there stood Rarity. Her face looked somber, devoid of the usual photogenic smile. Her eyes looked a little bloodshot from crying and she sniffled occasionally.
“I...uh...I came to apologize,” Spike blurted, surprised by her less-than-perfect appearance.
“Apologize?” Rarity asked, sniffing.
“Yeah, I...you...you caught me off guard and...I...I needed time to think...”
Rarity nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Spike bit his lip, although he wasn’t sure why, “Yes, actually I would.”
“Come inside please,” the mare asked, making way for him.
Spike walked in as Rarity led him toward her kitchen.
Sweetie Belle watched from the stairs, glaring daggers.
The dragon took a seat at the kitchen table, and the first thing he noticed was the bouquet of daffodils he had dropped at her doorstep sitting in a vase.
Rarity soon sat opposite of him, two plates hovering in her magical aura. One had a simple salad, the other a sapphire.
His favorite.
Rarity motioned to him to begin, and Spike could only speak.
“I...I’m still not sure how you managed to get it so right, but you did. You hit it exactly on the head, and that...that was maybe the worst part. You got it so right I couldn’t call it anything else.”
Spike struggled a bit. None of his words seemed to be coming out right, but he charged through anyway, no matter how awkward they sounded. It was, after all, the truth.
“And you were right. I...I can’t stop...I can’t stop time...I...”
“It’s alright, Spike,” Rarity interrupted. “I think I understand.”
Spike nodded, before picking up the sapphire. “What about you? Are you alright?”
Rarity gave him a slight smile. “Apparently, I’m easily heartbroken. But I’ve had some time to recover, I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I am.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment.
“So what have you been doing lately with the library all to yourself?”
So the dragon and unicorn spoke for a while, each sharing what interested them lately. Spike told Rarity of his growing attraction to chemistry, what with needing a way to get powder for his pistols. Rarity, in turn, told Spike of her newly-kindled interest in magic and its studies.
They talked a few long hours, their food long since gone, before Spike glanced at the clock. “Woah! It’s that late already?”
“Do you have to be somewhere?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got to get the library open tomorrow, and Twilight will want the books reorganized.”
Rarity smiled, “Well, I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow, and I do believe I owe you one date.”
Spike blinked. “Really, are you sure?”
“Oh, positively,” Rarity answered, escorting the dragon to the door. “You’ve done some very mature things today, and I believe you deserve at least a dinner.”
Spike was about to argue, still feeling guilty for his earlier behavior, but was cut off with a quick kiss.
On the lips.
Rarity giggled as the dragon seemed to freeze. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Spike,” she said before heading back inside, leaving the drake on her welcome mat.
Spike sighed contently as he stood there, a goofy smile on his face as he suddenly realized that he had finally gotten what he had wanted since he had first come to Ponyville. He had the attention, and a chance at the affection of Rarity herself. It was—
A pair of emerald eyes stared at him, inches from his face.
“Ahg!” he yelled, nearly falling on his back as he stared up at Sweetie Belle, who wore a frown on her face.
“Alright, lizard-breath,” she said, “I just want to make one thing perfectly clear. I am good friends with Applebloom. Her family owns two hundred acres and a shovel. If you make my sister cry again, they will not find your body. Understand?”
Spike nodded.
Sweetie then gave him an evil sweet smile. “Good, see you tomorrow.”
As the door shut behind the filly, Spike got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“I’m doomed, aren’t I?”
Hey, you started this.
<<<|Ω|>>>
The fire crackled between the two unicorns as they waited in their campsite.
Twilight was happily reading Alan’s recovered selection of fantasy books, Tolkien’s works as well as the Redwall series, while Alan himself had his snout buried in his copy of The Art of War, by Sun Tzu.
Next to him sat saddle bags waiting to be used, Judgement lay next to them. On his other side Volo happily ate a snake she had managed to catch. His poncho was underneath him, making a makeshift blanket.
As Alan read, he came upon a particularly interesting passage concerning the weaknesses of a general.
"There are five qualities which are dangerous in the character of a general.
If reckless, he can be killed;
If cowardly, captured;
If quick tempered, you can make a fool of him;
If he has too delicate a sense of honour you can calumniate him;
If he is of compassionate nature you can harass him.”
However, the note beneath, specifically, was what made him frown. Those who are compassionate, it read, and feared casualties cannot give up temporary advantage for a long term gain, and are unable to make sacrifices to seize them.
The thought did not sit well with Alan.
Before he could muse any farther though, he was interrupted. “How do humans dance?”
Alan looked up at Twilight. “What?”
“How do you guys dance?” Twilight repeated. “I just want to get a better mental image.”
Alan blinked. “Well, what kind of song is it?”
“It’s the tavern song about the cow and the moon,” Twilight said, lifting the all-three-in-one-volume Lord of the Rings book.
“Ah, right, well tavern songs are essentially just one or two people skipping around and generally looking like idiots.”
The look on Twilight’s face told Alan that she sort-of understood. “Alright, but since we’re on the subject, how do humans slow dance?”
Alan opened his mouth, before smiling. “Well, it’d probably be easier to show you.”
Alan stood before holding out a hoof to the mare.
Twilight looked down at the hoof, eyes wide.
“Do you want to know how to dance or not?” he asked, holding out the hoof.
She hesitated for a second, before she gingerly took it in her own hoof.
Alan stood her up on her hind legs, and he began to lead her around the campsite, “Just follow my lead.”
Alan led her, carefully step by step, and she tentatively followed, not used to the posture. But Alan had her, and he was definitely used to that position.
They danced in the moon’s glow, and as they did, Twilight couldn’t help but hear a song in her head.
“So come on and shine with me
Like the beautiful star you are
And leave it behind with me
'Cause forever is not that far
So come on and shine with me
Like the beautiful star you are
And leave it behind with me
Shine with me.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
A heavy hoof knocked on Fluttershy’s door.
The yellow pegasus looked up at the door in surprise. That was odd, she didn’t normally get visitors out here, and she wasn’t expecting anypony.
Who could be at her door?
“Coming!” she practically whispered to the guest, who in all probability didn’t hear her.
She opened the door a crack, and was surprised to see a large red stallion standing at the other side.
Opening the door a little wider to allow her head through, she spoke. “Big Mac?”
“Eeyup,” he answered.
“What are you doing here?”
The large stallion took a second before answering. “Whelp, you saved mah life, so Ah decided Ah’d best come down here and at least help you out ‘round here.”
"Well, um..." Fluttershy mumbled, "I'd hate to interrupt you from your work."
"Applejack won't let me work," the large pony shrugged. "She'll worried I'll open up a wound."
“Oh, but you’re still hurt,” the pegasus said, taking advantage of the bandages that covered his limbs.
“Ah’m fine,” he insisted. “Now, please, is there anything I can do fer ya? I get fidgety if I don't have anything to do.”
Fluttershy shook her head, “No, no I’m fine, I wouldn’t want to trouble you—”
“Don’t do that,” the stallion interrupted. “Applejack does that. Ah want to help ya. So lemme help ya.”
“Oh, ok, I, um, my chicken coop could use some painting, Henrietta has been going on about how dull it is lately.”
Big Mac raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything further as the pegasus led him to her backyard. It didn’t take much for him to spot the hen house, with its faded red paint. It wasn’t that bad though.
She was quick to bring him paint, a brush, and then moved the chickens out of the house with surprising efficiency. “There,” she said, smiling as she watched the hens go out into the yard, where they immediately began to scratch at the dirt, “everyone’s out.”
The farmpony then began to work slowly, however diligently. It wasn’t nearly as hard as the harvesting, which he was secretly glad he had gotten out of, and it was a nice change of pace.
Hours passed, but the red stallion wasn’t aware. The coop was just large enough that the first side was dried by the time he finished the last, and so he was able to go through in one large uninterrupted session of work.
He didn’t even notice that Fluttershy had gotten him some lunch.
Much less that she was now frantically jumping around the backyard, searching for something.
What she happened to be looking for was a small chick. Elizabeak’s first chick to be exact, the rapidly growing rooster, who happened to be a bit of strong-chicken, that the hens had named Chick Norris.
Big Mac worked happily, and was in the middle of moving when he heard a sudden chirp.
He immediately froze, one hoof hovering a few inches off the ground as his eyes scanned around him.
A small yellow ball of feathers walked from underneath his lifted hoof.
“Careful, there, fella, almost stepped on ya,” he said before carefully lifting the small chick. “Miss? Pardon me, Miss!” he called.
Fluttershy spun her head, and once she saw the small fluffy ball in his hoof, she released a massive sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness!” she cried before fluttering over to him. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, before taking the small fowl in her hooves, cradling it like child.
The draft pony chuckled. “Dear to ya, ain’t he?”
“Oh, absolutely!” the pegasus said, “I’d absolutely die if I couldn’t find him.”
The stallion shook his head. “You are something else, miss,” he said, with a smile on his face.
She smiled back. “Please, call me Fluttershy.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan watched with detached interest as the whole tribe council roared in chaos.
When he had first introduced himself, he had left Volo behind on a nearby rock, telling her to approach only when he gave the signal. He never mentioned the name Half-dragon, and referred to himself only as a messenger coming on behalf of the chief.
The braves that had returned from Canterlot said nothing about his identity.
He was trying to see if he could give them the news easily without having to pull rank. It was just an experiment, really.
He was then led to the council tent, and Elder Peacekeeper was there to hold order.
As you can probably guess, that didn’t really go over well.
As soon as he had mentioned Little Strongheart as the heir to the chiefdom, every single brave in the tent had thrown themselves into an uproar. Each and every one claimed that they had more right to be chief than the runt of the herd.
Suddenly, a very large buffalo stood. “How do we know these are the chief’s words? How do we know that this is truly the messenger?”
Alan watched as one of the nine braves from the battle answered. “We were there. We heard him tell the Half-Dragon these things.”
“So then why has the Half-Dragon come and tell us then?” the larger instigator asked.
“He has. That pony is the Half-Dragon.”
Silence.
“The Sun Queen transformed him before our very eyes,” the brave said. “She turned him into a pony, for only as a pony does he belong.”
Alan said nothing.
The large buffalo laughed. “It sounds like you have spent too many hours in the sun! Or more likely you have decided to sell us lies.”
Elder Peacekeeper stood. “Watch your tongue, Tallone Fleetfoot, or be mastered by it.”
Tallone laughed again. “Elder, do you expect us to believe that this pony is the Half-Dragon? The Half-Dragon was a creature unlike any other and now we must give this title to a puny pony?”
“If you want, I’ll prove it to you,” Alan said, and the whole tent went quiet.
“And how will you do it, pony?” Tallone smirked.
“Simple, a little spar, I win, Little Strongheart is named chief. You win, and you decide.”
The buffalo smiled, before he suppressed it. “I am no fool to attack one of the magic ones. You will win with a simple thought.”
Alan smirked. “No magic, just your hooves and horns against my hooves and sword. Strength against strength.”
Tallone smiled maniacally. “So be it.”
<<<|Ω|>>>
Markus Ironclaw was impressed.
The ponies had actually won.
It wasn’t how he had planned for things to go, but it wasn’t a loss. In fact, it may have been better this way.
At least he didn’t have to pay blood money for the assassination of his nephew, now.
It had all been set up perfectly. Once even an inkling of evidence against the human had shown up, Ironclaw immediately knew this was the chance he had been waiting for. He went to Equestria, acted rudely and did his best to provoke anger, just so he could say the words, “This is war.”
Once the war was on, he sent the Prince, the naive little hatchling, off to Canterlot with promises of honor and victory, while he secretly sabotaged the plans and bought the work of an assassin. The Prince would still win, that was the original plan anyway, but in the winter where the crossing was impossible, his little spy would start a riot, and the Prince would be woefully murdered by insurrectionists.
And then, with him out of the way, it was a simple matter of dealing with his idiot of a brother. And then the crown would be his.
This, however, was just as good. With the Prince officially Missing in Action (but most likely dead, considering he never returned while the messengers had), Ironclaw was sure he could push the King into looking for his lost boy himself. Then, all he had to do was set up a terrible pony ambush where everyone died.
Couldn’t leave witnesses, after all.
His musing were suddenly interrupted by his door bursting open.
Calius Bloodfeather stood in the doorway of his general’s office. His eyes were red, his robe was torn, and his crown sat crooked on his head.
So he heard the news.
“Brother,” the general began, “I am so—”
“Silence, traitor,” the King spat.
“Traitor? Does he—? No, no, this is Calius. Calius couldn’t find his way out of his bedsheets without a map. Proceed with caution.”
“Traitor?” he asked, sounding shocked at the word.
“You should have gone with him!” the King yelled. “Instead, you sat here, twiddling your feathers while my son died!”
“Brother, I—”
“Hold your tongue! I want his body retrieved, you hear me? I want him back here as soon as possible! Fight for it, if you need to, but don’t you dare return without him!”
“Brother—”
“You will leave the last week of winter,” the King said, paying no heed to the protests of his younger sibling. “The storms should have died down enough for you to cross by then.” And then without another word, the King left, and Markus was sure he heard sobbing from down the hall.
Well. This complicated things.
<<<|Ω|>>>
Alan stared down the large buffalo.
Twilight stood nearby, holding his hat as well as the saddlebags. Little Strongheart stood next to her and they quietly whispered to each other.
Alan was still dressed in the poncho, the baldric over his shoulder. Judgement was snug in its sheath. He didn’t care too much about what happened to the poncho, so he didn’t feel like taking it off. However, he’d be thrown to Tartarus if he ever let another hat get ruined.
Tallone Fleetfoot stood opposite of him.
This was going to be his first fight as a pony.
And he was slightly anxious because of it.
Would his new body be ready for this kind of punishment? Was he going to be able to react properly? Would his muscles respond as they should? How fast could he draw his sword, especially now since it was on a very hard-to-reach spot on his back? There were too many variables. Of course, it was better finding the answers to those questions here rather than on a true battlefield.
There was really only one thing left to do.
Try it out.
The buffalo charged, and Alan quickly stood on his hind legs. Once he slipped into the more familiar position, he quickly balanced himself and waited.
Tallone began closing the gap, horns shining in the noon sun.
Alan waited.
“Wait for it...”
“Wait for it...”
“Now.”
Alan parried.
It should be noted here that a parry and a block are not the same thing.
A block is to stop the motion of an enemy's weapon with your own strength, while a parry is simply redirecting the attack away from oneself in such a way as to throw the enemy off guard.
So Alan parried.
Grabbing one of the buffalo’s horns with all of the strength in his hooves, he pushed Tallone’s head to the side, causing the bison to careen wildly.
Taking the opportunity, Alan quickly unloosed the baldric and drew Judgement from its scabbard.
There was a very interesting thing about pony forelegs that Alan had discovered. They had four joints to an arm’s three. Shoulder, elbow, knee, and fetlock. Silently praying that the new joint would work to his advantage, Alan went into a middle guard.
Quickly the buffalo charged again, coming around.
Alan shifted to a high guard.
Tallone charged faster.
Alan waited.
And then he moved again.
Stepping to the side, Alan brought the flat of the blade down on the buffalo’s legs.
The impact nearly broke his fetlocks as he spun away from the strike in an arc, away from the buffalo, pivoting on his legs as they dragged through the caked dirt.
Luckily, the strike had done its job, and Tallone was sent into the ground, gouging the earth behind him.
Moving on his uninjured hind legs, Alan took long strides up toward the buffalo as he lay there, before holding the point of Judgement to his neck. Volo decided that was the moment to make her appearance and she gracefully landed on his shoulder. “Do you yield?” Alan asked.
Tallone looked up along the point of the sword before saying, “I yield.”
Alan nodded, then said, “Then I name Little Strongheart, daughter of Chief Thunderhooves, as the new chief.” With that, he picked up the belt, slid his sword home, and silently thanked the stars he’d had enough strength to hold on to his sword for as long as he did.
Because he wasn’t sure he could’ve done anything else.
--------------------------------
Well there you go, my longest chapter to date. Just before the world ends too!
"So...Many...Words..."
“Footnote. Level up. Skills note: Shipping has reached 1200 jigawatts. New perk: Lyra. You are ditzier than you were as a human, also, you possess strangely anthropoid tendencies.”
“It looks nice.”
Thank you, Pinkie. So for those of you that want a breakdown of Alan, here it is. He is faster than he was as a human, and has a higher stamina. His magic is weak, with the exception of hard-mana constructs, his special talent magic, as well as a few tricks that he’ll learn way down the line. He is much weaker as a pony, and he’ll be forever plagued by human mannerisms.
“What, that’s it?”
Yeah, he’s still the same person. Just shorter, and hairier, and fingerless.
So, guys, even with the amazing new A/N box available, and while I'd love to have box seats,
Ba-dum-tiss
I can't format in that, so you're stuck with us here, sorry!
Hope you enjoyed reading, and we all hope to see you soon.
Bye!
*darn
/därn/
v-Mend (knitted material or a hole in this) by weaving yarn across the hole with a needle: "I darn my socks."
n-A place in a garment that has been mended in such a way.
“The Paradise Song is a slightly modified version of the Sovngarde Song by Miracle of Sound, check it out!”
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FIRST
Not impressed with him becoming a pony if he stays that way I may have to stop reading. Don't get me wrong HIE fics are some of my favourites but I just can't stand them becoming ponies. I'll wait to see to the end of fic but you risk loosing me if the pony transformation is permenant or if Alan starts saying that he prefers being a pony to being human. but overall its a good fic.
1832243
While normally I would agree, I think he has done an execlent job with this story. To stop reading would only serve to rob yourself and the author of a good story/ fan of the story.
good day to you, sir
is there going to be a sequel or are you going to continue this
like people hadnt figured that it was the Sovngarde song
I love that song
and I love THIS!
ITS AWESOME!
1832423
This ain't done, there are at least 16 more chapters planned.
Yeah, for me, this will forever be remembered as 'that chapter where all the shipping happened'.
At least half them, I'm not so sure will actually amount to much. Hell, the Soarin'XPie ship seems like it was only included for comic effect.
It was a smart move to lampshade it in the AN, but it doesn't stop it from feeling kind of... meh.
No, I really don't like this pony Alan, story just lost what made the character special. If I wanted this I would not have searched for an HiE fic. HiE is not HiE if its a pony. I'm gonna give it one or two more chapters a shot but I really dislike this.
1832596
What made Alan special was his character, and there will be plenty of that in the next chapter.
1832623 I like this story because of the idea, the premise and the character.
I wouldn't care if he'd end up as an alicorn as long as the idea would remain.
(Although alicornization would piss off a lot more people than ponification)
It would probably have been easier to give Allan magic sensitivity (levitation, spells, ect.) and shamanic abilities (ie shapesifting) instead of completely polymorphing him.
1832690
But the problem with shapeshifiting is that it allows him to avoid pony problems as well as human problems.
Can't run fast enough? Turn into pony!
Want to hide in a crowd? Turn into pony!
Need to bodily lift a griffon? Turn into Human!
Want to intimidate someone? Turn into Human!
etc.
1832710
Personally i don't quite like the idea of Alan being a pony permanently but you do bring up a good point. Then I remembered of Ranma 1/2 and Gold Diggers and thought of a way to get around this. You could make the transformation involuntary and/or have a limit for how often he can change. And although this would only be a partial solution, it would also cause more trouble and challenges for Alan were he to change in the middle of battle, carrying something heavy, using telekinesis ect.
wow, you REALLY wanted to make sure every single mare was taken lol!! I don't think i've ever seen so much shipping in one fic. but this was a good chapter. despite the lack of actual combat, this was brutal in every single way. brutal in love, brutal in laughs, brutal in d'aw, brutal in aftermath.
On the one hand:
I hate when there is a convenient "Oh you're a pony now" in my HiE stories. It feels like it breaks the driving point of the story, and makes it less enjoyable.
On the other hand:
I hate shipping HumanXPony and I liked the relationship between Twilight and Allan and now that he's a Pony I'm fine with the shipping happening, especially since the shapeshift apparently messed with his mind to make him more 'pony' than just a transformed person.
Overall I find in favor of the transition because you write one of the most realistic Twilights I've read in a HiE story, and she's my favorite character to read about. Continue the good work sir!
1832243 & 1832596 While I also don't like Alan becoming a pony I don't hate it enough to snarl at the author. What will matter, from here on out, is how he handles Alan from now on.
1833245
Whats wrong with humanXpony?
If the world were to end, I die happy knowing I could see at least one more chapter of this since I've been waiting eagerly.
This chapter did not disappoint.
Not: I do NOT believe it will end. Just saying.
This wouldn't be a big deal if he had ended up as a pony at the beginning of the story that way I would have started liking the character as a pony. What really bothers me is I liked the human Alan, the way that he had developed, the way that he had to adjust and be set apart from the ponies around him. I liked that he ate meat and had an eagle to hunt with him, and most of all I liked that he had no magic and didn't need it cause he had hands and skill. This basically kills it for me. I'm gonna keep reading cause I've come this far and I'm willing to give it a fair shot, but seriously I really hate this turn of events.
1833560
It's a matter of personal preference. There are a few authors that have done HumanXPony in a way that I can accept, but usually the relationships simply ignore the fact that they're two different species, one of which has a cultural/evolutionary bias against cross-species relationships and the other shows no signs of it being acceptable either. It breaks immersion in almost all cases.
1833584 Glad we were able to get it out in time then XD. Spent my entire day off this week editing it.
I cracked up so hard!
That and the Soarin' scene was just too much!
Oh and the Thunderlane and Dash scene!
And the- *passes out*
1832710 I solved that problem by mutating into an anthropoid pony with 4-fingered hands.
1832690 DM is right, shape shifting is really easy to abuse and make OP.
1833597
Yeah, but then I would have fallen into the cliche of oh look, I'm a pony for some reason. Which is technically worse. Look, mentally, Alan has not changed. The only real non-physical changes to him were his taste buds and magic, and his magic sucks.
1832998
True, didn't think of that. But the issue is I didn't think of that. Considering I have the next three books and everything planned out, it's kinda throw a wrench into the mix.
Good stuff. I'd like the memorial to be unique though. Try to keep it interesting.
1833606
Check my favorites
ship ALL the ponies!
1833742 Seconded...!
Who knew Applebloom could be this Sicilian?? 
#sigh Did ANYone get my Fallout: Equestria reference at the end of the story?
Ship.
Ship.
Ship.
Ship.
Ship.
Ship.
But I love you for this chapter. It was just perfect in all ways.
GJ CANT WAIT FOR MORE
P.S SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH LOVE DRAMA...........
1834447
Interestingly enough, FlutterXMac aren't officially a couple yet. This was supposed to be ground work. All of these shiping moments (except Alan & Twi, they're a little father ahead), were the foundation for fututre groundwork.
As for the buffalo, it was more, if the Pendragon could fight you as a human, he can fight you as a pony, deal. Whereas some random pony might not be able to do it. But its an ancient civilaztion based on fighting, so it could work.
Coward (as I like to call him) was actually very difficult to write, and that, sadly was the best I could do for the moment.
1834447 Dude....TL:dr....no, but rally that was a long comment.
1834001 Not if you make the change between human and pony difficult (ie a transition that would require Allan to have complete focus without anything else crossing his mind over a span of about ten minutes. Not only that but it would take practice and he would have to develop the skill before the switch would actualy occur. He would develop it using meditation or something. It could also take a couple of chapters, maybe five or six before he would be able to.)
1834954 Big Mac and Fluttershy might not be in a relationship as yet... however it's still got "SHIPPING" written all over it. Which is why I really feel like you should focus in a bit more on why Big Mac went there. Otherwise it feels more like a "I'm here for the sex that the author is sending my way!" and less of a "You saved my life! ...I kinda feel like I owe you..." At least that's my view on it.
Otherwise it's a fine moment and a little sweet.
Eh... I get that idea. It, the idea, just didn't come across very well. It didn't feel like it was some ancient civ thing based on fighting. I know what you mean and I know it's a tough thing to write so I do sympathize but it's just one of those things that every now and again I'll come back to and poke at for a little while to see if there's something that could make it feel more... natural I guess. IDK... it might even be something like going into it a bit more in earlier chapters. Explore their traditions and culture a bit. I'm not 100% sure here so I'm just thinking on screen here.
Ah... yes I DO understand/sympathize. I'm currently working on my own stuff and there are a few scenes that I just... struggle with and can't seem to make work and in the end I just decide I need to move on. I would recommend coming back to this at some point though. You could find your answer just by rereading it in a few days once you've had some time away from it... or it could continue to mock ya. I understand
But again, I feel like your work has been getting stronger almost each chapter now soo good work!!!.
1835343 Yes well it was meant for the author.
DM has asked me to give him feedback and my thoughts on his chapters as they come out and as he gets better and writes more there's more for me to point out so my comments get longer. Of course my last two have been REALLY long... but I do like to try and give a "here's a way you could work around this" instead of just "this is bad. fix." That does add quiet a bit of length... plus I'm just long winded. 
1835820 You could always just PM him....
1834397
Nope, it ain't limited to just FO:E. It's a certain trope called "Footnote Fever".
... I may have just ruined lives. I highly doubt it, though.
I had tears in my eyes and this part finally broke me. :'c
And now I'm laughing my ass off |:l
This was an amazing chapter. Really well done!
And when the war-song came, I just couldn't help it. I had to sing it out loud and create my own melody for it! Makes a lot more epic thou...
1835927 I could. However, if I have it in the comments other people can then read it and then give their own thoughts bouncing off what I've said. Maybe I feel one way about a particular scene but someone else thinks I'm just crazy and they felt the scene was fine or maybe even awesome. Sure people have to take a breath and get through my works but at least it leaves the option open.
It also gives people a chance to check my checking. Sometimes I miss things in a chapter and so other people might be able to go "hey you missed this part though! silly goose!" 
1835927 1836879
I actually much rather prefer critique to come from the comments rather than PMs, it gives me a sense of accountability. I can't delete a comment without everyone knowing (new feature of the site), but I can quietly dispose of a PM. It's my way of saying, yes, I do listen to you guys.
1837587 Yay!
Accountability! I think it also helps keep the comments a bit more accountable because if they know everyone else is watching it might help to keep their tongues civil! 
Not that I'm really too worried about that kinda stuff here on FiM... but still it's another reason. 
1837762
Speaking of, added a few lines to the Coward scene and the FlutterMac. It should help.
1837806 oooooh! Okie dokie lokie! Thank yee!