> Scars to win them all > by jrock117 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > My first Scar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was an average morning, the smell of blueberry pancakes in the air as I wake up. Man I love that smell, nothing beats a good blueberry pancake in the morning... except for NOT having heavy blankets. My vision is clouded with that good ol' mornin' vision, in other words, I couldn't see crap. Back to the blanket situation, I bet anypony would like to have heavy sheets, not me. They get in the way of everything, I wish I had my old blankets. "Scar! Time for breakfast!" A voice that shows some understanding as well as annoyance, obviously female, shouts up the stairs. That's my sister, not a morning pony, must've stayed up late last night if she's up thi-. "SCAR! Get your flank down here!" I take it back, bro must've woken her up. I wonder what the occasi-. "SCAR! NOW! I'm gonna eat your pancakes!" I can't even think without her interrupting me, wait, what did she say!? "OH NO YOU'RE NOT!!!" I yell back, nopony, and I mean NOPONY, eats my pancakes. Except for that one time I tried to get out of bed and got into all out warfare with my sheets, they were askin' for it. I bet you'd do the same if someone threatened to steal your morning away from you. Anyway, I try to get out of bed, and wouldn't you know it, I fail. The blankets are so heavy, I don't know how I go to sleep without suffocating. I try once more, nothing, not even an inch. I try once mooooore. Slip! Smack! Success! Those are the sounds of victory I've come to love, the after pain, not much. As you can imagine, the blankets slipped out of their corners and went flying with me on a one way trip to the floor, face first. "Ow, damn it." I say under my breath, rubbing my forehead with my now free hoof. I make sure not to say that kinda stuff out loud, just to make sure I don't get a hoof to my face. I'm in enough pain as it is. "You got ten seconds at best before Rose eats your precious pancakes." A monotone voice that could easily be mistaken for a father is heard out my doorway. "Longer than last time." I reply as I run past my old brother, fore hooves at my sides. He's a good size, bit taller than Big Mac. Not that I know who he is or anything, shut up. He has a dark crimson coat as well as an even darker mane and blue eyes. Unicorn. No cutie mark. Speaking of which, my sis and I don't have cutie marks either. Weird, isn't it. "You know that she doesn't like it when you run on your rear legs like that, remember." Do I look like I care, I'm trying to give my pancakes shelter in my stomach away from the evil that is Rose. "Don't care, need to rescue my food!" I shout, jumping down the flight of stairs, escaping my brother's sight. Alright, I'm past the set of stairs, three seconds. Now I got to get past the furniture and into the kitchen. Shouldn't be too hard. "Gah what the he... heck" I recover, not slipping up this time. "Did you guys rearrange the furniture last night? Know what, forget it, I'm coming pancakes!" Three more seconds. I manage to get past the new placement of furniture, only took two seconds. Now I'm face -to-face with the hall to the kitchen, why do things feel like their in slow-mo. I run for what feels like an hour, two more seconds. Not the most patient of ponies, am I? Nope. "Finally, the kitchen, two seconds t-... WHERE ARE MY PANCAKES!?!?" Oh no, this can't be good. "I said I was gonna eat them" Rose says, she isn't the tallest of pegasi, hell, she's not even that tall. She is still older than me, so I have to respect her. Well, I don't have to respect her, but I feel like I'm obligated to. She has a pink mane and a blood red coat with yellow eyes. She strangely has brighter colored wings, still red. I guess I should tell you guys all are names and ages. My name is Scar Cross, bet you already knew that. I'm the baby of the family, ten years old. I have the darkest mane in my family, black, my coat is a nice shade of red though. My eyes are green. My sis, the second oldest, is named Rose Cross. She is fifteen. My brother, the oldest, is eighteen. His name is Crimson Cross. You know what sucks about my life, albeit awesome in its own way. I am the only earth pony in my family, ever. Wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something, that smell. Oh yeah. "No, my pancakes! Nohoho." I cry, only a little. I go to wipe the tears away, but this does not feel like tears. "Why does the side of my face feel so wet?" I ask aloud to no one in particular. It feels really, really wet. My eyes shoot open, I find myself on the floor, face first, with my body still in the bed. My face is in a puddle of drool. It's not even morning, I lift myself up off of my wet floor. I sit up on my bed, thinking over what my dream meant. "Wow, that was, wow." Just what did it mean? I look through my window and straight at the moon over Canterlot Castle. The Mare in the Moon still visible. I place my hooves on the temples of my head. "Must've been a nightmare, that's good. I can't believe I'm moving to Ponyville in a week." I whisper, I look through my window again, looking at the castle that I will soon be unable to see in seven days. I close my eyes as I lay back down, letting sleep take me with open arms. "Good night, Canterlot." > Enough!!! part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "HEEEELP!!!" Oh Celestia, how could this have happened to me. "ROSE! CRIMSON! ANYPONY!" This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening. "HEEEELP!" I hear hooves coming down the hall. Yes, it's my savior, it's the one who can get me out of this predicament, it's... "What is it, what happ..." My door slams open to reveal who it is. Damn it, it's Rose. "Stuck again, I see." She says, not even trying to hide the annoyance in her voice. As you can tell, I'm stuck in the sheets, again. Ugh, you'd think I'd learn by now to kick the sheets off before I go to bed. I didn't and that's that. "Help. Me." I can just barely talk, I think I ruined my voice for a while. It's what I get for yelling for two minutes with no rest. It was an emergency. I could have died. "Can't. Breathe." I think I'm still dying. Damn these heavy blankets. "I really hate it when you wake me up early, just because you think those sheets are heavy. They don't even weigh that much." She begins to walk off, where does she think she's going. I have to get to school. Speaking of which, remember when I said I'm an earth pony. Yeah, not really the best type of pony when living in Canterlot. Especially when you go to a school, mostly, for unicorns. It's not Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but you could call it the next door neighbor. "I still need to get to school. Sis? Rose?" I lift my head to see why she isn't answering me, she walked away. Damn it Rose. She'd better get back here, or at least wake up Crimson. "Hey bro, you need help?" Speak of the devil, Let's hope he can get me out of here. "Hey, think you can get me- WOAH HEY PUT ME DOWN!!!" My blanket and I are cloaked in a ruby glow as I float up into the air. This happens to me at least ten times a month, I should be used to it by now, I'm not. It only takes a few seconds for me to finally slip out of my prison, thanks to my brother, too bad I landed on my face. Slip! Smack! Success! "Ugh, I feel like I've been here before." I say as I rub my forehead. My brother just looks at me with a stare that just screams 'WHAT'. "Did you forget last week already?" He replies in his fatherly voice. "I swear, with all the times I have to do this, I expected you to just kick the blankets off already." He shakes his head as he speaks this. I sit up on my haunches, on the floor, it takes a minute for my brain to catch up with the situation. All I can do is close my eyes and scratch the back of my head, a sheepish smile plastered on my face. "Yeah, sorry bro. Wait." My eyes shoot open as say that last bit, turning my head to look at my alarm clock. "Five twenty-six." I pump my hoof into the air as if I had won a battle, which I did. "YEAH, I beat my alarm clock once more!" My alarm clock is set to go off at six in the morning, I find it as a victory to be fully awake before it goes off. My brother chuckles a little at my display of success, considering I just changed the topic of what was important at the moment. "I'll be downstairs making some pancakes, make sure to put those books in your bags before you come down. We don't want you to forget to return that 'Mare in the Moon' book again." My favorite books are ones that have to do with myths and legends, this one I've forgotten to return to the library for a few days now. My late fee is five bits now. "Oh yeah. Thanks for reminding me." I get up on my hind legs as I walk over to my book shelf, it's not that big, but it can hold more than twenty books. I take out the book titled 'The Mare in the Moon' and walk towards my bags. I modified my bags a little bit. The strap that kept both bags on was now turned into two straps, they slip around my forelegs so when I stand they don't fall off. The two bags were sewn together to make one big bag, I added extra pockets as well. As you can see, I'm far from normal. I don't know why, but my sis doesn't like it when I walk like that. Meh, who cares? I place the book in my bag and set it near my bed. I look out my window to see the sun just rising behind the castle. I point my right hoof towards the castle and place it over my heart, a smirk grows on my face. A look of determination in my eyes. "Heh, I got a good feelin' about today." The smell of blueberry pancakes fill my nose. I love that smell. I walk out my doorway and towards the staircase. Let the day begin! > Enough!!! part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Six thirty," I look at my clock to see what time it is, it's still morning. "Alright, I'm headin' to school now!" I say, waiting for an answer from my brother. "Kay, I'll see you at three forty!" He replies, he really is a cool brother. I pick up my bag and slip my forelegs through the straps and head for the door. "Hey!" I hear my brother walk up to me, I turn around to see him with his hoof pointed towards me. A caring look comes to his eyes as a smile crosses his lips. "Have a good day at school, bro." He says this as he places his hoof over his chest. I proceed to do the same with my hoof, "You know it, thanks bro." I open the door that leads outside. Running on my rear legs, fore hooves at my side, I go down to the first corner. I stop and turn to see Crimson at the window, I wave my hoof and keep running to my school. It's a long way, but I like the run. I get to see the new spa that's being built, the bakery, and the best fruit-sales-stallion ever. "Yo, Apple Basket, how's business?" I ask, I walk up to the stand to see a light-brown stallion with a green mane and tail. He's quite taller than me when I'm on all fours, but that's not very comfortable to me. His cutie mark is a basket with several fruits, not just apples. "Hey Scar, business could be worse. So what do you want?" He speaks with a low monotone voice, but it seems to sound wise. He places an open sign on the counter and opens up some large baskets that are just full of fruit. "I'll have the usual. So, I hear you have relatives in Ponyville." I say, I'm going to Ponyville in four days, might as well get to know some of the residence before I get there. "Why do you ask? Oh yeah, your moving on Friday. Yeah, in fact my great-aunt runs the farm there." He replies, he puts 'the usual' in a small basket for me. "I'll make sure to put in a good word for you, if you're lookin' for a good job," He says this with a smirk on his face, "But than again, you'd have to be tall in order to actually do anything there." What did he just say? I take the basket from the counter and look at him, "I don't have to be tall to do what I want." I spat, hint of annoyance in my voice. However, it wouldn't hurt to make some coin while I'm living in Ponyville. Plus, what I want to do doesn't really pay much. "You know what, I might take you up on that offer, there must be something that a pipsqueak can do that they themselves can't." I turn and run towards my school. Wait a minute! I turn again and run straight for Basket, "I almost forgot," I pull out ten bits and place them on the counter. "See ya later." I wave my hoof as I run for my school. I hear a chuckle as I run to the corner. It's been a few minutes of running, not really anything new for me. A cat tried to take my food, and I saw a few dogs, but that's about it. I can see my school off in the distance. It's a pretty big school, considering I only see, like, ten other colts and twenty fillies come here as well. I make it to the school. Thinking must be late, I can't see any other children, I look up at the clock on the door. "Holy crap, I'm way early!" I yell. The clock says seven, just seven, school begins at eight. I must be getting faster. "What do I do now?" I ask no one in particular. I have no idea what to do, I'm an hour early for school, and there isn't much one pony can do at seven. I look down at the ground and sigh. "I guess I'll just sit here and wait for more ponies to show up." I sit down on the step of the front door, place my head on my right hoof, and wait. Let the wait begin. > Enough!!! part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, wake up kid, c'mon, wake up." A familiar voice can be heard, who is that? I know I've heard it before. Wait, why can't i open my eyes? Oh, this must be one of those subconscious-awareness moments. Never actually had one. I should probably wake up now. Any minute now. "C'mon kid, you're blocking the entrance." Alright, now I know I've heard that voice before. It sounds feminine, but, strong. Back to the problem at hand, WAKE UP, AH, stupid body. MOVE, DO SOMETHING! Damn it. Maybe if I... nope. "Wake up, NOW!" Alright, starting to sound pissed. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up. Sigh, alright, something must wake me up. Hm, ROOOOOOSE!!! "Nyeh." My eyes shoot open as I fall to the ground, a line of drool connecting my mouth to my right hoof. "GAH" Is all I can say, after I hit my head on the ground. I have a knack for hitting my head on the ground. "Ow, I really need to stop doing that. Sorry i didn't wake up earlier." I say as I get up off the ground. Now that I get a good look at who tried to wake me up, I see that it's the librarian. Miss Safe Search herself. She's a unicorn. She has a light purple coat and a dark blue mane. She has her mane tied in a pony tail and bright green glasses, very fancy glasses. She also has a book with a lock and magnifying glass for a cutie mark. I can't remember the last time she didn't smile, she doesn't look so happy right now. "It took TEN minutes to wake you up, I have to get the doors open before seven thirty. You're lucky it's only seven twenty three." She sounds really annoyed, no smile on her face this time. Jeez, it's not my fault I fell asleep. Hold up a second. "Sorry, hey, mind if help you get the library ready?" I ask, I haven't spent much time in the library, only when I was reading an awesome book or checking out a book. I didn't pay much attention to the place during either of those situations. She gets a confused look in her eyes, and her smile returns to her mouth. "Looks like the new generation has more to teach me as well. Sure, come with me." She chuckles a little bit and opens the doors. We both head down for the library at the end of the hallway. Silence is the only one saying anything. I don't talk well with mares, or fillies for that matter. I can only talk with my sister because, well, she's my sis. I'm not the best talker. We enter the library and I turn the lights on. Holy crap, this place is a mess, how, what, how does it look so nice during first period. There are books everywhere, tables are flipped, and shelves are toppled. "WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?!?" Search had practically screamed this. How does this exactly happen, did someone break in. "How am I going to clean this all up." Wait, what? "Hold on, you're a unicorn, right?" I ask in confusion, Search just nods. I place my hoof on my forehead. "Than, how can you not clean this up easily with your magic?" She just looks down at her hooves, sadness in her eyes. oh Celestia, what did I just do. "I, can't really use magic." She places a hoof on her horn, "I've been unable to since I was young." Ah crap, I really screwed up. Maybe I can make it up to her. I scratch the back of my head with my hoof. "Hey, maybe I can help you clean up the place, the least I could do. I, did keep you from opening those doors and all." She looks at me with a smile, this smile doesn't seem like her usual one though. "Really, you'd do that?" She asks, I can't help but feel that this is my fault. Why, I didn't cause this. I look away trying to avoid her gaze. I feel really embarrassed for some reason. What the hell is this? Look, just get this done and over with and go to your first period class. Maybe you can get a free book for helping out. That'd be awesome. I turn to see the librarian still looking at me. I point my hoof at her, than I place it on my chest. A smirk crosses my face. "You know it, I can't leave somepony in trouble like this." That is the truth, I hate seeing others in a predicament that they can't handle. I was raised to help those in need, it's kinda one of my goals. "Lets get started on this, shall we?" I gesture to the broken room before us, a sheepish smile plastered on my face. I want to get this done so I can stop this feeling in my gut. "Oh yeah, lets." She nods as she says this. We spend around twenty minutes cleaning up the library. Personally, every minute felt like an hour, I never thought we would get this done. Thank Celestia it got done. Every book in the right place on the right shelf, the tables put back the way they were, and the shelves placed neatly back up. Thankfully there weren't any missing books, all of them were in the room. In fact, nothing was missing. That was very convenient. Search walked over to the check out counter and checked to see if there were any damages, none. "Thanks for all your help." She waves her hoof as I head for the exit. "Whoa, wait a minute. I forgot something." I head back to the counter and pull 'The Mare in the Moon' out of my bag. "I believe I have a late fee as well." I take out five bits and place them on the counter. "And, if you wouldn't mind, could I check it out again?" I rub my left foreleg with my hoof as I say this. A look of disappointment comes to Search's face as I say the last bit. "I'm sorry, but somepony actually wanted to buy that book three days ago. I said that they could get it after it was returned." Oh, well I can't just take the book, now can I. She puts a hoof to her chin, I wonder what she's thinking. "Well, you did help me clean up the library, maybe I could make an exception." "No." I say, a very serious look on my face, this seems to have taken her by surprise. "I'm gonna have to decline that offer, somepony else beat me to the punch. Do you think you could tell me their name?" I want to know the name of who's buying the book so I can maybe read it one last time before I move. "Yeah, sure." She takes out a book and flips through some of the pages, she stops on one and reads closely. "Ah, here we are. Her name is Twilight Sparkle." She gets an evil grin on her face, oh no. "And it seems she's around your age too, maybe you could borrow it from her." Oh crap. "Uh..." My cheeks feel a little warm, I try to say something, but, "I... Um... Ugh. Nevermind." I look at the ground, knowing that I have been defeated. I look at the clock, just to see that it's seven fifty. Thank you clock, a reason to change the topic. "Oh crap, I gotta get to first period, see ya later Miss Search." I wave her goodbye as I quickly walk towards the exit. I make it to my first class, just in time too. Seven fifty five, I hope the whole day doesn't end up like it did earlier. I sit in my desk and wait for everypony else to show up. I don't feel to well about class now. Crap. > Enough!!! part 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A bell rings through the halls, the sound being heard in every room on the first floor. I stretch my forelegs out in and tilt my head to the side. "Aaaahhhhmmmm. Is it time for lunch already? Heh, thought it'd never come." I say. I get out of my desk and reach for my bag on the ground next to me. As I stand up, I see a blue earth pony having trouble getting out of his seat. Being the colt I am, I walk over to him to see if he wants help. I extend my hoof over to him and he just looks at me. "Yo, need any help?" I ask, he still just looks at me, weirdly for that matter. "Uh, hello? Equestria to... I don't even know your name." I scratch the back of my head with my other hoof, closing my eyes. I feel a hoof grasp onto mine, "It's Blur." He speaks in a raspy, immature voice. I open my eyes to see him smiling at me. Look of determination in his eyes, I know that look. "Aren't ya gonna help me outta this desk?" He asks, totally forgot about that. "Sure." Is all I say as I pull on his hoof, I see that he pushes on the desk. "Alright, you should be... out of there... in a... JIFF!" I say, not expecting him to pop out of his desk. We fly a couple inches back, well, I slide. He's the one that flew. He falls right next to me, I then sit up to see if he's ok. "You ok, dude?" I ask. I really wasn't expecting him to fly out of the desk. He rubs his left foreleg. I think he's looking for a bruise. "Yeah, I'm fine. So, what's your name?" He looks at me as he asks this. The look of determination is now on my face as I stand up. I point a hoof at him. "My name..." I put my hoof over my chest in the same fashion as ever. "Is Scar Cross." I then use the same hoof to pull him up to his. I totally forgot that I'm one of the only ponies that stands and walks on their rear legs. "Whoa, thought you'd be taller." I say. He's not amused. "You don't look that tall either, you're only a few inches taller than me, and you're standing on your rear legs." He replies, damn he's right. I'm not that tall either. Damn it Celestia, why did you make me so short. Ugh. "Hey." He breaks my train of thought, thanks. "You goin' outside for lunch as well?" Oh yeah, 'the usual'. I nod. "Yup, got my lunch in my bag over there." I reply, pointing a hoof towards my bag. "I was just gonna eat alone, like I usually do." I say, sheepishly scratching the back of my head. "Speaking of which, I see you also eat alone." My eyes look through the window at the tree that I have claimed as my spot. Idea. "Hey, you wanna eat lunch with me?" I ask, maybe making a friend that isn't twenty-or-so-years-old wouldn't be so bad. "Sure, I was just gonna ask you the same thing." He nods to his own statement. I feel like I'm talking to myself. We both grab our bags and head out the class door. We begin talking about the things we like and the things we don't. Turns out, we have the same attraction to myths and legends, how 'bout that. We walk through the door to the school, followed by other ponies coming out with us, and we head for my spot. Ten minutes have passed since we sat down. We are in the middle of a conversation of 'Who would win: Acrylis, the foal-eater and parent-taker, or Yuki, the mare of the wind and traveler-killer'. I'm with Yuki. "Yuki would so win, she can't be seen by mortals. Not to mention that she can fly as well." I retort in defense. Yuki is a tall, white mare who always wears a long, bland dress. She is, pretty much dead. She whispers to her prey through the wind, making them go insane before she devours them with her second mouth. She has no face, besides her first mouth, you wouldn't know this at first look because she hides the rest with her long blue mane. Her second mouth goes from the top of her neck, down to her, um, 'private area'. "Case ya forgot, Acrylis isn't mortal, far from it. Plus, he don't need to fly, he can just grab her with his black tendrils from his back." He retorts back. Acrylis is an insane, immortal, disturbing, mangled, and morbid stallion. He not only feasts on the fears of foals, but them as well. He also takes their parents and brings them to any nearby river and drowns them with his tendrils. He is mostly black with a few orange spots on his coat, spots from when he was mortal. He is very, very tall, and his four tendrils can stretch to about, fifteen feet. His eyes spiral down from the side of the sclera to the pupil. His teeth are sharper than a freshly made obsidian blade, and he has no forelegs. He tends to walk on his rear legs, which are always bent. When he stands, he towers over Celestia. "Holy crap, you're right, his tendrils can even grasp the dead." I say in defeat. Damn, that's the fifth battle so far and Acrylis won again. I wonder, what could beat a monster like Acrylis. "Becha he could even beat that foals-play Nightmare Moon." He says, devious smile on his face. "No." I am serious right now, nopony could beat Nightmare Moon, not even a monster. "He couldn't possibly beat her." "What makes ya think that, she got beat by six magical amulets"- I cut him off. "She didn't get beaten by anything!" I yell, this really pissed me off. I don't know why. He looks at me in total surprise. "She was banished. She also out matched Celestia in power, and Celestia can rise and lower both the sun and the moon. Nightmare can also dream walk and screw with your mind, making even the insane not want to fuck with her. She is the monster of monsters. She's very much alive, and immortal as well. She would BREAK Acrylis to the very core. Of. His. Being." If my words didn't show my internal inferno, my eyes sure did. "Sorry dude, didn't mean to make you that mad." He apologizes, he sits back down and enjoys the banana he won from the last fight. I look down at the ground and, I don't know, what the hell was that? I don't think I've gotten that pissed over something so small, ever. I feel a tear going down the side of my cheek. Why am I crying right now? It's just a battle, right? "You're right though, she would win." "Yeah, sorry I got so pissed. I don't even know where that came from." I apologize in return. I rub my left foreleg with my right. He seems to be enjoying the rest of his winnings as well. Two bananas, two pairs, and the one golden apple. I sit back down and place my head into my hooves. I feel something, soft, poke me in the side. I look over to see Blur handing me my golden apple. "Here, ya won. Ya told me that golden apples are your favorite fruit, 'member. I was gonna eat it in front of ya for last, just so I could rub my victories in your face. But sadly, I lost. You deserve this for your victory." He says, honesty in his words. I wipe the tear from my face from earlier and take the apple. Now I see a tear fall onto my apple, from my eyes again. A few more fall onto the apple before I wipe it on my coat and put it in my basket. "Thanks dude." I spoke with a slight quake to my voice. I go to zip up my bag, but I'm interrupted by a hoof to my side. "The bell hasn't rung yet. We got, like, thirty more minutes before we have to go back to class." He says. Oh yeah, that didn't take long, did it? Ah well. He smiles at me, showing he has forgiven me and my little outburst. I smile in return, not noticing that his became that of a demons. "Oh, and I didn't know you liked Nightmare Moon that much." I literally choke on air, that, does not hurt as much as you'd think. My cheeks feel really, really hot now. "I don't like her. I-I mean, I do, but... But not like that!" I yell the last bit. "HAHAHAHAHA!!!" He just rolls on the ground, laughing his ass off. My blood is boiling now. I don't like Nightmare Moon. She's a monster, she's evil incarnate. She's... a legend. I couldn't possibly like a legend, could I? It's impossible. Do I... like her... that way. "Hahaha... ha... ohboy... Heheheh." He tries to catch his breath. "Dude, it's just a joke, relax. Heheheh." "Yeah. Yeah, just a joke." I begin to chuckle a little bit. That's just silly, I think too much sometimes. I think back to the golden apple. Hm. "Hey, dude, you know how the Dread Scythe Organization has a seal to show their allegiance?" The Dread Scythe Organization is an evil group of mercenaries that try to kill the hero, Dragoon, in the comic series titled, well, the same name. Their seal is a red cloud, kinda doesn't fit the whole 'scythe' thing. Blur nods to this. "How about we have a symbol to show our friendship?" He places a hoof to his chin, thinking about my offer. "I don't see why not. Alright, what'd ya have in mind?" He asks. I look over at the basket again and take out the golden apple. "Really, why's that?" "Because this all started with our little argument. We would trade certain lunch items for every win. The apple went back and forth, from me to you and back again." I say this as if it were the most logical answer. "Makes sense, right?" "Actually, it does. We have sewing next period, don't we?" He asks, he just continues on. "We could make ninja headbands, like the ones in Dragoon. An apple as the design, rather than the village symbol." Holy crap. "That is the best idea ever." I reply, I take out a notebook from my bag. I pull out a pencil as well. "Lets draw a few designs before we get into class." He nods, we spend the rest of lunch doodling a symbol for our headbands. We settled on an apple with a nail behind it, as well as a heart in the middle. "Alright, this is the best thing ever!" He pumps is fist into the air, I also do that. He blinks a few times before turning to me, an inquisitive look in his eyes. "Ya know what? I don't know your dream in life. Can't be friends if we don't know each other's dreams." That makes sense to me, maybe because I read to many comics. "Mine is to become the best of the royal guard. Not the captain, just, the best." He has a look that makes me believe nothing will take his dream away. "Your dream isn't much different from mine, but is also a ways away." I say as I look him in the eyes. I stand up on my rear legs and look at the castle. I look back at the ground. "My name..." I look at the castle once more, my usual look of determination on my face. "Is Scar Cross!" I point a hoof towards the castle. "And my dream, no. My goal is..." I put my hoof on my chest. "To become the ultimate fighter!" A mental explosion of awesomeness happens behind me as I shout this, blowing my mane to the side. Blur just claps behind me. "Dude, that was awesome! I felt like I was watching Dragoon in real life!" He says this in pure excitement. Holy crap, what? "Are you serious, you thought I was that cool!?" I feel a little excited, I mean c'mon, he just said I was like Dragoon. "Yeah dude!" The bell rings as he finishes. Five minutes before the next class starts. This is the coolest day ever! > Enough!!! the final part > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That looks awesome on you!" I say to Blur, it really does. The thing that looks so cool is the ninja headband we made. We're each wearing one, the symbol, an apple with a nail and a heart in the middle. My headband has a red streak in the metal, while Blur's has a blue streak. We've been complimenting each other on our headbands all day, the final bell rang and we head for our homes. He only lives down the street from me. Awesome. "It looks a lot cooler on ya than I thought it would. Maybe 'cause your standin' like that." He says as he gestures at my rear legs. "Maybe you're right." I reply, a smile on my face. "This feels weird, ya know." He looks at me with a look in his eyes that says 'What do you mean'. I look ahead of us, at nothing in particular. "Walking home with a friend, first time I've done this." That's, kind of a lie, but not fully. I have walked home with a friend, but those friends include Basket, sensei, and... Actually, that's it. He get's a 'really?' look in his eyes, can't say I blame him. "It just feels weird to me, that's all." I scratch the back of my head. "Come to think of it, I know how that feels." He looks up towards the sky. "You're actually my first friend." Wow, I actually understand that. Somepony else who hasn't had a friend. I really feel like I'm talking to myself. "This sucks!" I throw my forelegs out to the sides and let them fall. He looks towards me. Did I say that out loud? "Uh, somthin' on your mind?" He asks. "Oh, it's nothing really." I place my hoof on my head band. "It's just that, you're the first pony my age that I have made friends with. And the worst part is that I'm moving to Ponyville on Friday." I explain. "So what? That shouldn't matter." He just looks ahead as he says this. "We're still friends, and we'll always be friends." Huh, he's right. "Our headbands show just how strong our bond is. 'Member." Right. "Right, forgot about that." I nod. I go to pump my hoof in the air, but something doesn't feel right. "What the... I CAN'T MOVE!" I yell, I try to struggle free, but nothing happens. I look over at Blur to see if, HE'S STUCK TOO!! What the hell is going on? Is this, magic, lime-green? Oh crap. "Hey Lance. Look who it is." I hear a sinister, snake-like voice behind us. That voice could only belong to, shit. Canibus. "It's the kid that ruined your face. Heheheh." He sounds like he heard a funny joke. 'Ruined face', that means Lance is here as well. "Would you look at that, he brought a friend. Too bad." He spits at the last part. "You wanna get your revenge now?" A voice that sounds like a child's evil father starts speaking. "Yes, actually. Let me see them." The magic around us turns yellow, then orange. We float a few feet into the air and are turned around. There are two stallions, one of which has a bandage on his left cheek, a little bit red. That one is Lance Strong, he is a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail. He has a lance and shield for a cutie mark. The other one is Canibus. He is a dark green unicorn with a black mane and tail. His cutie mark is a snake coiled around a sword. Both of 'em are quite tall. These two have been known to scare others into giving them money, whether it'd be for protection from others like them, or from them. They are strong unicorns, magic not as strong, seems like they practiced. "Let us go!" I bark at them. Lance just gets a smile on his face. "Ok." We are sent flying into a wall. Not hard enough to do any lasting harm, but enough to leave us breathless. "It's been a while since we saw you last time. Still getting discounts from Basket?" Basket happened to be one of their victims once. Just so you know. "This won't end well for you." Canibus says this like a psychopath. A green glow surrounds me as I lift into the air. Blur still on the ground, watching. "Bye-bye." I get flung into another wall. I fall to the ground, catching my breath. That doesn't last long as I see Blur, covered in an orange glow, get thrown towards me. This isn't going to end well at all. "Now, for the main event." Canibus gets a sadistic smile on his face when Lance says this. I get covered in his orange glow and am lifted into the air. "I'm going to crush you both." His smile disappears. Wait, both. I look over at Blur, and sure enough, he's in the same glow. I feel a pain like never before, every where. My head, my back, my legs, every where. I struggle to get free, but the pain only gets worse. I close my eyes in anticipation, waiting for the world I know to disappear. Waiting for the pain to go away. Is this death, I thought death didn't hurt. The pain lessens, maybe this is death. The world is so cold now. I open my eyes to see something I wasn't expecting. I am in a black abyss. No ground, no walls, just, black. I look around for Blur, but it seems that nopony is here but me. I float there for what feels like hours, waiting to meet the reaper himself. It seems not even Death wants to come here. Where is here? I gave up on that question a while ago. I curl up into a ball and let death take me as I am. "SCAR!!!" What was that? Blur is that you, no it couldn't be. I am dead. There is no way I could hear him. 'Now is not my time' What the hell, was that me? 'I have to help those in need' Where is that coming from? 'I won't let anypony take my goal away from me' I don't care anymore. 'Look at yourself' A white oval appears in front of me. It shows an image of Blur and I in the orange glow. Wait, who's that red colt next to, the blue one? Who are they? What's going on? 'Listen to yourself, it's like you don't know who I am anymore' What is this? 'Escape from this despair, please' Don't care. 'Don't let yourself die like this' Why, what is life without death? 'What is death without life' SHUT UP!!! Just, let me sleep. 'Who are you' I'm me. 'Who are you, what is your name' My name is... Scar Cross. 'What is your dream' My dream? 'What is it' I don't have a dream. 'WHAT IS YOUR DREAM' My dream, no, my goal. Is to become the ultimate fighter. 'Than what's the point of becoming the ultimate fighter, if we die before then' Your right. I can't just die here. "SCAR!!!" Blur, I'm coming. Don't worry. 'Break this prison, save our friend' I can't be the ultimate fighter if I can't even save one friend! I feel a fire burn inside of me, like if lightning struck a branch and caused the strongest, most destructive forest-fire. I pull my hoof back and throw it at the mirror. A large web-like crack is formed in it, as well as the entire room of black. "I!" I throw another punch at the mirror, making the cracks even bigger. "Have!" Another punch, widening the cracks even further. "Had!" My punch goes a bit further into the mirror, nearly making a whole. Light is shining through every crack now. I rear my hoof as hard as I can, making this my final one. I go to strike the mirror, and I feel like an army is striking with me. "ENOUGH!!!" As I yell this, I hear many other voices shout with me. The mirror shatters, as well as the entire void around me. "ENOUGH!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs, this must've surprised Lance because the magic around Blur and I has shattered. We fall to the ground. I land square on my legs, allowing me to stand tall. Blur on the other hoof, fell to his knees. I look at my fore hooves. Just, what happened? "Lance, why did you let them go?" A snaky voice is heard. Why would he let us go, we were at his mercy. "I didn't let them go, I was going to crush them. Something must have broken my spell." This is my chance, I can do something while they're arguing. I look over to a trash can that fell when we were being knocked around. I run over and pick up the lid. I spin it around to get momentum. I throw the lid at Lance, the lid spinning like a disc. He doesn't even know it's coming. "Hey, ass face!" I shout to get Lance's attention. He looks over at me, and is smacked right in the face, at eye level with the lid. It appears to be dented as it flies off of his face. It hit him so hard that his head ricocheted backwards as far as it would go, without taking off his neck with it. They both fall towards the ground. Canibus just looks at me with fear, guess this shows who is stronger out of those two. "You're not off the hook either." I say as I get closer to him and his unconscious boss. "I want you to take your trash of a boss to a hospital and make sure he hasn't died. After that, never show your faces around here ever again!" The sound of a demon escapes my lips when I say this, I pay no mind to it, probably just imagining things. He picks up his boss and runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction of me. I look over at my friend to see him shaking a little bit. I extend a hoof to him. "Dude, you ok?" I ask in all honesty. He just looks at the ground. "Dude?" "That." He stands up on his legs. "Was awesome!" He looks at me with pure excitement. I'm taken aback by this, I thought he was going to run away from me. "How did you do that? You just scared them off like they were puppies running away from a butcher." A smirk crosses my face. "I didn't do it, we did." He is obviously confused at what I said. "We're more than just friends, we're a team. If one of us is to accomplish something, we both did. There is no 'I' in 'Team'." I couldn't have said it better my self. Which is awesome, considering I was the one who said it. "Yeah, that actually makes sense." He nods and smiles. "We are a team." We hoof bump. "Hey, lets trade head bands." I say, my eyes closed. "Why?" He asks. "I'm moving on Friday. If we trade headbands, we will always be by each other's side." This is the most honest answer I could give. He nods. "Sure." We give each other our head bands and tie them on. "Alright! Now nopony will mess with us!" We say in unison as we pump our hooves forward. We head back to our homes to end the day. "Yo bro, I'm home!" I say as I open the door. Crimson comes out of the kitchen with an apron, eyes closed, tears streaming down his face. "Help, me" Is all he manages to let out before Rose comes out of the kitchen. "Your late." She pulls out another apron as she says this. "Come with me." She gestures for me to come into the kitchen. Oh crap. "Uh, actually, I got to go back to scho-GAH!!!" My sister jumps on top of me before I can finish and ties the apron onto me. "Now get into that kitchen and help your brother clean up those dishes!" Now she's the one that sounds like a demon. I walk into the kitchen, and holy SHIT there are a lot of dishes. SOMEPONY SAVE MEEEE!!! > The Train that leads to Destiny > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey Scar, your friend is here." Rose says, a little annoyance in her voice like always. It's moving day for me, yup, Friday. Blur and I have made quite the bond. Waking up at the same hour, walking to school, enjoying the sights. Its been an awesome four days. Sure sucks that I'm moving today. "Alright, I'll be down in a minute." I reply. Wonder why he's here. I put five books into my bag, two for reading, three for taking notes, as well as ten pairs, eight bananas, and five golden apples. Oh the deliciousness of the golden apple. I can feel my mouth watering at the sight of them, but I don't care. I go to eat one of the apples, but I control my self. I need to save it for the trip, might take a few hours. I put a compass and a map of Ponyville in there also. Food, check. Books, check. Survival gear? I guess the map and compass are survival gear, check. Head band? How did sensei know about... Nevermind. He's a master with stealth. I tie my 'new' head band with the blue streak in the metal on. Check. Now, to see what Blur is doing here. I go down the stairs with my bag, and I see sensei at the bottom, forelegs crossed, standing on his rear legs. He has a good build, not the strongest looking pony ever, but you don't need to be strong when you got skill. He is as tall as my brother on all fours, making him look quite lanky. He is a forest-green earth pony with spiky brown mane and tail. And he has the most badass looking scarf ever! Red. It really pops out, thanks to his green coat. He has a nail with a red scarf wrapped around it for a cutie mark. He has a scar running down his left eye. His name is. "Bolt sensei!" I yell as I jump down the stairs in a kicking motion. He blocks with his left hoof and grabs my leg with his right hoof. Shit. "You'll have to try better than that if you want to hit me" His voice has some wisdom and strength within it. Completely mature. He swings me around and throws me out the front door as he says this. This would normally trip me up, but I've been practicing. I do a little back flip and slide on the ground outside my door. "It seems you haven't been slacking off these couple of days." He walks out the door, like a badass, and gets into a fighting stance that resembles the turtle fighting stance in Crystal Ball Z. I adjust my headband and get in the same stance, a battle is about to be started. "By Celestia that was awesome!" Blur says this in excitement. I look over to my left to see my friend sitting on his haunches, he must've been there for a while. "Oh, hey Blu-GAH" I was interrupted by my sensei, who just happened to appear behind me and push me to the ground, face first. The dust flies around us in circle and vanishes. "HEY, NO FAIR!!!" I shout at my sensei who is now sitting on my back. He pulls a rose from his scarf. Eyes closed. "All's fair in love and war, my young student." He throws his rose to the side as he finishes that bit. He then stands up off my back, allowing me to get up. "I believe that's another loss for you." "Yeah-yeah." I reply. I dust my self off and turn to Blur who is chuckling a little. "So, why're you here?" "Huh, oh, I came to help ya guys move." He responds honestly. I scratch the back of my head with my hoof. "Oh, thanks anyways, but I'm done packing up." I say. He looks at me like he doesn't understand. "What, what about the others?" He asks, gesturing to my bro and sis. Maybe he doesn't understand. "What about the others?" I repeat his question. My eyes widen when realization hits me. "Oh, ok. I'm the only one moving to Ponyville, say for my sensei." He tilts his head as if he were expecting a different answer. "And, that's all you're takin' with ya?" He points a hoof at my bag. Now my sensei interjects. "Actually, that's all he'll need when we get to Ponyville. I have a cottage down there with all the necessities we'll need. Plus I can always go into Ponyville and shop for more items." He opens his eyes and looks at the head band on Blur's head. He studies it for a few seconds and then looks at mine. He smirks. "Heh, looks like I inspired you more than I thought, Scar." He looks me dead in the eye. "What do you mean?" I reply. He crouches on his knees and pokes my head band, tracing around the nail. "The nail through the apple." He says blandly. He then smiles warmly. "The nail is my trademark symbol for fighting." He states this like it was obvious. Actually, now that I think about it. He is the reason I wanted to become the ultimate fighter. Maybe that's the reason I was so obsessed with putting the nail in the symbol. "Heheh, I guess your right sensei." I respond, a sheepish smile on my face. "Oh, hey, Blur. Wanna walk with me and sensei to the Canterlot gates?" I ask Blur. He just nods, but his eyes widen soon afterwards. "Hold up, I gotta ask my mom if I can first." He says this as he turns around. "Think ya can wait for me while I go ask her?" I was about to answer when sensei interrupted me. "Don't worry, we'll be right here." He says, his right hoof waving Blur away. Blur proceeds to run down the block to his house. "Looks like I might have another student." He ponders this idea, too bad I pop his bubble. "Actually sensei, I don't think he's gonna learn under your wing like me." He looks at me when I say this. "He wants to become the best of Celestia's royal guard. Unlike me, where I want to become the ultimate fighter." I get into a fighting stance when I say 'the ultimate fighter'. "Who knows, maybe training under me will grant him the skills he needs to be the best of the royal guard." He put his hoof off to the side. "The best is usually reserved for unicorns, considering that they are, stereotypically speaking, the best in battle and research. I could show him a few techniques that would scare any unicorn." He adjusts his scarf so it covers his mouth, but still look natural. Bad... Ass. "You make good points sensei. That would actually be cool. Training with my best friend under the coolest sensei ever." Ideas of Blur and I rising to the top of Equestria's history books as the 'Best Ponies Ever' enter my head. "That would be the best!" I pump both my hooves up into the air as I yell into the sky. I look down the street to see Blur running towards us. "I can come with you guys to the gates, but that's as far as I can go." He looks a little saddened by this, as do I. "But she says I can visit ya guys on Fridays through Saturdays and during school breaks." We both share the same excitement as he says that. "Really? That's so cool." I go to jump in the air, but something's, bothering me. I place a hoof on my chin. "Wait, you can visit on Fridays through Saturdays and during school breaks." Realization dawns on me. "But today's Friday." My realization is cut short by my sensei. "Exactly. I knew what he was doing when he said it." He shows no emotion when he spoke this. I know it wasn't a lie, he never lies. The two things in this world that he hates the most are evil and lies. "So, lets head down to those gates shall we?" Blur and I just nod our heads to that. It has been thirty minutes, the walk to the gates. Nothing really eventful happened on the way there. Sensei, being the badass that he is, took the rooftops on the way there. I wanted to as well, but I didn't want to leave Blur behind, not to mention I couldn't really jump to that high yet. I can go about sixteen feet, but that's it. So, now we're at the gates and I'm standing at the train station waiting for sensei. He told Blur and I to wait for him there and zoomed off somewhere else. It's not the first time he's done it, and it won't be the last either. "Ahhhh! Where the hell is he!?" I shout, scratching my head with both hooves. "He's been gone for an entire hour!" You can tell me that yelling won't make him come back any sooner, which is what Blur already told me, but I'll still yell afterwards. "What the hell is SO important that he has to be gone for a whole hour!" Blur tries to calm me down. Not the best of ideas. "Hey, he probably got lost on the way back." Sensei, got lost, those are two things that don't add up. He knows Canterlot like his scarf, and he made his scarf. "Besides, the train to Ponyville hasn't even showed up yet. Just simmer down." Maybe he's right, the train isn't here yet, so it doesn't matter if he were to show- "Yo." I hear sensei's voice behind me. I turn around to see him crouching on the top of the train station, at the edge. "Sorry I'm late, I found out that the 'Party of 5ive' series got a new release after two years, so I looked everywhere for it. I finally found it, and I signed up for an 'Early Release' card so I could get new releases before anypony else." He shows us the new book and the card. "Alright, fine. So, when is the train gonna get here?" I ask, a little irritated. We waited an hour for him to get the book and I haven't seen a train come by yet. He looks at us with an inquisitive look. "What train?" WHAT!? What does he mean 'What train'? GAH! I swear. "The train we were gonna take to Ponyville." Blur says calmly, how can he be so calm? Guess him and I aren't too much like each other. That's good. Sensei chuckles a little, his scarf hiding his smile, but his eyes show it. "You thought we were going to take a train to Ponyville?" He jumps down from his perch and lands in front of us. "You guys are so down to the ground with imagination." His eyes show the smile under his scarf. "We're gonna run there." "What? You can't be serious." I say, really hoping I don't have to run all the way to Ponyville. "It would take us DAYS to get there by hoof. What makes you think this is at all a good idea?" I don't know if I should be pissed at him for not telling me this sooner, I would've trained harder than I did, or be happy that I get to see how well my training has come so far. "It took me less than twenty-one hours to get there on hoof, with breaks. I'm positive it would only take us thirty-six hours to get there." He says. Holy crap, twenty-one hours on hoof. That's fast. I try to think of how powerful sensei really is, strong, fast, intelligent, wise. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for you to come with though." I look at sensei to see him talking to Blur. "Why not?" Blur pouts when he asks this. Sensei's eyes smile warmly at this. "This isn't your mission. I'm taking Scar to Ponyville for 'special' training, this is one of his tests." He tells Blur. I can hear them talk. "I'm going to watch over his journey to Ponyville, just to make sure he doesn't get killed on the way there." He then turns to me and continues, a dead serious look in his eyes "I know you, if you can get to Ponyville within two days, I'll allow you to be my pupil. I will train you harder than you could ever imagine." His eyes close. "If you can't, you know what happens." He jumps on to the station again. "I'll be watching, see ya." He jumps into the air and disappears. Holy shit, he's fast. "Hey, Scar." Blur calls to me. I turn around to see his determined look. "Prove to him that you are worthy of becoming the ultimate fighter." I nod. We bump hooves and rest our hooves on our chests. "You know it" I return his look with my own. I turn around and walk up to the guards at the entrance, they look at me and separate their spears. Did sensei tell them to do that? "You may pass." They both say in unison. Damn that's creepy. I nod to them and head out the entrance. Now my journey begins. > The Rainboom Off in the Dstanance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Holy... Shit... This... Is... Tough." I say, breathing heavily. I rest upon a branch catching my breath. I have started my test to get to Ponyville quite some time ago. This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I've taken to the branches of the trees to get there quicker, and it seems to be going well, other than the fact that this is taking forever. How far have I gotten anyways? I crouch down and jump off my branch to go above the tree tops. I see Canterlot quite a few miles away. Damn. I have to get there before sun rise on Sunday. My vision is soon obscured by the green of forest leaves as I land on a branch a ways away from the one I jumped off. I jump off my branch, it seems to have swung me away as well, as I continue onward towards my destination. The sun has passed the point of noon and I'm still jumping from branch to branch. I land on a new branch and look at the ground, can't even see it. I rest on this branch and close my eyes, thinking of what sensei would do right now. "Twenty-one hours huh?" I begin to think at how powerful he truly is. Strong, fast, intelligent, wise. I open my eyes to see a family of birds fly past me, maneuvering through the leaves and branches. "Hmm." I jump from my branch to the next, but in a straight line. I land on the next one, amazement in my eyes. "Wow, that's a lot faster than earlier." I do this for the next dozen or so trees. As I look down, I see a river flowing beneath me. I jump off the branch I am now on, for no reason what so ever, straight for the river. A splash is evoked that would make a boulder jealous. "WATER!!!" I shout as I, somehow, jump out of the river. A trail of water forming in an arch. I turn to face the river, any sign of disturbance gone by now, as I lick my dry lips. "One sip wouldn't hurt." I go to drink from the running water, but I control myself. I would have to boil it first to get rid of anything harmful within it. I jump back onto the branches and head for Ponyville. It's now night fall, the Mare in the Moon high up in the sky. And I just jump, and jump, and jump. I've been doing this nonstop for a while now. I stop at my new branch and place my head against the tree. "This is impossible!" I yell. "How am I supposed to make there in two days if I'm not even half way there yet!" I move my head away from the tree, and something catches my eye. It's a dent where my head just was. Strange, I don't remember smashing my head into it. Did I push into the tree when I placed my head there? Doesn't matter now, I have to make up for lost time. I begin to pick up the pace. The sun has just risen into the sky, and I haven't slept yet. So I am tired as fuck. I stumbled on a few jumps, almost making me fall to the bottom. I have taken enough time as it is just to make sure I don't die, this is taking way to long. I can see a nice spot on a branch for laying down and taking a break. The temptation almost gets hold of me, but I snap out of it. I have to get to Ponyville before tomorrow, or else. "Wait. TOMORROW!?!?" I look up towards the sky with a hoof over my face. "Damn, this isn't good." I know what this test is for, but couldn't he have given me something, different. Beat him in a fight, deceive him, or anything else besides this. I look towards the branches and keep jumping, if I don't pay attention to my destination and keep jumping, I should get there in no time. Right? It's well pass noon, and I've now made it half way there. There is no indication that I made it half way, but I just know it. I have not fallen yet, and I don't plan on it. I won't give up, my whole goal in life is riding on this. I must keep going. I stop on a branch, tears going down my face. "What's the point?" I say, a quake in my voice. "I'm not gonna pass this test, it's useless to keep on trying." I sit on the branch and let my legs dangle off. "I'm just going to sleep here." I rest my head upon the branch and drift off to dreamland. "What, where am I?" I ask, turning my head. It seems that my dream has taken me to a weird place. It's like Canterlot, but, destroyed. I walk through the rubble of the city as I come closer to a wrecked castle. It looks intact, but a little bit ruined. I open the large doors to see Celestia and... Somepony else on the ground. They have wings and a horn, most likely an Alicorn, the royal regalia, and a crescent moon surrounded by the night sky for a cutie mark. She seems familiar. I walk pass them to the throne room. The big, giant, royal doors to the throne room are closed and intimidating. I use as much force as I can to open them, and they slowly slide open with a large, low, long, unwanted creek. I look in horror as the room is in shambles. The windows are broken, allowing me to see the grey skies of ash and thunder. The rest of the doors are broken off their hinges. All of the pillars that lead up to the ceiling are smashed. Rubble everywhere as the long rug is strewn about in an un regal matter. It seems everything is ruined, except for the throne. No, the throne is a special case. I feel my heart sink as I look at the terror before me. It, seems to be a dark entity standing on the throne. But the reason I'm so terrified is because, it's me. As I stare at this look-a-like being, a fire erupts around us and the palace grows dim, leaving him in my sight. I see a broken headband upon his head, the nail is clearly visible. That's me alright. Me, shrouded in a dark cloak. Dragon wings coming out of my back. Claws on my forelegs instead of hooves. White, glowing, emotionless eyes. I'm taller too. I rub my eyes to try and see if what I'm looking at is correct. When I look again, my image was replaced by a giant Dragon, I feel as if it's a lord of some kind. The castle is replaced by one less, for lack of a better word, regal. I move a little closer to the being and see Celestia and... the other Alicorn, she looks so familiar, walk pass me. I can see they're talking, but, I can't understand what they're saying. Their lips are moving, but words aren't coming out. I see Celestia slam a hoof into the ground, which only causes the dragon lord to drink from its ruby chalice. I get a good look at the room before me, it's, really big. Bigger than the royal Canterlot library, and that place is fucking humongous. It's black and green. There's also... HOLY SHIT, IS THAT MONSTER!!! The dragon got up on it's hind legs and walked closer to the princesses, I'm convinced the second alicorn is a princess. As it walks closer to them, they pull out six stone orbs, each with a different looking gem on them. It stretches its arms out and stands still, the princesses are taken aback by this action. Nonetheless, they poor their magic into the orbs and fire, a rainbow colored beam, at the lord. It just smiles as it hits, turning it into ash as it flies off through one of the windows. "Nyeh." I look forward in a cold sweat. I blink my eyes a few times to try and remember what just happened. Was that a dream? What was the dream? "Damn it. I can't remember." I get up to my legs, and almost tumble over. I'm still tired. I look up to the sky, and it seems it has only been an hour. I look down into the darkness of the forest and think. I forget what about, I just, think. I hear a large boom to the right of me, when I look over, I see a large circular rainbow, and it's spreading out. Is this another dream? It doesn't take long for it to take up most of the sky above me, it kinda just lingers. A wave of rainbow had been formed in the sky and, something happens to me. I feel, powerful, it's like something inside me has awakened from a deep sleep. I feel like I have never disobeyed sleep, I'm no longer tired. What the hell is this surge of power? I feel like I can move mountains. "I feel strong." I look at my fore hooves, and then my surroundings. "I feel great!" I get into a crouch. "I CAN WIN!" I shout as I rocket into the air, farther than I have ever done before, and higher for that matter. "I! CAN! DO! IT!" I shout at the top of my lungs. I fly threw the air at quite a speed that you'd think I was a Pegasus. I quickly fall straight onto a branch, bending it a little bit, and rocket my self off again, gaining more speed and height as the branch swung me further. "SENSEI, I'M COMING FOR YOU! AND I'LL SHOW YOU THAT I'M THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER!" I yell. It's not long before I reach the Ponyville border, what ever that boost was, it was awesome. Thanks to that power boost, I made it here before the sun even set. I felt unstoppable, but now, I just want to go to sleep. Where's that cottage sensei told me about? I look around for a house, a shack, anything that somepony could live in, nothing. "Wait, the map." I take off my bag and pull out the map of Ponyville. I look everywhere on the map for it. I find a cottage in the upper right corner of the map. "Is that it." I look away from the map to see the cottage off in the distance. I walk towards it and stop. Is somepony already there? "Yo." I get scared the shit out of when I hear sensei behind me. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya." He scratches the back of his head with a hoof, eyes showing his smile. "That was a neat little trick you pulled back there." I don't know what he meant by that, seems he can tell by looking at me. He waves his hoof. "Forget about it. Looks like you made it to Ponyville, and in less than forty hours." I can't think right now, I'm way too tired. "You look like you could use some sleep." He starts to head off in the opposite direction of the cottage I found on the map, away from Ponyville. "I'll lead you to my place." I follow him into the woods. We walk for quite a distance until his place of living is in view. I run up to it, almost falling over as I do so, to open the door. I collapse on the ground and drift off to sleep. > To the Moon Though > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I awake to a very, very, strange sight. "Is this..." I look to the left, right, above, behind. "The moon?" I can see giant ass holes in the ground, that don't go very deep. I look off into the horizon, I think, and see Equestria. The entirety of Equestria is right there. On the globe of green and blue. I walk off towards, any direction really, never been to the moon before, so I have no clue where I'm heading. "How long has it been?" I look towards my home nation for an answer. "You do not work well as a clock." I continue walking. Ya know, this is good. I'm finally alone with my thoughts, for once. Nopony trying to attack me, no work to be done, I can just sit here and think. I do just that. A chill goes up my spine however. "Nya, freezing." I get right up immediately. How long will I be here for? Who cares? I can have all the fun I want. I throw my forelegs upwards. "I'M ON THE MOON!" I can't take this. I can't just sit around and do nothing. I have to do something. I look off into the distance and an idea pops into my head. I crouch down, and jump forwards. "Weeeeeee!" I go flying off in some direction, all I know is that it's far from where I was sitting. This is pretty cool, I feel like a bird that's been set free. "Bored now." That didn't last long. Actually it lasted quite sometime, I think. I don't know 'moon time'. What the hell is 'moon time'? I just continue on with my jumping. I wonder where I am now? This place looks exactly the same as before! Guess it can't be helped, I don't think anypony has been here before anyways. I almost fall into a hole as I land near it, it does trip me up, however. "Oh shit!" I fall into it and it seems deeper than the ones I looked into. I fall onto very hard ground and bounce off, just to fall onto it again. "Ow." I rub my left foreleg, trying to locate a bruise. I get right back up and, very anticlimactically, fall onto my knees. I didn't check to see if my rear legs were fine. "This sucks." I look up through the hole at the top of my prison. "What am I gonna do now?" I look at my legs to see if they can withstand one jump. Maybe, just maybe. I stand back up, hesitantly, and crouch. "AHH!" I wince in pain as I slowly fall backwards. Nope, guess not. I get into a kneeling position, and go towards one of the walls. Maybe I can climb out. I grasp one of the many rocks that jut out. I continue with this until I'm half way up. "Fuck, how far did I fa- Shit!" One of the rocks slipped out of place and fell out of my grasp. When I swing to the right, the rock right here also fell out, taking me with it. "Nonononononononono!" I fall all the way down once more. This is the third time, I can't believe I suck at climbing this much. I finally hit the ground, and I give up. There is no way out of here. Not until my legs heal up. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, this sucks. I don't know if anypony else is here, probably not, and if there were, the moon is huge. There is no way they would find me before I starve to death. I crawl to a little corner, that I fell into once, and sit there. I curl up into a ball to try and warm up, must be night. Wait, I'm on the fucking moon, how could it be night? I hear sobs off to the right of me, in the darkness. I sit up to get a better look, nothing. It's way too dark to see. "Hey, is somepony there?" I crawl closer to see if my ears aren't deceiving me. I crawl into the darkness, surprisingly, I can see a lot better here. I, finally, see what's been crying. It's, young, that's for sure. All I see is a curled up, thing, crying in the corner. "Yo, you ok?" I whisper to it. I see a head look up at me with cyan eyes that seem to glow in the darkness. "I-I won't cwy anym-mowe, I p-pwomise, p-pwease don't huwt me." It seems, very scared of me. It sounds like a young filly. Looks like one too. She has a horn on her head, she's a unicorn. I see a dark blue mane that drapes down the side of her face, she has a very dark coat. I can't tell if it's a dark navy or black, it's too dark to see. She seems to have been crying for a while now. "I'm not gonna hurt you." I say honestly, she looks up at me again. This time, more fearful than ever. "Y-you'we just saying dat. Wuwing m-me into a t-t-twap." She skitters back away from me. I see more of her now. She isn't very tall, definitely young. I shake my head in protest, I'm not going to hurt her, honest. "D-do you p-pwomise?" I nod my head to this. "Come here, into the light." I say, she shakes her head frantically. "Why won't you come out?" I chuckle a little at how childish this is. "I already promised I wouldn't hurt you." I put on a warm smile as I crawl back into the light. Her eyes widen to, kinda scary sizes. "You'we an Ewth-Pony?" She stares at me with those huge eyes. I slowly nod, smile still on my face. Her eyes close, and I no longer see her form. Going back into the light only made the dark, well, darker. I then see the same little filly jump towards me. I notice that she has little wings. When she hits, I feel the air get knocked out of me. "A-another pony, I nevew tought I'd see somepony else!" She says this, a bit of a quake in her voice I might add. I feel tears stream down my chest as I feel her hug me tight. I hug back, trying to avoid hurting her wings. My smile becomes a genuine one as my ears register what she had said. "Don't worry, nopony will hurt you ever again." I say to calm her down. I feel her hug me tighter than before. "It's ok, I'm here now. No need to c-cry." I feel a tear go down my face. How long has she been here for? Is there anypony else here? How did she end up here? Why is she alone? Who would do this to a little filly? I start to massage her mane as we hug. Wait, I'm here, she's here, there must be others! I look up through the hole and think of a way to get out of here. Wait, did she fall down here like me? Are any of her legs hurt, her wings? I don't notice her hold of me lessen, nor her examination of me, as I examine her wings to see if anything looks out of place. Nope, that's a relief. "Umm... d-do you know how to get o-out of heew?" I look her in the eyes and notice she has stopped crying, her eyes turn to concern as she wipes away my tears with her wing. "Why aw you cwying?" I didn't even notice I was crying. I chuckle lightly, surprised at her change of emotion from loneliness to concern. "I don't know." I answer honestly. "To be honest, I thought I was the only one here also." I look back up to the entrance of this prison. I try to think of a way to get both of us out of here, nothing comes to mind. "If my legs weren't in so much pain, I could carry her as I jump out of here." I say under my breath, she must've heard me, her eyes widen with concern again. "Oh, we'we sowwy, I didn't mean to huwt you." She is so, I don't know, caring, that's the word. Reminds me of, well, me. She can't be any older than when I started caring for others. "I won't huwt you anymowe." She jumps off my lap, and kicks me in the gut in the process. I can't blame her, she's just a filly. Besides, it didn't even hurt, that much. "Wet us heew dose wegs." This is just too much, I can't think of any reason why she wants to help me so badly. Lost in thought, I feel a slight tingling sensation in my legs. I look at my legs when the tingling stops, and I don't feel any pain anymore. Curious, I jump right to my legs and straight for a wall. To my surprise, I jumped back off the wall and slowly fell back to the ground. "Holy crap, no pain what so ever." I look on in astonishment as I softly land. "How did you?" "I am an Awi-cone aftew aw." She smiles at me and puffs her chest out, making me smile. Huh, she is an Alicorn. How did I not notice this until now? "Hey, Ewth-pony, can you hewp us out of-EEP!" I interrupt her by grabbing her and jumping from wall to wall. I see the landscape as I quickly jump out of that hole of a prison. I land softly and slowly on the soft ground. I look at my passenger to see her covering her eyes with her hooves. I place her down on the ground and tap her forelegs as a sign to look. She slowly lowers her hooves and looks at the surface. She looks directly at me, dead in the eye with a look that's, supposed to be intimidating. It's not, it's friggin' adorable when she does it. She stomps her hoof into the ground. "I-we, did not give you pewmission to cawwy us, Ewth-pony." Aw, she's trying to look tough. "But, we thank thee for the hewp." She turns around and sits. I see her cutie mark is a crescent moon, surrounded by a night sky. "I have a name, ya know." I say, a smile on my face as I tease her. A thought crosses my mind, which worries me a little. "I believe you have one as well?" I hope she does. Has she been here so long that she forgot it, or did she have one in the first place? "Ow name is Pwincess Woona. Might we know thine name?" She looks at me with a pout on her face, she's a little annoyed. It brings a smile to my face. Wait, Princess Woona? I look at her cutie mark again. Oh, she must've said Luna. Princess Luna, that sounds, very familiar. "Hewwooo?" I look back at her. I scratch the back of my head, a sheepish smile across my lips, eyes closed. "Sorry," I open my eyes again. "My name is Scar Cross." I say blandly, smile still on my face. "It's nice to meet you Luna." I put my hoof out towards her. She looks at me as if I had done something wrong, like, mispronounce the name of one of her favorite foods on purpose. She puts her hoof into mine. "Since you have stwayed fwom the fowmew, we'ew do the same, Scaw." She closes her eyes, as if to act mature. I'm not buying what she's selling. A thought crosses my mind from earlier. "Hey." I say calmly, as to not make the young princess angry, anything but that. She looks at me waiting for me to finish what I started. "How... How long have been here, exactly?" I Wait for an answer from her, but she seems hesitant. She looks away from my gaze and towards the ground. She takes her hoof away from mine and starts to trace with it. "I... We, have wost count... Quite some time ago." She looks saddened as she says this. I feel a lot of sadness creep into my mind. How can one pony stay sane, not to mention a filly, after being here for so long. I start to feel a crying fit come closer. This, this is unacceptable. I can't let her be alone anymore. I hug her, tightly, thinking that if I hug her, this sadness will disappear. That we will end up at my shack, away from all this darkness. Where I can take care of her and never let anypony hurt her ever again. Tears stream down my face, dripping to the ground. I can't... I won't let her be alone, never again. "Why?" A quake in my voice as I say this. "I will never let you feel alone, never again." I say. With as much strength as I can gather, I hold onto her, never wanting to let go. I feel her wing gently rub my cheek, wiping away my river of tears. I move back a little to look her in the eye. Tears are beginning to well up in her eyes. "P-pwease, d-don't cwy-y, or ewse, I wew c-cwy." A cute little quake in her voice breaks her, mostly, formal speech. She pulls me into another hug. We sit like that for who knows how long. I'm crying, she's crying, we're both crying. We begin to finish, and I get an idea. "Hey." I move back to allow her to look at me. A warm smile crosses my lips. "You wanna play some hide and seek?" I ask her, her eyes brighten when I ask her this. She jumps up and gets all excited. "I-we would wove to." She looks so happy. Almost makes me forget that crying fit we had. "So, who count's fewst." I point to me. She goes and runs off while I count to ten. "Nine... Ten, ready or not, here I come!" I get up off my haunches and start looking for her. It's not long before I hear giggling behind a giant rock. "You're it." I say warmly as I tag her. We play for what feels like hours. I had long forgotten about our crying fit by now, just paying attention to the game. She is much better at hiding than I am. What do you expect, I'm red, trying to hide in a black and white landscape. She has great camouflage, being mostly dark colors. This has been really fun though. No points, no frustration, just, fun. "She won't find me here." I smile, it's a little cruel that I found such a great hiding place. I don't want her to wander off. Nevermind, I'll hide somewhere else. I find a huge rock near the hiding place. What a coincidence. I hide there for a few minutes, and I hear her running this way. I crouch down into the shadows, waiting for her to pop up and tag me. "AAHHHH!!!" I hear a loud shriek. Did she hurt herself? I jump out to see her run into me. I fall to the ground as she tackles me. I hold her close, looking for any injury. "Luna, are you ok?" I ask with all seriousness. "Hide me, pwease!" I look to where she came running from, and see a giant, monster. It's, dark. A giant, black, behemoth has appeared from no where. It looks like a giant, morbid Celestia. A slick, black skin where a coat should be. Long teeth that would make the sharpest of knives jealous. A horn that branches of at the tip, the longest going into a hook like shape. Claws where the fore hooves should be. Four rear legs. Six demon-like wings. Navy fire at the hooves. It's fucking huge, like ten times taller than any minotaur I've seen. A mane that floats in the air. Hollow, empty eyes. Its spine appears out of the back, resting upon it with skin still attached. Several ribs come off the spine and surround the chest. A tail like that of a serpent. It's... a living nightmare. Is this why Luna was so scared to come to me? Is That the thing that did this to her? Anger replaces fear as I stand up, Luna in my forelegs. A roar escapes the mouth of the demon in front of me. I place Luna gently on the ground. She seems to terrified to let go. "Luna?" I ask, a pure inferno behind my eyes. "How long has this... Thing... Been scaring you?" I ask. She gives me no answer, she still hides behind me. I hear a demonic chuckle and look towards the nightmare before me. "What is this, have you made a new friend Lulu?" A very feminine voice pierces the lips of the creature. It still sounds demonic. "I thought I was your friend?" It lets out a chuckle that makes Luna shake behind me. "How dare you?" I let out a whisper. The beast seems to have heard me. "What was that? I couldn't hear-" "HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF HER FRIEND!!!" I shout at the top of my lungs. The beast is amused by this little act of mine. It was no act. "How can a monster like you call this friendship!" I then look at Luna, still behind me. "Heheheh... Hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!!! This is classic! A small foal, standing up to the 'monster', just to save their new acquaintance. Look, just run along and your death won't be caused by me." Does it think this is a joke. "BACK OFF!!!" I let out the sound of a demon as I shout. "I WON'T LET A MONSTER LIKE YOU TOUCH HER!!!" I stand in front of Luna, trying my best to keep her from seeing the monster. A black tendril appears behind me and pulls Luna away from me. I feel her grasp disappear and go to reach for her. Unfortunately, I am pulled back as well and thrown towards a giant boulder, smashing right through it. I look on in horror as the nightmare walks towards Luna, still in the tendril. "No." I whisper. No, no, no, no. This isn't happening, I can't let it happen. Memories of a dream from long ago come back to my mind. The wings of a dragon. Claws where there should be hooves. White, glowing, emotionless eyes. A black, fire-like aura. The cracked head band. "Now, lets play a game, shall we?" The beast looks at Luna, hungrily. "Let's have the stars be our savior, and aid us in our escape from this rock infested prison." "SCAW!!!" Luna screams out. No, I can't let this happen. I get up from the rubble and look at the nightmare. I crouch down, forelegs dangling at my sides. I reach a hoof behind me. "I said." My voice is quiet, but still catches the attention of the beast. It looks towards me with a soul crushing stare. "BACK OFF!!!" The demonic voice returning to my lips. I charge at the creature at blinding speeds. Too quick for it to keep up. Now a mere foot away from the creature's face, I shoot my hoof at my target. A bone crushing sound is heard when it connects with it's face. With the power of an army, I shove my hoof further, resulting in the creature being sent afar. I slowly fall as I see the creature tumble into a hole. The tendril has disintegrated into shadows and vanished, letting Luna fall free. I land on the ground and jump towards Luna. "THAT'S IT!!!" The creature came out of the hole it fell in. A glow began to form around the tip of the horn. A giant wave of navy-blue fire came rushing towards Luna at unbelievable speeds. I catch Luna and begin our descent, the fire still coming towards us. I shield Luna from the blast, still rushing at us. I look at Luna with a tear going down my face, Luna smiles dreamily. "Thank you, Scaw." Is all she says, before the wave finally hits. "LUUUNAAAA!!!" I shout at the top of my lungs as I sit straight up. A cold sweat had formed on my head. I look at the window, just to see that morning has come. I'm in my sheets, breathing heavily. I head for the window to see if I'm not dreaming. I see the tree I planted, the timber wolf that I've befriended, and a cross sticking into the ground at a slight angle, a red scarf wrapped around the top. Nope, not a dream. I sit back on my bed and place my head in my hooves. What was that? Was that a dream? I can't remember it. Damn. I look at my calendar, today is my fifteenth birthday. I head downstairs to make myself some breakfast when I hear something hit my door. I look at it to see an envelope slide in through the mail slot. I open the door to see the bubbly, cross-eyed mail mare having trouble with it. I rub my eyes. "Hey there, Miss Hooves. How's the mail business goin'?" I grab the mail from her, before she hurt herself like yesterday. And the day before. She nodded to me. "Not bad, could be better. How's training coming along?" I look at the mail, and then back at her. "Great, actually. I finally got to Canterlot and back in less than twenty hours." She flies off with a wave goodbye, I return her wave. I open the letter to find that it's from Blur. I read it aloud. Dear Scar, It's been a while since I've come to visit. I've been training for the royal guard, I graduated early. Just wanted to know how your training's been. Also, the Summer Sun Celebration is being held in Ponyville this year. Celestia is planning on sending somepony named Twilight Sparkle to watch over the preparations. It should be the day you get this letter. Tell me how Bolt sensei is doing. What's new in Ponyville? See ya later, Blur. I put the letter down and look at the cross in the front yard, the scarf swaying in the wind. "Sensei." I walk to my table and turn on the radio. One of my favorite songs is on, 'We're Not Gonna Take It', by Twisted Mares. That should brighten up my day. "Hmm. Twilight Sparkle, where have I heard that name before?" > Nightmare Moon part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Where have I heard that name before? Fuck, this is gonna drive me nuts! I have been thinking about that name for quite some time, and I haven't gotten anywhere. Maybe it was that mare who couldn't... no, that was Carrot Top. Maybe... nope, that was Ginger. You ask me, this is just unhealthy. "Screw it!" I throw my forelegs out to the side as I shout towards the ceiling. I breathe deeply, trying to regain my calmness. "I'll just have to remember some other time." I get out of the chair I had been sitting in for the last hour, told you it was unhealthy. I walk over to my window and stare at the clouds. Watching the clouds move across the sky always calms my nerves. Looks like there won't be any rain today either. Man, why can't there ever be rain when I'm pissed. It is a little cliché, when something bad happens and then rain starts to pour down on everything in sight. I happen to love the rain, the smell, the taste, the free water, everything. It brightens my day, ironically speaking. I wonder how the farm is doing. Maybe I can do some work, been a while since I had done any help. Really, it has only been two months, but to me, that's a while. The farm I'm talking about is, well, the only farm near Ponyville, the Apple Family's farm. My good friend Basket sent a good word for me two weeks after I came. I'm glad he did. Now I get paid for helping out with the apple bucking, mostly I just punch the trees instead of bucking, it's just as effective. Not to mention that the money helps me pay for necessities like food, water, heat, and other shit like that. I've been focusing on my training more recently, since I just about broke my right leg punching one of the trees. All that happened was that I popped it out of socket. Not the best time of my life, considering that I fucked it up more by fixing it myself. I couldn't move it for a whole week. I look at the letter sitting on my table. I had placed it right next to the radio when my name-remembering challenge started. I pick up the letter and quickly re-read it. The Summer Sun Celebration is being held here huh? Maybe I'll help out with that later. I walk over to my desk, which I had placed right in front of a window. The desk is... not very tidy, there are papers and scratches all over the desk. Most of the papers have doodles and pictures on them. I put the desk there because the window can't open, I also gain inspiration from looking outside when I doodle. The scratch marks were there when I bought it, I chose it because it looked really sturdy, it still is. I also think the scratches give it character. I place the letter on my desk, when something catches my eye. I move a few papers out of the way and see an old picture of me. Blur, Rose, Crimson, and sensei are also in it. We are all standing outside Canterlot Castle's gates. This was when sensei took me to Canterlot for my eleventh birth-day. Sensei was able to get us a free tour of the castle, I even got to meet the head of the Royal Guard. The strange part is, even though the guard must always have a 'dead face', he seemed glad to talk to us. Smiling, laughing, making jokes about the Guard, he has a pretty cool sense of humor too. He even knew my brother, awesome. Blur couldn't hold in his joy, that much was apparent when he got to hoof-bump Shining Armour. Atleast I think that was his name. Anyways, Blur fainted for a few minutes afterwards. I had face-hooved when that happened. Rose said that if I had met my idol and got to hoof-bump 'em, I would've fainted as well. That is not the case since my idol was sensei, and we have bumped more than just hooves. I remember when he head-butt me in the face after I trapped him in a full-nelson. Ow. I rub my forehead, remembering the pain from that head-butt. I couldn't concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds, without getting a headache, for a few days. I walk back upstairs into my room, which is a mess. What do you expect? I get really tired after a hard day of training and pushing my limits. I don't have the time to clean my room. I grab my bag and look around the room to get a few things. Lets see, I'll need a few bits for when I get into Ponyville. I grab my wallet, a picture of the Four-Star Crystal Ball on the front. I'll need some pain killers, in case my legs decide to say 'Fuck this shit!'. I put two labeled bottles in the bag. I will also need my shades, the sun is bound to be bright today. I grab a pair of sun-glasses that are sitting on a small rack, a few books sitting up there with them. Is that it? I look through my bag to see what I got, not like I just put them in there or anything. Wallet, pain killers, shades. Yeah. I zip up my bag and throw it the straps around my shoulders. "Alright. Time to go." I walk out of my room and head down the stairs. I open the door and hear music coming from behind me. What the hell? I turn around and realize I left the radio on. "Oh, whoops." I sheepishly smile as I chuckle. "Probably should turn that off." I walk over to the radio and turn the only nob all the way to the left. I like my radio, the power nob is also the volume control. When you turn the volume all the way down, you have to turn it some more until you hear a click. The click tells whether it's on or off. Enough about radios and nobs. I look at my door, and I feel a very, alien breeze on my forehead. The hell? I rub there to see what's so weird. Realization strikes as my eyes widen a little. "I forgot my head band!" I quickly walk back up the stairs and into my room, this getting very repetitive. I look on my bed, under the blankets and pillows, on the floor, the dresser, the shelves, I even check behind a few books. Where did I put it? I scratch the back of my head wondering where it could be. My hoof has a nice meeting with my face when I remember where I always put it. "The top drawer." I open the top drawer of my dresser and take out my head band. I proceed to tie it on where it belongs. I get a good look at my room when I turn a round. I sigh deeply as I face-hoof once more. I'll worry about when I get home. I walk back down the stairs and out my front door, that I accidentally left open. The sight of a big tree, a quaint-little field of flowers, a stretching Timber wolf, and a cross with a red scarf wrapped around it enter my vision. The whole area is in a nice clearing, surrounded by trees. I grab a bone from off the railing of my porch and wave it in the air. "Come here girl, c'mon." I call out to the Timber wolf. She looks at me and starts wagging her tail. "C'mon girl, get the bone." She gets into a pouncing position and then takes off towards me. She jumps in the air and pushes me to the ground as she lands. My eyes are closed as I laugh a little bit. I open them to see her softly chewing on my right, fore leg. "Hey, that's not the bone you ding-a-ling." She looks me in the eyes with those cute, little ones of hers. She doesn't bite hard enough to draw blood, nor does she leave any long lasting marks. It doesn't hurt either. Just hard enough to make me feel it. It's like when a Timber wolf would put there mouth around another's neck as a sign of trust. But she does it to be playful. "Want the bone? Want it, want it?" I wave the bone a few inches from my arm and toss it. "Go get it!" She lets go of my arm and runs to catch the bone. She is really fast, I mean, she is a Timber wolf, but she is faster than most. She catches the bone in mid-air and runs back to me. You might be wondering 'Why is your pet a Timber wolf? Why do you have a bone for her? How do you know she's friendly?'. The truth is, I found her around four years ago. She is seven years old now, she was three when I brought her to sensei. I found her under a tree during one of our training sessions. -------------------------------------- "Sensei, I know you're here somewhere!" I yelled. It was raining that day, clouds covered the sky in a dark blanket of grey, and I had to find sensei before he found me. It was a little modified version of hide and seek, except both ponies had to hide from each other and try to find the other. When you're found, the pony that found you would have to take you down - pin you to the ground - and you had to either run away and find another hiding spot, or fight and make the other one run away. Where the hell is he? I looked around for any indication of him, what so ever. Nothing. The rain had made it harder to see and maneuver around. If he had found me then, I would've lost for sure. I was, basically, a sitting duck. I was standing in a clearing, thinking that he would have to come out in the open to take me down. I heard movement to the left of me and examined a tree in the distance. The rain was being a dick, so I had to walk closer to the tree. I inched closer and closer very slowly until I saw a dark figure. It wasn't what I expected though. I found a Timber wolf under the tree, and it seemed lost. "Hey, are you okay?" I called out in a calm tone. It hadn't looked at me yet so I didn't think it saw. I went over to it to see if it needed any help, but I was taken by surprise when I saw it stare at me. "Grrrrrr." It had growled at me. It was a very low growl at that, sounded like it wanted to bite my head off. I moved a step back and tried to stay calm. I wanted to get closer, but I didn't know what to do. I just stood there waiting for sensei to find me, but I couldn't see any sign of him. The rain kept on pouring and pouring. I finally got the nerve to get closer and see if it was hurt. I ran up to it and stopped in my tracks, just a few feet from it, when it got into a pouncing position. "Rraaaf!" It let out a blood curdling bark. Its teeth were bared as it glared at me, making me think of many situations if I were to move any closer, most of them ending up with me being dinner. I inhaled a breath of courage as I slowly made my way to it. I was in my fighting stance, just in case. As I got closer, I saw that it was backing up little by little. The pace at which I was going at was faster than the Timber wolf backing up. I was close to the tree, but not close enough to where I was out of the rain. It pounced at me like a Lion would a Gazelle. This caught me by surprise, which resulted in me sprawling out on the ground with the creature on top. The fall hurt the back of my head and the claws digging into my shoulders didn't exactly help either. I had no idea what to do at that point. My forelegs were pinned to the ground, the rain was obscuring my sight, and a Timber wolf was on top of me. I felt like I was going to be eaten, I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. I felt its mouth move around my neck, making me tense up. The pressure I felt was slowly increasing, fear entering my mind, forcing me to close my eyes even harder than before. Nothing, the pressure stayed at where it was. What happened? Is it waiting for me to open my eyes? Does it want me to see the blood run from my neck as it tears the flesh? I slowly opened my eyes, trying not to make sudden moves. Now fully open, I saw the creature. It was looking back at me, in the eyes. I saw something that I thought was impossible for Timberwolves, pupils. They were a darker green than the rest of the eye, but I knew they were pupils. I could see trust, and pain, I saw sadness too. It slowly brought its maw away from my neck and sat next to me. I slowly sat up, and looked at it. Yup, pupils. I felt around my neck with a hoof, feeling for any wounds. Glad to feel no punctures in my skin, I sighed. I look at the Timber wolf again, but this time, examining it. I saw no injuries from what I could tell. It had a poor build for its species, skinny legs, scrawny head, doesn't look like it had eaten in days. It placed its head on my shoulder. We stared at each other for a few seconds. I placed my hoof on its head and started to pet it. A little smile grew on its face as its eyes closed. This caused me to smile. "Good boy?" I heard it growl at me after I said this. It looked at me in the eye, as if I were about to steal its chew toy. I looked down between its front legs. Oh. "Good girl." Its eyes closed, head still on my shoulder. It took some time before sensei finally found me. He didn't seem surprised, or scared, when he saw the Timber wolf. I think, I couldn't read his face most of the time anyways. His emotionless face puts the Royal Guards to shame. I explained to him what had happened when I found her, and to my surprise, he wanted to know what I named her. I did not know what to say, considering I had found her not too long ago. I was too focused on when he would find me and how I would explain what happened that I didn't even think about giving her a name. I didn't even know you could have a Timber wolf as a pet at the time. I named her Sunflower and we took her to sensei's place, which I was living at while I trained under him. Sensei told me that she was around three years old and must've been left out of her pack. After that, I promised that I would take care of her and make sure nothing bad happens to her ever again. He chuckled and pat me on the head, saying that he knew I would. -------------------------------------- And that's where we are today. It doesn't bother me that she eats meat, most canines do. I still don't know why she didn't eat me then. She had me in her grasp, at the neck. One little bite and pop goes my head. I'm glad she didn't though, not because I wanted to live, but because I got to take care of something. Nurture her, bathe her, feed her, I practically raised her. She's like a little sister to me. She drops the bone in front of me and barks, getting my attention. I look towards her and pat her on the head. A warm smile spreads across my lips. "Look, I'm gonna go into town and get some food. I might help the Apple family as well, think you can keep the place safe?" A happy little howl is my response. "I knew could trust you!" I hug her for a second and stand back up. I inhale deeply, breathing in the fresh air as I do so. I let it all out as I walk down the stairs to my porch. I walk by the cross and I sit in front of it, my rear legs crossed. I say a little prayer and stand right up. I get to the border of the yard and turn my head to see Sunflower pacing around the front of the porch in a comedic fashion. "See ya later girl, I won't be long!" Waiting for no response, I crouch down and jump to the branches. The way to Ponyville was a short one. Sensei told me that when I enter Ponyville, I should not give off my position. He said that the residence weren't crazy or hostile, but it would improve my skills. And he was right. I usually enter Ponyville from the rooftops, but sometimes I like to get creative. I made a few tunnels, with Mayor Mare's permission of course. I also made a few hiding spots, just in case anypony were to look my way. It was fun hiding from the populace, but when I had to come out for something, I couldn't go back in. That was the rule sensei made. I took to the roofs when I entered, making sure nopony saw me. When I get to a pale yellow roof, I sit down and look over the ledge to see what's new in the market place. Not much, the usual stuff. "Same old fruit, same old tools, same old drinks, same old vegies, same old-" A nice looking comic catches my eye. No way, it couldn't be! My eyes widen as I look at the masterpiece down at the corner of the market. "New issue of Dragoon!" I jump down from my post, shouting this as I land. That caught the attention of a few ponies, but that doesn't matter. I run closer to the stand to get a good look at my favorite comic series ever! "By Celestia's mane, it's beautiful." I look at the grace that is Dragoon. The cover shows a stallion, who looks like he just fought through an entire army of demons, with a dirty-blonde mane and tail and a pale-black coat standing on all fours atop a massive stalagmite as he looks on into the moon, the look of a warrior on his face. He has a head band with the symbol of his village, a spiral leaf. The moon is a dark shade of red with the 'Mare in the Moon' replaced with three rings and nine magatamas, three magatamas on each ring. A red dragon with six pitch-black wings and devilishly-green eyes standing on top of the moon, an evil grin across his lips. The dragon has very dark iron-armor on, a red cloud with a demonic eye peering through it being the symbol. He is pointing a claw at the hero. Dragoon is the stallion, meanwhile the dragon is the one who started the 'Dread Scythe Organization'. His name is Wrath, however, this isn't his real name. They have yet to reveal it. The whole comic is in a nice little plastic sleeve, achieving a glare of light. The title of the comic reads, The Day the Moon Shall Fall!!! Rise, Great Lord Ryu-Jin!!! "Ah, I see you like this comic." An elderly voice is heard from behind the counter. I look up to see a stallion, who looks like they've been around the block a couple hundred times, not to be rude. He has a dark-orange mane and tail with a white stripe going down the middle. His coat is a nice shade of yellow. He's a Pegasus. A cutie mark that has a bag full of money on top of a basket with stuff inside. "Yeah, this is only the best comic in the world!" I look back towards the comic with a big smile on my face. "I don't know about that," This grabs my attention, somepony saying otherwise about Dragoon, that's insane. "The Power Ponies series seems to be getting ten times the sales as Dragoon." He says this with frown on his face. "That's only because they appeal to younger audiences." I say, a smug look in my eyes. "The Power Ponies has action and creepy villains, sure. But where's the plot?" I wave a hoof off to the side, a victorious smile on my face. "Dragoon has a story to tell, action, love, comedy. Not to mention the goal to protect those he cares about and to get his friend back. The Power Ponies has like, what, one fight per comic. And they're not even emotional, the whole time you're gonna be rooting for the good guys. Dragoon, on the other hand, has fights that last several comics. Not to mention the villains have backstories that make you feel sorry for them. Some of them even make the enemy sound like the good guy. Dragoon is put in life or death situations, where as The Power Ponies are put into slightly dangerous situations. The villains suck too, they are way two-dimensional. Dragoon has complicated villains, tragic stories of loss and power, villains that relate to the reader, ya know?" The stallion looks at me with astonishment. "You know quite a lot about this comic, and what makes a good story, do you plan on becoming a writer?" He asks. I look at him with determination in my eye. "No, I'm going to become the ultimate fighter!" I pump my hoof out towards him. I retract my hoof and smile. "Thanks for saying I know what makes a good story, though. That means a lot." I pull out my wallet to pay for the comic. "No, that won't be necessary. Here." He places the comic in front of me on the counter. A look of confusion spreads across my face. "Free of charge." What? "I'm-I'm sorry, what?" I blink a few times, making sure this is real. "Did you just... say that... I could have this comic... free of charge?" This can't be real, how could it? This guy is giving away the newest issue... for free? He laughs at my display. "I'm an old stallion, not charity case. Besides, your my first customer of the day." Holy shit, this is actually happening. I pick up the comic in my fore hooves and look at the one who gave this to me. A tear glides down my face. "Thank you. Thank you so much." "Don't mention it. Hope you enjoy that comic." "I will, thank you." I nod and he waves me off. This is the best day in the world. I look up towards the sky, a hoof covering my face. Seems to be about ten-thirty, I should get to the farm. I jump to the rooftops again, heading towards the farm, comic still in hoof. It took a few minutes to get there, but I made it. The farm, the trees off in the distance, the big red barn, the place I'll be lending a helping hoof. I walk pass the fence gate to go see good ol' Granny. Wonder what kind of job I can help with. I walk up to the porch to see... Shit. How is this gonna workout? "Well, howdy there Scar! Watcha doin' here?" A feminine voice calls out to me, strong accent. I freeze. Remember how I said I'm not the best talker, especially when it comes to mares? Yeah. Still have to work on that. "Uh... J-just... Seeing i-if... You guys n-n-needed any help." Smooth, really... really smooth. If it were Granny, I wouldn't be like this because she is much older than me. But Applejack, she's like, seventeen. I can't help it. "That's it?" She looks at me as if I didn't finish my sentence. "That's mighty kinda ya, but we ain't gonna need yer help today. What with the Apple Family Reunion and all." Thank Celestia for that. All I need to do gain feeling back in my legs and I'm out of here. "Apple Family Reunion?" What the hell, mouth? Out of all the times I had to ask a question, it had to be now!? "Yeah, the entire Apple Family is comin' 'ere ta help out with the buckin' and the coockin'." A smile comes across her lips as she continues. "Yer welcome ta stay if ya like, but we don't got any jobs fer ya." Here's my chance. "Uh, no, no th-that's okay. I'll just be on m-my way." I turn around and head for the fence in a calm and leisurely manner, as to not attract anymore attention. Apple Family Reunion. I wonder if... I turn back to see Applejack still there, a confused look on her face. "Hey, when Apple Basket gets here. Could you tell him I said hi?" She gives a nod and goes inside. Alright. I look to my left, right, behind. I run as fast as I can towards Ponyville. I'm sitting atop the pale building from earlier. Half way through the new issue of Dragoon already. It's been a few minutes since the... incident... at the farm. I'm too much into the story that I already forgot about it. I can't think of anything that would make this moment better. I got my comic, some food that I bought, a bottle of water. This is awesome. I look down over the ledge and see that the market place has been filled. Huh, when did that happen? I see a pink streak run through the entire crowd, knocking a few civilians to the sides. "What the hell was that!?" I have a bad feeling in my gut that's telling me to run like I've never run before. Now that is out of character for me. I don't run away, I fight. I won't let some pink thing scare me. My gut feeling only gets stronger. On second thought, lets go home. I put the comic into my bag and start jumping from roof to roof. I make it to the trees and keep on going. I'll come back when I feel that it's safe to return. I enter the clearing and see that Sunflower has fallen asleep on the porch. Adorable. > A New Hope: Story Information > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After some mental debating, I have decided to post this as a chapter. The first part is a copy paste of my blog post. Hello again everyone. To my (I don't know how many people actually care so I'm just going to say) three viewers, I feel I have gotten a much better grasp of writing. I know I've made my opinion of writing on a phone quite well known (and I still feel it's ♋), but I have decided to use the "Fuck-it Adjustment" and deal with it. I am now re-rewritingScars to Win Them Allon my phone. I won't be deleting the first version, however. As a reminder to myself on where I've come from to where I may lead to, I'm going to keep it up here for others to peruse.That"story" was the creation of a stupid fifteen year old, this reworked story will be made by someone who has a poor view of himself and knows he can do better. I've also been getting a lot of help from some of my friends when it comes to creative writing. They don't know that this story I've been struggling with is a pony one, though, and that will be our little secret. So, for those who may feel excited(?), feel free to say so in some form or another. For those who don't care (as you probably should), well... I don't know what you should do, get a pizza? Watch some Overlord? Nier Automata is a straight up masterpiece, you could play that, I guess. Anyways, I don't feel comfortable writing on a phone and that may translate into this new version of Scar Cross. I just want to ask one question, should I have this new version listed as a sequel or just put it up without connecting to the first version? New info not within the blog post: It's also going to be an AU, considering that I had some very different thoughts on how some things would turn out to be. For example, at the time I was originally writing this, I kinda thought that the Gryphons would turn out to be technologically farther than the ponies... Boy was I wrong! It also might not go further than Tirek, since that was how I originally planned the ending. Events will also take place further apart from each other, time wise, because Scar is going to be aging and I didn't really think at the time that the events in the show took place pretty close to one another. Say, the reemergences of Nightmare Moon and Discord taking place a year apart in my head, for example, may have actually taken place within half a year of each other. So expect some longer periods of time between events. I hope to see you all again when I upload the first chapter. And don't be surprised if chapters take longer to come out, trying to turn a turd into gold turned out to be a tad harder than I'd thought it would.