Beyond Infinity

by Pen Dragon

Chapter Six- The Call of The First Stone

Chapter Six- The Call of the First Stone

Just as Marcus was about to follow after the party pony, he was suddenly overcome by some strange force and held in place, only able to move his eyes. He could already tell that the aura that surrounded him was completely different from Rarity’s, but not from just the color, but the feeling of constriction that surrounded him. It was strange to him that he could tell from the feeling behind it.

However, he soon came face to face with an alicorn with a lavender coat. She was a lot smaller than what he had envisioned. However, Marcus knew better than to piss off the Princess of Magic and an Element wielder. Especially since Fluttershy did share a few stories about her adventures with her friends before coming to the party.

"What did you do!?!" the alicorn shouted in anger as she brought the two stallions in front of her. Marcus felt like he was getting blamed for something he didn’t do and tried to speak up.

"Princess, I was just trying to defend Pinkie from this jerk next to me-" Marcus started, only for a zipper to appear over his mouth and suddenly zip shut.

"Ha! Serves you right, peasant!" Sombra mocked, only for him to be lifted into the air by the same magical aura and be flipped upside-down.

"PUT ME DOWN!!!"

With both stallions in her grasp, she held them up high with her magic before dropping the two to the ground forcefully. With Sombra landing on his face and Marcus landing on his back.

Geez, the princess is terrifying! Marcus thought to himself as he staggered, trying to stand up. He could always make a run for it, but he knew that he didn’t do anything wrong.

"Coal didn’t do anything wrong Twilight!" he heard Fluttershy’s voice and immediately turned his head around to see the yellow pegasus come out of the crowd of ponies. "Coal was just defending Pinkie Pie, not hurting anyone!"

Marcus couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, but he was glad Fluttershy defended him.When he looked at the lavender alicorn, she looked more surprised than he was.

When she finally turned to face the charcoal alicorn in disguise, she glared at him, still unsure.
"Is she telling the truth?"

"Yes, this son of- Er…this jerk here was insulting Pinkie, and I was just defending her," Marcus started. “I was just getting some punch before I ran into this guy, and the next thing I know, he bad-mouths everyone, then he starts talking crap about Pinkie. I just lost my cool and started yelling back at him. Pinkie came to try and defuse the situation and that’s when this jerk made her cry and she ran off.”

With a nod, Twilight allowed Marcus to leave while she continued to scold Sombra. Sombra’s shouted threats after Marcus fell on deaf ears. Helping Pinkie Pie was more important right now.

It took a bit of wandering around aimlessly to try and track the party pony down. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of sobbing that he was able to find the pink earth pony sitting on a bridge, looking down into the river that resided there. Seeing her like that reminded him of this girl back home that was crying. With a small breath, he approached her.

"Heyyy, you okay there, Pinkie?" Marcus asked.

Pinkie looked up at him, surprised.

"O-oh, hey Coaly…sniff… What are you doing here?" she whimpered.

"Looking for you, dork. Why else would I be out here?" Marcus asked sarcastically as he gave her a warm smile to try and cheer her up.

"B-but, your party-"

"It can wait, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of parties, anyway," he explained, hearing the pink party pony gasp as she wiped away her tears.

"What!? But parties are so much fun! Especially when you have friends, family, tasty food and desserts, and dancing! What's not to love about them!?!" she shouted, earning a chuckle from Marcus.

"Exactly, you’d think I'd have a good time with my newest friend running out on a party and leaving me with a bunch of strangers? So far, only Fluttershy, you, and Rarity have really treated me kindly, and welcomed a complete stranger like me into your town. Hell, you threw a welcome party for me, and I only talked to you for like… three minutes, well you talked, I think got like six words out, but I could already tell you were a good person at heart.

"Honestly, I was surprised and I'm glad I met all of you. It's been difficult coming here, adjusting to this new life here, but one thing I learned from my parents is that you should always help those in need and I couldn't stand by and let that asshole bad mouth you, especially when you were being nice to him. Speaking of which, why are you nice to him? He’s done nothing but insult you."

“Oh, it’s a really, really, really long story, but I was actually supposed to help him, and I… I kinda fell for him. He does have a good side, he has his own way of showing it, you know? I’ve just- I want to help him, and I know I can reach him if I try,” she explained to Marcus with a hopeful loon in her eyes, while Marcus only raised an eyebrow.

Marcus couldn’t really find the words to respond to what the party pony had just said. Actually, he did have some words on his mind, but they weren’t exactly kind towards the gray unicorn who had insulted his new friend. He could understand, though, about falling in love with someone. Sometimes others won't exactly understand the reasons and sometimes you don't have to understand.

"I can't say I understand what you see in a guy like that, but sometimes love is something you don't have to understand. So all I can say is continue to be yourself and maybe someday he'll see just how amazing you are," Marcus explained, seeing Pinkie just stare at him in disbelief.

"Now, I think you should go back to the party, your friends are waiting for you. That Princess was really pissed at both me and that Sombra guy. She looked like she was going to kill us."

"Don’t you worry your cute head, Coaly, Twilight is one of the nicest and bestest ponies around. I'll make sure Twilight doesn't do anything to you!" she assured, hugging Marcus suddenly before pulling away and began hopping back towards Sugarcube Corner. She turned her head back towards Marcus for a moment.

"Are you coming, Coaly?"

"Actually, I'm going to be heading back to Fluttershy’s, I actually need to grab a few things and find a place to stay for the time being," he responded.

"Gasp!!!! I just had the best idea, EVVVEEEERRRR!!!" she shouted. A rich and vibrant smile was now plastered on her face. It was something that Marcus couldn’t help but smile back at.

Pinkie really has a nice smile, I'm glad I was able to help her out at least. Now I know I didn't wander too far out of the forest, but just in case I shouldn't stay there too long, the last thing I need is for Fluttershy to worry. Especially when she spent so much time taking care of my wounds. The longest I'll stay is an hour at most.

"You can stay in the guest bedroom at Sugarcube Corner! I'm sure the Cakes won't mind! And we could always use an extra set of hooves if you're interested in making some bits?" she asked, as the charcoal stallion was still lost in his thoughts.

"Huh, oh yeah sure, definitely, Pinks," Marcus replied, unaware as to what he just said. Pinkie blushed a little in response, but that didn’t stop her from leaping into the air with joy.

"This is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait to tell everypony!" She shouted, giving Marcus the biggest smile he had ever seen.

"Huh!? Wait a minute Pinkie-Gah!" he started before feeling a throbbing pain in his head, causing him to collapse to the ground. Waves of pain lashed out at him like a violent monsoon, forcing a groan from his throat.

He could hear it… a sound so distant, resonant, discordant. It was haunting yet strangely beautiful, like forbidden temptation if it were given a tune to be heard. It reminded Marcus of music from a flute, but no flute he’d ever heard could hope to match this melody pulsing through his head!

Vwoooom…Vwoooom… Vwoooom…

What… What is this? It feels like my head’s vibrating and being pounded all at once… That noise… where is that coming from? He thought, grasping his head within his hooves as Pinkie started to panic.

"Coaly! Are you okay!?" Pinkie worried, “Here, lemme help you up.”

As Pinkie did that, Marcus grimaced from the discordant chord as it continued to vibrate the inside of his skull. But once he was on his hooves, the pain stopped. Marcus’ mind went blank, and he stood there as if he were in a trance.

“Coaly…? You okay?” Pinkie asked tentatively, her ears folded back.

Marcus didn’t answer her. Instead, he answered the call of the music. Though the pounding vibration had ceased, it still graced his ears. Or was it only in his head? Either way, he turned towards the direction it felt like it was coming from, and began to walk.

“Coaly? Coaly, you shouldn’t go in there!” Pinkie hopped after him, “It’s not safe, especially if you don’t know your way around!”

Marcus ignored her. The only thought he had at the moment was answering the music. It beckoned him. It called to him. He had to answer.

“Coaly! I can’t let you go any further- Ow!” Pinkie had tried to stand in Marcus’ way, only for him to shove her aside with his shoulder.

She rushed out to stand in his way again, “Coaly, I’m serious! Oof!”

Again, Marcus pushed her aside. It wasn’t in a way that conveyed malice of any kind. Rather, it was more matter-of-fact, as if to say ‘nothing is going to stop me.’

Pinkie furrowed her brows and pulled out a rope, “Time to get serious…”

And nothing would.

She also pulled out a hammer and peg from the eternal depths of her mane, tying one end of the rope to the peg and hammering it into the ground, and then forming the other end into a lasso.

Thanks for those roping lessons, AJ, Pinkie thought to herself before she YEE-HAW’d and threw her lariat over Marcus’s head. The rope went taught once it tightened around him.

“Yes! Ah roped ya, lil’ do…ggy?” Pinkie’s triumphant moment quickly turned to unease.

Though he still seemed to be in a trance, Marcus stopped and gazed over his shoulder at Pinkie with a blank look, as if staring straight through her. He then furrowed his brows… and YANKED!!!

“WHOOOAAA!!!” Pinkie screamed as she held on, and found herself whirling around in the air before a sudden jerk threw her into a nearby bush.

Freeing himself of the rope, Marcus continued while Pinkie untangled herself from the foliage and groaned, “He’s not gonna make this easy, but I can still follow him.”

And follow Pinkie did. This time, however, she just stuck close, realizing the more she tried to stop him the more Marcus would fight her off. I just hope wherever he’s going, it’s nothing scary…!

After what must have been around an hour of trudging their way through the Everfree, finally they emerged and Pinkie saw they had come to a large clearing. Ahead of them was a large hill, and on the side of the hill… was a cave.

There was no grass around the mouth of the cave. In fact, it looked like the ground had been scorched by something, leaving an unfortunate scar on mother nature. But there was something else…

Pinkie Pie was an earth pony. All ponies had magic of some kind, not just unicorns, and Pinkie herself was a very unusual earth pony indeed. Therefore, it made perfect sense when her body suddenly began to shiver in its entirety. Uh-oh! Something’s about to happen… and it’s gonna be a doozy…!

Marcus kept going until he stood a few yards away from the mouth of the cave.

Vwooom… Vwooom… Vwooom…

It still won’t shut up… it’s getting louder. I must be close now. Marcus thought as he made his way inside the cave. It was dark at first, but as he continued to make his way through, he saw a dim light. It grew brighter and brighter until he entered a very large opening full of gold, chests, and books.

What the fuck!? Is that?

Standing at the center of the room, was a pedestal, and, laying upon a velvet cushion atop it, a blue gem sat, glowing brightly. That’s what had been giving off the humming sound that he had been hearing. Was this what he was supposed to look for? Was this one of the Infinity Stones that he’s been tasked by Death herself to find and collect?

It was a large gem, even bigger than a ripe apple ready for picking. Its color was of a deep bright blue that could be seen in the daytime sky. It was rough, uncut, and yet glimmered and sparkled with a luster like those of distant stars.

This is the first step to fulfilling my end of the deal with Death. The first step… to getting my life back!

Just as he was about to reach for the stone, he was struck suddenly and sent crashing into the wall. Feeling that pain, reminded him of when he was struck by that car in his previous life, but he was still awake, he was still alive, just in pain.

“COALY!!!” Pinkie ran over to Marcus, fretting over him.

Before she could reach him, however, they heard a soft yet distinct growl from the deeper parts of the pitch-black cave.

“That was a friendly warning,” the voice spoke, its timbre guttural and soft, “so do yourself a favor and get out before my next warning is not so friendly.”

“Not… without that stone,” Marcus replied, noticing the jacket he had on was torn badly from the impact. “I literally just got this today, sorry, Rarity.”

He ripped off the jacket, and threw it to the side, revealing his wings for all to see. Pinkie could only stand there, staring at him in complete shock.

Coaly’s a PRINCE!? NO WAY!!

“That stone is not for the likes of you…” The voice made itself known by a pair of blazing silvery-blue eyes, glowing in the dark. They were large with reptilian pupils, narrowed and fierce.

“It is an object of great power, and deserving of someone more than you, thief!”

“Exactly, but unfortunately I need that stone!” he yelled, running towards the presence, despite being unable to see them.

“You were warned…” the voice snarled. A burst of magical light launched out of the darkness, striking Marcus head-on, and sending him for a loop.

However, that didn’t stop him from pushing forward, Marcus wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he got close, but a ring of blue fire ignited around the pedestal and the stone, halting Marcus in his tracks.

He heard a deep breath, and instinct spurred him to jump back. In doing so, he dodged a fireball of blazing blue, scorching the cave floor of where he’d just stood.

Wait… breathing… fire!? Marcus suddenly had an idea of what he was facing, but he had no time to speculate further as something lashed out from the darkness. He just barely avoided it while at the same time recognizing it as what hit him the first time. It was a tail!

The tail retracted back into the darkness, and Marcus sensed something to his left. It reminded him of the feeling of Rarity and Twilight’s magic, and he reacted, spreading his wings and wrapping them around himself. As he did so, a blast, not of fire, but of magic, struck him!

It felt similar to being hit by a large water balloon, bursting as its energy soaked him with a tingling sensation that dulled the feeling in his body. Once he landed back on the ground, Marcus was alarmed by how weak he felt, how his limbs and even his wings felt like they were suddenly asleep.

“Paralysis spell,” the voice snarled, but sounded intrigued, “let’s see if you deserve my stone and those wings!”

Something moved in the dark that sounded like sails unfurling… and then a heavy drag through the air as a powerful gust of wind was unleashed! Marcus furrowed his brows and struggled to move, but was helpless as the beat of massive wings continued to blow against him like the force of a hurricane.

I gotta shake off this spell, but how!? Marcus thought as he struggled desperately to move his body even as he was sliding and rolling along the cave floor. Come on! Move, damn it! I am not dying a second time!! MOVE!!!

Suddenly, his horn was surrounded by a bright purple hue and magic began to erupt in all directions, creating a shockwave. The purple magic spread over his body like a second skin, mixing with the magic afflicting him… and then shattered and broke away from his form like glistening fragments of energy that dissipated into nothing! With a deep breath, he flexed his hoof.

“Wha, I can move again?” Coal felt the feeling in his body return. The sensation of pain and cold from his bruises, from the dark and dreary dampness of the cave, and the tingling washed away.

How did I even do that? Was that…my magic? Before Marcus could get another thought in, the voice drew his attention once again.

“Impressive,” the voice growled, sounding sincere, its eyes glowing with intrigue instead of menace, “you broke my spell. Perhaps those wings and that horn aren’t for show, are they, ‘your highness’?”

“I’m not a prince, just a guy trying to make his way in this strange world,” Marcus replied, glaring into the eyes of his shadowy foe. He could feel himself getting annoyed when the presence chuckled ever so softly.

“Stop skulking in darkness and face me like a ma- Er… Like a whatever you are!” he shouted, realizing just how stupid that sounded coming out of him.

“I’m good, thank you…” the presence growled, “but I’m not convinced of whether or not you deserve this stone! I discovered it after I made my home here, and sensed it was an object of great power; that it could be used to do good… or evil.

“I’ll spare you the usual taunts and give you another chance to get out of here. Alicorn or not, you’re not getting this stone unless I permit it!”

“And I said, I’m not leaving without that stone!” Marcus shouted, moving in a zig-zag motion to try and be as unpredictable as possible. Using his wits, he picked up a small chest on the ground full of gold coins and threw it in the direction of his foe to divert his attention as he made a quick dash to the stone.

With his vision suddenly blocked by the coins, the presence launched a ball of fire in a random direction in hopes of hitting the alicorn. Marcus was able to evade the ball of fire, watching it fly by him until he finally noticed her in the corner of his eye. Pinkie Pie was about to be hit by the attack. So, with all his might and a defiant cry, he stopped himself, made a sharp turn, and launched himself forward, desperately flapping his wings to reach her in time.

There was nowhere for Pinkie to run. She was too distracted watching this kind pony trying so hard to take a glowing rock for some reason. She had only sat there and asked herself ‘Why?’ Why go through all this trouble for a rock? However, sitting and staring was all she could do and now, she was about to get roasted alive. Normally she’d get out of the way, or her tail would usually twitch, but for some reason, she couldn’t move!

She closed her eyes, expecting to get hit.

“PINKIE!” She heard Marcus shout. She opened her eyes to see her new friend jump in front of her, his wings spread out as he took the full force of the fireball to his back, burning his fur and flesh off. “*Cough* Pink… Pinkie… are you okay?”

“COAL! WHY’D YOU DO THAT!? WHY?! YOU-” Pinkie wailed in abject horror. She wanted to reprimand him, but before she could, what happened next caused her to gawk at him.

*CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*

SZZZZZZZZ~

She watched as his wings, back, and fur began to rapidly grow back, his burns vanishing to reveal healthy skin that was quickly covered with a lustrous coat.

Pinkie was struck dumb, but the presence in the dark voiced the question in her head first, “How is this possible!?”

The entity could only look on, stunned but also intrigued by this pony.

Pinkie looked to the presence, who kept to the shadows, but his silvery-blue eyes were wide. His reptilian pupils were now rounded, no longer fierce and narrow.

The pain had abated, but his body was still sore and felt tender, even with his restored flesh and fur. Coal grunted and groaned as he brought his hooves back under him while ignoring Pinkie’s pleas to stay still. The alicorn flared his wings and horn, and pawed the ground with his hoof.

“I will get that stone, but leave my friends out of it. This is between you and me, and I won’t let innocent bystanders get hurt during our squabble,” Coal furrowed his brows as he spoke with unwavering conviction. He was about to march towards this strange creature, but suddenly he felt a pair of hooves grab hold of his foreleg.

“Coaly… please stop? I don’t want my friend to get hurt anymore,” Pinkie said, sounding on the verge of sobbing, her poofy mane deflating like a balloon losing its air.

Marcus wanted to stop if it meant Pinkie wouldn’t be sad anymore, but this itch, this feeling, this desire! To just grab that stone was all but overwhelming!

“I have misjudged you.”

Marcus and Pinkie turned to look at the presence again, its eyes now looking remorseful, before the presence finally stepped out of the shadows and confirmed Marcus’ suspicions.

“I was right, you are a dragon!” he exclaimed, and though he was a little excited to meet a real dragon, he found himself a tad disappointed.

The dragon stood upright. Its arms, huge imposing wings, and his rock-like scales were a beautiful sapphire blue. He had a pair of black horns, frill-like ears, and black hair in a wild mane that trailed down his spine all the way to the tip of his tail in a tuft. His wings’ membranes were black as well, and his underbelly was a pale blue. He wore a large leather bag hanging from his shoulder and resting on his opposite hip. Marcus couldn’t help but notice that this dragon, while large, was not as large as he’d expected. And he was also rather fat. Not morbidly obese, just dumpy-looking, apart from his chest and arms, which sported some strong muscle.

“Yes, I’m a dragon. Not exactly the scariest specimen, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a dragon as skilled in magic as me,” the dragon huffed while crossing his arms and letting out a puff of smoke.

Clearing his throat, he gave a courteous bow of his head, “My name is Midnight Blaze, formerly of the Dragon Lands.”

“Formerly?” echoed Marcus.

“Formerly,” the dragon, Midnight, confirmed, “I’m an outcast… When I was growing up, I was always fascinated with magic and devoted my time and attention to studying it. As my skills and knowledge in the mystic arts grew, I couldn’t help but notice how… lacking my kind’s culture was.

“Dragons are, by and large, motivated by strength and power, as well as wealth and reputation. We fight each other for the best hunting grounds, over our hordes of treasure, territory, or any excuse at all to fight and prove our mettle by dominating each other. I wanted to change our ways, see us grow and progress. I tried to convince other dragons to embrace new ways, to become more than boulder-headed ‘might makes right’ savages!”

Midnight turned away, sighing as he leaned against a natural pillar of rock, “But none of them ever listened to me… either they ignored me or they bullied and derided me. Finally, I decided if a regular dragon wouldn’t sway them perhaps the Dragon Lord could! I challenged the Dragon Lord, thinking with my magic, I could beat him easily, take over, and impose change. I overestimated my abilities and underestimated his power. I lost. Badly. But the Dragon Lord, rather than kill me, chose to banish me from the Dragon Lands.”

“So you… wound up here, how?” asked Marcus.

“Not many places a dragon outcast can go…” Midnight sighed as he sat down on his large backside, “I’d always heard Equestria was a friendly place, but it turned out to be wrong.”

“What?! But Equestria is the funnest, friendliest place around,” Pinkie popped up, “and Ponyville’s the friendliest town in Equestria! How-how-how-how-HOW could you say that it’s not?!”

Midnight gave Pinkie a weirded-out look, and then one to Marcus, who just shrugged. So Midnight explained, “I tried to fit into an Equestrian community. It didn’t end well. So, I came to the Everfree, having heard it’s someplace where ponies rarely go, and settled here. I made this cave my home and just… lived here alone. I got sad, lonely, felt like a failure, and I…”

Marcus noticed Midnight self-consciously rubbing his belly, and got the idea, “You stress-ate?”

Midnight whimpered, sounding so embarrassed, and nodded. But then he went on and said, “One day, I sensed something, and it turned out to be this stone.”

He pointed to the stone on the pedestal, “I could tell right away it possessed great power, and that it was dangerous! I tried one time to see if I could harness it but I lost control and saw its energy lash out and warp a huge tree to where it looked like a giant pretzel! So, I felt the best thing I could do was protect it from those who might find it and abuse it.”

Midnight gave a sorrowful look to the two ponies, and said, “I lost my temper and almost hurt your friend, who you protected without hesitation! I am sorry for the harm I caused and the harm I almost did. I still have my doubts about you, alicorn, but I think you can be trusted with this stone.”

The stone was enveloped in a turquoise aura that matched the magical aura pouring out of Midnight’s eyes, and the stone floated over to Marcus, to his surprise, as Midnight declared, “It’s yours. I hope you understand the burden I am entrusting you with.”

“I understand. I promise to take care of it,” he assured, taking it in his hoof and grasping it tightly.

I have it… The first one of six, but which one is it? He asked himself, but before he could dwell on it any further, the stone started to glow suddenly, enveloping both Pinkie and himself and the two were suddenly warped out of the cave before they could say anything else, leaving the dragon alone with his thoughts.

Heh, good luck young ponies, you're going to need it.

A loud and ornery growl gurgled from Midnight’s belly, shaking with hunger. He had to pat it to calm his stomach down. He shrugged before thinking, Time to feed the beast, and made his way out of his cave to go hunt.

---

Marcus and Pinkie suddenly landed on a nearby cliff in a large mountain of snow faces first somewhere in the Frozen North. He wasn’t sure how they got there, but one thing he needed to make sure of was that Pinkie was okay. Especially since a lot has happened in such a short amount of time.

“H-Hey, Pinks, are you-oof!” He was suddenly cut off by a death gripping hug from the pink pony. Feeling her shiver from the cold.

“I-It’s c-cold… C-Coaly, b-but I’m glad you’re o-okay.”

“Well, f-for nn-ow, let’s try to f-find a way back-” Marcus was suddenly cut off by the stone glowing once more and warping the two ponies once more.

---

The two suddenly landed in a cabbage cart somewhere in Ponyville. Marcus landed face first into the cabbages and Pinkie smashed into his backside.

“Ow…”

“Oops! Sorry Coaly, I wasn't expecting that to happen.”

“N-Neither was I… It’s only my back you’ve broken… nothing important,” he said sarcastically. His hoof was still clinging tightly to the stone as it continued to glow brightly, humming as it was about to activate again. Oh, for fucks sake!

As soon as they vanished, an earth pony with a green hat appeared. His Jaw dropping at the horror he's witnessed.

"MY CABBAGES!!!"

---

Once again, the two had warped to a different location, and once again, both landonded on one another. Pinkie hopped off of him, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Marcus sat up to look around immediately recognizing where they were.

This is the forest Death dropped me into! My things are here! Marcus thought, scrambling to his hooves as he ran towards the crater he had made when he oh so graciously landed before.

There he saw his things inside the crater: a brown backpack, with his headphones hanging on the side of it, undamaged somehow. And there beside it, he saw a silver brace with six slots at the center of it. Looking at the stone in his hoof, he had a good idea about what that brace was for.

However, before he could go down to the crater, he remembered that he wasn’t alone. Pinkie appeared beside him, finally over her dizziness. He knew that he couldn't hide what he was or what he was really after. The best thing he could do was come clean to her or at the very least fill in the gaps for her.

"Hey, Pinkie… look, I know this was a crazy night, but I need you to keep this to yourself, please?" He asked, avoiding eye contact with her as he recalled those earlier events. He had completely ignored her and ran off to the forest and literally picked a fight with a dragon. What makes it worse is that one of his first friends could have gotten hurt because of his stupid urge to take a magic rock. “I can’t give you all the details about what I’m doing, but this stone here is important to my quest. To finding my place in this world. I just want you to know that I’m terribly, terribly, sorry.”

"Coaly, I may not know why you did what you did, or why you need that shiny magic rock, ” She paused, trying to think of what to say next to the stallion. “But, you have to Pinkie Promise me that you won’t run off like that again. I was honestly scared when you got hurt and I don’t like to see my friends in pain or sad. Please, just promise me, pretty please?”

Marcus wanted to say that he promised, and was about to blurt it out when he stopped himself.

I can’t keep that promise

“Pinkie, I can’t keep that promise, that would be like lying to you. My Mom always said to never promise a girl something I can’t keep, and I’m going to stick by that. But, I can promise that if I do end up doing something stupid like that again, I will… do whatever you want for a whole day. How does that sound?” he suggested.

“Okay! But if you're going to do a Pinkie Promise, you have to do it right!”

“Oookay?”

“Repeat after me! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Got it?!”

“Umm… Sure. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! SHIT! My eye!” He yelled.

“Good, and just so you know Coaly, you can never, ever, ever, EVER! Break a Pinkie Promise! Or ELSE! Okay!” she explained in a tone that reminded him of what Death was supposed to be like. A shiver permeated down his spine as he let out a weak chuckle.

“G-Got it,” he replied, making his way down the crater. He tentatively reached out for the neck brace and placed it around his neck. He looked at the stone in his hoof before looking at the neck brace. The evenly spaced and conveniently shaped holes in it almost made him roll his eyes.

Hopefully this works.

Carefully placing the stone at the top of the brace, he suddenly felt a wave of energy flow through him as light began to illuminate from where he stood to the sky, shining like a beacon. Marcus wouldn’t deny that it felt incredible, this feeling was unlike anything he had felt before in his entire life. He felt his body heating up, his muscles felt more invigorated. He felt a wave of pure relief flow out of him, but at the same time the intense feeling in his body he felt after a long workout at the gym. It was pure adrenaline and it was something he never felt this intensely before. Instinctually, he let himself fall to one knee as his body and mind tried to process what was happening to it.

This is just the power of one of those stones?! This omnipotence is exhilarating, and there’s five more just like this one out there! I want them… I must have them all! I-

“Coaly? A-Are you okay?” Snapping out of his trance, he looked to see Pinkie staring at him with curiosity and…fear?

Oh god, I must look like a creep right now!

“S-Sorry Pinkie, just this felt different is all, you don’t have to worry.” he replied, quickly picking up his satchel and placing it by his side, looking inside to see if everything he had was there.

“So, Coaly, what are you going to call it?! Oh! Is it like my sister’s pet rock?! What’s his name?! Rocko? Rocky?”

“Huh?! W-Wait, that’s the first thing you ask?! Not ‘why was it teleporting us?’ or ‘why did it light up the sky?’ or ‘why does it glow!?’” He asked, gawking at her in disbelief. He’d admit that he’s heard a lot of crazy shit before, but this took the cake.

The stone must have scrambled her brain somehow, there’s no way that would be the first question anyone would ask.

“Well, I was surprised that we were popping in and out of places as we traversed space itself, but I just thought that stone was just super uber special! Since you said it was important to your secret special quest! I figured that it was best not to pry too much until you were ready!” she explained, grinning at him as he just stared at her.

“I am so confused right now, but I think for now we should put a pin in this conversation and try to get back to Ponytown.”

“Ponyville.”

“Gesundheit.”

“Well, I totally agree with you cause the Everfree Forest can be super duper scary at night!”

“What do you m-”

*PING*

Marcus immediately turned to his satchel and reached inside of it to pull out his phone. When his eyes landed on the screen, his eyes widened.

LD
Glad you found the first one Marcus but try not to let it go to your head. I’ll be keeping in touch. And remember, you are on a deadline.
-Lady Death

Oh fuck me!

---

Elsewhere…

A mysterious figure stood outside of her home as she saw the bright blue light pierce the sky. Around her neck, a green glow began to hum as it reacted to the light in the distance.

“I see… so the events I had foreseen are changing now. It appears that I’ll have to step in sooner than I anticipated. Whoever you are, I promise that when we meet, I’ll be taking that stone from you. For the sake of Equestria, and for the sake of my son.”

Author's Note:

And finally, here is Chapter Six, man it took awhile, but it's done now :D

Comments

[Swordfighter125]

Omg, finally the chapter is here. And it's worth it

[RandomCommentor]

As soon as they vanished, an earth pony with a green hat appeared. His Jaw dropping at the horror he's witnessed.

"MY CABBAGES!!!"

Ah yes, a writer of culture I see.