Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Measuring Up

Ray cried out in horror as he stumbled back. Shaking his head quickly, he shot his gaze back to where the two foals had been. They were gone now, but he swore he could have recognized one of them. That's right, Apple Bloom. Cute little Apple Bloom. Not a piece of her lying on the ground in a bloody mess. He let out a deep breath.

What the hell was that, he thought, gazing in the direction the filly and her friend had been running. The image wouldn’t leave him. Everywhere he looked, he saw bloody pieces of pony lying on the ground. He tried to look at one of the ponies at the market, but only saw a walking piece of the dead. He shuddered, turning to follow where the fillies had gone. He had to make sure they were safe.

He stumbled after the fillies’ trail, trying to keep them in sight. He had to make sure it wasn’t really happening. His brain told him that it wasn’t, but his heart was telling him it was. His stumbling progressed into running, and soon, he was sprinting down the street as fast as he could. He passed house after house as the dead watched on curiously. No, they weren’t dead yet. He could stop this.

Soon enough, however, he had run out of the very edges of the town. Looking around the outskirts of the town, he couldn’t see either of the fillies on the grassy hills, reddened by the setting sun. He tried to remember what they were supposed to look like, instead of the bloodstained images stuck in his head. He continued looking around desperately, hoping he could see the young ones anyways. He was panting from the short, speedy run he’d taken. Collapsing to the ground, he sighed in defeat. They weren’t out there, on those bloody plains.

“Hey, Mister Ray,” a voice came from behind. He turned quickly to find three fillies running towards him. Fillies. One of them was the recognizable figure of Apple Bloom, and the other was the dirty orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail from before. The third one was unknown to him, but she had the face of a familiar white unicorn. She too was pristine white, although her hair was pink with lavender highlights, which seemed to come naturally with some ponies. The voice had come from the pegasus filly, who was noticeably faster than her friends as she arrived next to his crouched form.

“My name’s Scootaloo,” she said jestily, holding out a hoof. Ray smiled, hoping to hide the immense relief as he felt at the fact that they were safe. A small part of him was calling out his foolish reason to worry, reminding him that the invasion wasn’t supposed to happen any time soon. He ignored it as he took the filly’s hoof and shook it, standing up.

“My name is Sweetie Belle,” the white unicorn introduced, turning to her fellow fillies. Then, in unison, they yelled out, “And we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

They stuck their butts out at his as they finished, making Ray turn his head to keep their decency. Besides, if his guess about Sweetie Belle was correct, how would Rarity react if she knew he’d looked at her sister’s behind? Not very well, if he had any guess. After a moment, though, he realized why they might be making the gesture. There was something on their rumps that they might have reason to be proud of, other than the rumps themselves.

Slowly, deliberately, he looked over at their flanks, where their cutie marks were positioned. There, three near identical marks were proudly displayed for him. They were shaped like shields, with three different colored stripes in the same order on all marks: red, pink, and purple. However, the marks varied per filly. Sweetie Belle’s had a deep purple star in the center, with a pink music note concealed in it. Apple Bloom’s, which he had yet to actually see, had an apple shape with a heart in it in the center of her mark. Scootaloo’s had a wing in the center, with a lightning bolt stored inside of it.

“They’re awesome, aren’t they,” Scootaloo asked excitedly.

Ray smiled, deciding to have some fun with them. “Yeah, nice booty marks,” he responded.

“Hey,” Sweetie snorted indignantly. “They aren't booty marks! They’re our cutie marks!”

The other two sounded their own agreement with their friend as Ray retorted, “Well, they’re marks on your butts. So, yeah, booty marks.” The three fillies scowled at him, making him drop the act. “I’m just teasing, you guys. Nice cutie marks.”

“We know,” the three ponies said, once again in unison. They giggled as they raced off, and Ray took the cue to follow them. The setting sun had now reached the halfway point in its descent, the dying rays of gold glistening on the cobbles. He was quickly catching up with them, when they suddenly turned to a round building at the outskirts of the town.

It was bell-shaped, with the bottom part decorated with an intricate baby blue and white pattern. A single blueberry door split in the middle to allow people- or ponies- to speak to the owner of the house or enter. The roof bore a checkered pattern of pink and light lavender, and gently sloped into a smaller second story. The windows had their tan curtains drawn back to allow passersby to see the delicate dresses and suits displayed in the window. The sign above the entrance to the shop was decorated with a model pony wearing a pony version of a pink corset. The text under the image read Carousel Boutique, which meant-

“This is where Rarity works,” Ray muttered out loud in realization. It was actually exactly what he’d expected, with the building's fancy aesthetic and clean demeanor. The three fillies rushed indoors, and Ray after them. As he entered, he had one thought: If the outside was fancy, then this is a royal level of fancy.

The interior was decorated with several different booths sectioned off by raspberry curtains. He assumed it was so that customers could try on the various dresses and suits that were displayed on the model ponies that lined the room. Gold lined mirrors peeked out of one of the open booths, allowing him to see himself on their reflective surface. One wall to his left was completely hidden from view behind the rows of dresses, corsets, gowns, suits, hats, headpieces, and accessories strung up on hangers in rows. There were benches here and there, presumably to allow seating while waiting for one's turn. In the back of the room was a staircase that led up to the second story, where he figured most of the accounting and designing was done. Currently, a familiar plum maned unicorn was trotting down the steps, looking furious.

“Girls,” she yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you to not race through the door like a bugbear’s chasing you! If I have to replace the door again because of your bumbling about, I swear, I’ll make you three do it!” Then, noticing Ray hiding a smirk behind his hand, she changed her attitude from flustered older sibling to charismatic businesswoman. “Ray, darling! How have you been?”

“Fine,” he lied. “I just was chasing after the girls, and it led me straight to where I needed to go. I need something that’s not Discord for working.”

“Working? Already,” she asked as she trotted up to him, using her magic to pick up a measuring roll. “I would figure, just from your circumstance, that you would take a break to get accustomed to your new home. Arms out please.”

“Yeah, well, I usually work up to eighteen hours a week day, so it felt wrong to not,” he replied as he raised his arms. “Hey, what were you thinking of making for me? I’m not that picky, but if it’s something like a fancy suit with a giraffe neck thingy, I’m tellin’ you, I won’t wear it.”

“While there are several ideas I would like to try out with your physique,” she admitted, wrapping the measuring tool around his arm, “I will restrain myself from any ideas you do not agree with. However,” she paused hesitantly, biting her lip, “how does a suit sound. Nothing fancy, just something nice to wear on special occasions. Or for a special somepony?”

“Sure,” he agreed absentmindedly, before realizing he might need to clarify on what he was agreeing to. “Sure on the suit. Not for the special… somepony. I’ve only been here for two days, and Rainbow is already pairing up Fluttershy and me. It’s very disturbing how quickly some ponies are trying to get me laid.”

“Laid,” Rarity gasped, looking around for the younger ponies in the shop. Finding none, she slapped him with a hoof, although slapped was a strong word for it. More like tapped harshly. “There are younger ponies in this house,” she hissed. “I would mind your language.”

“Sorry,” he muttered as Rarity moved to measure the length of his leg. “Speaking of younger ponies, is Sweetie Belle your sister?”

“Why yes she is,” she exclaimed, examining the tape measure. “How did you know?”

“Family resemblance,” he answered. A new thought occurred. “You’ve never met a human before, so how do you plan on making clothes for me?”

She bit her lip again as she responded, “Well, I think I’ll just take your general body shape, width, and height, and use proportions to measure it up. I need to make sure that the clothes fit, but aren’t too tight, lest they cut off circulation. They also need to be presentable to the public, but not uncomfortable for the wearer, or vice versa. It would be a shame to discredit both you and myself with an unfashionable piece. However, I also need to consider growing space, so the clothes will last longer. It would be a shame to have something you wear only once or twice that took such effort to make. That is, if you are still growing?”

“Oh, yes, I am,” Ray responded, consumed in thought. Rarity continued to talk, but Ray didn’t listen to anything she said. All of what Rarity had just talked about applied to his current situation.

He needed to make himself comfortable with this world in order to properly protect it, like a shirt protected the wearer. He needed to keep the public comfortable, which meant he needed to keep complete secrecy about their predicament. Even after only a day here, living life like them, he knew that if they knew of their fate without him, there would be mass panic. He also needed to keep Twilight’s image pristine, because, despite the immorality of what she’d done, she hadn’t done anything wrong to her own people. If they rebelled, however that might look, he couldn’t exactly trust them. In spite of all of her downfalls, she was still the best bet to saving her own kind, and most knowledgeable of their circumstances. Begrudgingly, he actually trusted her, because in all of the crap she’d put him through, thus far, she’d been honest about it. She’d even had the foresight to give him a home and some friends. Now, he would give them all life.

“Ray,” Rarity asked, breaking his thoughts. “Are you even listening? I asked if you would like to have the same style of shirt as Discord gave you or another style completely. You seem to be completely somewhere else though.” Her face softened. “It’s about your current predicament, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” he muttered softly, looking around for any of the fillies. “But it wouldn’t be appropriate to speak of such things around younger ponies.”

“They’re already outside and heading off to the Apple’s family farm. They left while you were… previously occupied. Pray tell, what is your decision on the matter. I would very much like to know what is happening or going to happen to my family and friends.” Rarity used her magic to pull up a chair for both of them while simultaneously setting down the measuring tape in a nearby basket.

Sighing, he took a seat, head in hands. “I’m not fighting for Twilight, or her ideologies. I’m doing it on my own accord. Fighting for my new home, my new friends. I realized something last night, when I was about to take my own life. It doesn’t matter how immoral the means by which I came here. It would be twice as immoral for me to stand by and watch a defenseless race be destroyed by sheer brutality. It would be like having a mother slap me, but then stand by and watch her children be slaughtered by someone else. In my world, there’s a saying. ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’. I intend to follow through on my humanity, despite being in an equine world. I will fight and die for my world.”

He took a deep breath and looked up to Rarity, who was smiling despite the severity of his pledge. The room seemed to echo with it as he slowly returned to normal breathing. He slumped back in his chair, feeling genuine pride in himself for the pledge he’d been waddling his way to. He’d have to tell Twilight about it, on Thursday when he would meet her again. He felt she would understand, though. She was a smart pony.

“You're a very noble stallion,” Rarity said with a soft smile. “Anypony would and should be proud to call themselves your friend.”

“Thank you,” he responded, blushing. He didn’t know when the last time he’d been praised like that had been. Before he knew it, he felt Rarity wrap him in a warm hug. Slowly, he returned the gesture, enjoying the warmth of her fur against him.

“No, thank you,” she thanked. He felt her sob into his shoulder. “I-I have a family in Manehatten. M-my parents. And Sweetie Belle, of course. I know what Twilight said about those… monsters is the truth, and I can’t bear the thought of losing them. I have personal experience with violence that nopony should ever endure. In the battle for Canterlot, I couldn’t bring myself to… ki-kill those changelings. Despite the danger they posed, a piece of myself made every attempt to fatally wound my enemies a knockout hit instead of a life taking one. Rainbow Dash is a more violent variant of pony, but even she says she never wanted to kill anypony, just, and I quote, ‘Kick their tail’. Without you, I don’t know what Equestria would do.”

Ray smiled softly as he gave the unicorn a small squeeze and gently began scratching the top of her head, behind her ears. In return, she gave a small, cat-like pur that made Ray chuckle. Rarity snorted indignantly at that and pulled away, though she couldn’t hide that smile on her face.

“I’ve never been comforted like that,” she said defensively, “so I didn’t know that would happen.”

“It’s amazing what you can do with fingers,” he responded. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. “Don’t mean to be rude or anything, but you weren’t just flirting with me, were you?”

“No, of course not,” she denied, sounding appalled. She suddenly blushed and ducked her head, muttering, “Besides, I’m already with somepony else.”

As if on cue, a bell rang as the door opened. Both pony and human turned to find a familiar purple and tan scaled dragon stepping through the doorway. His eyes were shining as he closed the door behind him, but instantly narrowed as he saw Ray. Oh crap, he thought as the dragon glared at him, this guy again. This oughta be fun.

“Rarity, what is this guy doing here,” he asked in his squeaky voice.

“Well he’s one of my friends, and he needed clothes, so I offered last night,” Rarity explained.

“Last night,” he questioned suspiciously. “What happened last night?”

“Well, Pinkie Pie organized a party at his new home here in Ponyville, so the girls and I went. He mentioned that he needed new clothes since the clothing Discord gave him wasn't particularly tasteful.”

“Wait,” the drake interjected. “Discord trusts you?”

“Um, you know, it's kinda hard to tell with him,” Ray responded hesitantly. He hadn’t seen the dragon breath fire yet, but if he didn’t answer carefully, he’d be getting more than the smoke signals he was currently giving off. “But he did call me his friend, so I think that counts as something.”

“Okay,” he said, eyeing the human. “If Discord trusts you, then I do. Just keep your hooves off my marefriend.”

Rarity rolled her eyes as she got up and crossed the room, giving him a peck on his cheek. All of his tension melted away into a goofy grin as Rarity began speaking. “Spike, darling, we’re just friends, and while I do agree with Discord in this case, is he really where you should put your highest trust?”

“Well, he is my best guy friend,” Spike responded defensively. “And he has been reformed twice.”

“Yes, but he’s also invaded Equestria thrice,” Rarity softly retorted. “I’m just warning you to make sure to have your own standards, and not just your friends.”

“Okay, okay,” he said, giving her a hug. “Will do, my sweet.”

Meanwhile, Ray was looking anywhere but the pair, silently wishing they weren’t in front of the door so he could escape. While love and that kind of crap was fine with him, it was incredibly uncomfortable to watch a toddler size creature and a mare that he aged in the mid-twenties making lovey eyes with each other. Luckily, the two noticed him trying to stay still and silent through their little debacle.

“Don’t worry,” Spike muttered, “I’m sixteen.”

Both Ray and Rarity turned to him in surprise as he had guessed Ray’s exact thoughts. “How did you know-” Ray began, before Spike cut in.

“We’re both guys, you have seven siblings, and you seem to usually be the respectable kind, so you would be concerned about perversion,” he answered. “Besides it’s usually what most ponies think when they see us, because I look like a baby. I actually turn seventeen next month. Because I’m a dragon, I mature differently. The greedier I am, the bigger I grow, and since I was raised by ponies, my greed was generally controlled.”

“Raised by ponies? How does that work,” Ray asked.

“When Twilight was six, she was given a test to see how she would handle failure. Since nopony had hatched a dragon egg before, they figured there was no danger in it. And then Twilight hatched me, technically making her my mother.” Spike paused, looking disturbed at the thought. “Instead, Twilight’s parents did most of the raising. Twilight’s more like a big sister to me, which is why…”

“Which is why you got so offended by me calling her what I did,” Ray finished. “I’m not going to say sorry for that, but I do apologize for offending you.”

A small grin spread across Spike’s face at Ray’s weak attempt at a joke, easing the tension that had been building in the boutique. Seeing that everything was settling, Rarity stepped back and asked, “Well Spike, I must ask, why are you in Ponyville?”

“Twilight said I could have tonight off, seeing how I’ve been working two months straight without a break,” he answered casually. “I was thinking we could go out to dinner. Whatdya feel like?”

“Well, I heard that the Cakes have a new menu at Sugarcube Corner,” she replied, walking over to one of the nearby drawers. She opened it and pulled out a light blue scarf, and with Spike’s help, wrapped it around her neck. “Thank you, dear. Anyways, I was hoping that they finally applied the marshmallow cinnabon to their desserts. Ever since Pinkie made it, I’ve been craving it.”

“Breaking that diet, are we,” Spike asked teasingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leaning in.

“Well, I feel like whenever I look in the mirror, my body screams skin and bones,” she said, leaning in slyly. “I don’t think you will mind that, my little Spikey-wikey.

Now that they had moved away from the front door, Ray slowly shifted to be in front of it. Carefully opening the doors, he began walking out, when Rarity suddenly called out, “Why Ray, darling, why don’t you join us?”
Turning, he gave them a friendly, but apologetic smile. “Sounds like it would be lovely, but I don’t have the money”

“Oh that’s fine,” Spike insisted. “I have plenty of bits for the three of us.”

“No, really,” he responded, his smile growing sad. “You don’t need to. Enjoy yourselves. I have a date with my kitchen.”

The other two seemed to get the message, nodding near simultaneously. Ray took his leave, walking out of the doors, making sure to duck his head as he left the shop. By now, night had fallen, the million-eyed sky staring down at Ray as he began walking down the empty lane. He stared back up at the night sky, his smile dying as he found those familiar constellations. Why were they here, in this world, and not back at home? Had they, too, been pulled into this dimension, to witness the eradication of a species? No, not yet. Not as long as Ray was alive.

He began to stroll down the hill, pondering what he had to do to properly protect the ponies that he now called his friends. Darnit, but that was the problem. He couldn’t, at least until he talked with Twilight about it. The most he could do right now was create scenarios and react to them. It would never be enough in an actual fight, but it was the best he could do.

As he ascended the hill, he began running. Another thing he could do right now is prepare physically. His previous life and work had built up a basic construct for his muscles, but he needed to continue working them to fine tune them. If he was to be facing what he thought he was facing, then he would have to build his body's durability, agility, and stamina. Currently, his job at Sweet Apple Acres was doing as much. Hopefully the training that Twilight was providing was actually adequate for a human. He didn’t really have much doubt, though. Twilight didn’t seem like a pony to ever half-ass something, especially when it concerned the fate of her kind.

As he continued running, he saw that his house was actually quite far from the town. It would be fairly easy for anypony to find my house, he thought. I’d just have to tell them, “Hey, you know that house outside the town? Yeah, that’s mine. He chuckled at the ridiculous thought as his house neared. However, on approach, he noticed a large difference in the appearance of his front door.

Instead of green grass, freshly turned dirt and flower bushes lined the path to his front door. Buttercream yellow daisies lined either side of the door. From there, dark blue cornflowers and pink lilies spread out across his lawn in a skilled placement to allow the colors to compliment each other. A note was taped to his door at his eye level, which would only be possible with a certain pony variant. Walking up to it, he read it.

Hello Ray,
I hope you had a good time at work. Angel Bunny and I decided to plant some flowers in your front yard. They always help me feel better when I'm down, so I hope they do the same for you. I’m sorry if you don’t like them. I tried to guess which flowers would best fit you. Just remember, anytime you need to talk, I’m here for you.
Fluttershy

A slow smile spread across his face as he finished the note. Looking back at the flowers, he realized that she had guessed perfectly what he would like. There were more cornflowers than lilies, which seemed fitting to Ray. With a last sweeping gaze, he entered his house.

Author's Note:

Okay, I should really just name the next chapter Character Development, but, alas, it is all necessary. Anyways, NEW STORY BEING RELEASED ON TUESDAY!!! Whooee, it is a bit harder to write two stories at the same time, especially when they aren't even in the same timeline, but fr*ck it, we're trying anyways. It is a lot less reading and will (probably) be shorter than EROH. Still long but (maybe) not millions of words. I also have a little challenge thing going in the FIM Will Never Die group, so go participate in that. Also, I'm gonna set up a Google meeting so you can actually talk to me and see my face next Friday at 5 pm Mountain Time, U.S (will release further information on the subject later, when I'm more learned in it). Come and join if you can, but if you live in Kazakhstan or something, don't come in at 2 in the mornin'. SEE you then.

Comments

[Oops door]

No human tag?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

10258060
Oh, forgot. Probably should do that.

[Mocha Star]

Chapter after The day after
Economics? Why does it matter?
Approximately how many pages? Because it seems quite exactly in that book?
Lol
When is death pretty?

[The_Darker_Fonts]

10543246
Economics is a key hood to any livelihood in any civilization. Think of any singular country or union that doesn't have some form of economy.

I don't know how many pages, but at least 60-75 chapters.

Also, death is pretty when it's like Master Oogway's death. The turning into flowers peacefully.

[ZeroOneInFinn]

“Okay,” he said, eyeing the human. “If Discord trusts you, then I do. Just keep your hooves off my marefriend.”

That's gonna be easy, hands however are a completely different story.