A Wish That Could Be

by Faithful Brony

A Forgotten Promise

"We are each on our own journey. Each of us is on our very own adventure; encountering all kinds of challenges, and the choices we make on that adventure will shape us as we go; these choices will stretch us, test us and push us to our limits; and our adventure will make us stronger than we ever known we could be."

-Aamnah Akram

"Please allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Russel," at this Jessie and Rob approached shocked more than anything at his new form.

"Russel is It really you," Jessie and Rob said as they came up to their changed friend. it seemed like an illusion at first but they knew that somehow it was their friend. the hybrid creature knelled down to a more appropriate level for their height.

"Yes it is, before I left I did tell you we would see each other again, did I not, Russel said as he embrace his friends happy about their reunion. Letting go he stood back up. He turn to the group of ponies some still in shock others now conversing amongst themselves. Don't be so shocked, its not like it wasn't in your thoughts, whether these two were the only ones that came through the portal that day.

"Elder, why is it that you didn't notify me when you learned of his existence," Celestia asked in a regal tone even though she was quite aggravated.

"When you first sent that letter, I didn't know. He did not arrive until five months after and when he was brought before us he pleaded for asylum. the conditions were that no one outside Volcana knew that he was there," Rockjaw said explaining the agreement. Cadence approached putting a hoof on Celestia shoulder indicating her turn to speak.

"Aunty that's not important right now. we should be asking is how is he standing before us in this form, or why he's able to use magic very few ponies know about," Cadence asked now raising even more questions amongst them.

"Well, that's a very long tale that I will only tell if you forget your anger with my master, Russel said stoically.

"That we can do," princess Celestia said agreeing to the deal.

Then my story I will tell," Russel said as he sat down in a crisscross position. The other took hint at this and all sat down waiting to hear the story. " First you must be optimistic and open as I retell these past events. Now, let me take you back to the beginning of my adventures on this world," Russel said as he recalled his first day here in Equestria

( Flash back to a year ago after the wish happened)

Russel bowed saying goodbye to his friends then took off at a fast pace into the Everfree Forest. Running through the forest he dodged branches, sticker bushes, and other plants that would slow him down. After about a few minutes of running he came to a slow walk.
Looking around, he took in his surroundings noticing all the trees and the vibrant shades of color he could only see dulled on earth.

"Its so beautiful here, this world is so much more peaceful and serene. How could anyone not like this world," Russel said in awe of the real life canvas before him. He felt more alive here than he ever did back home. Continuing on the dirt path, Russel followed it for awhile until he came upon a hut that seem awfully familiar. "Well, I did not expect to be running into this," Russel said as he recognized Zecora's hut immediately. Sneaking around the hut to the other side where the dirt road continued, he got back on his journey only to walk right into something and fall over.
Recovering quickly from the unexpected fall, Russel stood back up and saw what he crashed into. It was none other than Zecora herself and she was now staring at him with a curious expression. Russel was stunned, he couldn't believe he allowed himself to get in this position. At this moment, he didn't know what to do so he did the only thing his instincts would allow. He bolted forward past the zebra and ran knowing that if he let Zecora catch up she would surely bring him to Twilight and everything would be ruined. All he could hear as he ran away was her yelling some sort of rhyme that he couldn't make out.
After running for what seemed like hours he came upon a glade where he fell onto his back. He was completely exhausted and just laid there and watched the sun set on the edge of the tree line. Slowly Russel fell asleep tired to the bone.

CRACK- Russel shot up immediately and rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he looked around searching his surroundings for the noise. It didn't take long however as he turned to a bush nearby that had multiple glowing green eyes in it. Several timberwolves came out from behind it stalking towards him. Russel quickly darted towards a tree a few feet away and ran up it grabbing a tree limb to pull himself up. The timberwolves ran towards the tree to try and get him but failed, so they sat there growling.
Russel looked around the tree trying to find a large limb to break off so to use as a club. After searching for a minute he found a sizable one and grabbed it. It broke off after some tugging, then he braced himself. He jumped off the tree and land getting into a fighting stance. The first timberwolf was almost immediately upon him. Swinging up with the branch, Russel hit the wooden creature directly in the head resulting in a loud crack before it was knocked clean off.
The head went flying leaving the rest of the body to go limp and fall over. The others started circling around Russel waiting for him to let his guard down. Two wolves charge him but he counters by using the branch as a shield then tossing them to the side. Another charges from behind and lands on Russel biting him in the shoulder. He quickly throws the wolf on to the ground and curb stomps its head. Picking the branch back up, he gets into his fighting stance again ready to continue.
The rest of the pack runs at him from all directions. Russel takes the limb and spins around in a circle, hitting all of the targets on the head. The force of the limb knock down all the wolfs, stunning them for a few seconds. Standing there, he suddenly felt dizzy and his vision became blurry. Russel strength began to weaken and he stabilized himself with the branch.

"Oh crap, I think that bite has a bit of a kick. I don't think I can last much longer- need to make a break for it," Russel said as the poison he could feel, coursed through his veins. Swinging the branch, he launched it towards the abominations and then ran. Heading off into the forest, Russel could hear the vicious creatures following close behind. He continued to run but was losing to much stamina. He searched for a place he could hide but nowhere seemed good enough.
He would have to try climbing. Veering towards a big tree not to far away, Russel ran up it grabbing at the lowest branch but just couldn't reach. He saw another tree that was smaller and attempted that. Finally he was able to connect, grabbing and pulling himself up just as he felt the air of one of wolves trying to bite him. They surrounded the tree as he moved up. Stopping about halfway up, he climbed out and ran forward jumping to the larger tree and grabbing a small branch.
Russel was hanging from it but at least he had made it. He could feel all the adrenaline running through his body at a very fast pace. All he could think about in that moment was surviving, so he continued climbing the tree pushing through the pain. After about half a minute he came across a group of branches intersecting together, he would rest there. Laying out his jacket to make it comfortable he laid down and calm his body down. Russel was exhausted and the sleeping poison the timberwolves gave him quickly knocked him out.

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A small clicking nearby awoke Russel from his slumber. Looking up he could see the sun well into the sky. Although he could not tell the time, Russel assumed it was around 4:00 or 5:00 pm. He lifted himself up slowly but he still felt fatigued. He began climbing down the tree barely being able to perform the task. As he got to the bottom he looked down to make sure there was no danger.
After searching around Russel concluded the coast was clear and dropped down on the grass. He walked slow since every muscle in his body was sore and beating like crazy. Trudging on through the forest, he came upon its edge. Pushing through the brush, Russel could feel the sun hit him fully as he walked out into the open field. Grass was a nice sight for once so he laid down felling its soft blade on his sore body. After loitering around for a little bit, he got back up and looked at the view below.
Russel could see a big port city down near a harbor which he set as his next destination. He found a path nearby and followed it down to the city. As soon as he got down there he jumped behind the first building. Sneaking through the city, he crouch-walked through alleys and behind buildings until he got to the harbor. There were a lot of boats docked and a lot of ponies as well. Russel knew it was going to be hard to sneak on one of these ships let alone hijack one and sail away without being spotted.
He dipped down into the water quietly and swam to each boat looking and inspecting which one to choose. After half an hour, he found one that was decent size and had very little occupant. Climbing on board, Russel stalked over to the cabin door and opened it. Looking through the crack of the door, he could see the room was quite large for a ships room. He checked the entire cabin as well as the storage bay. there were a couple of ponies asleep in the storage guarding a door.
Russel took some rope and tied them up then gagged them with some cloth. He then proceeded to hit them in the head then put them in a crate and dragged it up to the deck. He placed the crate over by the anchoring rope on the dock. Heading back down to storage to get rid of whatever it was they were guarding. He broke the lock and opened the door to a sight that he never thought he would see. Inside the room was a bunch of weapons lining the walls and armor in crates.

"I'm not going to be able to move all this, I hope whoever owned this ship has insurance," Russel said with remorse. He closed the door then ran back up to the deck. He untied the rope to the ship than went to the captains wheel. Slowly he used the current to turn the ship around to head out to sea. Going down to the deck, Russel loosened the ropes and let the sails down. He retightened them then the ship began moving.
He ran back up to the wheel and began setting a course to get out of there. The ship began picking up speed after about a few minutes and was quickly reaching its maximum acceleration. His luck would not hold however as he could hear siren bells from the harbor.
"Damn, they must have discovered the ponies I knocked out," Russel declared as he jammed a chair in the wheel. This would keep the ship in a straight direction, as he started loading the cannons to ready them for a possible battle. Finishing the job, Russel ran down to mid ship to get something to light the fuses with.
He grabbed a torch and lit it then went to see how many pursuers he had. He came back up and saw no such thing which shocked him. He expected to see at least a couple of ships but it looked like the port was undisturbed. Russel didn't know what to think, but he calmed down and put everything away and went back to manning the wheel. He felt odd, like something was effecting his body then a grogginess hit him. He couldn't explain where it came from but he quickly steadied himself before turning the ship a few degrees to the left.
"Lets see if I can figure out where to go, I need to at least find a doctor. Hopefully this direction will bear fruit," Russel said as Equestria slowly became a small mass in the background. He did not know what laid in store for him but he would find a suitable place to begin his mission.

Author's Note:

sorry for the wait, didn't want to take that long but unfortunately things got in the way taking up my time. Life is getting really incessantly annoying and I'm trying to take it one step at a time. anyways leave your comments as usual and hope you like the chapter.