I am Ruin

by XHunter

Chapter 6 - Introductions

Adam followed Celestia through the nearby town. The streets were empty of civilians, with guards stationed periodically to keep watch. To Adam, the town appeared straight out of a medieval history book, but there were oddities here and there that hinted at a more modern touch. For instance, the village had lamp posts resembling those from the early 1900s, painted in bright colors.

As they walked, Adam stumbled occasionally. His new body was unfamiliar, and his muscle memory fought against the changes. Unexpectedly, Celestia lifted him onto her back without a word, carrying him the rest of the way. The expressionless masks of the two Solar Guards morphed into frowns, while Adam's face turned red with embarrassment.

During the walk, Adam asked Celestia questions to familiarize himself. He learned that the "Not-Horses" were actually called Ponies. Celestia and her sister held the highest authority in the land, ruling from the capital city of Canterlot.

Celestia behaved nothing like Adam’s idea of royalty. She had willingly put herself alone with a potential threat and even carried him for his comfort. Her demeanor was relaxed and calm, her voice motherly rather than commanding or demeaning. If Celestia held any ill will towards Adam, she was expertly concealing it. However, Adam doubted that she harbored any ill intentions in the first place.

When they finally stopped, they stood in front of what appeared to be a tree. Adam soon realized that the tree was actually a building. At first, he thought it had been built to mimic a tree, but the falling leaves told a different story. The aliens had somehow hollowed out the tree while keeping it alive, and the best explanation Adam could come up with was magic.

"Here we are," Celestia said, knocking on the door. Almost immediately, the door swung open, revealing a familiar purple Unicorn on the other side. She was slightly taller than Adam, with slightly messy purple and pink hair.

"Princess! Come on in, I've made tea," she said, her face momentarily showing confusion as she noticed Adam riding on Celestia's back.

Celestia chuckled at her reaction. "Thank you, Twilight. Some refreshments will be nice since we have a lot to discuss."

As they entered, one of the solar guards stayed outside to keep watch, while the rest proceeded into the cozy-looking library within the hollowed-out tree. Bookshelves lined the left and right walls, and the back wall featured two doors and a staircase leading up. In the center of the library, two circular tables were arranged. One table was occupied by a guard and several other ponies enjoying tea, while the other was covered in papers, books, and even some jewelry.

"Hey there, Princess," greeted a bipedal lizard-thing at one of the bookshelves, dumping papers into a bin. He was as tall as Twilight and had purple and green scales. He ran over to Celestia who nuzzled him and then leaned over to Twilight. "Is that the baby Pinkie was talking about?" he whispered a little too loudly.

"Yes Spike, but it's not a baby," Twilight corrected him.

"Obviously, they're almost as big as me," he said, chuckling.

Twilight gestured for everyone to join her at the populated table. The remaining solar guard stationed himself at the back of the library near the stairs, while the rest sat at the table. Celestia lowered herself to allow Adam to slide off of her back.

All the ponies sat on large pillow cushions, except for Spike, who occupied the only chair in the room. the room. Adam looked around for a place to sit but realized there were no remaining cushions.

"Um, there's nowhere for me to sit," he said mostly to Celestia. Adam wasn't the shy type, but Celestia was the only creature he was comfortable with due to exposure.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to come with the Princess," Twilight quickly apologized.
There was remorse in her voice that didn't make sense to Adam.

It isn’t that big of a deal? Adam thought.

"Spike, can you fetch a cushion from upstairs?" Twilight asked.

"On it," Spike replied, promptly getting up and disappearing up the stairs.

"While we wait for Spike to return, let us introduce ourselves to Dizzy," Celestia suggested. "As you already know, Dizzy, I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria and bringer of the day." She flicked her hoof, signaling Twilight to continue the introductions.

Twilight straightened herself before beginning her introduction, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia’s protégé."—her posture faltered a bit—"I'm sorry about earlier."

Confused, Adam asked, "Earlier? What do you mean?"

Twilight tapped her hooves together and avoided eye contact. "I'm the one who had you…umm…tied up," she explained. Now the guilt in her voice over a cushion made a little more sense, though Adam still found it strange.

"It's alright. I get why you did it. After all, I am…Discord’s kid," Adam reassured. "Apology accepted." A small smile appeared on Twilight’s muzzle, indicating her relief.

Adam turned to the next pony for their introduction. Next to Twilight was a vibration chamber in the shape of a pink pony. The pony introduced herself enthusiastically, saying, "Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's number-one party extraordinaire!” Adam couldn't tell if her energetic behavior was due to drugs or just her natural disposition. "I was the one who found you next to Discord’s statue. When I saw you, I was all like, 'Daww, Discord had a baby!' And then I realized you were why my Pinkie Sense was all wonky! It wasn't just telling me I was meeting a new pony, but that I was meeting the newly born baby of a villain!"

Pinkie Pie paused to take a deep breath before exclaiming, "Wait!" Everyone leaned back, caught off guard by her sudden change in tone. Pinkie Pie's already fast talking doubled in speed. "If you were born today, that means it's your birthday! That means not only do I need to plan your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party, but also your birthday party! Be right back!"

Pinkie Pie sped off to the door but was stopped in her tracks by a magic pull to her tail. "Miss Pie, you can plan your parties later," Celestia said, amused. "We still have to discuss the issue of Dizzy."

Celestia released her magical grip, and Pinkie Pie sat on her haunches, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry, it's just so exciting. This almost beats the first time I met Twilight. I mean it's not every day you get to meet a villain's cutie-pie of a baby!" Adam's cheeks turned red at her comment.

"I understand, Dizzy is very cute," Adam's embarrassment was turning into annoyance, "Now, come join us back at the table," Celestia said.

But before Pinkie Pie could make her way back, Spike re-entered the room. "Hey Pinkie, catch!" he called from the back of the library. With surprising dexterity, Pinkie Pie jumped and caught the cushion in mid-air.

"Here you go Dizzy," Pinkie Pie said cheerily.

Adam took the plush and soft pillow into his claws. It felt incredibly comfortable, and he assumed it must have been expensive. "Um, thanks, Pinkie Pie."

"No problem!" Pinkie Pie said as she returned to her own cushion. Spike returned to his seat next to Twilight.

Adam placed his cushion next to Celestia. It took him a few embarrassing tries to find a comfortable sitting position. Sitting like he used to was out of the question. Taking cues from the ponies, Adam adopted a similar pose. After a few adjustments, he found a surprisingly comfortable position. Around the table, a few of the creatures wore slightly bemused expressions.

With Adam comfortably seated, the pony next to Pinkie Pie took over. "Howdy, Dizzy, I'm Applejack. I'd like to issue an apology as well. I'm the one who did all the tying for the rope, you see," she said.

"Like I said to Twilight, I get it," Adam said.

"I'm glad then. I'm hopin' we can have better relations than what we had with your…father," Applejack said, still getting used to the idea of Discord having a kid.

"Me too, I guess."

An awkward silence set in as Adam waited for the next pony to introduce itself. The unicorn looked into Adam's eyes as though they were searching for something. Applejack gave the pony a hidden nudge and a not-so-quiet, "Rarity."

Rarity gave a look of discontent to Applejack before introducing herself. "Sorry," she said, "my name is Rarity." Everyone waited for her to tell a little about herself like Pinkie Pie, but she remained silent.

It was clear to Adam that Rarity was unsure about him, and he could understand why. Discord was their enemy, and now they were faced with his supposed son. For all she knew, Adam could be Discord in disguise. He had no idea what Discord did to get sealed, but it clearly upset Rarity enough to dislike anything related to him. He didn't know what to say to reassure her, so he chose to remain silent for the moment.

The last pony cleared his throat to finish off the introductions. "Hello, Dizzy. My name is Private Fast Pace, Equestrian Royal Guard courier. I would say 'nice to meet you,' however today isn't the nicest of days," he jested, but the joke fell flat. Celestia was the only one to chuckle, whether it was genuine or out of pity, Adam didn't know.

"What about him?" Adam said, pointing to Spike.

"Well, you've already heard my name. I'm Spike, Spike the Dragon," he said.

Adam was a little surprised that wingless Spike was a dragon. "You're a dragon? Like the fire-breathing kind?"

"Yep! I know I don't look like it, but that's because I haven't reached my first molt. Once I'm old enough I'll get my wings! I can breathe fire if you want me to prove it though," he said proudly.

"Keep it small and away from the walls Spike. Your normal breath burns, unlike messaging flames," Twilight warned.

"Yeah yeah, I know. You're not my Mom, and I'm not a baby you know," he bantered.

"Yes, Spike, I'm not," Twilight agreed, "but I am your sister and the librarian."

Spike stood up from Twilight's side and walked over to Adam. He crouched down to be eye-level with Adam and said, "Look closely, blowing softly can make the flame hard to see."

With a short breath, Spike blew out a soft stream of air. Small flames danced out of his mouth until he stopped. Adam's myth-filled mind was in awe as he witnessed what was the closest thing to a real dragon blowing fire in front of him.

"Awesome," Adam muttered. His friend Alex would be blown away by Spike.

"I know, right?" Spike said, returning to his seat.

Celestia stood to focus attention on her. "Now then, I want to thank you all for trying your hardest to reform Discord. Especially you, Twilight. I know you must have planned extensively," Celestia said, looking at the bin filled with papers. "And I know all of us prepared somewhat for failure. However, Discord leaving Dizzy behind is something none of us could have foreseen.

"Dizzy, I have a question to ask you. I need you to answer honestly," she asked.

"Umm, okay," Adam said.

"What do you wish to do as the Lord of Chaos," she asked.

The question was sharp, contrasting her kind appearance so far. It was clearly meant to catch him off guard and assess his allegiance.

Adam needed to think of the best way to answer it. The contract bound him to fulfill his duty. It didn't list any punishments for breaking it, but it would be foolish to break a contract with essentially "god." If what Discord said about the aliens was correct, they were opposed to chaos out of ignorance, and maybe he could use that to his advantage.

"I don't know," he said.

For the briefest of moments, Celestia smiled. Adam continued, "I don't want to be anyone's enemy, but chaos is necessary for the world. And I…I will fulfill my duty as a Lord of Chaos,” he said, causing Celestia to frown.

Silence reigned as everyone contemplated what he said. Fast Pace placed his hooves onto the table, stared straight into Adam's eyes, and coldly said, "How can you claim not to be our enemy when you just admitted you would sow chaos throughout Equestria?"

"If you mean destruction or anything Discord has done, that's not going to happen. I'll…" Adam thought back to his lesson from Discord, "I’ll find my own way. A way that benefits everyone."

Celestia, deep in thought, turned to Applejack with a questioning look. Applejack gave a simple nod in response that satisfied Celestia. "I will trust your word Dizzy," she said neutrally.

"Princess?" Fast Pace questioned, annoyance clear in his voice. Celestia shook her head, causing him to stand down. He took a deep breath and returned to his seat.

"My little ponies, I have a new mission for all of you," Celestia said, "Just like with Discord, I want you to show Dizzy the wonders of Equestria and friendship.

"To assist with this, I have appointed Fast Pace as Dizzy's legal guardian. Judging by her physical appearance, she seems to be around fourteen years old, which means she needs a guardian by law. Once I return to Canterlot, I will start the process of providing them with housing support. Until then, I'll need one of you to offer them a place to stay."

All eyes turned to Applejack. "What?" she asked, puzzled.

"Aren't you going to show them some of that Sweet Apple Hospitality?" Pinkie Pie suggested.

"I'd love to. However, the house ain't got any guest rooms. I'll do it if the rest of yall can't, but I'd prefer not to offer them just a couch," Applejack explained.

Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie. "The library only has two rooms. Pinkie, do you think Mr. and Mrs. Cake could offer a room?" she asked.

"Hmm, maybe if we gave them a notice in advance. I'm kinda already taking up the guest room. Rarity?" Pinkie Pie said.

Rarity bit her lip. "Ngh, are you sure that…Dizzy is trustworthy," she asked cautiously.

"Truthfully, no," Celestia admitted, causing Adam to feel a pang of disappointment. "If you're worried about any chaos being caused at your home, Twilight scanned Dizzy earlier and confirmed that she is currently powerless."

"Yes, I know, but Twilight can't sense a typical unicorn, if I recall correctly. It doesn't take much power to start a fire," Rarity expressed her worry.

Adam bowed his head down for an apology, he hoped that gesture would transfer to ponies. "If it means anything, I'm sorry for what Discord has done in the past," he said.

Once again, Rarity stared at Adam. "Discord would never apologize," she muttered under her breath. "Alright, I'll do it. The boutique's guest room has a princess-sized bed; that should be big enough for the two of you."

"Don't worry Miss Rarity. If Dizzy causes any trouble, I'll be your knight in shining armor and reign 'em in," Fast Pace assured.

Rarity fluttered her eyes playfully. "I'll hold you to that, my handsome knight," she teased, but Fast Pace didn't react to the attempted teasing.

"That covers what I needed all of you here for. Pinkie Pie and Applejack, you're free to leave; please tell Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy what we discussed," Celestia instructed.

"You got it, Princess," Pinkie Pie confirmed.

"Be seein' you all,'' Applejack said as she and Pinkie Pie left through the door, with Applejack giving a smile to Dizzy before disappearing.

Before the door closed, Pinkie Pie popped her head back in, her face suddenly serious and her voice cold. "Dizzy, get ready for the greatest party you'll ever experience. I'll make your first party so grand that no other party will compare, IN. YOUR. LIFE...

BYEEEE!" she cheerfully declared before trotting off.

Why did she say that so creepily? Adam thought.

"If you all wouldn't mind, I have a few things to discuss with Twilight, and I'd like some privacy with her," Celestia said.

"Mrs. Rarity, why don't we discuss our living arrangement in the kitchen?" Fast Pace suggested.

"Sure. Twilight you don't mind if I grab a small snack do you? Today's events have left me famished," Rarity asked.

"Be my guest. Rarity. Spike, why don’t you show Dizzy your comic collection?" Twilight suggested.

"Yeah, sure!" Spike replied with a grin. "Follow me, Dizzy."

Spike led Adam up the stairs, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the hallway. As soon as Adam was out of Celestia's view, he overheard her playful remark, "How cute, Spike invited a filly to his room."

"PRINCESS!?" Twilight exclaimed, earning a hearty laugh from Celestia.

The unseen exchange left Adam with one question, "Spike, what's a filly?"

---

Twilight's face burned red with embarrassment. She couldn't believe what she heard her mentor say and was too flustered to reprimand her for it.

"Calm down, Twilight. He'll be inviting them over soon if he hasn't already, he is sixteen after all," Celestia remarked.

"Yes, but it's embarrassing to be joking about my little brother like that!" she complained, covering her face.

Celestia allowed herself a final chuckle, giving Twilight some time to compose herself. "So, Twilight, I've received a few complaints about you from Captain Triple," Celestia began.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I'm not used to having guards around for this stuff. Whenever you've sent us to solve an issue, you've always sent just me and the girls. I just... forgot about them during my planning," Twilight explained, feeling remorseful.

"No excuses, Twilight," Celestia reprimanded gently. "In the future, you will be working with the guard more often, and I need you to get used to them. I may have overwhelmed you with the task of reforming Discord, and I'm sorry about that, but you should've remembered to keep the guard informed."

"Yes, Princess," Twilight replied, her head hung low.

Celestia trotted over to her and nuzzled her gently. "Twilight, you're not in trouble, so raise your head," she affirmed. "However, I don't want a repeat of this. The next time something similar happens, I will be considering Captain Triple's suggestion of punishing you."

"Don't worry, Princess, you won't need to," Twilight assured her.

"I know I won't," Celestia responded with a smile.

"Princess, I have a question."

"Yes, Twilight?" Celestia inquired.

"Did you already plan for us to teach Dizzy? Fast Pace wasn't surprised that he'd be her guardian."

"Somewhat, yes. I had asked him if he would be willing to take on that role if I deemed Dizzy to not be an immediate threat," Celestia explained.

"Do you think Dizzy is tricking us?" Twilight questioned with curiosity.

"Truthfully, I do not know. History has taught us that Chaos Lords are not to be trusted. But Discord wasn't like his predecessors, and I have faith that Dizzy will be the same," Celestia expressed, her voice laced with hope.

---

"What do you mean, 'what's a filly?' Oh! I guess draconequi use a different term, like dragons," Spike replied.

"Yeah something like that," Adam said half-heartedly. In truth he already had a guess as to what it meant, hearing it once or twice before, but he wanted confirmation.

"Well, it means girl, basically," he said as he opened the door to his room.

There it was, another fuck you from Discord. Adam didn't know if Discord was messing with him for kicks-and-giggles or just wanted Adam to suffer.

The anger he wanted to feel was distant, muddled in the haze of all his other emotions. All the excitement, fear, relief, anxiety, and anger from the day had been compressed into a confusing soup that left him feeling disconnected from reality. "Do you have a mirror?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, let me go fetch it from my closet. Why do you need it?" Spike inquired, heading in.

Adam followed closely behind. "I was just…made today, so I kinda don't know how I look."

"Oh yeah. You're so calm that it's hard to remember that," he remarked, disappearing into the closet on the left side of his room. Adam took the opportunity to survey the room while he waited.

Spike's room was cozy, filled with pony analogs of geek culture. Posters of pony superheroes adorned the walls, though one was an anime-like poster that seemed out of place. On the opposite side of the room from Adam, a lone window provided natural light. Below the window was a bookshelf stocked with comics. Pony figurines and a box set with characters reminiscent of the singular anime poster sat atop the bookshelf.

To the right was Spike's bed and a nightstand. Surprisingly, the bedsheets were plain blue. To the left was the closet door, which Spike had left cracked open. Adam could only guess what was inside since no one here wore clothes, except for the guards and Celestia. Which reminded him that he had, luckily, not glimpsed any unwanted sights.

The closet door creaked open as Spike emerged, carefully pushing out a mirror. "Here we are," he announced. "Mind the dust. I don't normally take it out of the closet, but I don't need Twilight coming in and getting the wrong idea if she saw us in the closet together," he added. It took a moment for Adam to catch Spike's implication.

"Right," Adam replied. The mirror was large, standing tall enough for Adam to see his entire body. As expected, he resembled Discord, but younger. His eyes were mismatched like Discord's, but thankfully, they were just different colors instead of different sizes. One eye was red, akin to Discord's, while the other was blue, reminiscent of Adam's original eyes. His long black hair had carried over to this new body, but it appeared less greasy and much fluffier. A plume of white downy feathers adorned his neck and upper chest, resembling those of a griffon vulture, only larger.

"I look ridiculous," Adam muttered.

Spike raised a questioning eyebrow, "Good ridiculous, or bad ridiculous?"

"Bad," Adam replied bluntly.

"I disagree. Yeah, you may be mismatched like Discord, but you're way better looking—kinda cute even," he said, oblivious to the accidental flirtation. Spike seemed more aware of how his actions could be misconstrued than his words.

"Cute…" Adam mumbled.

Adam moved on to his body. Feathers adorned his arms, resembling those of a velociraptor. He wondered if he could fly with them. His entire upper body was covered in small feathers that, upon closer inspection, seamlessly transitioned into fur toward his lower half.

Unlike the fur and feathers of his body, the scales of his tail weren’t seamless, separating his tail from his lower body. His tail was long to aid with balance and ended with a flowing cascade of long fur.

Curiosity prompted Adam to check the inside of his mouth. To his surprise, his teeth resembled those of a wolf rather than a human. He turned around to try and see his back. With his arms outstretched, he had the vague silhouette of a bird. Maybe I can fly, he thought.

There was one thing left to check, the main reason he wanted a mirror. "Um Spike, can you…leave the room real quick?"

"Huh, why?" Spike questioned.

Adam took a moment to collect himself. "I'm checking…everything."

"Everything? But you just did." Spike replied, failing to grasp the underlying meaning.

Is he dense? Adam thought. "Just get out," he shooed, too embarrassed to elaborate.

"Alright, I'm goin'—I'm goin'. Just yell when I can come back in; I've got comics to show ya," Spike said.

Adam watched as Spike exited the room, waiting for the click of the door before turning back to the mirror. He hesitated, feeling a sense of dread as he prepared to confirm the change in his sex. Lying on his back, he faced the mirror and was surprised to find nothing where one would expect to find any sexual organs. Instead, there was only fur. Adam speculated that it was concealed beneath his fur, but the thought of physically checking made him apprehensive.

---

She sure is taking a while, Spike thought. Dizzy had been, strangely enough, not very interesting. For being Discord’s kid, her personality was entirely antithetical. He considered that maybe she had a lot on her mind or was just naturally shy.

Suddenly, a high-pitched yelp from his room interrupted his thoughts. "Are you okay in there?" he asked, his hand resting on the doorknob.

"Y-yeah I'm fine,” Dizzy sputtered. “ Just…surprised.”

Surprised? he mentally questioned. "You sure?"

"Yeah, you can, um, come back in now," Dizz hesitantly said.

Spike opened the door to see the burning red face of Dizzy. "So, done checking yourself out?"

"Yeah…" she quietly replied.

"Great! I can show you some of my comics," Spike said cheerfully.

He led Dizzy over to his bookshelf and began showing her some of his comics.

---

Adam was going to destroy that statue of Discord when he got the chance. His inspection did reveal that he was now, unfortunately, female, but thankfully his intimate parts remained hidden from view without contact. That would presumably explain why he didn't see the bits and bobs of everyone else. Although that left him with the question of why and how. He made the guess that it was because of magic. He would have to get a book on magic—biology—magical biology, whichever one had the explanation.

While Spike's comics didn't captivate Adam, he loved the opportunity to explore different cultures and used the comics to get his mind off the change. He listened intently as Spike provided brief explanations for each comic and showcased the accompanying artwork.

"What about those? They look completely different," Adam asked, pointing to the box set.

"Oh, those? They were a gift from my friend Fluttershy. When she found out I liked comics, she got me those for my birthday. She's really into Neighponeese comics, or 'manga' as she calls it," he explained.

Adam could imagine his friend, Alex, geeking out with Spike and Fluttershy over comics and manga if he was here. Alex had always been fascinated by fiction, specifically magic. In fact, he had embarked on a quest to find real magic, with Adam supporting him through research and investigation. It was those initial studies that facilitated the blossoming of Adam’s love for ancient cultures.

A sinking feeling enveloped Adam as he realized that he had inadvertently abandoned Alex and the people who mattered most to him. A lump formed in his throat, knowing that Alex would be the first to discover his absence. They had made plans to experiment with a theoretical ritual at Adam’s house, but now all that awaited his friend was an empty home. Adam fretted about the fate of his original body, praying it had been discarded rather than left behind. The mere thought of Alex stumbling upon his lifeless remains filled him with disgust.

"Are you okay?" Spike asked, concern evident in his voice from seeing Adam’s distraught face.

Adam replied with a simple, "Yeah."

Spike placed a comforting hand on Adam's shoulder. "If you're not really into the comics, we don't have to go through them, you know."

Adam avoided eye contact with Spike, the simple gesture reminded him of Alex. "No-No it's not the comics, I'm just…thinking about things," Adam said.

Spike made an unexpected offer that caught Adam off guard. "Want to talk about it?" Spike inquired.

Adam leaned out of Spike’s hand and quickly hid his emotions. "Here" —Adam picked up the box set— "why don't we read these. They're the first in the series right?"

Slightly taken aback by Adam’s change in attitude, Spike replied hesitantly, "Sure."

"We can even try doing, uh, voices," Adam suggested, hoping Spike would drop the question.

Spike chuckled at the idea. "Alright, let's give it a shot." Adam internally relaxed.

Taking out the first three books, Spiked went and clambered onto his bed, patting his side to indicate where Adam should sit. Adam followed along and Spike opened the book once hew was seated.

“I’ll do the narration,” Spike said. “Once upon a time, there lived a fox spirit…”

Comments

[valexto]

Great to see another chapter and to see Dizzy officially introduced to everyone. Didn't expected her to end up with a guard as legal guardian but perhaps it will suits better. And her and Spike looks like it might be a thing on the long term. I could be wrong though.

[Theresa]

I think he forgave twilight a little too easily considering because one person of certain race does something bad doesn't mean you mistreat others because of it. Even if you had bad experiences.

[Lucien Arindel Domingo]

I’m invested

[Arkanids]

This chapter was cute

[Moonlight_Mist]

Although that left him with the question of why and how. He made the guess that it was because of magic. He would have to get a book on magic—biology—magical biology, whichever one had the explanation.

Obviously it's standard practice in Equestria to equip each pony with a genital cloaking device.