No Longer an Enigma

by enigmaMystere

Meet the Colt

A dark red pegasus landed just on the outskirts of the city. He looked around, examining the white buildings, the pristine streets, and the castle perched above it all. He smiled, nervously shifting the saddlebags on his back. "This is it. Canterlot." With a sigh of contentment, he entered the archway, stopping as a unicorn in gold-plated armor - it has to be gold-plated, gold is too malleable to be armor by itself - held a spear in his way.

The guard looked down at him, frowning sternly. "Name?"

The colt pulled a small passport and a completed form out of his bag, holding it up for the guardspony. He gave him his best smile, though he always worried it made him look constipated. It definitely didn't help that he had his papers in his teeth.

The dark gray stallion took them with his magic. He took one look at the name and glared at the smaller pony. "It's not wise to joke, little filly."

The red pony's eye twitched and he frowned deeply at the larger stallion. "I'm a guy. I may look like a mare, but I know my gender, than you very much! And yes," he pointed to the name at the top of the small book, "my name is Enigma. It's not a joke." He paused, putting the hoof up to his chin. " ... well, it was a joke to my grandpa ... " He glanced down, a sorrowful expression on his face. Quickly shaking himself out of his bad mood, he gave a sheepish grin. "Terribly sorry about that. I don't normally lose my head so quickly."

Having successfully recovered from the shock of the pegasus' outburst, the guard took the passport and the forms he was given and, checking everything twice, handed them back to the pony. With a nod, he moved the spear out of the new arrival's way. "Welcome to Canterlot. I hope you'll tolerate living here."

Enigma blinked, looking up at the guard, confused by his statement. Shrugging it off, he continued into the city, trotting into what looked like a park. He moved over to a bench and sat down, holding his head in his hooves.

"Maybe I can join the Royal Guard." He glanced at his flank, knowing that they covered up more red fur. "Then again, who would want a blank flank as a guard?"

That was the biggest issue with his life. He was nineteen and he still didn't have his cutie mark. Ponies always made fun of him for that. Why can't I find a town that won't heckle me about it? He reached into one of the bags, retracting with a list in hoof. He glanced over it again, making sure it was perfect. Or, at least, as close to it as possible.

He sighed once more, reading the list of degrees he put at the top of his resume. "Two masters and one doctorate, and I still can't find my talent." He tapped his hoof to his chin, contemplating as he put the resume back in his saddlebag. " ... maybe I should've chosen something other than mathematics and math-based studies ... "

He glanced at a nearby puddle, examining his reflection as if it held the answers to his problems. He stared at his maroon eyes, noting the sorrow hidden deep in their depths. His gaze shifted to the Peruvian brown mane on his head, lifeless as a rock and as pleasing to see as one, to boot.

The worst part, however, was his effeminate face. He frowned, tracing his curved muzzle with his hoof and glaring at the long eyelashes that had plagued him since birth. I'm a stallion, darn it! Why the buck do I have to look like a mare!? He brushed the fur aside on his muzzle, noticing the beginnings of stubble. Maybe it would help if I grow a beard? No, those always look ugly on me ...

He groaned, taking a small pill bottle from his bag and shaking a single capsule out. "I bet some mare out there has the body I was supposed to have." He chuckled at that thought, pausing long enough to swallow his medicine. "Knew I forgot it this morning. Why else would I be so ... out of it?" He held the bottle up, reading the writing on its label. “I wonder if there are any doctors around here that prescribe Adderall?”

He quickly put his medicine back in his bag, coming back out with a quill, an inkwell and a sheet of parchment in his teeth. He set everything up as he knew was comfortable for him and took in the scenery, carefully sketching every detail he could see.

Four hours later, he was almost done. Carefully, he wiped some sweat off his brow before working on the last flower. Careful ... careful ... A gentle breeze blew, causing the flower to tilt the opposite direction. Enigma paused, the quill just an inch above the drawing.

He carefully set it down to the side, getting up and moving towards the flower. With a gentle nudge, he moved it back to its original position. Looking at it for a moment, he twisted it about five degrees around its stem. Perfect. Smiling contentedly, he trotted back to the bench, situating himself just as he was before. Grabbing the quill in his teeth, he got back to work, carefully beginning on the first line for the rose.

A sound like rushing water met his ears. He stopped mid-stroke, his ear twitching slightly. Am I near a stream? I didn't see one when I sat down. Looking at his picture, he saw that he was correct; there wasn't a stream nearby. Confused, he looked up to see just what was making that noise.

A wave of magenta filled his vision rushing forward at him. With a yelp of surprise, he dropped his quill and shielded his face, squeezing his eyes shuts as he braced for impact.

It never came. Instead, a strange sensation, like moving through a dense fog, covered his body and left as quickly as it arrived. Confused, he peeked open one eye, and then the other. He was still sitting on the bench in the park. Then he hazarded a glance up.

He saw a large magenta sphere, which seemed to be surrounding the city. He stared at it blankly, unsure what to think about it. " ... that's odd. Interesting, but odd." Shrugging, he turned back to his drawing.

It was ruined. The inkwell had overturned, splashing black all over the masterpiece. Instead of looking like a landscape, it was now, to him, a Pollen reject.

He sighed, facehoofing. "Well, there goes my hard work." He picked it up carefully, but he knew there was nothing he could do to rescue his sketch. "Now what do I-"

Music suddenly filled his ears. He tilted his head, curious about the slow yet enticing tune. " ... that doesn't sound like any classical song I've ever heard." Getting up, he followed the wonderful, unique melody, leaving behind the stained piece of parchment completely forgotten.

A few minutes later, a grey stallion and a mustard-yellow mare trotted along, their noses so high in the air it was a wonder they didn't trip on anything. They very clearly cared for their appearance, if his styled black mane and her recently-quaffed hair were any indication. They wore tennis shirts and sweaters draped over their shoulders, but one could still easily see their cutie marks - three jets and three dollar signs. One could only assume that they were married, looking at them.

They moved to the bench previously occupied by the dark red pegasus, promptly sitting down. The unicorn stallion leaped up, his azure eyes wide in shock.

The mare stared blankly, following his flailing motions with her persian blue eyes filled with disinterest. Eventually, she spoke up, raising a perfectly pedicured hoof without any attempt to help. "Jet Set, dear, you have something on your flank."

He turned his head as best he could to look at his rear end, frowning when he saw the sheet stuck to him. He began to move in circles, trying to get closer to the thing stuck on his bottom.

After watching him futilely chase his tail for about three minutes, the mare spoke up once more. "Why aren't you using your magic?"

He immediately froze, straightening back up and removing the problem with his magic. "Thank you, Upper Crust. I don't know what I would've done without you."

With that last comment, he sat back down next to her. She shifted away from him slightly, and they sat there like that in perfect silence.

Upper Crust turned to the stallion, eyes completely void of emotion. "Jet Set, I want a foal."

The stallion, taken completely by surprise, blanched at the prospect, shaking his head as fast as he dared. "Let's discuss this later, dear." He put the parchment up to his face, staring at the smattering of black lines covering it. Slowly, he broke into a smile. "Whoever made this had real talent. Black on tan ... " He turned to the mare, a twinkle in his eye. "I dare say this could be an absolute hit." He rolled the sheet up, placing it into one of his shopping bags so he could sell it later. Silence enveloped to couple once more.

"Is that a yes for us having a foal?"

---

Okay, so this is another story I hope is good enough for others to like. ^w^ Please let me know what you think, and, I think I should inform you now, the main character has a bit of a mental problem. Nothing too serious, just something called Aspergers Syndrome. And ADD. And anxiety disorder. But that's it.

I am not this character. He shares some similarities, but he has three degrees, had a bunch of jobs, and is completely oblivious to other's feelings...most of the time, at least. Romance gives him issues. And he is not a Mary Sue. A pox on the house of anyone who thinks that!

...strike that, I could never do that to anyone. Just please don't think he's a Mary Sue. Okay?

Just to be clear, 'Pollen' is the ponified version of 'Pollock'. Like Jackson Pollock, the artist. I'm not calling anyone anything, I was just afraid I made the reference too obscure. ^^;

And yes, this is how long my normal chapters are. It's how long it takes me to write a complete thought and feel like there's nothing I'm forgetting. Besides, this story is something for me to write while I brainstorm for "Epic Rap Battles of MLP". If you feel as though you can help me improve this chapter/story, please, let me know. I'd greatly appreciate any help I can get.

Have a nice day!

Enigma out.~

Comments

[GentlemanPirate]

I wanted to help you write this, so I'm firsting it, too.

[CaptainSanchez]

Good...

[xXSilverLiningXx]

I may find interest in this, as soon as I can figure out my explanation for bucking magical theory...

Galifreyan is a complicated language to write in...

[The Libertarian Brony]

This is good so far. Can't wait to see some more of your head canon. Another masterpiece from the great and powerful enigma

[EchotheWolf]

Adding to Read Later.

[dashie76]

Hmm...a prologue, you say?

I'll definitely read this in a little while!

[Craterfist]

Is this your OC story? Because it's pretty good so far.

[Spark of Inspiration]

I'll say this: when I saw the premise, I was worried. I knew you could write a lot of ideas, but even then, the idea seemed too far out for even you to make into a good story. After I started reading, everything changed.

Please keep writing this. It's nice to hear you're giving Enigma more backstory.
-SoI

[Streekersheep]

I finally got around to reading this. All I have to ask is why are you such a good writer?

[Vulpibard]

First chapter read and enjoyed greatly, now on to the rest ^ ^

[Serefin]

Hopefully this story will fill in, at the very least, a majority of details that I don't get in the Rap Battles.