> A Moment To Remember > by Blood Blader > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WHAT?!! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Ouch, man that hurts” I said waking up. “Ok let’s see, due to the pounding in my head, I must have hit my head pretty damn hard, I may even have a concussion.” I said as I opened my eyes to find I was lying on the ground, I didn’t dare move as to not aggravate any injury I may have. But I soon changed my mind; due to my stomach growling in hunger. I tried to stand up but each movement I made caused me to wince in pain. Fighting the pain, I slowly rose to my feet. It was then I noticed I could not feel my feet, did I have nerve damage? I mean I was standing, right? Oh well, I was too hungry to care too much. I soon came upon some apple trees. I quickly went over to the closest tree. I went to reach for an apple, but stopped when I noticed my hand…no a stumpy marshmallow looking hoof. I sat down and stared at my…hoof. I shook my head a bit and my arm was back to normal. “I must have hit my head harder than I thought, I’m seeing things.” I thought aloud. I quickly took an apple from the tree and looked it over before taking a bite. It was really sweet, maybe the best apple I have ever had. After eating the apple I threw the core away. I grabbed a few apples and put them in the backpack I had. I also checked the stuff in my bag to see if everything was all right. “Good my computer looks intact” I said to myself as I zipped the bag closed and slung it on my back again. I started walking at what I thought was north based on the sun’s position in the sky. I soon found myself at the edge of a small town as it grew dark. I found a large tree and sat under it, it was a very nice night, so I thought I would lie under the starry night sky. After a short time a heard some noise coming from above me. I looked up the tree and saw a balcony. Did someone live in this tree? As I looked closer, I could see a telescope pointing out over the edge of the balcony. “So someone else is star gazing tonight” I said to myself. After a few moments I decide to call out “Quite the exquisite night for stargazing”. I then heard someone well, squeak. Then there was a thud, which was probably that someone falling off a stool, for I also saw the telescope move a little. “Oh shit” I said “Hey are you ok up there, sorry if I scared you” I yelled as I rummaged through my bag till I found my flashlight, I turned it on and pointed it up towards the balcony. “I’m ok!” I heard from a barely audible female voice coming from the balcony soon followed by the sound of movement. After a few minutes I heard the sound of something walking around the tree so I pointed my flash light toward the side of the tree just as a bright light came around the tree. “Sorry again for startling you” I said “It’s ok; I did not expect anypony to still be up” Said the female voice from earlier. “That’s ok, it is that time of the night after all” I said not notice the odd word she had used. “So, how about we lower our lights before we introduce are selves” I said “That sounds good” the female voice called out. I have to admit she sounds pretty cute. As I lowered my flashlight the other source dimmed. What I saw made me drop my flashlight and start backing up slowly, for under the light was a pur… no violet little horse staring back at me in what seemed to be just as much shock. The horse shook its head as if to clear its train of thought. It looked back at me and its eyes went wide. “HEY, LOOK OUT!” it called out but it was too late I went to take another step back only to have my foot find no ground, so I fell in to what was a small dried up stream and banged my head on the other side. Last thing I remember was the sight of the violet horse running up to me then all went black. Well while I’m out cold I might as well let you know a few things about myself. Ok ill start with my age and profession. I am 23 and I am a student, I am a Visual Arts major. The last time I checked I was five foot nine; I have dark blonde hair that was cut short at maybe 1.5 in. I have blue eyes, that odd shade of blue. Now that you know a little more about me, I’ll let you find out the rest later. “Twi… darling are you sure, he seems like an ordinary s…. to me.” I heard a voice say as I started to come too. “Ya, sugercube, what you saying makes no l… of sense.” Said another voice with a southern accent. I sat up and put what should be my hand to my head rubbing it gently. “Did anyone get the number of that bus that hit me?” I asked opening my eyes. I find I am sitting on a couch in what seems to be a library. There were a few audible gasps to me waking up. I closed my eyes again and yawned as I heard something come over to the couch. “Please whatever you do don’t panic” the female voice from last night said “Now why would I panic, I can see only two problems right now. One, my head is pounding, but that is normal with hitting one’s head hard twice. Two, I’m in a place I do not recognize.” I said “See Twilight, he is just a normal stallion, like Rarity said” a new voice said “Wait, what the hell did you just call me?” I ask opening my eyes and turning towards the source of the voice I heard only to come face to face with two small horses. One of the two horses was the same one I saw last night; the other had a cyan coat, magenta eyes and a rainbow mane. My eye starts twitching. “no, no, no, no, no, no, no this is not happening, I must be hallucinating, or I’m just going crazy, I mean talking colorful little horses are an impossibility” I said scooting a bit away from the two figments of my imagination. “What in the hey is he muttering on about” said an orange Stetson wearing one as it came in to view “Ahhhh” I screamed as I fell off the couch due to the shock of seeing another one. It was there on the floor that I noticed that something was wrong with me, besides the crazy aspect. “HOLY SHIT, WHAT IN BLOODY HELL HAPPENED TO ME!!!” I yelled as I was now looking at what use to be my arms and legs, I now had four legs that ended in stumpy marshmallow looking hooves. “Please try and calm down” the violet one said coming around the couch and was carefully approaching me “CALM DOWN, CALM DOWN, WHY THE FUCK WOULD I CALM DOWN I HAVE BEEN TURNED IN TO A FUCKING ANIMAL, AND WHY THE FUCK AM I EVEN TALKING TO YOU, ALL OF YOU ARE JUST FIGMENTS OF MY IMAGINATION BROUGHT ON BY PSYCHOSIS, OR TOO MANY HITS TO THE HEAD!!” I yelled at the violet horse. “Please jus...just calm down” the violet one said again as well as reaching out with one of its hooves to try and comfort me, but I swat it away. That however did not sit too well with the cyan one, for she rushed over turned and kicked me in the head. I went sliding a crossed the floor, when I came to a stop I immediately put my han... hooves to my head “FUCK,OW, OW, OW, OW, OW, GOD DAM THAT HURT. Wait that hurt, if they were hallucinations then that would not have….” I said till my eye started twitching again. The horses were approaching me; they seemed to be talking but my mind was still in a state of shock that I heard nothing. The violet one seemed to be chewing out the cyan one. I turned and saw a door and inside I smiled. “Hurry up Rainbow and apologize” the violet one said I got up and looked to see the cyan one take a few steps towards me looking back at the violet one grumbling. It turned and looked at me. “Hey, look I’m...” she was saying but did not finish due to me bolting towards the door. “Hey… Get back here” the cyan one called out. I hit the door as hard as I could and it opened. I was out and free heading down the street as fast as these new legs would let me. > Getting Things Straight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was running as fast as I could through the little town full of these talking colorful little horses. I did notice that there are three different types of these little horses. There are the almost normal ones, there are ones that have horns on their heads, and there are ones that have wings. Speaking of winged horses, the cyan one is now hot on my tail. “Get back here!” she yelled out after me. She was fast and gaining on me. I turned down an alleyway to try and lose my pursuer, but to no avail, though all the twisting and turning through the town did keep her a little behind. At one point I swerved around a tree, hearing a loud, satisfying thud of the Rainbow one hitting the tree. I turned on to a main street. At the far end I could see a train station. I ran as fast as I could and was halfway when two chariots flew in and landed near the station. From the chariots, two much larger horses hopped off and started down the street towards me. “I’ll just bolt past them. “ I said to myself. I was now a few feet from them when it felt like I got hit in the chest by a brick, a brick that was shot out of a cannon. I hit the ground gasping for air as I slide to end up just in front of the two large horses. The group from before caught up and the violet one raced over to me. They were talking, that I could tell, but with the state I’m in I cannot hear them. The large white horse bent down and touched its horn to my head. From the point its horn touched me, I could feel something warm rush throughout my body. It felt like laying in the warmth of a sunny day. My breathing started to calm till I could breathe normally again. “Tia, what do you think made him react to our magic in such a way?” said the navy blue one who was the slightly smaller of the two larger horses. “I’m not sure Luna, maybe Twilight would be willing to fill us in back at the library.” said the taller white one. It was not long before we were back at the library. I was carried the whole way in a cart. My body was still unresponsive. I was laid back on the couch. After a few moments my body started to work right and I sat up. The horses all came over to me, the violet one and the two large ones up front. “Sorry about freaking out and running, but it’s a little much to handle, I mean... come on, talking colorful horses. Where I’m from this is not normal” I said. “So from what my student has told me and what you just said I can assume you’re not normally like this?” the white one asked. “No, I’m normally a human being.” I answered her. “Wait what’s a humon?” asked the rainbow one. “How best to put this... ok, humans, or Homo sapiens, is an upright walking bipedal hairless ape” I said. “Alright Mr. Human, first off we are not horses. We are ponies; second, my name is Celestia. I co-rule this land here with my sister Luna” the white one said referring to the other large one as Luna. “Well it’s nice to meet you. My name is Brian. Now where is here exactly?” I asked. “Well Mr. Brian we are currently in my library in the town of Ponyville, in the country of Equestria, and my name is Twilight Sparkle” the violet one said. “Ok Ms. Sparkle, it’s nice to meet you, but it’s just Brian. If I wanted to be called Mr. anything I would prefer Mr. Miller; After all, Miller is my sir name. With the new info out, the cyan pony burst out laughing. “Your... Your… your name… is Brian Miller...?! That is the funniest name I have….. ever heard!” she said through fits of laughter. “Rainbow” Twilight said in a scolding like manner. “Well at least I’m not nicknamed Crash” I said to the cyan Pegasus. “I am not” she said. “You are now, for that’s what I’m calling you from now on” I said trying to keep a straight face. The rainbow one looked pissed, the rest of them did not look to happy either. Twilight cleared her throat. “Her name is Rainbow Dash” she said. She then pointed out the orange one. “That’s AppleJack” she said. After a few more introductions and questions, AppleJack, Rainbow, and Rarity left, leaving Luna, Celestia, Twilight, and I alone. I went to get off the couch to stretch but fell face first on the floor. “Are you alright?” Twilight asked a, little worry in her voice. ((Maybe 'a hint' instead of 'little'?)) “Ya, just my mind took notice of the new body now that I have calmed down. I ran with little problem earlier do to the adrenaline and my mind being on the fritz” I said struggling just to get back in a seated position. “By the way I've been meaning to ask; why when I went to run by you two it felt like I was hit in the chest by a brick shot out of a cannon?” I asked the princesses, but before Celestia could answer the door to the library opened. A white male Pegasus in gold armor came in and said “Princesses, sorry for my intrusion, but you’re going to be late for your appointment with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor.” “What, you’re going to go see Cadance and my brother?” Twilight asked, turning to Celestia. “Why yes, I had almost forgotten due to your guest” Celestia said. “Truth is that my sister and I had come to ask if thou and thy friends would accompany us” said Luna. I had been listening to what they were saying. “So, I take it this Shining Armor is twilight’s brother.” I piped in. Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow Dash rushed back inside the library. “I’m sorry I forgot my new daring doo book here.” She said going over to a table and grabbing the one book that was sitting on it. “Ah, Rainbow, would you mind getting the rest of the girls here?” Celestia asked. “Sure thing! What for?” Rainbow asked. “Something about some meeting between One Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, someone named Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia and Luna here, and how they want you all to accompany them. Am I right so far?” I piped in as I started looking around the room. “Why yes, me and Tia are going to have a meeting with them” said Luna. After talking a bit with Celestia, Rainbow gave what I could best describe as a salute, before bolting back out the door leaving the book she had come back for on the table. Celestia came over to me and Twilight. “I told Rainbow Dash to bring everypony to the train station to meet up with us” she said to Twilight. Twilight nodded “I’ll go get a few things” she said, then raced up stairs to what I guessed was her bedroom, if these ponies even had bedrooms. I was still looking around for my backpack, when Celastia came up behind me and asked “what are you looking for?” I jumped and fell on my face again “ouch... I was looking for my backpack” I said. “What is this backpack of which thou speaketh?” asked Luna. “It’s a bag that has straps on it, it is black in color. It also has some red as well as gray on it.” I said getting up. “You mean like that one over there” Celestia said pointing a hoof towards the wall where the backpack was hanging. I guess what I did next was what would be considered a facehoof. “If it was alive it would have bit me.” I said. “What do you mean by that?” asked Luna. “Well, I can’t obviously say if it had teeth it would have bit me, because the zipper is made up of teeth.” I answered. “Oh!” Luna said then leaned over to her sister and whispered “we don’t get it.” I was about to try to crawl to the bag when a golden aura surrounded it and it floated over to me. “Umm, thanks” I said looking to Celestia. She smiled. Twilight came back down with saddle bags on. “Ok, I’m ready to go” she said. “Brian would you like to come with us as well?” Celestia asked me. “Why not, it could be fun, also it would give me a chance to know more about this land of yours” I replied warmly getting up. I tried to walk again, only to fall again. Celestia leaned over and touched her horn to my head again. A sudden flow of knowledge flooded my brain. After my sight cleared I got up and tried again this time I walked forwards like I had always had four legs. “What did you do to me?” I asked her. “All I did was give you the knowledge that most foals are born with” she said. “Well at least now I don’t have to learn how to walk. Thanks” I said and started to get my backpack on. Twilight opened the door and Celestia and Luna exited the building. Twilight followed after them. I hesitated at first but followed after her. Once outside, Twilight closed the door and hanged a closed sign on it. “Let’s hurry to the train station” Twilight said seeming excited. The walk to the train station was mostly uneventful, if you consider the fact that every one of the ponies we passed bowed to the princesses as uneventful. When we arrived at the station I saw the three ponies I met earlier standing with two extra ponies: one was a yellow pegasus with a long flowing pink mane and tail, the other was a normal pony that was pink with a poufy pink mane and tail. They had yet to notice are arrival so I crept up behind dash and yelled. “Hello Crash!” All five of them jumped. Rainbow immediately turned and slammed me to the ground as I burst out laughing. Rainbow was about to pound me when Applejack said “Hold your horses Rainbow. “ “I’m sure he did it as a prank, like you and Pinkie always pull” said Rarity. Rainbow growled a bit then said “Don’t sneak up on me like that again. And quit calling me Crash!” I looked over and saw that the pink pony was on the ground in a fit of laughter. Luna was giggling a little as well. Rainbow got off of me and I got up. "And I thought you were t...” I said but was cut short by a pink blur tackling me to the ground. “Hi my name is Pinkie Pie, you must be new because I know every, and I mean, every pony in Ponyville, and if your new that means you don’t have many friends, that makes me sad, I should throw you a super duper big welcome party.” Said the hyperactive, pink pony. “Thank you but no, see I’m not much of a party person.” I said gently pushing her off me. “Party person, don’t you mean Party Pony” she said slightly confused. She just stood there in a stupor for a bit. The train’s whistle blew to let every one of the ponies know the train was about to leave. The princesses and twilight walked in to the train. AppleJack and Rarity went in next. I don’t know when the yellow pony slipped in to the train. Rainbow grabbed the pink pony and dragged her in to the train car. I was the last to enter; I sat in a seat next to a window. Celestia moved in to the seat in front of me, and Twilight slide in next to me. “If you don’t mind me asking, where is this train going to take us?” I asked. “We are heading north of Equestria to the Crystal Empire” Celestia answered. “The Crystal what?” I asked. > What’s In A Name > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The train was now rolling through the countryside at a good pace; then again this whole place seemed to be nothing but countryside with a few small towns dotted about. I could hear Celestia and Twilight talking about something; it sounded more like the babble of a teacher and a student then a ruler and her subject, but I was not really paying attention. I took a look around the car. Rainbow was reading a book she had brought, Applejack was sitting across from rainbow; it seemed like if she was sleeping but I could not tell. Rarity and a yellow pony seemed to be talking about something in a magazine Rarity had brought along. The pink pony, Pinky Pie I think her name is, was sitting with Princess Luna; they both seemed to be admiring a cart of treats a pony was rolling through. The pony stopped at our seats. “Princess would you like something from the trolley?” the pony asked. “No thank you, I have been trying to cut down on my sweets. Brian, Twilight, would you two like something?” Celestia asked. “No thank you, Princess” twilight said. I was about to say no thanks but just as I opened my mouth to speak my stomach answered for me with a loud grumble. “Well, it seems my stomach had to get its two cents in” I laughed. “Then grab something” Twilight said with a smile. “Ya, I would, but I don’t think my money is any good here” I said. “Well if you want I could get it for you” Twilight said. “No, no, I don’t wish to impose; that and it’s ungentlemanly for a guy to have a girl pay for his food.” I said but to no avail, for Twilight had laid down two small golden coins and picked up what looked like two apple danishes. With her magic she floated one over to me. I opened my mouth to protest with a simple no thank you when the pastry was shoved in my mouth. I looked up from the pastry to see a cyan hoof at the end. “Just be thankful she got it for you at all” said the annoyed voice of Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow!” Twilight said in a scolding-like manner. I bit down on the pastry and swallowed the piece that was in my mouth. “It’s ok Twilight. Rainbow, please don’t ever do that again, I could have choked on that you know” I said in a soft but firm tone. Rainbow slowly slinked back to her seat without another word. I turned back to the pastry which I now held on my hoof. “Thanks” I said to Twilight before taking another bite. Twilight smiled and after swallowing a bite of her pastry she said. “You’re welcome.” Twilight took another bite of her pastry. I turned to look back out the window. “Um, Brian...” Twilight said. “Yes Twilight?” I said, turning back to her. She had finished her pastry and she now had a look like she was about to ask something embarrassing. “Would…Would it be alright if I asked you things about your world” she said almost like she had to hold back till I gave her the ok. “Sure, shoot” I said with a raised eyebrow. “Shoot? Shoot what?” she asked tilting her head as Celestia just smiled watching us, which I have to say was getting creepy. I faced… wait, would I call it a face hoof? “It’s just a term used to say go ahead.” I said behind my hoof. Twilight turns a little red. “Oh, well, um, so what is the place you came from called?” she started off as a scroll and quill floated at the ready in her magic. “Well, I come from a country of 51 states, I was born in the state of New York, but lived out most of my life till now in the state of Ohio. The country is called the United States of America. It is on the continent of North America.” I said as Twilight franticly jotted down everything. “Um, how are you doing that?” I asked pointing to how she was floating the parchment and quill. “Oh, it’s just a simple telekinesis spell” Twilight said not looking up from her notes. “Could you show me how to use some magic?” I asked Twilight. “Don’t you know any?” Rarity piped up. “Not a single spell and there is a good reason for that as well” I said “What’s the reason?” Twilight asked. “Magic, real magic is only in fiction and myth, my world has no magic. What my world has instead is advanced technology.” I said with a smile like 'I know, I’m cool' on my face. “That would explain why our magical presents almost killed you. You had almost no resistance to it.” Celestia said as if it was no big deal. I rolled my eyes. “So it seems.” I said. Twilight looked to Celestia, who nodded. “Ok, I will teach you a few, starting with the telekinesis spell.” She said with a smile. “Domo arigato sensei” I said with a slight bow. They all gave me a confused look. “Domo ari, what now?” Applejack asked. “Domo arigato means thank you. Sensei means teacher. It’s a language from a country called Japan.” I said. Twilight turned a little red from being called teacher. “I...I…I” she said in a stutter. “What? Not use to being called teacher?” I asked. “Nn, no, in fact, I’m still kind of a student myself” Twilight said. I raised an eyebrow but before I could ask Celestia piped in. “And a wonderful student you have been.” “Well, that explains the way you two talk to each other.” I said. Celestia just nodded. “Well, anywho you were going to show me how to do that spell, right?” I asked Twilight. “Oh, ya” Twilight said as she floated the saddlebag towards her and pulled out a few objects of different size and weight. “The basic idea is to think of the object like you going to lift it with your hoof” Twilight explained. I took a deep breath to clear my mind of distracting thoughts, and then began to concentrate on a feather quill. I had closed my eyes to help with the concentration. It was not long before I felt an odd sensation; I opened my eyes to see the quill was floating a little in a shaky blue aura. I let a smile cross my face and eased a little too much on my concentration. Bad idea, for the quill soon shot straight up and right through the metal roof of the train car. I chanced a look around the car; everypony had a look of shock on their face, all except Celestia, who just had her never faulting smile on. After a few silent moments I gathered the courage to ask, “Was that normal for a first timer?” After a few more awkward, silent minutes I decided to wave my hoof in front of Twilight’s face. “Hello, anyone home!” I said. After no answer I gave her a gentle shake. That too did not work. I heard a soft chuckle, looking around I could not tell from who it came from. I went to try to get Twilight’s attention again when my eyes made contact with one of the books she had laid out for me to practice magic on, the book’s title was 'A Beginners Guide to Magic'. “Well I wish I had seen this sooner, she could have had me read this book to learn the basics” I said to myself. I pulled the book to me to find that it has some sort of spell meant to help young ponies open it with ease. I settled down and started to read the book that was obviously meant for young children. After a bit of reading I had gained a better understanding of how to use magic then what my lame excuse of a Sensei had tried to explain to me. By the time Twilight came to I was floating two spell books and a large history book. Man, Twilight brought along a lot to read. “Wow, I’ve never seen somepony on their first try send a quill through metal.” she said before noticing that I now had three books floating in front of me. Twilight’s jaw was about to drop again but she got a hold of herself. “How did you learn that spell so quickly?” “I had about three hours, and your spell books to look through” I said without looking away from the books. “My my, he reminds me of a certain young mare that I know” Celestia said “Who is that?” Twilight asked. “Wait, wait, could everybody stop changing the subject, I mean I’m still in the dark about a lot of things, like who are these people we are going to see. What were their names again Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, or anything about this so called Crystal Empire” I asked. “Well, Shining Armor is my brother and Cadence is my sister in law” Twilight said. “What, then that would make you royalty?” I asked. Twilight blushed a little and was about to answer when there was a few growls of stomachs. Twilight's blush deepened. I looked around the car to see the others were blushing as well. “It seems that in all the excitement everypony forgot to have lunch. Come now, I will treat you all to dinner” Celestia said getting up and heading to the door linking this car to the dining car. Luna and the others got up to follow leaving me and Twilight last. “Come on Brian lets go” Twilight said getting up. I got up, but almost as soon as I did, I lost my footing and fell. Twilight caught me by leaning on me. “Is the Princesses spell wearing off” she asked a look of concern on her face. I shook my head. “No, I think I just got up to quickly” I said. “Well, if you need to you can lean on me” she said with a smile. “Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine.” I said as I started towards the door. Walking felt odd, maybe the spell was wearing off. Me and Twilight soon caught up with the group in the dining car. They were already seated, and had left two seats open for us. I was now seating between Princess Celestia and Twilight. A Mare came up to the table, wearing what my best guess is a pony waitress outfit. The pony passed out some menus. “Can I get you all something to drink to start off with?” she asked. “I’ll take some apple cider if y'all have any” Applejack said. “I’ll have some tea if that’s all right” a yellow pegasus asked, her voice trailing off so much that it was barely a whisper in the end. “I’ll have some tea as well” Rarity said. “WE’LL HAVE MILK!” Luna and Pinkie Pie almost yelled. “I’ll have a Nova cola” Crash said. “Some tea would be perfect, thank you” Celestia said. “I’ll have tea as well.” Twilight said It was now my turn to order a drink. I looked through the menu and decided on the one thing that sounded normal. “I’ll have the sweet tea with little ice and a lemon wedge” I said. “Ok I’ll be right back with your drinks.” The waitress said before walking off. Celestia turned to me. “Now, on to a matter that needs a quick addressing, your name during your time here in Equestria. I would like it if you would choose one that best fits your new form.” She said. "What, like how all of you have one loosely related to the tattoos on your butts?” I asked. “They’re called cutie marks” Twilight said. “Ok…” I said “So, have you thought of a name yet?” Celestia asked me. “Ya, I think I have one. The name’s Knight, Blades Knight” I said in the most Bond-like accent I could pull off. > Author's note > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello every brony, I can't believe I took a year long break but don't worry I'm back and have started writing the next chapter and hope to have it soon ready for your reading pleasure.