> Red Lightning Ready to Bolt
>  by The Critical Wizard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Red Lightning Ready to Bolt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Red Lightning Ready to Bolt
By 1307954628

My story is unlike anyone else’s here in Equestria for more than just one reason but mostly because I’m not from here. Like I’m not even from this world or this dimension for that matter. I guess the only way for anyone else to possibly understand is to start from the beginning, or at least the beginning part that is most relevant to my story now. Yes that sounds good, not waste any time with my boring childhood, let’s just dive right in. The basic facts about my old world and life, I was raised in a world of distant, uncaring people who wouldn’t lift a finger to help anyone but themselves. Everyone just moving through life in this false sense of freedom and fulfillment and the essence of life itself. As not wanting any part of this dull controlled world I started breaking away from the bystanders and stood up for what was right and looking for a place away from society so I could actually feel free. After eight-teen years even after I started by branching out and being more of an individual, I still just felt like something was missing. Something important. Not to mention that I always felt like I was supposed to be born in another time period, as a different species, or even on another planet. Something about me being a human on planet earth in the twenty-first century just didn’t sit right with me. Well it seemed as though I was more right then I could have ever predicted.

One exceptionally cold Friday night in October  I was sitting at the desk in my dorm room just looking on the internet for cool pictures of Rainbow Dash and listing to heavy metal in the background. My roommate had gone home for the weekend and was not to be back until Sunday night so I was all alone for at least two full days. I normally had a lot to do on the weekends as do most college students but this weekend was different. The only homework I had to do was fifteen questions on a math sight, and some reading due on Tuesday but that was what I’d do on Monday night. So I’m just sitting here just passing the time until I felt tired.

“What time is it?” I said out loud to myself. “Eleven thirty? Well I guess I go to sleep.”

As I turned off the light and climbed in to bed I then realized I wasn’t really tired, just my eyes. So as I was lying there with my eyes closed I decided to try and astral project again. I had done it once when I was at my friend’s house so I knew I could do it. So I relaxed myself, and then I started to try and think of a destination of where I wanted to go. The last time I got out of my body with the intent of helping my friend with something and that seemed to work. I then decided to try and go and ‘visit’ him and just see what he was up too. After thinking for what felt like hours I started to feel myself lift out of my body in the same almost dream like state where everything wasn’t clear, it was more like using the sonar goggles in Splinter Cell Conviction, it was clear enough to see but everything had a blur to it. Same as before as I walked around I would have to refocus and rebuild the environment in my head but it worked I was in my friend’s house just as before walking around. He was in his room playing Fallout Three, his parents watching television in the den, and his grandma was in the kitchen heating up a cup of coffee in the microwave. I felt as though I was there with them, as I had always had a stronger family connection with them then my own family, it was one of the few places where I felt at home. Then I had a thought, since this is an astral projection, I could go anywhere I wanted. ‘Ok’ I thought, ‘where should I go?’ and then it hit me; I could build the landscape for Equestria. And just as quickly as the thought entered my mind I felt and saw my soul flying through space so fast I could barely keep up, then I flew through a black hole and thought ‘man I hope I know the way back’.

As my astral projection took my soul through the black hole and then out of another one and then through that space it felt like time was slowing down but I was still moving fast. I guess that’s just a side effect of black holes, but then I had arrived at my destination and could see an earth sized planet with a large frozen area on the top, two smaller frozen areas on the bottom and side turning away from me, and on the biggest continent was a lot of grass and tree life, this was the one I landed on. As I got closer I started to slow down and see things I recognized from MLP like the Crystal Empire, the desert with the apple farm, Cloudsdale, and then I flew over the Evergreen forest and finally arrived in Ponyvile. It was more magnificent then it was in the show! It translated into three dimensions nicely and even the pony’s looked alright. I was walking around just amazed, even in the blurry state of astral projection it still looked amazing. I went to the library and saw Twilight reading up on a new density shifting spell, I saw Pinkie Pie baking cupcakes (just to make sure I checked that there was no poor eviscerated victim in the basement, there was not), I saw Rarity and Fluttershy walking down to the spa, Applejack was walking Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle to school after they just had a sleep over no doubt. Finally I saw her, my favorite pony out of all of them, Rainbow Dash. She was doing simple cloud control and by the look on her face you could tell she was the happiest creature in the whole dimension. I couldn’t blame her; I had always wanted to know how it felt to fly in real life, not just in a dream. She and all of her friends got to live here and have exciting adventuress lives and me I had to go back to the dull, fake, shackled life as a human on earth. Before I left I decided to go and see Princess’s Celestia and Luna before I headed back for my body to get some sleep. As I entered that mighty palace in Canterlot I couldn’t help but notice how eerily clear everything started to come in, especially for a place I had never been, but I shook it off. I found Celestia and Luna in the main hall and from what I heard Celestia was going to bed and Luna was taking over meaning it was going to be night time soon. After Celestia had left and Luna had taken a seat in the throne, she took a deep breath, probably focusing her energy. But then she stopped, looked up, and stared directly at where I was standing. I thought that’s weird, and moved to the left as if I was obscuring her vision, but her eyes followed me. I stopped and she stopped, I floated up and her gaze would follow. It was as if she could somehow see me and was taken by surprise that I was there. In a cosmic sort-of way it made sense, she is the ruler of the night and dreams, and technically astral projection was a form of dream. With that I took off and started to fly back to where I came into the atmosphere so that I could at least be going in the right direction. As I flew over the Evergreen forest I saw a mountain range with a lake in the valley, and a forest between the lake and mountain, and it was in walking distance from Ponyvile, this was exactly what I had seen in a dream one night as being the perfect spot to build my house. But sadly this is not my world so I flew onward. As I was nearing my place of entry something strange started to happen I found I couldn’t flew as high anymore as if I was being pulled down to the planet’s surface. Although I tried I eventually started to drop lower and lower, in addition everything became gradually clearer as well until everything was as clear as me being there and me only being ten feet off the ground. Then all at once I couldn’t stay air born and I fell to the ground, I rolled six times and struck my head on a rock, and then I felt myself fade away into a deep unnaturally comfortable sleep.

I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and pleasant rays of sun light seeping down from the tree canopy. My first impulse was confusion and fear of not knowing where I was or how I got out into the middle of the woods and I shot up into a sitting position to survey my surroundings, a decision I instantly regretted as my head erupted into an explosion of pain. I reached a hoof up to my pounding head to ease the…pain…wait? Did I have a hoof? I looked again, and sure enough there was a red hoof at the end of my red furry arm. I looked at my other arm and it shared a similar fate. I looked down to see I had a red body and a brown tail. I was still not convinced, what had gone from confusion and fear was now disbelief. I heard water and ran over to find a slow moving river in to a clear still pond. I ran over and splashed water on my face; I shook my head and moved over to the still part to see myself.  Sure enough I was still a pony. I had a red face like the rest of my body and long brown hair or mane. My brown eyes seemed more alive and less stressed. After remembering what I had done to get here I deduced that it must have been when I passed through the black hole or that someone had used magic on me. Whatever the case may be, I didn’t care, after getting all my bearings and comparing this life with my old one well, it wasn’t even a fair contest. I had been dreaming about this for as long as I had been a brony, and I will take freedom and happiness over fingers any day. So now that I was a red pony living in Equestria I would need a new name, but first I would need to know my special talent so my name matched up with my talent. I also planned on heading to Canterlot to see if they could figure out what happened so I could have some closure on that matter.

After wandering around it the woods for nine months I found my way to Manehatten and found my way to a train station. I saw that they had trains to Ponyvile and out to the Crystal Empire but they both cost more money than I had, which was zero. I found a job as a movie director’s assistant, mostly just moving heavy objects and being the guy who ran around like a mad man to get things done on time, the pay was good and he gave me a place to stay overnights. One day as I was picking up some pastries for the actors I passed a pawn shop and something caught my eye. It was a sword that had a special clip so that non magical ponies could wield it and I just knew I needed it. I went in and asked how much they wanted for the sword and the man behind the counter said six thousand bits. I made nowhere near that much, but as I was about to leave an old man in another part of the store told me where I could go and get one made, and not just for display purposes. I wrote down the information, thanked the old man, and delivered the pastries to the director along with my resignation.

“You retire?” My boss said, “What does that mean?”

“It’s the nice way of saying I quit and leave on good terms.” I replied.

“Well if that’s what you think is what you want to do. You were the best go-for I have ever had. If I could just ask you one question Lighting, how come you never use your wings? I know you’re faster on the ground and that’s how you got your cutie mark an all but still, is there a reason?”

“I have wings?” I never even noticed! To think I could have been flying all this time and I never knew. To be fair I had become much faster on the ground then I could ever be in the air but still I’ve always wanted to fly.

“Yes I figured you knew and just like to live up to your mark and run everywhere.”

“No I had no idea. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome, now you take care of yourself out there you hear?”

“Yes sir thank you again.”

And with that I was off. I never returned to that city or that life style, to be honest I was just about to feel shackled down by society again and had to leave anyway. But now I knew I had wings, I was a Pegasus, and I was eager to see how fast I could fly. I could break Mach four when I ran as fast as I could which is why I gave myself the name Red Lightning. So I opened my wings and gave them a few test flaps and then I ran and jumped off of a hill and I took flight. It was amazing, the sun on my face, the wind in my mane, it felt just right. As I got more confident I decided to go higher and faster, and before you knew it I was flying like I had been doing it for years. But my fun had to be put on hold as I had reached my goal. I landed quietly on the dusty path as the sun was setting in the background and just making everything an awesome shade of gold. I walked up the path and knocked on the door of the black smith’s home that the old man had told me of. After two minutes the door opened to reveal a young female violet pony with green eyes, to my surprise she had a hammer and anvil as her cutie mark.

“Hello my name is Red Lightning, are you the crafter of battle swords?” I asked slowly as to not offend her.

“Yeah I am, names Honey Smith, I take it you want to make a sword?”

After looking at all of her materials that she had to make swords and other weapons I found I didn’t like the feeling of any of them and I started to get dismayed. She was frustrated at my pickiness but respected me never the less as a man’s steel is his life. As I put aside the last piece and was about to leave after thanking her for her time, she suddenly had a spark of inspiration and remembered something and ran off to go and grab it. She reemerged moments later with a scroll of paper in her teeth. She laid it down and opened it to reveal it was a prophecy with a map attached to it. It read as follows: When the time of doom is upon us it shall start with an out-of worlder and he shall pull the sword from the sheath when uttering the words ‘abaya asso slayer’ and the sword will yield to him and allow its great power to be used by him alone. Unbreakable is its blade, and never dulling, all knowing, and painful to anyone who is impure of heart. Doom continues as a period of storms continues without reason, then the doom will take the purity of the sun itself and turns it a sickly shade of dark red and engulf the world in all its darkness. Then the elements of harmony holders will be unable to call upon their power, and all hope will seem lost. It is then for the sword wielder to take all seven elements and call upon them all with his incorruptible spirit and take down the evil and restore balance to the worlds. He wields this power as he shows the nature of all elements of harmony and many more that have yet to be discovered. The seventh element is the sword and it is l… That’s all that can be read for the rest was ripped off. Honey told me that it was just a prophecy written seven hundred years ago and was impossible to come true because the sun is controlled by Celestia and could not fall from her control, and besides who can kill a sun? But what she did tell me is that the prophecy writer did actually make this sword and this map showed us where it now lay. She had always wanted to go for it but never had anyone crazy enough to go with her. I immediately offered and just like that we were off on an exciting and dangerous adventure. The map lead us through the forest that was adjacent to her house and then over a small mountain range. On the way down to the valley I saw a rock jutting out farther than the others, I couldn’t help it, I went over and just let out an awesome ‘yeah’ as loud as I could over the valley. It just felt so good to be free and out here and in this world. It was the most alive I had ever felt.

“If you’re quite done with that we need to keep moving.” My eager traveling companion quipped.

After we got down into the valley we crossed the forest and a river, along the way we encountered a troll and we unfortunately had to kill him. Then we got to the cave entrance, and she was ready to get in there, but I advised her that it would be smarter to set up camp and wait for morning. Reluctantly she agreed as she was very tired from the long five day journey, where as I was fine having spent nine months journeying in the woods, I just didn’t want to go into the cave late at night. So I got a small fire going and laid down the sleeping bags, she was asleep the moment she laid down; I laughed and looked up at the stars. I then decided to read the prophecy again, It concerned me a bit that the sword we were going after was an all-powerful element of harmony that bends reality to its will, and that an alien was to end up wielding it. I’m an alien on this world, could it be that it was the seventh element that brought me here? Am I going to cause doom and corruption on this land? Is my fate inevitable? With all these thoughts in my head swirling about I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, I had to know what my purpose for being here was. And with that I lit the lantern and proceeded down into the dark depths of the cave.

As I moved through the darkness I felt as though I was surrounded at all times. It was cold, damp, fungus covered, musty smelling, and of course dark. As I moved deeper into the cave it got tighter and tighter to move in and I felt like I was moving through a busy hallway at boulder convention. Then I entered a larger chamber at the end and it was empty except for a throne with a skeleton with the sword and sheath drived into the ground in front of him. I looked around cautiously to make sure there were no booby traps. After seeing none I stepped forward when a loud deep raspy voice entered my mind. ‘So this is the latest creature to enter my tomb? Pathetic! I’ve seen cows with more heart then you!’ Then another voice ‘He found his way here didn’t he? He at least deserves to be tested.’ ‘I suppose, fine begin the test.’ And with that my world changed around me and I found myself in a room filled with all my old friends from earth, they had all turned their backs on me because I was now a pony and no longer a human, I felt sad and alone. But I was used to standing alone and since they were my friends I knew they would eventually be able to look past my physical differences and be my friends again. ‘LOYALTY’ the voices shouted in unison. Then I was in a situation where some little kid was crying and being pushed around by some bully’s and everyone just walking past letting it happen, I immediately went over and yelled at the bully’s and they ran, I then asked the kid if he was alright and if I could do anything to make him feel better. ‘HAPPINESS, COURAGE, CAREING!’ Then I was in a situation where I had just gotten six-teen thousand gold and I had the choice to buy a big house or give it all to charity, I didn’t like the look of the house or that it was in a city and the man who asked me seemed honest to me so I gave him all the gold as it wouldn’t do me any good in the woods. ‘GENEROCITY, RESPECT!’ Then I was in a situation where all I had to read all these books and I couldn’t reach the books on the top shelf as my wings were not working, I saw Twilight and asked her if she could use her magic to get it down for me, she said of course and got them down and I thanked her. ‘FRIENDLY, MAGIC, KNOWLEDGE! FINAL TEST!’ I found myself now face to face with Rainbow Dash and she asked me ‘do you like me or something?’ I gulped. This was by far the hardest thing I could imagine and I always boast about how if the girl I liked asked me how I felt I wouldn’t lie, and now that this was actually happening I was lost for words. I sighed and then I said ‘yes. Yes I do.’ I closed my eyes and waited for a response, but none came. I opened my eyes to find myself back in the cave, mist on the cave floor receding away to an unknown location. The voices now quietly whispered ‘honesty’ and then they were silent. I stood there for a moment and got my bearings and just tried to be calm. Then I made my way over to the sword and picked it up out of the hole in the ground and then I closed my eyes
“Abaya asso slayer.”

And the sheath opened the lock mechanism and the sword slid from the sheath. The sword was dark grey, had a twenty-two inch blade and was two inches wide, it was one inch thick. It was razor sharp, I slashed it across the stone wall and it cut right through with ease and it didn’t even dull the blade a little. Looks like the legend was right in some aspects, it was an invincible sword and was drawn by an off worlder. I returned the sword to the sheath which then locked on it and I put the sheath on my back and picked up the lantern and headed back out through the way I came in, the cave itself seemed as though it was fresh and different. Weird things have gone on in this cave tonight I thought but I had the prize, the seventh element of harmony, the element of life. When I got back up to the surface the sun had just started to rise and my moving had awoken Honey. She looked confused at first but then she said;

“Awe man did you already go down into the cave without me?” she then see’s the sword “You did. Damn I wanted to be the one to wield it.”

“Sorry I should have waited for you.”

“No it’s alright. Well let me see it!” I pull it out of the sheath and she takes it in her hoof. “Cool.” Then without warning the sword flew off and right back into the sheath and she let out “Hey! What was that?”

“I’m not sure. It did say in the legend only one person could wield it.”

“Oh yeah good point.”

And with that we packed up our stuff and went our separate ways, she returned to her home and I moved onward back into the woods. For I feared that if the Prophesy was true up until this point it would continue to be true and if I took it into the woods and lived away from everyone then none would have to suffer because of me. And with that I took my walk into the woods planning to never be seen again.

It has been over an entire year, and so far neither of the other signs of doom have shown themselves and I felt it was just a random writing to make people fear the end of the world nonsense. I just recently found a road that would lead to a town, normally I would go the opposite direction but it was winter here and I needed food, so I followed the road to the town that just happen to be (you guessed it) Ponyvile. I sighed because although I knew I shouldn’t settle down in one place being the sword bearer and all but I knew I would have to. A good town with good people, my perfect dream house location within walking distance, and of course Rainbow Dash lived here too. At this point I had no idea how the main six would actually act in real life, and I wasn’t too keen on what would feel like bestiality in my mind although I was technically their species, so for now I just wanted to get to know them. I arrived into town as the sun was at its highest point and the warmest part of the day. I took a moment to enjoy the warm sun rays, the crunch of my hooves on the snow, and the smell bakery fresh cinnamon rolls. I then saw Fluttershy and she was walking with two bags of groceries. She then tripped on a rock covered by the snow and her groceries went everywhere, I went over and helped her pick up the contents of her bags that had spilt everywhere. When she saw me helping she instantly became shy as to be expected and she then shyly said thank you and quickly shuffled off. I also continued on my way and made to the city limit of Ponyvile. I then found my way to Applejacks apple stand and I felt my stomach grumble.

“Howdy there partner. You hungry?” the orange pony piped up enthusiastically.

“Yeah I could use a good meal.” I replied.

“Well what are feeling for?” she asked happily.

“Let’s see.” I thought for a moment, “I’ll take an apple, an apple-pie, and an apple juice.”

“Alrighty then. The apple juice will take n’ extra minute to make.” She said getting to work

“That’s Fine. So this is a groovy little town here isn’t it?” I replied

“It sure is, that’ll be ten bits by the way.” She said in a friendly tone

“Sure here you go.” I handed her the bits, “My names Red Lightning.”

“Applejack. Here you go, sorry about the wait sugarcube.” AJ replied.

“That’s alright it just means that it was made with care. Besides it was good meeting you.”

“It was good meeting you too. Are you new here to Ponyvile?”

“Yeah I am, I was planning on building my house near here soon.”

“Oh yall don’t have anywhere to live?”

“Not yet but that hasn’t stopped me before. I just make a nice little shelter out where I’ll build my house, start clearing out the land.”

“Well I just wouldn’t feel right ‘bout sending you out into the woods with no house or warmth. Why don’t yall come up to sweet apple acres and we can get you a spare room.”

“I guess that could work out. Thank you for your hospitality.”

Suddenly a very very excited pink blob of fur came exploding into my line of vision and caused me to reel back in surprise. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I’ve never seen you before, and that’s odd because I’ve seen everyone in this town at least once, but oh well what’s your name? Are you going to live here? Are you related to someone in the city? How you ever been to Cloudsdale? Do you know Applejack? And where’d you get that sword?” Pinkie was literally face to face with me with the biggest toothy smile on her face waiting eagerly for my response.

“Sugarcube you might want to step back, I think he’s…”

I had taken a deep breath. “My name is Red Lightning, yes, no, no, not until ten minutes ago, and it’s a secret.” I replied just as quickly as Pinkie had asked them. Applejack was dumbfounded.

“Oh well that explains why I’ve never seen you before but now you’re here and you’re going to live here and it is going to be awesome!” the pink pony was bursting with so much energy I thought her heart would pop. “I need to through you a party; I just need to where are you staying so I can get it ready?”

“He’s staying with me sugarcube but please don’t make a mess of my house like last time.” Applejack replied.

“Oh ok AJ I’ll go get Dashie, and Rarity, and Fluttershy, and Twilight, and Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, and anybody else who would want to come! Got to go!” and like that the party animal was off running faster than even I imagined possible.

“Please tell me there’s not going to be like a million people at you house when we get there.” I said with a groan.

“Knowing Pinkie Pie their might be.”

When we did get to Applejacks house I was surprised to find only eleven other people and they were as follows Pinkie Pie (of course), Fluttershy, Twilight, Spike, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be and it was a good way to meet everyone. In case you were wondering they are just like how they are depicted in the show. This party was actually a good idea and made it easier to meet all the people I’d want to be friends with. The cutie mark crusaders asked me how I got my mark so I told them and everyone else that I got it by breaking the sound barrier on foot, which was true, the only part I changed was the age I got it at. After my story Twilight and Rainbow Dash came over and asked me for more details on the story which I provided. Then Twilight noticed the rune on my sword hilt and then she gasped and excused herself from the party after grabbing up Spike who was swooning Rarity. So Rainbow and I continued to talk and we found out we had a lot in common. I hate to admit it but I was genuinely attracted to her and I could tell I wanted to be with her. It seemed as all thoughts regarding bestiality and her were not the same, she seemed different, or perhaps it was I over looked it. Whatever it was I knew I had to control myself and take things slow. I felt like I was truly in a place where I was able to settle down and not feel trapped by society. I could spend an eternity here.

After three weeks at Applejacks the snow had almost completely gone away, and I thought it was the time to start building my house, so I gathered my sword and a shovel and headed out to where I had cleared some trees in the earlier weeks. I had stacked wood and stones as these were going to be the materials for the foundation and the first floor, the other floor(s) I planned to make out of clouds. When I got there I started but digging out the spot for the foundation. It wasn’t anything too fancy, I dug out a layer deep enough to lay the big thick stones as a floor which I filled any cracks with stone dust, that landscaping job paid off after all. Then I put in seven foot pillars of wood in all four corners and two more between each pillar and put braces in between all six-teen pillars except for the last one. That’s where the door will go. I then put up exterior walls and then I placed insolation on the inside and finished bay adding the interior walls and I did leave room for windows so I added those. Put a water proof cover on the outside and inside of the house and painted it the color I wanted. I then added the door which I made from a solid piece of hickory, and then painted it a different color. I then made a staircase that went up above the walls. I then made a ceiling and only left the spot open for where the stairs are. I then made a table, benches, chairs, cabinets, shelves, and fire pit and that was all for my decorations on the first floor. Then Rainbow Dash came over because she was going to help me with the cloud part because I’m not very good at that. So with Her help we made my bedroom and added a bed and dresser and desk and what-not. It took three weeks but it was finally done, my dream house in my dream location on my dream world, only one dream remained the dream girl. She and I had become good friends after six weeks, we hung out a lot and helped each other out so why not right?

“Hey Rainbow Dash I can’t tell you have grateful I am to have a friend like you help me out.”

“It’s not a problem; I just still can’t believe you didn’t know you were a Pegasus until like a year ago.”

“Yeah…”

“What is it? You seem like you want to tell me something.”

“I do but I’m not sure how to word it or if this is the right time.”

“What do you like me or something?” she said jokingly

I paused for a moment and then said “Yes. Yes I do.”

She a first thought I was kidding and started to laugh, and then she saw the seriousness in my eyes and stopped laughing. “Oh I thought you were kidding,”

I didn’t say a word I just waited until she could get all her own thoughts squared away.

“Well I should be going, I haven’t seen Twilight for weeks now I should go check on her.” Turned to leave, thought for a second, and then kissed me on the cheek and flew off. I turned and happily worked on the finishing touches of my house.

(Rainbow Dash’s prospective)

I can’t believe he likes me too, I always felt like there was more to his feelings than he was letting on, it seems like he keeps a lot of himself bottled up. Oh right Twilight, that egg-head is probably just locked up in her room again. I’m going to get there and she’s going to say ‘what it’s been six weeks? Oh I’ve just been here studying.’ I don’t know why I’m even going, she is my friend though and we don’t need her to be all crazy again.

(knock, knock) “Hey Twilight are you still alive in there?”

“Oh Rainbow Dash it’s you good, good. Come in, come in.” Twilight look awful, like she hadn’t slept in days.

“Are you alright? You seem a little crazy, no offence.”

“Alright? How can I be alright with the end of the world coming?” The young Alicorn was shivering down to the bone.

“End of the world? Alright I think you’ve be hitting too many books and not enough of the sack, come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“You want me to sleep? Are you mad! Not while the princess and all of Equestria is in danger. I have to warn her, I have to. Where’s Spike? I need to send a letter to princess right away. SPIKE! WHERE ARE YOU!?” Twilight was starting to worry me now.

“I’m here, what do you need now? It’s like way too early for you to be shouting.” the purple dragon grumbled.

“Spike I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia right away!” the crazed purple pony yelled.

“Ok where is it?”

“Oh that’s right I haven’t written it yet, silly me.” Quickly writes a letter and sends it off immediately.

“Ok Twilight now can you go to sleep?” I asked.

“Not yet Rainbow, I need to know what she says to do.”

Then Spike burps up the letter that Twilight was so desperately waiting for. She quickly reads through it in her head and then says out loud. “What she’s coming here? But what if that is all part of the prophecy too?”

Finally I had to ask. “What are you talking about? The princess, the prophecy, and all the other nonsense you have been talking about, what are you trying to say?”

“Oh right I should probably let you read it and then you will understand.” Twilight said and handed me a book.

“Give me that. All right let’s see. Magic sword, alien, corruption of the sun? All hope lost? Elements of harmony not working, all up to the sword bearer? Is this what I think it is?”

“Yep, the end of life as we know it.” Twilight said bowing her head in sorrow.

“But this guy with the sword will fix everything right?

“Yes he will, but who knows how long that could take and it sounds like the only way to fix everything would be to kill the corrupted sun, or Celestia.”

“Well we don’t have to worry right? No alien has come down and gotten this sword right?”
“Look at the picture of the sword and you tell me.”

I looked and in disbelief I saw sword that looked exactly like Red Lightning’s sword, it had the same runes and everything. I swallowed hard. “I think it’s time you and I got some answers from our friend Red.”

(Back to my perspective)

It didn’t take too long to fill Rainbow and Twilight in on my past and how I got the sword. I didn’t go too far back into my past; I only went as far back as the sword and left the rest open to speculation. They didn’t know what to say. Rainbow was happy to see that I wasn’t some maniac trying to bring the end of the world I just happen to be caught in the middle of a bad prophecy, but that didn’t seem to lift Twilights spirits any. She already knew I was going to be pure of heart and a good person or otherwise I wouldn’t be able to wield Heide-Koning (the swords name which in Dutch means Viking King) the seventh element of harmony. We were talking when suddenly a storm out of nowhere started ripping through the sky with high winds, rain, and lightning strikes followed by loud cracks of thunder.

“Oh no it’s begun.” Said a shaky Alicorn.

The freak uncontrollable weather phenomenon’s ranged from rain to snow to extreme heat to hail. It lasted for a total of four days and three nights. On the fourth night it stopped all at once to reveal the full moon, and cause an eerie amount of calmness. The others having been filled in on what’s happening where all standing with the three of us as we waited for the rise of the sun and the arrival of Princess Celetia so can determine what to do next. Then Pinkie saw a royal chariot approaching so the seven of us all made ourselves presentable. To our surprise it was not Celestia, it was Luna. We all bowed and showed our respect.

“It’s very nice to finally meet you in person Matt, but you must get the others and yourself to a safe hiding spot.” She said hastily.

“Wha? Why is there some…wrong……” I trailed off as the sun started to rise and it was blood red. Then thundering over the 
mountains came a voice:

“I AM QUEEN GALACTICA HEAR ME AND OBEY, YOU ARE ALL MY SLAVES!” and then an evil Princess Celestia came over the mountain with black armor all over her body and flame colored hair and burning blood red eyes. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS MUST SURRENDER THEIR ELEMENTS OF HARMONY OR ALL SHALL KNOW MY WRATH!”

I turned back to Luna, “Hiding spot you say? Well I can’t argue with that. Come on lets go before she spots us.”

We ran and they got their elements but just as foretold they were in active. As we fled the last thing I could see was Luna being arrested by the royal guard and I felt sadness start to overtake me. Then a spell took away everyone’s wings, horns, and cutie marks so we had only one choice, run. Luckily I was faster on the ground; the same could not be said for the others. After running for an hour I found us a hiding spot in a small but deep cave. They laid down to rest their legs and I went out and gathered some fire wood, it occurred to me out there that it was my responsibility to keep them safe and alive. This new Queen Galactica was out for blood and it was blood she was ready to take. After I got back we set up the fire and I got make-shift bedding material to make well beds. Then they asked it the question I was afraid of.

“What are you prepared to do?” I turned to face the purple use to be Alicorn.

“I don’t know yet.” I replied as I turned my back as to hide how torn up I really was. Never could express emotions to others very well.

Then I felt a slight nudge on my back, I turned and saw it was Fluttershy, she was handing me her element of harmony. Then Rainbow Dash did the same, showing she cared and believed in me, then Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, then Rarity, finally Twilight sighed and extended her crown to me. I had them all and I knew what they were expecting so I put them on, lightning bolt, butterfly, apple, balloon, diamond, and the crown atop my head and the sword at my side. Just as I put the final piece on they all sprang to life and their power encircled me covering me head to hooves in armor. It was a bright silvery color and resembled that of Nordic armor but made for a pony. There was no helmet and the resulting magical energy transformed me temporarily into an Alicorn. With a heavy heart I looked solemnly around the group for they knew in the end someone had to die, either me or Galactica, they knew I had to win or it would be thousands of years as slaves to an oppressive queen. After a few half-hearted good lucks from most and Twilight unable to speak, I turned to go, as I walked out of the cave entrance I heard

“Wait!”

I turned and to my surprised Rainbow Dash ran up and kissed me on the lips.

Before I could ask she said “That’s for luck, and to remind you that you have someone worth fighting for. I know you are closed off and don’t like to show your emotion but just remember even though you weren’t born here doesn’t mean this isn’t your home.”

I then kissed her back and said, “Very well then I shall expect to see you when we’re all done here.” And with that I spread my wings and flew up into the sky. Don’t worry Equestria, a hero is coming and he is the Viking King.

As I neared Ponyvile I could see an entire group of sad and shackled pony’s being forced to do hard manual labor in the middle of them I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their class mates forced to make drinks and food for all the other workers, I could see whip marks on some and they had clearly been physically abused. No one ever messes with kids in my book. I flew down immediately, and used my magic to heal them so they could help in taking back the city. For most of the kids I asked them to go and free everyone else in the city but as for the crusaders I had another task for them. I had them get on a train to the Crystal Empire so they could free Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and get the good feeling of Equestria back up to full. Now it was time to face Galactica so I flew up to Canterlot and kicked in the palace doors. Once inside I found her sitting in her Throne but it and the palace looked different as she had used the darkness spell to make everything dark and twisted.  To make matters worse by her side was Nightmare Moon. She had recorrupted Princess Luna and made her a slave to her own twisted whims. Upon my entry Nightmare leapt forward to attack but with all seven elements she was not nearly powerful enough and she was turned back into Princess Luna. After realizing she was out of her league Galactica turned and ran out of the room and I followed in hot pursuit. I was lead into a dark room were once inside I heard a familiar voice.

“Well what do we have here, a young hero who is trying to ruin my mistresses fun?” Discord said with an evilly all too familiar tone.

“Discord why do you serve her? She’s not making chaos, it’s just structured evil.”

“Well that question like all, has more than one answer, but you aren’t going to know any of them as you are about to lose the ability to wield those elements.” He said and cast his corruption spell.

I again found myself in a strange room surrounded by mist and I could feel myself slipping away and then I suddenly remembered what I was fighting for, and well just as the prophecy said I am truly incorruptible and with that I snapped back to reality drew my sword and cut Discords head right off and using the elements I froze him in stone. I then heard stomping of hooves behind me and turned to see Galactica standing there in the door way.

“Well, well, well. It seems that you are everything the prophecy spoke of and perhaps more.”

“I will not allow you to keep terrorizing these people it’s time for you and your corruption to die.”

“Very well then,” she draws a sword, “Have at-thee.”

And with that we clash our swords and proceed to thrash each other and we are both good, she had received royal blade training and I had developed my own fighting style. We fought for a long time mostly blocking and counter attacking but we would each eventually get a good hit on the opposing party or receive a bad hit. But then I got the combo that will finish the fight, it was a slash to the leg and then upward across her chest it and then I spun and stabbed her directly through the stomach and let her fall to the ground. I looked of the carnage and then I turned and sent a spell giving everyone their wings, horns, and cutie marks back. I stood wondering what we were going to do about the sun and then I heard Celestia say:

“Look…out…”

But it was too late the darkness had manifested itself into a being and had stabbed me in the back up through the stomach. I turned and slashed the thing with my sword just ignoring the large hole in my chest. I was too fast for me in my weakened state but then the elements manifested themselves into a being of pure light energy using its almighty powers it then obliterated the darkness and I felt the same unnatural peace I had felt when I was first brought here. It the healed Celestia fully and brought light over the land then I collapsed to the ground bleeding out and feel unconscious only being able to hear Rainbow Dash scream ‘NO’ in the far distance.

This morning I woke up in my bed and decided to right this story and let everyone know what happened. Even now as I sit here I can hear Rainbow Dash in the kitchen trying to get our five year old filly to eat her vegetables. It was six years ago today that I had defeated Queen Galactica and restored peace and harmony to my new home land. Someday I hope for my daughter to find and read this story so that she can feel like the most special person in the world. I can only imagine what exciting adventures are in store for me, Dash, and Honey Bolt in the near future, until then vaarwel(goodbye).

> Prologue (Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Prologue


By The Critical Wizard


My story is unlike that of anyone else who lives here. Like most people I get up in the morning and have breakfast and go off to my job. Just like everyone else in Equestria I love my job, as it is what I was destined to do for the rest of my days, and I just love everyone here in Ponyville. Everyone is so nice and everything is just so bright and colorful. It is the most amazing place I have ever been. But unlike everyone else I have a story that is unlike any you could have ever heard before. I am of course referring to the story of how I came to be in this wonderful world. As I think back on it now it still doesn't quite make sense. What originally brought me here? Did I miss anyone from back where I came from? Well maybe I'm getting ahead of myself and I should start at the most logical place, the beginning.

One extremely cold winter night in November I was in my college dorm room and looking up MLP pictures on Reddit and listening to Manowar and Dio and other heavy metal bands. I didn't really have much going on now that I think about it, as I had already completed my homework for the weekend, and I would only have two days of classes later that week as Thank's Giving break was coming up as well. But even so it was Sunday and I would have classes tomorrow so I couldn't stay up too late. I decided to try and get to sleep so I could be fully rested by tomorrow so I closed my laptop and went to bed. I wasn't tired so I laid in the dark for a bit, just staring up at the ceiling, and thinking. It was weird, earlier that day when I had taken a nap, I didn't sleep well the night before, as I was semi-conscious I could have sworn I heard a voice. It was female and soothing, but also soft and close up, I actually turned to see my empty room in the mid afternoon sun. Empty. It sounded so close and inviting but even stranger then that was it wasn't in English. It was in another language and I still felt like I understood it. It sounded weird but felt like "come closer to us". This wasn't the first time I had seen something in another language and know what it meant. When I was at my friend's house sleeping on his couch I could "see" in my mind's eye the Nordic letters for J,O,S,H,(space),M, and A. His house was also the only place where I successfully astral projected.

As I thought about the voice, the Nordic letters and the time I had astral projected, all I could think of was why was all this happening within month's of each other? What could all this mean? As I thought on this I started to feel myself lifting out of my body. I didn't fight it and I didn't really focus on it. I knew my mind and soul was trying to tell me something and all I had to do was listen and follow it. J in Nordic runes means "year", O means "estate" as in rich or good, S means "sun". H means "hail", M means "human", and A means "god". As I flew around in the astral plain I could see so many colors Orange, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, and right at the end of where I was going was pure White light. I moved towards it without resistance. As I moved through the light all the other colors moved and aligned themselves into patterns of building's and mountains and grass and water and so much more. Then as the blinding white and yellow light of the sun came up over the horizon I saw as all the colors intensified and I saw something that resembled Ponyville. I was ecstatic and I was so excited to go and see all of my favorite characters from the show and everything that I forgot I wasn't really there, it was only an astral projection. I flew over to the city and looked around, at first I didn't see anyone and it was pretty empty, then all at once the clock tower hit nine and everypony in all of the city seemed to be out and about. I watched as ponies of all ages moved around me, buying and selling goods, the sent of baked treats floated out of Sugar Cube Corner, I looked up and saw the pony with the rainbow mane clearing the clouds from the sky. I wonder who actually pay's her for her services I thought to myself. I also noticed how fast everypony was actually moving, I looked back at the clock and saw that it too was moving faster as well. That would make sense I guess since when you astral project it has an adverse effect on time, it's sped up here and slowed down in the real world. Then I remembered the voice and how it sounded, I got the strongest feeling as though it was coming from the direction of Canterlot and that if I went there I would find the source of the voice. Since this is a world dominated by thought all I had to do was concentrate and I could feel myself moving towards the castle. I fazed through the roof and landed somewhere in the main hall. I could see all the stained glass windows of all of the mane six's triumphs. I could hear the voice in the other room, it sounded sped up like everything else, I moved closer and could see Princess Celestia talking with Princess Luna they were changing positions so it was going to be night time soon. I concentrated and slowed time down to normal but it did no good they were still speaking another language. But I could now identify that the voice I heard belonged to Princess Celestia. By the tone of their voices they were just having a sisterly conversation, when suddenly Luna stopped mid sentence, pointed at me and said something in their language. Celestia turned and looked, nodded, and said something. Unlike before when I had a strong feeling about what it would translate to, I could not figure out what they were saying. Celestia then used her magic to make Nordic runes appear, first an M, then an A, then T, T again, and then underneath it a B appeared. My name is Matt and the Nordic letter B means "Birch" which is only one letter off of my actual last name. The runes faded, and she left the room, the entire time Luna didn't move her eyes from me. even as I left she followed me all the way out of the room and out of the castle. She didn't look angry or distrustful but more like, expecting. It was night time now and I had to be getting back to my body, unfortunately, so I flew over Ponyville one last time. As I flew through the city I could see everypony lying down to get some sleep, except for Twilight, it seems like she was getting in some late night studying. As I went past her window I could see her turn and stare out the window at me. It must be like an Alicorn thing or something. I just waved and flew on my merry way not wanting to bother her. I was now over the everfree forest and I could see the tree of harmony. I flew down and got a closer look. It was fantastic, it had all of the mane six's cutie marks as well as Celestia's and Luna's. I reached out and to my surprise I could feel the tree. Like actually feel it, it was smooth and crystalline but also warm and alive. I felt something else too, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Well now it's time to move on I guess. I flew off again and as I was flying over a mountainous area a beam of light and energy came flying up out of nowhere. I dodged but it looped down and hit me right in the back and I felt myself falling to the ground. The bast itself didn't hurt so much and actually felt nice, but the tree I hit my head on was not as inviting. As I lie here slowly drifting from consciousness all I can see is the full moon rising up from over the mountains and a small glimmer of light coming from a cave entrance. I close my eyes and drift into an unnaturally comfortable sleep.
> Alone (Chapter One Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Alone


I awake to the worst pain my head has ever experienced. I looked around and saw sun light glowing through the canopy of the tree that had close contact with my head. In the distance I could hear a brook flowing and birds chirping. I then looked to my left and saw the tree trunk. To the right I saw a small clearing which had a layer of fog, giving everything a nice glow, I then sat up to get a better look around. Big mistake. As my vision went black I moved to lean on the tree's trunk until my head hurt less. My first thought is concussion and that I may have been bleeding all night. I reach up to where my head hurt the most and bump my hoof on my horn. I must have hit it on a branch on my fall down to earth. I pause for a moment and think, it was increasingly difficult seeing as how my head hurt, then it hit me like like a sack of bricks. I have never had a horn and I also have never had hooves. It had to have been a mistake, so I reached up again and, nope still there and still hooves. As hard as it was I had to concentrate on what the last thing I could remember doing before I... fell... from the sky? This was really not making any sense at all. Whatever I could worry about details later I had to make sure I wasn't bleeding out. Could I even stand? I tried to do so and immediately fell on my face. I had great balance. Was it my aching head. I looked down, yep that would do it, horse legs and body and everything. I tried to stand again with a wider base and on all fours, I was a pony after all, it was good and I was stable. Then I took a step, or at least tried to, (slam) oh hello ground did you miss me? This had to be some kind of side effect from my head trauma. I finally get over to the brook and, by accident, fell directly into it.

The water rushed up to meet me and I sank. The brook was deep enough for me to be fully submerged if I was laying down. I laid there for what felt like hours as I let the cool soothing water wash over me. The water had a strange feel to it. It felt like it was washing not only around me but through me, easing my throbbing head, clearing my mind, and calming my body. Eventually I had to breath so I reemerged. I stood as fast as I could with out losing my footing on the loose gravel on the brook's floor. I shook my head fast to remove the water particles from my face and head. I opened my eyes and saw two large violet eyes staring back at me. My eyes had always had a purple ring around them but all the brown was gone. I looked elsewhere on my reflection to see that yes I was still a pony. I had crimson fur and long brown hair that I proceeded to comb back behind my head. I had a horn the same color as my fur and saw that it and I had suffered no damage from the fall miraculously. I looked and saw that I had a long brown tail and did not yet have my cutie mark. The water had done me well apparently as my head no longer hurt and I could think clearly. I looked around to get a more accurate view of my surroundings. The morning mist had past and the sun hung warmly in the sky. I looked at the tree I had hit and could see no broken branches. I made a small circle and surveyed the area further. Mountains were on all sides of me and I knew not of where they would lead. I also did not know what was safe for me to eat, or for that matter what tasted good to me, but I couldn't last any longer. My excitement got the best of me and I had to cheer loudly with joy. I was in Equestria! Something I had wanted for a long time now and I could still hardly believe it! Then I tripped and fell over again. My celebration would have to wait as I was reminded that I was in a foreign land with no idea where I was. Not to mention being in a body that I had never been in before and not knowing what to eat. I moved as best as I could out of the brook and sat on my haunches on shore to dry off as I thought about what to do next.

The best place to start is to figure out how I had gotten there. After much thought and consideration I came to the conclusion that it must have happened when I had touched the tree of harmony. Its over whelming magical energy must have been sent into my astral body and made me a body for this world. Why it did that I have no idea. That then made me wonder what happened to my body back on the earth with the humans. A sudden horrible realization came over me just then that I would never be able to tell my friends and family what had happened to me, and I'd never see them again, or worse I could have died and this is my personal afterlife. All these negative thoughts made me just want to curl up in a ball and give up. No, no, no I can't go down that path I had to keep positive thoughts and stay alive. I could deal with my emotions later. I started to walk around in circles. At first it was clumsy and I kept having to stop and catch myself, but then I started to get better at it, I practiced turning and other maneuvers that might come in handy like stopping quick. I then tried to run and fell on my face. I'll work on that later. Another thought came to mind and I then tired to pick up a rock. My hoof just kept scraping the top of it and not getting anywhere. Frustrated I then remembered my horn and tried lifting it with magic. I concentrated really hard and had to stop a few times and breath. Nothing. Another thought entered my mind and I calmly just imagined the stone floating in my mind's eye. After a few deep breaths and some envisioning I opened my eyes to see the stone floating with a light red aura. I then tried to move it around but felt mentally exhausted. The stone dropped as I released the spell. Enough messing around I had to move on before night fall but which way should I go? An idea then struck me and I looked up at where I had fallen. I had been flying away from Ponyville when I had started to fall so all I had to do was walk back in that direction away from the tree. Which meant I would have to climb a mountain, cross the Everfree Forest on foot, avoid danger, and get to Ponyville before I died of starvation. I would also have to do this with no supplies, no provisions, no weapons, and in a body I had only gotten a maximum of twelve hours ago. Well I'd never get anywhere if I didn't try and my other options were worse so it was time to get moving.

The sun was setting by the time I had gotten to the mountain and I was in no way ready to climb. I was defiantly not learning how to climb in the dark so I decided to gather wood for a fire. I had no idea what season it was so I didn't want to freeze. The gathering process was slow and challenging, not having hands and not being able to use my hooves, I had to use magic. I had to carry each piece one at a time, and it took a long time to recharge my strength. I felt that it would have been easier if I had a full belly. Still I managed and then I used my magic to light the fire. Similarly I imagined the sticks on fire and when I had opened my eyes the fire had started. I would have to get some training to truly harness my magic, but that would probably cost money, money which I didn't have. I would also need a place to stay and food to buy, I would also need to earn my cutie mark so I knew what I was to be doing the rest of my life. As the fire burned it caused shadows to dance all around. Fire. Since man had been alive we had been fascinated with it. Fire has the power to destroy and burn, yet also has the power to warm and promote life, fire is a basic survival tool and shows intelligence at it's basic level. I watched as the fire started to die and I curled up next to it, it didn't seem to cold so it must be summer or early fall here. As I lied on the ground I could see the last of the embers going dark and I felt really tired. Despite the ground being uncomfortable I didn't find it hard to fall asleep.

The next morning I rolled over and found myself looking into the open sky the sun had just started to rise giving everything a golden glow and casting strange shadows that aren't normally there. In a moment of panic it took me a second to remember how I had gotten there. I sat up and groggily looked around. My belly rumbled impatiently wanting food, sadly I had none for it. I stood up and stretched my legs, I then walked over to a small pond, the water was still and stagnant, I had no way of cleaning the it as I had nothing to put it in to boil it, I couldn't risk getting sick so I had to move along hoping for a river on the mountain or something. I went over to the mountain and started to climb, it was just as hard as I expected. The climb was slow and tricky. I barely looked away from the mountain, but when I did, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The sun at midday had revealed the entire valley that I had just crossed and it was magnificent. All the trees shown with deep shades of green. The other mountains hung all around the valley sealing it off from the world and I could see the glimmer of many rivers that all collected in a single pond in the center. I could see many clearings no doubt with animals running free. A group of birds flew past my face, and I think I see a bear or something harvesting honey from a tree down below. A gust of wind blew and I felt so free and I found myself just yelling out over the canyon. I was free, free from the shackles of reality and I was free to go anywhere I wanted to go. I continued my climb making good head way with new found vigor, I was alive. Later as the sun was just starting its decent I thought about where it would be safe to sleep. I could see a cave entrance a little higher up I could sleep there for to night. Before I entered the cave I turned and looked over the valley once more, it had now been covered mostly by the shadow of the mountain and the other parts shown with a nice redish orange color. I really wish I had a camera, or a least that I could show my friends this view. I stood in the caves mouth solemnly for a moment or two until I turned to enter the cave where I was met by the blade of a sword pointed at my head. Concerned I backed up the swords wielder in the shadows of the cave. A gruff female voice came and out and said:

"You think you can sneak up on me and steel my stuff? Not without a fight."
> A Girl, A Legend, and A Sword (Chapter Two Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Girl, A Legend, and A Sword


"You think you can sneak up on me and steel my stuff? Not with out a fight" the gruff female voice shout at me from the shadows, sword leveled at my chest.

"What? No. No. No. I'm not trying to steal your stuff, I'm just trying to get over the mountain. It was getting dark and I thought I would stay here for the night and move on tomorrow." I said thinking of a way to disarm her should she attack.

"Oh," she said in a different tone, "In that case sorry for scaring you." She sheathed the sword and stepped forward revealing that she was an earth pony that had a grey coat of fur with dark brown hair on her head. She had large yellowish orange eyes a similar color to that of fire. she wore a pack and had an anvil as a cutie mark.

"It's alright, I wasn't expecting to be threatened, or for anyone else to be up here." I thought for a minute, "What are you doing up here anyway?"

"Well it's a long story and I don't know what your doing up here," she started to walk away and the said, "You can stay with me if you like, I have a fire and it's going to rain soon."

"Oh thank you very much, I don't suppose you have food do you?"

"I do, and you can have a little if you like, but I'm not giving you all of it so save it wisely." she quipped, "My names Honey Smith"

"Right my name is Ma..." I had to think of a cover name quickly, then I had an I idea, " My name is Manna."

I followed Honey back to her camp site, where she had a bed roll, a small fire, a few pots full of food and water boiling over the fire, maps shrewd about everywhere, and an extra pack full of tools and rags. We sat on opposite sides of the fire. It danced between us as I asked her what I could eat and couldn't which lead to a full conversation on who I was and where I came from, I gave  her a vague description on my story since I had been in Equestria, as for what happened to me before I lied and told I couldn't remember because I had hit my head. When I had finished my tale we ate and drank some clean water. After we finished we told stories that we thought were awesome, funny, scary, or anything else we could think of. I started telling a story about me and my friends and the things we used to do, the reminiscing made me feel solemn again and I was silent for a long time, I then broke the silence and asked her where she was from and if she had any friends waiting for her back home. A little reluctant to answer at first, Honey then told me she was the black smith for a small village hidden away in another valley in the opposite direction, she had a brother and two sisters of which she was the oldest. It was her job to take care of them and that she was here looking for gold and other things to sell. Honey then also mentioned some thing about an old legend surrounding the cave and some powerful sword in the heart of the mountain. She then reached into her bag and produced an old piece of parchment that read as follows: Heed these words as true and heed them well, inside the heart of Eyoa Hvelfingu is a sword of unmatched power, to venture inside is to over come many hard ships and to be the one of legend. Inside you will face peril that will test you mind, body, soul, and character. Whence you have over come these trials the blade Eldur Innan will yield to you. With it at your side, may none over take you, the weapon shall not bend nor will it break, never will it dull nor will it heat, only one of pure heart may wield such power. With this power comes the ability to vanquish evil and cleanse the sun of impurity. The message has been delivered, take from it what you will, on the day of red sun the prophecy will come to pass. I found the whole thing quite odd seeing as such a powerful sword would no doubt be where it was left. But seeing as how the traps the parchment spoke of still might be active I offered to go through the cave with Honey. She was reluctant at my motives, but after showing the caves map of the back that went all the way through the mountain and out the other side, she agreed that it would be good to have an extra set of eyes. With that settled we went to sleep and would plan out our next moves the following morning.

It was dark as only a few rays of light entered the cave but it was no doubt morning. I sat up groggily after a painful night on the hard ground. My whole body was stiff so I stood and stretched as best as I could, every thing cracked, my muscles loosened and I felt better. I ate my breakfast quickly and silently as to not waste and time while Honey made torches for us to carry on our way through Eyoa Hvelfingu. Once done Honey helped me to understand how to hold things with my hooves and then secured the torch the extra pack she was letting me carry, I secured her torch to her pack, and then we moved deeper into the cave. We moved slowly and silently not knowing what to look out for or what to expect. As we moved I could see though the darkness with a keenness that I had acquired when I was a human. Suddenly in a hushed tone Honey called me over to look at "strange letters" carved into the wall. I looked and in Nordic Runes it spelled out what danger lied ahead of us, pressure plates that would shoot off poison darts, I then checked the tiles on the floor and saw which ones were labeled safe and which were labeled dart. With me leading we crossed the floor of plates and got safely to the other side where more instructions were. These spoke of a test of strength, which we ended up pushing large stones around, then a maze in which we had to solve puzzles and riddles in order to go the right way. Then finally we found a large door blocked by a stone that had to weigh at least three tons. After trying from all angles to move this stone to no avail we were about to give up when Honey noticed a series of releases on the wall. Upon further inspection I confirmed that they would indeed release enough of the floor to make the stone fall and not so much that we would fall too. I looked to see what would be the best way to release the straps and decided it would be best to run along fast and cut them all with Honey's sword. She did and that side of the floor fell causing the stone to become too heavy and fall with it. Excited as our journey was coming to an end we opened the large door and move quicker down the last hallway. We entered a large chamber filled with gold and gems, light source of the room was a single pool of lava underneath a large metal grate, it gave everything a thick orange color. In the center of the room was a large pedestal with a jeweled sword with a hilt of gold and a blade of silver floating in a beam of magic light. We looked around more to see what inscriptions would worn us about and what to expect. We only found two words that read Final Test. As we looked for more words I found a large saddle bag that I then emptied and started filling with gold. Honey commented on how that was a good idea and started doing the same. I would need the gold in Ponyville and it was just sitting there, and we were the first ponies to ever make it that far into the chamber, so it was basically ours. While we dug through the gold I found a sword that had a brown handle, a dark grey blade, and the pummel and hoof guard were both black. Like Honey's sword it clipped into my hoof so that it was easier to wield. On the blade read Runes but they were worn off, I then hitched the harness of the sheath around myself, and continued collecting the gold and gems. After we had as much as we could carry we went up to the sword. As Honey reached for the sword a booming voice bellowed from behind us.

"Let the final test begin!"
> The Test of Destiny (Chapter Three Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Test of Destiny


"Let the final test begin!" the loud voice bellowed.

As we turned we saw an old bearded unicorn wielding a heavy long sword. He had white fur and long white hair, a long maroon scar hung over his right eye making it a pale green, his other eye shown brightly as a deep emerald color. Before we could ask him who he was or what he meant, the old man launched at us with a ferocious battle cry, forcing us to separate to dodge his attack. I then drew my new blade and locked swords with him, having trained myself before I thought I could defeat the old man, but I forgot I had never tried to sword fight in this body before. My movements were slow, clunky, untrained, and easily block-able. The old man who had years of training and experience defeated me with no effort at all, he then turned his attention to Honey who fared better then me but was still being over whelmed, I then stood up and continued to fight as best as I could but he once again knocked me to the ground. I stood a third time and was beaten a third time. Honey was blasted back and knocked unconscious be his powerful magic. I stood for a fourth time.

"You just don't know when to give up do you boy." the old man said as he through me to the ground.

"I will never give up" I said climbing to my feet and reading for another attack.

"So I see." he said almost admiringly, "I can see why the sword bent to you, but the final trial must still be completed."

"I'm ready when you are."

"No your not, you are not accustomed to fighting in that body, giving me an unfair advantage." his horn glowed and I was transformed.

"I... I'm human again?"

"No it is a temporary illusion spell so you can fight at your best."

I nodded and we began to circle each other preparing for battle. With fast movements he leaped forward and slashed in an upward motion. I dodged and counter striked with a diagonal slash. Our two blades then meet and a shower of sparks flew in the air, I slid him off my sword and went for another strike, he dodged and slashed my left arm a bit, nothing to serious. I then used my height to my advantage and got good reach on him and started to over power him. Seeing his defeat imminent he then resorted to trickery and escaped in a cloud of smoke. I cleared the smoke and searched the endless columns that supported the ceiling. I then decided to do a disappearing act of my own. I used my magic to shake several piles of gold as I climbed into one and I waited. From my hiding spot I could see him as he descended from the top of a pole and started stabbing into the gold piles. Once he was searching the pile in front of me with his back turn I exploded out and shouldered him to the ground where I then disarmed him and, by accident, ended up injuring his chest causing him to cough up blood.

"You... have pa... passed." he wheezed out.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you, is there anything I can do?"

"I'm afraid not, but they were right Manna, human, you have a pure heart, and are a good soul, always caring for others."

Sadly I helped him sit up, "What's your name?"

"Dyravörðurinn"

"Well Dyravörðurinn I am truly sorry."

"You mean it too," Dyravörðurinn said painfully, "The spell will wear off in a few minutes, and you friend will be fine."

"What about you?"

"I am fine," he said weakly, "You have give me the death I have wanted for over three hundred thousand years."

Dyravörðurinn died shortly after, I turned back into a pony, and Honey woke up and ask what had happened I said I didn't know and we went to get the sword. On it's golden hilt was the Nordic Runes that spelled out Falsa and I then looked at my sword and saw the name from the parchment. I didn't mention it to Honey knowing only I would be able to wield it and that would make her sad she couldn't have it. She took the sword and let me hold it, I mentioned the legend and she shrugged it off as just a fairy tail. With that we split ways. I thanked her for the company and the food, she thanked me likewise and the she went back the way we had came and I headed out of the back door that lead in a new direction. The tunnel was long and twisted but there were no traps. When I emerged the sun had already set and everything was a shade of grey. I laid down on the ground and drifted off to sleep. In the morning I would climb down the mountain and begin trekking the Everfree Forest on my way to Ponyville.
> The Journey Continues (Chapter Four Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Journey Continues


On my third day I was bitterly awoken by pouring rain. I ran into the mouth of the cave and shook myself as dry as I could. My body was stiff from sleeping on the hard ground the past three nights. I sat as I watched buckets of water fall from the sky with out end. As I sat waiting for the rain to stop my mind began to wander. I thought about how beautiful it made the Everfree Forest look and how every thing gleamed like diamonds. I then thought about how they were like tears from the sky. I remembered my friends back home and how they would never truly know what happened to me. The rain was like fire, so versatile, so many different meanings, so many ways to look at the same thing. I then thought about my magic and wondered if I could see my friends through magic. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. I focused on my best friend's face, I thought about his voice, I thought about how much I wanted to tell him I was ok and that even though an ocean of stars was between us, I was still there for him. But there was nothing, only the blackness behind my eyelids. I opened my eyes to see that every thing was blurry. Not knowing what else to do I just cried. It was bound to happen eventually, but it had to happen during a rain storm, so many meanings and right now it was saddening. I was alone, I was a wanderer, I had no home to go to. I was used to being alone but for most of my life I at least had Josh. I had money to pay for food, magic lessons, a house, and anything else I could want but I still had nothing. A house isn't a home without people who love you, that is why my house as a child was so empty, you can fill a house with all the "stuff" you want, but it isn't a home until it's filled with your friends and family. I cried until my feelings of solitude subsided. I moved my mind forward on to happier thoughts as the rain continued to fall. I was in Equestria, I was free, I could do anything I wanted. I had been alone my whole life. The only reason being alone now bothered me so is because over the years I came to except that I didn't need to be alone. I had Josh, my best friend, I had learned that there were people who cared for me and that I wasn't the only one believing in myself. I only wished I could give Josh the peace of mind that I was safe and where I needed to be. The day came to a bittersweet close, the rain was stopping, the sun was setting, and I knew tomorrow when I woke up I could press forward with a better mindset. I had no way of telling Josh I was ok, but our bond is strong enough that he probably already knew, and that feeling was enough to convince me. In the distance a rainbow appeared across the horizon.

I woke up the next morning with renewed vigor. I put Eldur Innan sheath's harness on and through on the saddle bags I retrieved two days earlier, they were still filled to the brims with gold, I moved out of the cave and looked out over the Everfree Forest. Everything was darker and gray as the sky was overcast,fearing that it would rain again I moved quickly down the mountain, as I moved the slippery slopes tried to escort me to my death. As the day went on the sun broke though the clouds and gave everything a nice warm drying glow. I reached the bottom by mid-day, going down is so much easier then going up, and I found a stream of fresh water. I drank much and put the bags down to rest, gold is heavy, I then stood and decided to practice with my sword. The more I practiced the more it felt natural, which made it easier to fight with, and I remembered how "alien" I felt back on Earth. A part of me wanted to forget Earth entirely, as to not re awaken the feelings from yesterday, but then I knew. I had to remember, I could never forget my old life, I owed it to Josh that much. I would remember the good and the bad, I had to, it made me what I am today. With that I put Eldur Innan back in his sheath and collected up my saddlebags. I took another long drink and then proceeded into the woods.

Not much happened on my travels through the Everfree Forest. Most days I would wake up, find a source of water, eat some grass, walk in a single direction, and when the sun went down I would gather wood for a fire. The seventh day was my first of many encounters with the Timber Wolves, man does their breath stink, normally they would be a problem but their not so bad. They're the best kind of fire wood, they find you. On the ninth day I encountered a stone alligator, my sword was quite effective at injuring it and driving it away, I was surprised to see that like the legend said the sword sustained no damage. Not a ding or dent, still perfectly strait, didn't even scratch the surface. When I got to Ponyville I would have to ask Twilight about it or something. One night I had it in the embers of my fire for well over three hours and when I pulled it out and touched it, it was cold as ice. Like I said my days in the Everfree Forest were just about uneventful. Besides the occasional Timber Wolf "attack" I was mostly just moving forward. It wasn't until the fifteenth night that I had a good feeling of where I was going.

I was walking in the woods, all was clear, not a cloud in the sky. The moon shone brightly in the sky and after being woken up by Timber Wolves I thought I would get some ground. Thanks to the light of the moon I was able to see clear as day, if not better, I often found that the sun gave of too much light. I had been walking for two hours and I was starting to feel tired again. I couldn't sleep out here, as I knew the pack was still hunting me, I had to find a place to hold up for the remainder of the night. Then I saw it, as I came through the brush, a massive castle lying in ruin. I was at the palace of the sisters. The location of the legendary fight between Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia. I was in awe, this would do perfectly, the wolves dared not to come near this place and if it rained I could take shelter. There might even be a bed in there. As I entered the castle I could see the minor renovations the mane six had done, but most of it was still in ruins. All the debris had been cleared out and everything had been cleaned and polished. Despite this the stone floor was still cracked, the walls covered in vines that were too stubborn to come off, and the windows all had broken glass sitting inside their sills. I looked at the artwork and craftsmanship, for not having fingers they had done a fantastic job, I moved down the corridors and looked for the bedrooms. I remembered the traps as I stepped on a pressure plate and almost fell into a pit that sprang open. I carefully moved around it, and continued down the hall until I reached a room, the door was marked Luna all in runes. Inside the room was beautifully made with a dark blue marble that covered the walls and ceiling, the floor was covered with a black rug that had little white dots to look like stars. The furniture was made of gorgeous black wood polished and covered with a layer of dust. All over the room hung pictures of Luna and Celestia, they looked so young, and on the wardrobe was a book labeled "Luna's thoughts". I ignored the book seeing as it isn't right to pry where one is not allowed. Her bed was large and soft made of hay with a layer of feathers, the sheets were cool and silk, the bed itself rested on a frame made from oak painted blue with swirls of purple. Exhausted I climbed into the bed and curled into a little ball, this room has not shown any ware unlike the rest of the castle, but my thought were silenced as sleep over came me.

I awoke on the floor in a dark room and surrounded by mist I could feel a presence in the room with me. Alarmed I panickedly searched for Eldur Innan so as to defend myself from that in the shadows. A soothing voice then came from the darkness, it sounded similar to Celestia's voice, and then I remembered that this was Luna's voice! Realizing it was a dream I relaxed and listened to what Luna had to say.

"So you are the great power my sister and I had sensed about half a cycle ago. I am pleased to see you are good at heart."

Of course when they "saw" me in my astral projection they must have been sensing my presence and could not actually see me. Before I could respond Luna spoke again.

"The man far from home with two minds, how aren't thou insane? How long have you been dreaming of freedom?It isn't everything you had hoped it to be is it? I sense... I... sense, that despite sadness your joy is stronger. That is good. I had hoped the tree had not made a mistake and it hadn't."

"The tree? As in the tree of harmony? Is that what brought me here? Was I chosen? What is so special about me?" My questions just poured out.

"Patience young one. All will be answered in time and you will be stronger for it. As for now take heed and know your message has been sent. You have a great future ahead of you, lots of learning, lots of healing, lots of pain, lots of grief, but also lots of love. Train well, and follow your heart, it will lead you to glory."

"Message? What message?" But it was too late, the presence was gone, I was left swirling in my mind. Two minds? Message? Great power? And what about me or my future was so important? I felt myself waking up and I saw the tree of harmony glowing in my mind.

I sat up tangled in the blankets and drenched in sweat. I was still trying to figure out what it all meant as I fixed the bed, after all it would be rude to leave the bed messy, and I searched around the castle to see if there was anything related to what Luna had mentioned. I didn't find anything so I moved on. As I stepped out into the court yard I saw the bright sun hanging low in the sky as it continued it's climb higher in the sky. Before I left I went down and saw the tree of harmony. It was much bigger then I had remembered it, I was on four legs now but still, it seemed more powerful than anything else I had ever encountered. I put my hoof on it and closed my eyes. In my head I saw nothing but still felt an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and peace. When I opened my eyes again the tree shown brightly. I then proceeded to climb the stairs and walk down the path that lead to Ponyville.

As I moved onward I kept thinking about what Luna had told me. I also couldn't help but wonder what she meant by great power, or that I had learning,healing,pain,grief, and love ahead of me. Why was I so important? I had literally gone under the radar everywhere else in my life but here I was going to become super important. Why? Nothing else really happened on the trail, as I walked until I came to the top of a hill and saw what I had been striving for. Ponyville. The sun was setting and it cast amazing shadows across the fields surrounding. I stood marveling at what a magnificent sight it was, I had not seen it in sixteen days, and even now it was more impressive. I wanted to run down and meet everypony in person but then I decided to wait until morning. I moved to a spot where I wouldn't fall down the hill and sighed as I curled up on the ground. I was so close but my journey wasn't over yet, it had been put on hold till the morning.
> Ponyville At Last (Chapter Five Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ponyville At Last


I woke up the next morning and was ready to go into Ponyville. It then occurred to me that I had been running around for sixteen days and hadn't cleaned myself since I had gotten there. I must stink horribly. I grabbed my things and found a small pond on the outskirts of town. I hid my stuff in a bush and jumped into the freezing water. It felt good and woke me up instantly. I felt like my old self again. This thought made me wonder about what Luna had said about healing. I don't know why I suddenly thought they were connected. As I swam I could feel the cool water cleaning my fur and mane, it felt fantastic. After I was done swimming I shook myself as dry as I could and combed my hair behind my head so it is out of my face. I then made a small fire as to dry off the rest of the way. By the time I was done it was ten in the morning according to the clock tower. I collected my things and walked back toward Ponyville. As I walked past the first group of houses I could see how big the city actually was. There were ponies of all sizes and colors everywhere, I was surprised that some of them looked like actual background characters, I also saw more popular background characters like Lyra and Bonbon. As I neared the center of the town I could see the water fountain. Even something as boring as a water fountain was amazing looking. I also saw the library made out of a tree. I had to actually stop and regain my breath.Wow, I'm going to actually meet one of my favorite characters. I started walking to the library and was suddenly struck with a deep foreboding fear. What if I do something to ruin my first impression like I always do? I stopped and stared upwards at the window, looking for movement. You know she probably doesn't want me to ruin her morning I turned to leave.No I didn't come all this way to just pack up and leave. After several minutes of this back and forth debate I was so scared of meeting anypony that I decided it was best if I just left and came back another day. As I walked past the water fountain, my thoughts spinning in my own mind, they were suddenly interrupted by walking full speed into a cloud of pink hair that smelled of cotton candy. I took a few steps back surprised and saw large sapphire eyes staring at me and a huge radiating smile that hung below them.

"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie!" the pink pony said bouncing with excitement, "You must be new around here because I've never seen you before! I know everypony in Ponyville! My Pinkie Sense told me someone new was here! What's your name?"

"I wouldn't worry about it I was just passing through," I said solemnly, "Sorry for wasting your Pinkie Sense."

"What? Your leaving? But you just got here. Is something wrong? You look sad."

"It's... complicated. I have lots of thought's sometimes and they just get to me."

"Do you want to talk about it with somepony? I have lot's of friends that can help!" Pinkie said with bubbling excitement.

"No that's alright, I'll just be on then. No need to waste your time with a wanderer," I turned and looked back at Pinkie. "Forget about me, it will be easier that way."

Pinkie seemed unconvinced, "Well if that's what you think is best, but as my friend Twilight says it's never good to run from your problem's.

"I know but for reasons only I can understand I have to."

"Well before you go I at least want to lift your spirits."

"I have no choice do I?"

"Nope!" the pink pony bounced forward with glee, "Come on you'll have fun, follow me."

I followed Pinkie all the way back to Sugar Cube Corner where upon entering I was greeted by a collection of smells and colors. Pinkie told me to take a seat and skipped into the back room. When she came back she was carrying a large tray of assorted treats and drinks. There were doughnuts, pies, cakes, cupcakes, things covered in marshmallows, coffee, hot chocolate, and something I wasn't quite sure of what it was. She looked at me, waiting to take a bite of something, a look of anticipation in her eyes. I took a doughnut and took a bite, it was so good, I couldn't help but smile. Satisfied she placed the tray on the table in front of me, then she did something unexpected for her, she walked away. On the tray was a note that said think about it. I started to  rethink about my decision to leave, and thought of why I had crossed so much to get here, and I was just going to leave? After ten minuets of thinking Pinkie came back and could see my mood had lifted some. She sat down across from me and explained how she let me have sometime to calm my mind and think. I was not used to this kind of behavior, no one back on my Earth would have been as genuinely caring as Pinkie was right now, and this realization alone made me remember that Twilight or anypony else here would not act like a girl back on Earth. Healing. The word came into my mind for the second time today. With that I stood and thanked her for caring. I paid her for the treats and asked her where I could buy an apartment. Pinkie's face brightened significantly and she told me how to get to the land lords house. I left Sugar Cube Corner with a new mind set. I found the place easy enough, I rented a small apartment like building, it would be temporary while I looked at what houses were for sale. I dropped off my stuff, except for Eldur Innan, and walked back to the library, my mind quiet of fear and confidence radiating off me. A small purple dragon answered the door when I knocked. At my request he went to go and retrieve Twilight. I started to look at the books to ease my nerves. I whirled around when I heard foot steps return into the room.

"Hello, Spike told me you wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes I was wondering if you had any information on this sword." I motioned toward Eldur Innan.

Twilight looked at the sword with interest as she took it, "Where did you get this?"

"I found it in a cave toward the top of a mountain, on the other side of the... Everfree...... Forest..." I trailed off as Twilight drew the sword and looked at it out of the sheath.

"You were saying?"

"Sorry, I thought only I could draw that blade." I stumbled out confused and a little disappointed.

"Don't apologize, if I know the legend you are referring to, it says only the pure of heart can draw the blade."

"That's true it did," I started thinking out-loud with out realizing, "A princess's heart is quite pure..."

"Yes it is," she said returning the blade to the sheath and then back to me, "Tell me everything you know about the sword and we'll see what we can find." I told her my findings as we climbed the stairs to a different part of the library. "So its indestructible properties are more then legend. Interesting. I think I have a book around here somewhere related to that sword and legend."

When we walked into the upper library I was taken off guard by how close it was to the show. Twilight ask if I was alright. "Yeah, I didn't expect it to actually look like this.I mean I don't think I have ever seen so many books in one place, being on the road and all."

"And exploring ancient caves and earning powerful legend based swords." Twilight said with a chuckle as she looked through some books. "My names Twilight Sparkle by the way."

"Oh yeah my name is Manna."

"Manna? That's an unusual name. It's a good name none the less. So Manna where are you from?"

"North of the mountain where I got the sword." I said a normally as I could.

"I see but where specifically do you come from."

"I come from a small village called," I looked around the room trying to think of a good name, "Europe."

"Did you just make that up on the spot?" Twilight said with amusement in her magenta eyes.

"Yes I did, I lied to you and I'm not quite sure why." I said looking ashamed "If it's alright I'd like to keep that to myself for now."

"Alright, seeing as your past before the mountain is a touche subject, are you staying in Ponyville long?"

"Yes I am, in fact I plan to move here, I'm going to start looking at houses tomorrow."

"Oh that's great news! Just as a warning, my friend Pinkie Pie will probably through you a party at some point."

"I figured. I've actually already meet her, she caught me on my way out of town. She was actually my deciding factor to stay."

"Really? Small world." she said thoughtfully, "Here this book might have what your looking for. Can I see the sword again?"

I handed her the sword and looked at the book, "Thank you, say do you teach people, I mean Ponies, magic? I don't really know how to use my magic very well."

"Sure! I'd love to help. Just stop by tomorrow and we can begin." she said smiling warmly, "I wish I knew what these strange symbols meant."

I looked and replied, "That means Eldur Innan, the name of the sword. In Icelandic Eldur Innan means fire from within."

"You can read these symbols?" she said with amazement, "That means you can translate the oldest language in Equestia!"

"Yeah there Nordic Runes," I said beaming that I impressed her, "I could teach it to you if you like."

She accepted, I would teach her Nordic Runes and she would teach me magic, I thanked her and left the library. Seeing as it was still light outside I decided to see what houses were available. I didn't like any of them. As I was about to leave the man proposed another option, that if I had the coin, I could have a house made to my parameters. I like the sound of that. I spent three hours working with the architect to construct a 3D model of the house I wanted. We then went to the bank where I bought a piece of land on the edge of the city. With all said and done I owned land and starting tomorrow they would begin construction on my dream house. Today was a good day after all, and to think I almost walked away from it all, if Pinkie hadn't stopped me... I had to go and thank her. I walked down to Sugar Cube Corner but she wasn't there. I asked around a little bit but nopony had seen her for sometime. I walked back to my apartment and when I opened the door was greeted by at least twenty ponies all crammed into my little space. I was taken off guard but I then realized what was going on and felt truly welcome. Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie were there, additionally I meet Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Derpy, Bonbon, Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, Bulk Biceps, Applebloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Golden Harvest, Colgate, and several other ponies that I did not recognize. I was amazed that my little apartment could hold so many ponies. The cutie mark crusaders noticed I didn't have my cutie mark yet and started getting worried. I assured them that mine was a rare case because of how I was raised and he I spent most of my life traveling place to place. After a couple of hours it started to get late and ponies started leaving. soon it was just me, the mane six, spike, and the cutie mark crusaders. We all got to talk on a more personal level but I still kept much about my past a secret. I could see it concerned them that I didn't want to open up but they didn't let it steer the conversation. As they were leaving I over-heard them mention how I would be more open after I got settled in more. I laid down on the bed a closed my eyes. In terms of first days go this one was extremely fantastic. I didn't fight as my body moved into a comfortable sleep. 
> A Normal Life? (Chapter Six Rewrite)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Normal Life?


I found myself lost in the woods. I started panicking and running in all directions looking for a way out. I then saw Pinkie Pie standing in a clearing. Excited for some help I ran over and tried to talk to her but when I reached her she turned to dust and was blown away in the breeze. I then could see someone else walking away and excited I ran after them. I ran and ran but I just couldn't seem to catch up with him. I was closing in on the figure when I saw my friend Josh standing in a clearing. I stopped and walked over to him. Was it really him? As I got closer I saw that it was. I ran towards him needing to tell him so much but as I got closer I saw that he looked disappointed.

"Why did you have to leave me Matt?"

"What? I...I didn't..." I couldn't speak.

"I was always there for you wasn't I? Why did you have to leave? Were you not happy living in a world with all your friends that you had to leave and abandon us all?"

"Josh please I didn't plan on this happening, it just did, I'm sorry."

Another voice came from behind me, "We all trusted you and you just left." I turned and saw my friends Jeff and Timmy walking up.

"Come on man how could you just drop everything and go to a world of peace without even saying good bye? I thought we were friends." Timmy said with hate in his voice.

"We are friends! I'm just in a different world, that doesn't mean we can't be friends still." I shouted in desperation.

"You're wrong. We aren't friends. Not anymore. Good bye forever." They all shouted in unison and then they all vanished.

Not being able to contain myself any longer I broke down and cried. I lay on the ground crying for what felt like hours. As I cried I felt a presence enter my mind. I looked up and saw Princess Luna standing over me. I stood trying to hide my tears but after what I had just seen I couldn't.

"If your here it makes sense that this is all just a dream." I said a calmly as I could.

"I'm sorry I could not have gotten here sooner, in your episode, your mind locked me out."

"It's true isn't it. They feel like I've betrayed and abandoned them don't they."

"I'm not sure... besides you I've never meet anyone else from your world." She said carefully.

"Well don't get me wrong they are good people."

"I know... when I have access to your dreams I also have access to your memories and I can see that you care for them deeply."

"Wait you have access to my memories? Does that mean..."

Luna smiled warmly, "Yes it does, I know that in your world we were nothing more than cartoon characters, and I also know that like a lot of people you felt connected to us on a deeper level. I also can see how long you wanted to leave and come to Equestria. My only question is now that you've met us all in person," Her blue eyes shimmered with amusement, "Who do you like the most?"

I blushed and with embarrassment clear in my voice, " That is an unfair question, and besides you have my mind on speed dial so why don't you look it up yourself."

Laughing she added, "I already have but you missed my point."

"Huh?"

"You are no longer feeling ashamed or at fault for something that is not your fault."

I paused and tried to piece together what had just happened, "You make a strong point, but how do I ever get over the guilt of leaving them without ever saying good bye?"

Luna thought for a moment and then said, "Well based on what I know about them, from what you know, they wouldn't think like that at all. In fact if anything they are just as sad for never getting to say good bye to you before you vanished."

I didn't know what to say next. In a way Luna knew and just sat by my side while I thought. While we sat there any question I had she would answer the best she could. This went on for hours and then eventually she told me that the night was ending and that she had to go. I felt her presence leave and myself moving to awareness. I opened my eyes just as the sun was rising and casting beautiful orange and yellow glows on the ceiling. I rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. As I was eating my breakfast I remembered that Twilight had invited me over to learn magic. She hadn't specified a time so I waited till around eleven in the morning and then I headed down to the library.

My magic lessons weren't exactly what I had thought they'd be. Here I was learning very simple spells and to make it worse I was learning them with a kid who wasn't even half my age. Applebloom kept making potions that exploded everywhere, Scootaloo left bicycle parts everywhere, and Sweetie Belle was just farther along with her magic to make me feel insignificant. As far as Twilight and I could figure I had some kind of mental block preventing me from learning more magic than I already had learned. That night I talked with Luna to see what she thought about it. After much thought and consideration we figured it was caused by a lack of balance in both my mind and my soul. The next day I went in earlier and looked through the library to find any books that could help me in my quest. After not finding anything in over an hour I was ready to give up but then I saw a biography of Star Swirled the Bearded. Curiously I picked it up and flicked through it. I noticed that the whole last chapter was ripped out, but then I saw the name of a chapter in the middle. Battling One's Self I skimmed through and saw that Star Swirled learned in order to advance your magic further you had to settle all of your inner demons and then you could grow far beyond that point. I read the chapter and learned what was needed to complete this project. I then sat the book down and got myself comfortable in a sitting position. I then closed my eyes and spoke the words associated with the spell.

I opened my eyes to see myself in the dark room full of low hanging fog and I knew I had crossed over into the astral world. Then my friends appeared and all had their backs turned. This must be the first part of my psyche I need to fix. I then proceeded to tell them what had happened as calmly as I could. One by one they all started to turn around and look at me. It was here that I truly realized that they were just as hurt by my disappearance as I had been with their absence. They then faded away and I felt part of my mind grow calm. Then my parents and brother appeared and I saw that they were sad as well. I thought about it long and hard and then I finally came to a decision. Although I couldn't expect them to understand like my friends did, I could forgive them for what they had done, and my forgiveness helped that part of my brain calm as well. As they faded others faded into my plan of existence. This time they were ponies I knew. Princess Luna was there along with Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Honey Smith. I was confused at first and couldn't think of why they would all be there. Then I realized that I had to choose one and that they were all the ponies that at one time or another I had called my favorite. I looked over at each of them, Fluttershy I ruled out right away as she was a good friend but too shy for me. Applejack was nice and all but after meeting her in person I don't think of her as anymore then just as a friend, and Twilight and I had a lot in common but not really someone I'd consider dating. Honey smith was adventurous and pretty but I doubt I'd ever see her again. This left me with Pinkie and Luna as my options. Pinkie was the reason I stayed in Ponyville and was so upbeat and happy. Luna on the other hoof was the most beautiful person I'd ever met and had an amazing mind, she gave me a reason to want to go to sleep every night. After much consideration I choose Luna as my object of affection and with that they faded away. Luna can see my memories how can I hide this from her until the right moment I thought to myself, you know just typical stupid things you think when your alone. I then noticed the fog getting lower to the floor and I thought it must be a side effect of the spell but then noticed that I was a human again and wearing all white clothes. My darker thoughts all started to disappear. Then another figure materialized on the other side of the room, he was wearing all black armor and was radiating with darkness. He drew his sword and with a deep battle cry charged me. Taken off guard I drew Eldur Innan to defend myself and my sword clashed with his. To my surprise I noticed that he had the same sword as me and it then occurred to me that he was the dark half of my mind and that I was the light half. He backed off and removed his helmet to reveal that he did in fact look just like me but with red eyes. At my thought a mirror appeared and I saw that I had Blue eyes. This would explain why I had purple eyes.

"So we're finally separate?" he growled.

"It would appear so," I replied slowly.

"It would appear as though only one of us can take control."

"Not necessarily," I said thoughtfully, "We worked together for our entire lives and if I recall most of our strength was that there was two of us."

"Yes but you never showed anyone that I was there!" He shouted angrily, "You only showed the good side of our personality, and I'm not going to hid in your shadow any longer!"

With that he flew forth and swung his sword in a diagonal slashing motion. I parried and returned with a horizontal cut towards the neck. He ducked underneath, spun, and elbowed me directly in the nose. I fell backward in pain and was only just able to roll away from his ground stabbing attack. I've never been this bad at fighting and he clearly has my ruthlessness. I thought as I came up to a stand and blocked an over head strike. Then gaining my center of balance I started to fight without emotion and I noticed I got noticeably better. But it was no match to his anger and emotion filled blows. I fell as I could no longer hold back and as he was winding up for the final blow I shouted, not in desperation, but in logic.

"If you kill me you'll be in control yes but you'll lose your ability to be happy or kind or caring or compassionate!"

The other Matt thought for a moment, "I'll live."

"You'll also lose your ability to love."

His sword was centimeters away from making contact and it slowed to a stop. "What... what makes you think I care about that?"

"Maybe you don't, but what would Luna think if I wasn't there to tell her how we feel."

With a loud roar he threw his sword and it impaled the ground. "Very well we can find a way to work together."

"Thank you," I said climbing to my feet, "I think the best thing to do would be for you to join back together with me."

"No I will never do that again!" He yelled in frustration then he thought and said, "Did you just try to strong arm me into being your slave again?"

I thought for a moment, "I think I did, did you show me mercy?"

"I did. Maybe we aren't that different after all."

Then his armor faded away and he had on the same clothes as me but his were black with white shoes. His eyes were purple again. I looked down and saw that my shoes were now black and in the mirror I saw my eyes were purple as well. We looked at each other and smiled, just like that peace had been restored and balance rained supreme. The fog vanished from the floor and we both went back to our body.

I opened my eyes and saw the library. I stood and walked outside to see what time it was. When I opened the door I saw a lot of ponies all gathered around and looking towards the library. Twilight and Zacora ran up to me and ask what had happened. Confused I said that I had done a new spell that had put my mind in balance. She then told me that I was rolling on the floor and shouting at myself, not knowing what else to do she ran and got Zacroa, when she had gotten back the whole library was exploding and flaming chunks of tree and books went everywhere. I was shocked and looked back at the ok library. Twilight continued to say that after about ten minutes of explosions all at once it all reversed and rebuilt itself then you came outside. I had no idea how to react to any of this and based on the nervous faces of those in the crowd I'd say that is accurate information. It wasn't until later when I was explaining what I had experienced to the main six, Spike, and the cutie mark crusaders that Scootaloo notice that I had gotten my cutie mark. I looked and saw that it was a Yin-Yang, I smiled and knew the meaning behind it. When asked what it meant I merely told them balance. The next two of weeks were less eventful. My magic block was gone and I excelled at an amazing rate, soon I didn't need help learning magic and I started going on my own path. I became closer with everyone in town. Although to keep myself in balance I didn't often show any emotion but when I did you knew I meant it one hundred percent. I fell into a normal routine, well when I say normal I mean a constant plan for my day. I would wake up at two o'clock in the afternoon have breakfast, go to the library and study magic, hang out or visit different ponies, and then I would stay up all night and appreciate the night sky. I would go to bed at sunrise and keep Luna company while the two of us slept. I've finished all the books in Twilight's library though, maybe I'll go and check out the library of the princess in the old castle.

"Hey what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

I turned and saw Twilight walking up, "Just enjoying the night."

"Oh ok then, well goodnight." She said with a yawn.

"Goodnight," I said as she left, "The night sure is beautiful..." I said to myself I gazed off at the stares.