Sun moved from Canterlot to Ponyville and ended up meeting an old friend, who introduced him to her five friends. And for the first time in a long while, he’s actually happy. Now if only these weird dreams would go away.
Sun moved from Canterlot to Ponyville and ended up meeting an old friend, who introduced him to her five friends. And for the first time in a long while, he’s actually happy. Now if only these weird dreams would go away.
A/N: This is a Zelda My Little Pony fic. I have placed a M rating mostly for foul language, gore and sexual references. I do not own My Little Pony: FiM or The Legend of Zelda. This story contains content such as ponified video games and songs from our world.
A/N: Prologue is set 16 years before Season 1 of My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. Luna was never banished though Nightmare Moon still exists but is a completely separate pony.
Luna's POV
I had just risen the moon to begin the night. At the time, I despised raising it, as I thought my subjects feared me, for they would hide in their homes at night. I often wondered what my purpose was in life.
But one night, everything changed.
That night, I had done my normal routine of raising the moon, when I noticed it had begun to rain and the wind started to pick up. Looking up at the sky, I spotted an unusually bright star breaking through the clouds and falling toward Canterlot Castle, or more specifically, my balcony. I dove through the door leading into my bedroom in an attempt to dodge the falling star. As if on cue, it changed course by turning right before it hit the tower, and when I got back up to see where it had gone, its path led straight toward my sister's garden. Upon impact, the star left a strange bird-shaped crater in the garden. Curious as to what could cause such a crater to appear, I flew down to it. Upon closer inspection, I saw a pegasus colt, with a white coat and blonde mane, lying in the middle of the crater. Using my horn, I conjured a levitation spell to pick up the colt and examine him. To my surprise, he was still alive. The colt opened his eyes, revealing two blue irises.I carried him back up to my room, and decided to rest until morning to ask my sister, Celestia, whether or not to keep him. I placed the foal on my bed next to me, seeing as I didn't have anywhere else to put him.
-The Next Morning-
I woke up around five to lower the moon so Celestia could raise the sun, and I noticed that the foal I found the night before was not in the bed. Worriedly, I scanned the room for him, but to no avail.
Where in Equestria is he? I thought when I began to hear giggling. Looking around the room again, I spotted him hiding on the roof of my bed. Smiling, I began to lower the moon as I had intended to do when I woke up.
"You're quite the troublemaker, aren't you," I said. "Then again, a lot of pegasi foals are rambunctious."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the sky was getting brighter.
"Looks like Celestia's up. I think it's about time we introduced the two of you, don't you?"
I asked. The colt simply nodded, and much to my surprise, flew down, landed right next to me, and attempted to walk, which he apparently had difficulty doing as he fell onto his stomach. Chuckling to myself, I levitated him, placed him on my back, and walked out of my room. Seeing as Celestia's bedroom door was closed, I decided to head to the throne room, as she normally left her bedroom door open during the day. Upon entering the throne room, I saw that my sister was chatting with Shining Armor, a new recruit to the royal guard.
"So, you are saying that the garden was burned?"
"Yes, ma'am, and it had an impression of a bird."
"Now, what could have done tha- Ah, good morning, sister," she called out to me in her normal friendly manner. "Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop?" She chuckled.
"I wasn't eavesdropping. I was merely waiting for you two to finish your conversation, Tia," I replied. "I have someone I'd like you to meet."
The colt flew off my back and turned to look at my sister, and to both our surprises, began to cower in fear at the sight of her.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." Celestia smiled at the colt and turned to me. "Where did you find him?"
"I wanted to talk to you about that, in private."
"I'll take my leave," Shining Armor saluted us and left us.
"Last night, while I was, I saw a falling star land in the middle of the garden. I went to investigate the crater, and well...he was in the center." I recalled the previous night's events.
Celestia's eyes widened. "What?"
"I'm just as confused as you are," I replied.
"What should we do with him?"
"What do you mean?" I questioned her, unsure of what she meant.
"Should we adopt him? I mean, he's obviously here for a reason," Celestia reasoned. "We have more than enough space."
I contemplated this. It was true that we had more than enough space, so that wouldn't be a problem, but still…
"Are you sure? I mean, I'd be more than happy to adopt him, but I don't want to disturb anypony because I want a child."
"If that's what you truly want, I don't think anypony would mind. Now all that's left is to name him. Since you're the one who found him, I think it's only right that you name him."
Looking at the colt for a moment, I came to a conclusion about a name.
"Sun, Please.....You know you can't stay here forever. As much as your mother and I enjoy your company, you can't go your entire life without knowing friendship." My aunt stated as fact.
"But I'm comfortable here!"
"Sun, please don't lie to me. I can tell you're uncomfortable here. You refuse to eat at the dinner table and you avoid all royal officials except for me or your mother-"
"And Shining Armor!"
"My point is, you don't like the royal life. Your mother and I both want you to be happy, and it's clear that you aren't happy living here. I've arranged for you to be taken to Ponyville, and I've asked an old acquaintance of yours to help you get settled in."
"Who?" I asked.
"Twilight Sparkle," my aunt said.I weighed the situation in my head.
Ugh. I hate traveling. But I suppose it will be good to be somewhere else without having to deal with the backstabbing nobles and I have been wanting to see more of the world other than on tour. Plus I’ll be able to see Twi again.
"Alright, I'll go."
"Thank you. Just know that if you ever want to come back, our door is always open."
-Timeskip-
I arrived in Ponyville and began to walk its streets, when I realized I had no idea where I was going. I decided to ask for directions, when a pink mare with a pink, fluffy mane popped in front of me as if from nowhere.
“HI!”
HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!
Startled, I reared up and fell onto my back.
“Oh my gosh.Are you new? You must be new because I’ve never seen you before, and I know everypony, and I mean EVERYPONY in Ponyville,” the mare said at fifty miles a minute.
“Yes, I just moved here from Canterlot,” I said as I managed to get up. “You wouldn’t happen to know which way the Sparkle Residence is, would you?”
“Oh that’s nice. She lives in Golden Oak Library. I’d be happy to show you the way, if you want.”
“I don’t want to be a bother-”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I was just about to head that way anyways,” she said cheerfully, with a smile on her face. “I’m Pinkie Pie, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Pinkie, I’m Sun Light.”
“OOOOOOHH So you’re Sun. Twilight’s been talking quite a bit about you.”
“Shall we go?” I asked. “I haven’t seen her in a while, but if remember Twilight, she doesn’t like ponies being late.”
She nodded and began to lead me to the library. As we walked (Well, technically she bounced while I walked) through town, I observed the surroundings and its inhabitants. Many ponies where either selling their goods to other ponies, or talking to their fellow neighbors. It was rather intriguing to see a town as full of life as this one.
It’s definitely more lively than Canterlot.
“-and then I said, ‘Oatmeal? Are you crazy?’...Oh, look, we’re here.”
We stopped in front of a large tree labeled “Golden Oak Library”. Pinkie knocked on the door. It opened shortly afterward and was answered by a baby dragon.
“Oh, hey, Pinkie and-um, I don’t recognize your friend,” said the dragon, clearly confused.
“Spike, this is Sun. He’s new in town and he said he was here to see Twilight,” said Pinkie.
“Spike, let our guests in,” said an unknown voice.
“Sure thing, Twi.”
As Pinkie and I entered the library, I noticed that the room was rather cluttered with books.
Nice to know some things don’t change. For a mare who wants to be as organized as possible, Twilight sure leaves quite a mess when it comes to books.
“I apologize for the clutter. Did a bit of late night reading,” the lavender unicorn replied, taking notice of my glance around the room.
“A bit? I’d hate to see a lot of late night reading would be like.” I smirked.
“It’s good to see you again, Sun.”
“Same to you.”
“And what can I do for you, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“I’m just returning the book I borrowed from you, and then I’ll get out of your mane to set up the party.” She placed the book on a table near the door and rushed out of the room.
“Sheesh. Where does she get all that energy?” I asked.
“She’s just being Pinkie Pie. You’ll get used to it after a while.” Twilight chuckled. “We might want to get you ready.”
“For what?” I inquired.
“Pinkie’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party. She throws parties for everypony,” she replied, “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Rarity. She’s a fashion designer and one of my best friends.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Great!” She exclaimed. “Spike, could you stay here and watch the library for me?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Come on, Sun. Let’s go find Rarity,” Twilight said.
I followed Twilight back outside to Ponyville, and we began walking to Rarity’s.
“So, what do you think of Ponyville?” Twilight asked.
“It’s an interesting town. Definitely liking the small town aspect,” I replied.
“You never were one for large crowds,” she chuckled.
“Or snobbish attitude,” I said.
“Yeah, ponies there can be a bit self centered,” she agreed. “Though, I’m sure not everypony there is snobbish.”
I nodded in agreement. We stopped in front of a rather elegant building.
“This is Carousel Boutique, where Rarity spends most of her time making dresses,” Twilight explained as I opened the door for her. “Thank you.”
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where every garment is chic, unique and magni- Oh, Twilight, What can I do for you, darling?” A dignified voice came from inside the Boutique.
“Rarity, I have a friend who may need your advice on what to wear to Pinkie’s Party,” Twilight explained. “Are you busy?”
“Not at all, Twilight. But where is this friend of yours?” The voice inquired.
“He’s right outside.”
“He? Surely you don’t mean-?”
“Yep. It’s him.”
“Had I known I would have such company, I would have cleaned this place up a bit more,” Rarity exclaimed.
“Sun, could you come over here? I want to introduce you to Rarity,” Twilight called to me.
I came around the corner nervously and was greeted by a white unicorn with sapphire eyes.
“Why, hello, Mr. Light. I am Rarity. The owner of this boutique.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am. Please call me Sun.”
“Is there anything you are looking for in particular? I would be more than happy to make you a tux.” Rarity asked.
“No thank you...I don’t want to cause you too much trouble.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, ma’am. Though I thank you for the offer. If I ever need a tux though, I promise I’ll come to you first.”
“Well, alright, if you’re certain,” she said, slightly depressed, ”But, at least let me fix your mane up for you.”
I looked over at Twilight and saw she was starting to get antsy. “Come on, you two. The party is going to be starting in 15 minutes.”
Twilight, Rarity and I had begun to walk to Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie was holding the party.Twilight tried to stir up a conversation on the way.
"So, Sun, how’s Princess Luna?"
"She’s fine...Still able to do her job at least," I replied, "Though Nightmare Moon’s attempts to possess her have taken a bit of a toll...I never did get a chance to thank you for rebanishing
Nightmare back to the moon."
"It was nothing. I’m sure you would have done the same for me," Twilight said, "Plus you’ve been busy helping Shining Armor in the military."
"How did you-?"
"He told me," Twilight answered, "Well, to be completely honest, He didn’t tell me specifically..He merely hinted at it. He’d be pretty dumb not to ask you for help."
"So what brought you to Ponyville?" asked Rarity.
"I felt I needed a change of scenery," I replied.
"Well, from what I’ve heard from Twilight, I, for one, think you deserve it," said Rarity
"Just what HAVE you girls heard from Twilight?" I smirked.
Twilight looked away from me,blushing,"N-Nothing like that you ass!"
I shrugged,still smirking, "Hey, I never said that you had said anything like that."
"You’re such an asshole sometimes." Twilight stated, still flustered.
I gasped in mock-horror," Ms. Sparkle, I am offended that you called me an asshole. Wherever did you learn this language?"
She smirked, "I learned from the best."
We both laughed after that, while Rarity simply shook her head at us. "Come on, you two, we’re almost there."
I looked at our destination. "Woah."
Twilight noticed my rather dumbfounded look and said,"Sugar Cube Corner is rather impressive, isn’t it?."
I nodded and said, "Yeah, it looks like a giant gingerbread house. Though, I’m sure if it was, Pinkie would have a field day."
"Just wait until you taste the food.It is simply divine," Rarity replied.
"And don’t be surprised if Pinkie tries to ,well, surprise you," Twilight added, "Oh and,whatever you do, do NOT drink the punch."
Rarity rolled her eyes, "I still can’t believe she drinks that stuff with hot sauce in it."
HOT SAUCE?!?!?! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!
Twilight nodded as we entered Sugar Cube Corner.
"SURPRISE!" An entire room of ponies exclaimed as we entered the room and music began to fill the room. I couldn’t help but smile at them in appreciation. Pinkie Pie bounced over to me with a grin on her face.
"Hey, Sunny, were you surprised?"
"A little."
"I’m more surprised that you were able to get all this together on such short notice." An
orange with a blonde ponytail mare said in a southern accent.
"Come on AJ, she’s thrown way bigger parties than this." The cyan pegasus with technicolor mane and tail next to her said.
"Not by much." The orange pony mumbled.
The cyan pony turned away. "I’m gonna go find Fluttershy. Knowing her she’s probably on the other side of the room, avoiding everypony. See ya later, new pony." And with that, she flew off into the crowd.
AJ sighed. "Somedays I don’t understand that one. I’m Applejack. Yer Sun, right?"
"Yes ma’am."
"It’s a pleasure to meet ya, Sun. I’d love to stay and chat with ya, But I gotta go help Dash find Fluttershy. I’ve got a feelin she’s gotten herself into trouble."
"Need some help?" Twilight asked.
"Sure...It’ll help go by faster."
"I’ll help, too," I added," An extra pair of eyes couldn’t hurt."
"Nah, that’s quite alright, Sun," Applejack said," Though I thank ya for the offer, I’m pretty sure Rainbow, Twi and I will be able to find her."
Before leaving, Twilight glanced nervously at me."We’ll talk some more later...Why don’t you go enjoy yourself?" I nodded.
"Hey, Pinkie?" I asked
"Yeah?"
"Any idea where I can find some food? I’m feeling a bit hungry."
"Yeah, food’s over there," She answered cheerfully, pointing in a direction," Just head that way...you’ll know it when you see it."
I walked in the direction she was pointing in,looking for the table of food, but with no luck.
"C’mon, Fluttershy, just one dance?"
Fluttershy? Wasn’t that the pony the others were looking for?
I turned to the direction of where I heard the voices to see a light brown earth pony with a brown mane and tail talking to a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail. The pegasus looked rather frightened of the earth and hid behind her face behind her mane.
"Um,I-I’m fine," She answered timidly.
"I promise it’ll be worth your while." The brown colt answered.
Doesn’t this guy take a hint?
"I-It’s ok...R-Really."
"Just one d-"
"She said no, now get lost," I interrupted.
"Who the hell are you?" The colt snapped at me.
"I just happened to be going to grab something to eat, and couldn’t help but notice a mare getting harassed by some asshole who can’t take a fucking hint," I answered, glaring at him, "Now, I suggest you leave NOW!"
He put his arm around Fluttershy, causing her to begin to cry.
"Please, what are you going to about-" He began to say before I bucked him in the jaw. He stumbled back, startled.
"You moder futher!" He slurred angrily and rushed at me, I jumped over the pony and kicked him in the flank,knocking him into a table, sending food flying everywhere.
Figures...NOW I find the food table, I thought angrily to myself.
After receiving a literal flank-kicking, the pony got back up to attempt to tackle me. He had tackled me to the ground, but before he could land a punch, I countered by using my hind legs to throw him off of me.
“Hey!!! Leave him alone!” A voice I could only recognize as Rainbow Dash’s called out.
The earth pony who I had picked a fight with had all of the sudden gotten back up and began to run away.
“HEY!!! GET BACK HERE!!!” the cyan pegasus shouted and ran after him.
"Sun!"
I looked over to my right to see Twilight hurrying over to me.
"Are you okay?"
"I’m fine… Just a scratch," I said
"That’s good...We heard you yelling at somepony. What was that all about?"
I sighed. "He wouldn’t leave Fluttershy alone. And then he made her cry."
Twilight helped me get back up. I walked towards Fluttershy,"Are you alright?"
Fluttershy nodded, whimpering.
Great...I’ve gone and scared her…
"I’m sorry you had to see me like that. I was just trying to get him away from you."
"I-It’s ok," she stammered
"I’m Sun Light. It’s nice meet you."
"Um,I-It’s nice to meet you, too." She said quietly.
After an awkward silence, Applejack was the one to break it.
“Well, I’m gonna start headin’ home, y’all. Gotta get up early in the mornin’ to start my chores.”
“Well...Alright, We’ll see you later, Applejack.” Twilight replied.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Applejack.”
“Same ‘ere, Sun.”
I continued to talk with Twi and her friends for the next couple hours.
“Sun and I better get going, too. It’s been a long day, and Sun looks like he’s about to collapse.” Twi said.
“Aww,But, Twilight-” Pinkie complained.
“Pinkie...He’s going to be here for quite a while...he’ll have plenty of time to party and hang out,” Twilight stated.
“Pinkie promise?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“Alright...I guess I’ll see you later, Sun.”
“See ya, Pinkie,” I said.
Twilight and I exited Sugarcube Corner and began to walk back to the library.
“That went well.” Twilight said.
I nodded, “They seemed nice.”
“And they seemed to like you pretty well.”
I look over to her, “You were worried they wouldn’t?”
Twilight smiled nervously.
“I was...a little worried.”
“I guess that’s a normal feeling.”
She nodded.
We continued to walk back to Twilight’s in silence.
As we walked into the library, I asked Twilight where I would be sleeping.
“There’s a bed upstairs..First door on your right.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Twilight yawned, “Well, I’m gonna go to bed now. See you in the morning.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
We both walked upstairs to go to bed.I waved Twilight good night. I entered the spare bedroom Twilight had told me about. The room had the basics: a bed, a desk and a dresser,
I could work with this.
Looking at the bed, I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion sweep over me. I headed toward it and collapsed on to it.
I opened my eyes and rolled over to see a girl with short red hair with black highlights and hazel eyes, who I recognized as my sister, standing over me.
“Come on Kyle, we need to go!” she said frantically.
“What’s wrong, Alice?”
“There’s no time, we need to go now!"
“Alright, I’m getting up,” I said, wiping the sleep out of eyes.
“Take this with you,” she said, grabbing my sword out of the chest near my door and tossing it to me. “We’re gonna need it.”
Standing up, I strapped the sword onto my back and followed my sister outdoors.
Upon exiting the house, I saw my neighbors being attacked by monsters. They looked human, except for the fact that their skin was greyish and their eyes were blood red. Some looked deformed, having an overly long and thick arm, or claws where their fingertips should be.
“Alice! Kyle!”
Alice and I both looked over to see our mother, running towards us.
“You two need to get out of here!” our mother yelled at us.
“What about the others? We can’t leave them behind!” Alice shouted.
“Don’t worry about them! Kyle, take your sister and head to the castle. You need to warn them!”
“I’m not leaving you—” I began to protest.
“LOOK OUT!” my sister shouted at me.
Looking up, I saw one of the more normal-looking monsters coming at me with a sword drawn. Extracting my own, I pushed his blade to the side as he began attempting to stab me in the stomach. Spinning around, I flipped my blade so the hilt would face upward in my hand, and stabbed him in the back.
Withdrawing and sheathing my sword, I looked over to my mother.
“Kyle, please, I’ve already had to watch so many people die today. Don’t make me watch my own children be slaughtered. Take this letter to the castle. They’ll know what to do,” my mother said as she handed me a letter.
Looking over to my sister, I said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.
My sister nodded and we began to run through the forest near our village. After running for what seemed like forever, we sat down to catch our breath.
“Mind telling me what was happening back there?” I asked.
“I don’t really know what happened exactly. All I know is some people came into our village and started murdering everyone at random,” Alice said.
“Oh, it wasn’t random.”
Alice and I got up and looked around.
“Who said that?” I shouted.
“We just wanted something to eat.” A cloud of smoke blew towards us and began to take the form of a human.
“Why didn’t you just ask? We would have gladly given you some food,” Alice asked.
“I suppose I should have been more specific. When I said something...I meant someone, though we actually wanted to find the one who smelled the sweetest, as they tend to be the more tasty of the bunch.” He sniffed the air and chuckled.
My eyes widened and I looked at Alice. “Run.”
“But—” Alice began to protest.
“GO!”
Alice turned around, took a quick glance at me, and ran away.
“You sure you don’t want to go with her? Because I doubt you’ll ever see her again.”
I drew my sword. “Honestly, I don’t care. I’ll gladly die if it keeps her safe.”
The monster grinned at me. “I’ll hold you to that.”
He charged at me after drawing his own blade out of nowhere, slightly taking me by surprise. But I regained my composure, blocking his first few strikes, while attempting to land my own.
“Hmm, very interesting. I’m surprised you’ve lasted this long. But I suppose I should stop playing with my food.”
He began to strike faster, making it difficult for me to find an opening. I parried one of his blows, throwing him off balance. Seeing an opportunity, I slashed at him, but much to my confusion, the blade went through him, as if it had gone through water. He kicked me into a nearby tree, causing my weapon fell out my hand. My attacker rushed over to me with godlike speed and stabbed me right in the chest.
“Such a disappointment. I had such high hopes for you, now that I get a closer look, you almost look like an older version of him,” he said as he pulled his sword out of me, causing me to collapse.
As he began to walk away, I grabbed onto his leg with what little strength I had.
“Still got a bit of strength left?”
He kicked my face and sliced off my left arm.
“AH! YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!” I screamed in pain.
The demon grinned. “Watch your tongue.”
He began to start to walk away again.
“Aren’t you going to eat me?” I asked.
“I’ve suddenly lost my appetite. If you survive this, I’ll be impressed.” With that, he vanished in a puff of black smoke.
“Kyle!”
I looked over to where I heard the voice to see Alice running back towards me.
“Alice...what the hell...Fuck.” I winced from the pain. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to run.”
“I couldn’t just abandon you back here. Now, come on, we have to get you some medical attention!” Alice said, trying to lift me up by good arm, placing it around her shoulder and putting hers around my waist.
“From where? The only place we could go is home and we don’t know if those things are still…” I winced again. “…there. And even if I somehow managed to get out of the forest and not bleed out, I doubt we would make it to any of the nearby towns.”
“You’re going to make it out of this. I’m not going to let you die.”
Alice began to walk me back the way we came from the village. About halfway home, I began to feel weak and collapsed onto a nearby tree.
“Kyle! We’re almost there. You can make it.”
Taking the letter I received from Mom, I handed it to Alice.
“Let’s face it, Alice...I’m not walking away from this one… Looks like you’ll have to finish the job Mother gave to us...You need to take this letter to the castle...tell them what happened here...Prevent this from happening to anyone else…” I said, as I began to cough up blood.
Looking at the letter, my sister took it and kneeled beside me. I could see tears forming in her eyes.
“What are you…” I coughed up more blood. “doing?”
“I don’t want you to be alone.”
My vision began to blur and darken, “Hey...Remember when we used to spar?”
Alice smiled. “Yeah, you never lost a single fight. Why?”
I looked at her. “I’m sorry if I ever hurt you.”
“I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. And besides, Mom wanted us to start sparring for my sake. She just wanted the both of us to learn to defend ourse-Kyle? Kyle!”
My vision clouded and I began to feel death’s cold embrace.
“Sun? Is everything okay in there?”
I woke up in the bed I fell into last night.
“Sun, can you hear me?” I heard Twilight talking from behind the door.
“Yeah, I can hear you,” I said, still tired from last night events.
“Do you mind if I come in?’
“It’s your house.”
Twilight opened the door and walked over to me, with a look of concern on her face.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You were talking in your sleep and it sounded like you were crying.”
I was?
“Yeah. Just a weird dream, I guess,” I replied, feeling the tears on still of my face.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really…”
“Well...Okay...Breakfast is cooking downstairs, if you’re hungry.”
I nodded, as Twilight walked back out of the room. I looked at the clock on the bedside table.
10:30…Wow, I really slept in.
I decided to head downstairs as well. I walked out of the room and down the stairs. I went into what I assumed was the kitchen, as it was the only room I hadn’t seen the previous day. And I smelled the scent of food coming from that general direction.
“Hey,” Twilight greeted me as I entered the kitchen.
“Hey.”
“Hungry?” she asked.
My stomach growled.
Twilight chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
She gave me a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. I stared at it with suspicion.
“This is going to make me sick, is it? Because the last time I ate something that you cooked, I ended up being in the hospital for almost a week from food poisoning,” I asked nervously, looking between the food and Twilight.
“You won’t get food poisoning from this, I promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to that promise.”
Reluctantly, I took a bite of the egg.
It’s...good.
I wolfed down the food hungrily.
“I’ll take it you liked it?” She chuckled.
“Yeah, it was really good...I’m impressed.”
“And what do you know? You didn’t die,” she said jokingly, poking me in the side.
“Yeah.”
“So what have you been doing since the last time I saw you?” Twilight asked.
Rubbing the back of my head, I responded, “Not much. I did a tour in Saddle Arabia about a year ago.”
“I heard about what happened there. You weren’t dreaming about what happened, were you?” Twilight said, with a look of concern in her eyes.
“No, it was…” I said, shaking my head and then sighing. “Remember those mythology books we used to read for school? The ones about the humans?”
“Vaguely, why?”
“Well…” I told her about my dream and what I saw.
“Hmmmm. I wouldn’t think anything of it. It’s probably just, as you said, a weird dream.”
I nodded.
“Was there anything in particular you wanted to do today?” Twilight asked.
I thought about it for a moment.
I guess I should get a job. It’ll give me something to do during the day, as well as getting to know the town and its people better.
“I’d like to find a job if possible,” I said. “It’ll give me something to do other than sit on my ass.”
“Hmmm, let me think.” Twilight looked as though she was thinking rather hard. “AJ could always use some help on her family’s apple farm, and I think Rainbow has a spot on the weather team you could fill,. Those are the only things I can think of at the moment.”
“I’d like to try AJ’s first.”
Twilight nodded. “Alright. We’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres first.”
-Timeskip-
“I don’t know, Twi. Are ya sure he will be able to keep up?”
“I’m sure. And just last week, you said you needed help on the farm.”
Applejack sighed. “All right. I want to see he can buck a tree hard enough before I let him work fer my family.” Pointing to a random apple tree, she said. “Buck that one as hard as you can, Sun.”
"Okay."
I walked over to the tree that Applejack pointed at.
Looks sturdy enough, I thought, looking up and down at the tree.
I turned around and gave the tree a good hard buck, causing apples to rain down into buckets that we placed underneath.
"All right. I reckon you'll do. Come on, I'll introduce you to my family," Applejack said, looking slightly impressed.
"I'm going to head back to the library, Sun. I'll see you later," Twilight said before turning around and walking away.
“Yeah. See ya later, Twi.”
I followed AJ through the orchard to a house next to a red barn, when something rammed into me with great speed, causing me to go back a few steps.
“Oh, sorry, mister. Are you okay?” I heard a filly say.
“Apple Bloom! What have I said about runnin’ out the house?” Applejack scolded the little filly.
“Sorry, sis.” The little filly hung her head.
"Hey, it's all right, no harm done. I'm Sun. I take it you're Applebloom?" I wheezed, coughing from the amount of force of the filly had rammed into me.
The filly cheered up a bit. "Yep."
"So, what's got you in such a hurry?"
Applebloom's eyes widened. "Oh,no...I'm late!"
The filly ran off again.
Applejack sighed. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of my family."
I followed Applejack into the house, and was greeted by the sight of an unusually large stallion.
"You going out, Big Mac?
The large pony replied with a simple, ”Eeyup.”
“You’ll stay safe?”
“Eeyup.”
As the pony walked out the door, Applejack noticed my look of confusion.
“That’s my older brother, Big Macintosh. He helps with the applebuckin’ as well as pulling the carts we use to haul the apples,” Applejack explained. “Now we gotta find my gran.”
I follow AJ to the living room where an elderly pony was sleeping in a rocking chair.
“Hey, I recognize her.”
Applejack look slightly shocked. “You’ve met my gran?”
“I helped her with some groceries a few years ago.”
AJ’s eyes widened in realization. “So that’s why I thought you looked familiar. I never did get yer name and yer mane was shorter at the time.”
“Yeah, I came to Ponyville at the time to help with the Summer Sun Celebration and I saw somepony who needed some help.”
“Well, thank ya kindly fer helpin’ her get home. She can be a little...forgetful.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, when do you want to start working?” AJ asked.
“Would tomorrow be a good time to start?” I inquired, eager to start as soon as possible.
AJ thought about it, then smiled and nodded. “Yep. Just be aware, we get up at around 4 in the morning to start applebuckin’.”
“I’m usually up at that time, anyway.”
“Alright, I’ll see ya tomorrow morning then!” Applejack waved me off as I started to leave Sweet Apple Acres and head home to Twilight’s.
I opened my eyes to find myself in a makeshift bed, in what seemed to be a horse-drawn carriage.
“Dad, I think he’s waking up! Mr. Kyle, can you hear me?”
I shifted my eyes to see a girl with orange hair and dark blue eyes with a thin frame, though she looked like she would be slightly taller than Alice. I closed my eyes groggily and then got up in a start as I remembered what happened as—
“Am I dead?” I asked, placing my only remaining hand on my chest, where I had been stabbed by the demon’s blade.
A man behind me chuckled. “I don’t think so. Right now, I think we’re heading to Hyrule Castle, as your sister asked us. Name’s Talon, by the way.”
My eyes widened. “Where is she?”
The man chuckled again. “Don’t worry, son. She’s right next to Malon.”
The orange-haired girl pointed over to a redhead with bandages over her eyes and blood on her cheeks.
“Alice?”
The girl smiled at me. “Hey, Kyle.”
“What happened to you?” I asked, horrified at what I was seeing.
“I used magic to heal you and the spell backfired, taking my eyes and legs,” my sister explained pointing to her missing limbs.
“Why would you do that? You never were good with the more advanced healing spells...You’re lucky you didn’t die,” I scolded my sister.
She frowned at me. “It’s better than letting you die. Mother wanted you to deliver the letter. Plus you knew that side of the forest better than I did. I probably would have gotten lost and you know what happens when Kokiri get lost in those woods.”
“And what if you hadn’t succeeded? Did you think about that? You’re lucky it brought me back and that it didn’t kill you.” Malon intervened. “Please, both of you need to calm down. You’ve both already lost a substantial amount of blood, and I’d prefer to get you to Hyrule Castle in one piece.”
Malon’s father looked back at us. “You two won’t have to wait long. You’ve been asleep for most of the ride.”
“Thank you for doing this.” I said. “How many rupees will I owe you for this?”
The middle-aged man chuckled. “Save your money...Your thanks is enough. Besides, Malon said she’ll introduce you to a friend of hers who can give you two autosynth limbs, and those can get pricey.”
“Autosynth Limbs?” I asked, curious as to what the old man meant.
“Auto Prosthetic Limbs, or Autosynth,” Malon explained. “They’re mechanical limbs that can function as an actual limb would. I doubt your sister would gain her eyesight back, but you both would be able to walk and function as normal citizens.”
“Auto Prosthetic, huh?” I said.
She nodded.
“You’re certain your friend would be able to give us our limbs?”
She nodded again. “She’s a brilliant mechanic, as well as a blacksmith.”
Talon looked back at us. “And I wouldn’t recommend telling anyone about your autosynth limbs once you get them.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Some people think that autosynth limbs are a bad thing and that anyone who uses them should be condemned to hell,” Malon explained.
“Completely preposterous, if you ask me,” Talon grumbled.
“In a way, I can see where they’re coming from,” Alice said. “It could be seen as a corruption of what the gods gave to us, which might be why some people dislike the idea of people getting limbs that aren’t of flesh and bone.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed with my sister. “Though it’s the amputee’s choice, not theirs.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Malon agreed with me.
“So how did you meet this friend of yours?” I asked Malon.
“Well…” Malon lifted her dress up slightly to reveal her feet. One looked like a normal foot, though she had a small frame, while the other one looked like a mechanized foot. “I lost my leg from the shin down in a rock climbing accident as a child. My friend’s father fixed me up with a new leg.”
Alice and I continued to talk with Malon and Talon. They asked us about our personal lives and we answered most of them until they started to ask questions about how I lost my arm and why we were running away from our home. I didn’t realize where we were until the cart stopped.
“We reached our destination,” Talon said. “Malon, you’d better carry Alice since Kyle would have trouble doing so.”
I slid off the cart and grabbed my sword, strapping it to my back. I then reached for Alice’s bow and quiver and strapped them to my back.
Malon look worried. “Are you sure you won’t need help in the market?”
Talon chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. They will probably need your help more than I.”
“Well...All right...Just stay away from the bar this time, okay?” Malon said, still looking worried about her father. “I’d prefer not to have the whole city looking for you.”
Talon chuckled and rode off.
Malon sighed. “All right, let’s go see my friend.”
I nodded. “Lead the way.”
“Her shop’s actually right here.” She pointed to the door to the right of us.
I looked at the door. “Well, that’s…convenient.”
Malon chuckled while picking up Alice. “Dad didn’t want to risk you getting lost. If you wouldn’t mind knocking on the door.”
I complied with her wishes and knocked on the door.
“Just a second!”
The door began to open.
I woke up in my bed in Ponyville.
“Another dream about him, huh?”
I looked over to see Twilight standing near my door.
“Yeah,” I replied groggily.
“You were talking in your sleep again.” She chuckled. “Maybe it’s a memory from a past life?”
I looked at the ground. “Maybe.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah. Just thinking of Ashfire. I’m going to go take a shower before I go to work.”
I exited my room and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. As I entered the shower and put the water on the hottest settings, I began to remember those I led to their deaths.
Flashback
“I need you and your squad to search that hospital for any survivors,” Shining Armor ordered me, when he noticed I wasn’t leaving. “Something wrong, Sergeant?”
I sighed. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
Shining Armor nodded. “Go for it.”
“I’m not sure my squad is up for it, sir. About fifty percent of my squad has died within the last week.”
“Sun...we all know the dangers of war. They knew what they signed up for. Besides, I’m sure they’d follow you to Tartarus if you asked them to. I’ve seen your charisma with them. At times, it’s scary.”
“All right. I’ll do my best, sir. I’ll see if we can find any survivors.” I saluted him and left his tent.
I began to leave to give my squad our orders when I heard a soft, “Hello, sexy.”
I turned around to see a red unicorn mare with a short black mane and a torch for a cutie mark.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to talk to me like that, Ash?”
The mare grinned. “Come on, you know you like it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I’d just love the shit I would get from Black Water. And that’s just in the squad. Never mind what chain of command would think. I mean you’re getting married to the guy.”
“I guess you’re right. I’ll go tell the rest of the squad to meet up at the hospital.”
I nodded and flew in the direction of our objective.
I scouted around the hospital for a while, when I noticed that my squad, or what was left of it, had gathered in front of the hospital. I flew down to meet them.
“So we’re looking for survivors?” a grey pegasus mare asked me.
“Those are our orders, Windgrazer.”
We began search the hospital with no luck.
“Damn it. First fucking floor and there’s nopony around,” a blue unicorn with black and grey hair complained.
“There’s still two more floors, Black," Ashfire said.
I nodded and went to open the door labeled STAIRS.
Locked...of course. Rolling my eyes, I went on the right side of the door so the knob would be on my left. Turning around, I gave the stubborn doorknob a good buck and it flew off.
“Let’s go.” I said.
We climbed the stairs up to the second floor. Upon reaching it, we found that the walls were smeared with blood, as well as dismembered body parts hanging literally from the walls, as if they were a part of them.
“Shit ...I think I’m gonna be sick,” Windgrazer complained, horrified by the sight.
“Sun, take a look over there. I think there’s somepony wounded,” Ash said, pointing down the hall.
I gazed down the hallway and saw a pony lying face down on the floor. I walked toward the pony’s body to see if it was alive. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was a male earth pony. When Ashfire turned him over onto his side, I noticed the pony had a bomb strapped to his chest.
“BOMB!!! EVERYPONY, GET BACK!!!” I shouted as my eyes widened.
We began to run back down the hall. I remember hearing a loud boom before seeing a flash of red and losing consciousness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Damn it. An entire squad lost to a bomb,” I heard a pony say.
“Wait, I think Sun and Ash are still with us. Get a medic in here!” Shining Armor yelled.
“Stay with me, kid.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I managed to regain consciousness, I found myself in a bed with a bandage wrapped around my left wing. As I attempted to sit up, a white hoof placed itself on my chest.
"Careful, soldier," Shining said. "You got banged up pretty badly."
"W-Wher-" I croaked. "Where's Ash?"
"She's over there," Shining said, pointing to the bed next to me. "Doctors are doing everything they can, but it doesn't look good. They’re saying she’s got maybe an hour left."
“Can I see her?” I asked.
“I don’t see why not. I’ll get a nurse to help you,” Shining said as he got up and left.
He came back with a white female earth pony with a pink mane.
I got up with the help of the nurse and walked over to Ash. She had bandages all over her body.
“Hey,” Ash said with a smile, as I sat down next to her.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked her.
“Do what?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Ash. Last thing I remember seeing before losing conscious was a flash of red, which is the color of your aura,” I said pointing to her horn.
Ash sighed, “You were closer to the bomb than the others were. I used a shield spell to guard you from the blast.”
“Then how did you get injured?” I asked, with a look of confusion on my face.
“The blast ended up breaking through the shield and the force sent the both of us through a wall.”
“But why save me?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t just let you die back there. Besides, I don’t think your mother or Princess Celestia would be very happy if I let you die when I could have done something.”
“I’m sure they would have understood.”
“Yeah...Remember when we first met?”
I nodded. “Yeah...The Heavy Cloud...”
“I’m surprised you remember that name, considering how hammered you were.”
I chuckled. “I remember getting yelled at the next day by my mom in the Royal Canterlot voice.”
“Do you remember that song we sang? I believe it went something like this…”
“Carry on my wayward son...There’ll be peace when you are done….” Ash began to sing a song before she started to cough uncontrollably.
I finished the lyrics. “Lay your weary head to rest...Don’t you cry no more…”
She smiled weakly as she said, “You remembered.”
“Kinda hard to forget.”
She coughed into her hoof and as she lowered it, I saw something red.
Blood.
I got up to find a nurse but Ash grabbed my shoulder. I looked at her as she shook her head.
“Don’t bother… It’s too late for me…”
“Don’t say that,” I said. “You’ve still got a lot to live for.”
“All due respect, sir...It would be a waste of their time and energy.”
“Damn it, Ash...Let me do this for you,” I said sternly.
“I heard the doctors, Sun...I don’t have long to live. It would be better for them to save someone who would live than to prolong someone else life who won’t,” Ash said, noticing my sad expression,” You can’t save every pony you see… you’re only one pony.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t try.”
“Pony’s sake...You’re so stubborn.”
“Yeah, wel- Ash!!!” I shouted as I noticed she had lost consciousness. “I need a doctor in here now!!!”
I turned the water knob and stepped out of the shower. After grabbing a towel from under the sink and drying myself off, I exited the bathroom, walked down the hall and the stairs, only to be greeted by Twilight.
“You going out?”
“Yeah. First day of work,” I replied.
“Well, stay safe,” Twilight said.
“No promises. You know me better than anyone,” I said, exiting the library.
I jogged most of the way to the sign of Sweet Apple Acres, as I wanted to get there quickly, but not so fast that I would be too tired to do my job. By the time I got to the Apple house, AJ and Big Macintosh were already leaving.
“Crap, am I late?” I asked.
AJ yawned while Big Mac answered, “Actually, yer a few minutes early.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank the heavens.”
“You ready to get started?” AJ asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
We walked to the orchard to start applebucking.
-One week later-
I sat on the hill that Applejack, Big Mac and I had been meeting on for the past week.
“Hey!”
I turned around to see AJ and Big Mac walking uphill toward me.
“You haven’t been out here long, have you?” Applejack asked.
“Nah, just got here a few minutes ago. Ready to get started?” I replied.
Big Mac replied with his normal, “Eeyup.”
We walked off to the orchard and began to work on the trees. After a few hours of working in silence, Applejack decided to start up a conversation.
“So how are yer legs feelin’?” Applejack asked out of the blue. “Sore at all?”
I chuckled. “No, I think on the first couple days I was sore, but that might have been because I was a bit out of shape.”
Big Mac, AJ and I began to walk back to the house to grab a bite to eat before I left for the day.
“So Hearth’s Warming Day is coming. Got any plans?” I asked.
“Gonna spend time with my family. You?”
“Might go visit my mother in Canterlot. Other than that, I can’t really think of anything.”
“Well, You’re free to come visit us if you can’t get to Canterlot. You’re practically part of the family.”
I nodded. “I’ll definitely think about it. Train tickets to Canterlot can get pretty pricey this time of year.”
“Why don’t you fly there? Wouldn’t that be cheaper?” Big Mac inquired.
I lifted my left wing to reveal the burn scars on the inside and along my side. “This makes it difficult to fly long distances this time of year.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what caused those scars?” Applejack asked, looking afraid to upset me.
I closed my eyes. “I was in the military a few years ago. I ended up accidentally setting a bomb off by turning somepony over who had one strapped to their chest.”
Applejack looked shocked. “A bomb?! How did you manage to survive?”
“A friend blocked it with a spell, but the force of the explosion was too much and some off the blast ended up burning the inside of my wing and my side. It also killed most of my squad.”
“I’m sorry.” She looked at the ground.
”It’s not your fault,” I said.
“So what happened to this friend that shielded you?”
“She’s dead,” I said, grimacing. “She bled out in the operating room.”
“Oh.”
When we arrived at the house, I opened the door for AJ and Big Mac to enter.
“Thanks,” AJ and Big Mac said consecutively.
As I entered the house, I was greeted by the smell of fresh baked apple pie, apple fritters, and other apple-related food. Granny Smith was setting the table when she noticed us walking in the door.
“You three are done, I take it?” Granny asked, looking at the clock.
Big Mac replied with his simple, “Eeyup.”
“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m starving,” Applejack said.
“This all looks and smells delicious, Mrs. Smith,” I said, complimenting the food.
“Why, thank you, Sun,” Granny said. “Could you be a dear and go get Applebloom from her room?”
“Sure,” I said, walking through the house and up the stairs towards Applebloom’s room. As I approached her bedroom door, I started to hear music coming from inside, and the closer I got, I recognized the artist I assumed Applebloom was singing to.
“Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number. So call me maybe,” she sang.
I knocked on the bedroom door, causing her to jump. Peering in the room, I observed that she had a lot of Sapphire Shores posters.
“I take it you like Sapphire Shores,” I inquired, look around at the posters.
“Yep, she’s one of my favorite musical artists.”
Good to know.
“Your grandmother wanted me to come get you, I think it’s time to eat.”
“All right,” the little filly replied. I walked back out of the room and down the stairs with Applebloom following close behind. By the time we got down to the dinner table, Granny, Big Mac and Applejack were just sitting down. Applebloom and I both walked around the table to do the same.
“Let’s eat!” Applejack said impatiently. “I’m starvin’.”
Everypony nodded and started to grab random food off the table. I had managed to grab a couple fritters and began to chow down. After we all ate, I got up to start heading home.
“You headin home, Sun?” Big Mac inquired.
“Yeah, I told Twi I’d help her with some stuff at the library, so I’d better start heading home.”
“Well, somepony should go with you, just in case,” Granny said.
“What do you mean?”
Applejack got up and began to walk to the door.
“Come on, I’ll explain on the way.”
We walked through the orchard and about halfway through town, when I asked the question.
“So what did your grandmother mean by ‘Just in case’?”
Applejack sighed, “Ponies have been seeing...things...comin’ out of the Everfree Forest.”
“What kind of things?”
“It’s different with some ponies,” she explained. “Some have been seeing friends and family they’ve lost, while others see tall, grey-skinned creatures walking on two legs.”
That sounds familiar...
My eyes widened as I realized why.
The demons from my dream.
“I…”
Wait...What are you doing? She’ll probably think you’re crazy!!!
“Something wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, noticing that I had stopped moving, and looked concerningly at me.
“It’s nothing,” I lied, putting on my best poker face.
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”
“Yeah, just think it sounds familiar is all. Might have read about something similar.”
“Ah,” Applejack replied. “Oh, my.”
Looking over in her general direction, Applejack appeared to be staring intently at what appeared to be the window of a jewelry store.
“What’s up?” I asked, following her eyes to a pair of eagle-shaped earrings.
“Not much. Just browsing the store for the Hearth’s Warming Gala,” she responded. “Twi got invitations for it a few months ago. Normally, I ain’t a fashion pony, but I’d like to dress nice again. Hopefully, it’ll be better than the Grand Galloping Gala.”
“What happened at the gala?”
She explained to me about what happened at the gala; about how she and the girls had gone for their own reasons and found that the gala had not been what they had thought it would be.
“The Hearth’s Warming Gala tends to be an exclusive event, so that shouldn’t happen again,” I said as we continued to walk to the library. “As well as being less...formal."
“Have you attended it before?”
“Once, but I was a guard,” I said
As we approached the library, the weather had begun to change. Rain started to pour heavily and the wind was blowing furiously. Twilight was standing inside of her house holding the door open, waving towards us.
“Applejack! Sun! Come on and get inside!” Twilight shouted to us, as we ran into the library as quickly as we could.
“Thank ya kindly for yer hospitality, Twilight,” Applejack said.
Twilight nodded. “You’re welcome. The weather team certainly has created a doozy of a storm, haven’t they?”
“I don’t think this was the weather team,” I interjected.
“What makes you say that?”
“Well I asked Dash yesterday when the next rainstorm would be and she said it wouldn’t be for a few more days,” I stated matter of factly.
“That’s odd,” Twilight said while levitating every book in the library. “Shall we get started?”
“Yeah.”
Twilight dropped the books around the library and we began to get to work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Hmm. That’s odd,” Twilight exclaimed as we were about halfway done.
“What’s wrong, Twi?” Applejack inquired.
“There’s a book in here I don’t recognize,” Twilight replied, levitating the book to me. “Sun, is this one of yours?”
“I didn’t come here with anythi…” I started to say as I glance at the title, shocked.
Hylian Demonology, Vol. I.
“Sun, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked with concern in her voice.
“And...done! Try moving around the shoulder around now,” my blonde haired mechanic said with a smile on her face.
I did as I was told and found that I could barely move the auto prosthetic arm that my mechanic, Maddie, had given me.
“Hmmm. It’s still moving a little stiffly. Hold still,” Maddie said, unscrewing part of my mechanical arm and start fiddling around inside it. “Come on, you undersized grease bucket. Work with me here!”
My arm went completely limp and Maddie hissed. “Oh for the love of Nayru.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”
She sighed in annoyance. “I severed one of the fuel lines.”
“Don’t move,” she said, switching a small lever in my shoulder to remove the arm.
I flinched as I felt the arm disconnect from the nerve she had pulled to help connect my autosynth one to my torso.
“Oh, don’t be such a baby. You went through rehab just fine, and you’re flinching from a switch?” she chuckled.
I rolled my eyes at Maddie as Alice came into the room.
“Umm, Kyle, there are some people outside who want to talk with you.”
I got up from the table and headed outside when I was greeted by three figures dressed in black; two males and one female.
One of the males was an elderly man, while the other was much younger, perhaps close to my age. I couldn’t see his face as he had a hood on and a cloth around his eyes.
Perhaps he was blind? Like Alice?
The woman was wearing a White Keaton Mask to cover her face, and her trench coat practically sheathed most of her body.
“Kyle, I presume?” the elder of the two men asked.
“Who wants to know?” I replied.
The old man smiled. “My name is Mr. Morris. I hear you went to the castle about a month ago to deliver a parcel, which contained a letter and a piece of cloth with a symbol on it. Did you happen to see the design on the cloth?”
How does he know that?
“And if I did?”
The old man continued to smile. “Well, we might be able to come to an agreement. Palms?”
The other man lifted the right sleeve of his shirt to reveal a tattoo adorned on his wrist. It was a demon head with knives wrapped in chains at its throat; the same marking that was on the cloth in the letter.
I sighed. “Whaddya want?”
“We have an … acquaintance... imprisoned in the jail right now,” Palms said.
“What do you want me to do? Bust them out? I won’t break the law, even if what the letter says about you people is true.”
“That is commendable, but you’re completely wrong. We don’t want her broken out. Rather we want to know why she’s imprisoned,” the woman replied.
“And why is that?”
“You don’t need to know th—” Palms started to say before Morris waved him off.
”He deserves to know this, Palms,” Morris said before looking at me. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the assassination of Prince Link.” I nodded.
“She pulled the trigger.”
My face went blank with shock. “What?"
The woman stepped in. “Or rather that’s what the crown wants you to believe, but we want to know if it’s the truth," she explained.
She handed me a white-colored bottle. "Have her drink this before asking her. If she refuses to drink it, then you'll know she's got something to hide. Her name is Elicia Walker."
Walker? She couldn't be related to Maddie, could she?
"Okay, how am I going to get in? I'm pretty sure they won't let me walk in the front door," I asked, putting the bottle in my pocket.
"Already got you covered," she replied, handing me a note. “Take this to Princess Zelda and tell her Aniela Knight sent you."
"All right, I'll do what I can."
"Thank you." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wandered throughout the market, thinking about how I was supposed to get this note to the princess without trespassing into the castle, when I saw two familiar faces walking in the marketplace. Zelda and her bodyguard, Impa.
"Miss Zelda!"
Zelda turned toward me and smiled. "Ah, Kyle. I see your arm is feeling better."
I nodded. "Yeah, it’s feeling much better."
"Something wrong?"
"I need a favor."
"What kind of favor?"
"I need to see Elicia Walker," I replied as I handed her the note Aniela had given me. “Aniela Knight sent me."
Impa's eyes narrowed. "Let me see your wrists, boy."
Upon seeing my wrists, Zelda sighed. "All right, you can see her. I don't like going back on my word. Even if it is with traitorous scum like the Shaedravun."
The guards didn't give me any trouble as soon as they saw Zelda and Impa. They guided me around in the prison until we finally stopped in front of a cell.
"You have fifteen minutes," Zelda said. "After that, you will need to leave." I nodded as she had a guard open the cell door. As I entered the cell, the door was shut and locked behind me. On the opposite side of the room was a girl with short, spiky blonde hair tied into a short ponytail. Her bangs were covering her left eye.
"Can I help you? Or are you here to berate me, too?" she said, with a look of sadness in her eyes.
I shook my head. "No, Ms. Walker, A friend of yours asked me to see you."
"Morris wants the truth?"
"How did you—?" I asked, confused.
"Let's just say, I've been expecting this for a long time."
"Did you kill him?"
Elicia paused. "I take it you have something to give me? Something in the form of liquid?"
I put my hand in my pocket, reaching for the bottle. Upon retrieving the bottle of liquid, she unstoppered and downed it in one swig.
"Gods, that tastes like piss. Ask away," She said, shuddering from the after taste.
"Let's start with something easy first. What’s your name?"
"My name is Elicia Walker."
Okay, something a bit more complex.
"What's your younger sister, Maddie’s, middle name?"
"Maddie is my older sister, and her middle name is Elizabeth," Elicia corrected me.
"What happened on the night that Link was assassinated?" I asked, positive that whatever the liquid was, it was doing its job.
"That night, a few Shaedravun and I were under orders to hunt down a Shaedra-"
“I’m sorry, but what are Shaedra and Shaedravun?" I asked. " I've been seeing the terms pop up and I'm confused as to what they are."
"Shaedra are...abominations that seek out people and eat their souls," Elicia said with a look of disdain. "Shaedravun are men and women who have devoted their lives to hunting these abominations, and any others who threaten the innocent."
"Anyways, we had gone to the castle to hunt this Shaedra down and kill it. Unfortunately, the Shaedra was a strong one. I thought I had gotten him. But then, I saw the fucker we were supposed to kill walking through the crowd with a smug look on his face. A few of the other Shaedravun had already disappeared. There were only two of us who had remained."
"They abandoned you?" I asked, shocked.
The woman shook her head. "No, they had seen the body. At that time, they probably thought the deed was done and started to disappear. We aren't exactly trusted by many people here."
"But how could you mistake one of those...things for Link?"
"The Shaedra we were hunting wasn't just any Shaedra. We were trying to take out one of the major ones. And this one made himself look almost identical to Link. The only reason we knew it was going to be there was because one of our veterans began to have visions of it eating Zelda's soul."
"Why not explain this to them? It was clearly an accident."
"Don't you think I've tried? The only people who truly believe in Shaedra are those who have been affected by them. All these people see is a murderer and dead man. Could you tell Morris something?"
"What?"
"It's going to happen tomorrow."
The cell door opened.
"Fifteen minutes are up." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aniela punched the wall of Maddie's shop, much to Maddie's displeasure.
"Damn it!" she hollered in anger.
"We knew it was going to happen eventually, Ani," Palms said, attempting to calm her down.
"Yes, but not this soon," she hissed.
"What's going on? What's happening tomorrow?" I asked.
"Her execution," Maddie explained with sorrow in her voice. "They're going to kill her tomorrow."
My eyes widened. "What?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Aniela growled. “We’re going to stop the execution."
"What are you thinking, Aniela?" Palms asked. "I mean, I don't think we can walk up to Zelda and ask her to release Elicia. And that's if the guards don't kill us on sight."
"We can't do anything," Aniela replied, pointing to me. “But he can."
"What?!"
"Think about it, Kyle. You would be able to blend in the crowd better than we would, as the guards would be looking for us. But they wouldn't think you'd try to free her."
"But Zelda might! I told her about the favor."
"She might not think you know who we are. All she knows is that I approached you and asked to check on a friend," Aniela pointed out.
Alice interjected," Kyle, you can't just let her die. She doesn't deserve this."
I closed my eyes.
She is innocent, even if the people of Hyrule don't see it. But if I fail...
"All right, I'll do it, on one condition," I said, opening my eyes.
"Name it," Aniela replied.
"If this goes south, I want you to get Alice out of here." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It's almost time," Maddie said.
I got up from the chair. "I better get going."
"Kyle, wait," She said, handing two holsters with flintlock pistols with beautifully adorned eagles carved in them. “Take these. I was saving them for Elicia, but I think you'll need them more than I will. And they're free. Consider them as a thank you for doing this."
"I don't know what to say," I said in awe, strapping them to the back of my belt. "Thanks, Maddie."
We stood there for about a minute, when we began to hear the bell tower beginning to toll.
"I better go."
"Yeah, you've got an innocent life to spare."
I walked toward the door, waving to Maddie, thanking her again, and exiting the shop.
I followed the crowd to the where the execution was taking place. Elicia was already being brought to the gallows, and I could hear people screaming insults at her.
"Traitor!"
"Whore!"
"I hope the gods drag you straight to hell for what you did!"
A hand grabbed my shoulder. "Hey."
I looked at who grabbed my shoulder. Palms.
"Thanks for doing this, man."
"You're welcome, Palms."
"It's Jim."
"What?"
"My name is actually Jim. We just weren't sure if we could trust you so we used an alias. We would have given Aniela one but she had the letter that would help you get in the prison if Zelda heard she asked you to go in the prison."
I nodded as I heard someone beginning to speak. "Elicia Sarah Walker, you are convicted of the murder of Prince Link on December 31. What say you to these charges?"
Elicia remained silent.
"Then I pray the gods have mercy on your soul."
Elicia look toward the crowd. "I don't fear death, I welcome it."
I began to hear the drumroll as I moved through the crowd. The beat started to quicken as a man approached the lever. I started pushing people out of the way in an attempt to get to the gallows quickly. The executioner reached for the lever as I unholstered my left gun. I shot the rope as the man started to pull the lever, severing it. Upon hearing the gunshot, people started panicking around me, running in different directions. I started for the gallows to get to Elicia.
I groggily opened my eyes to find myself in a bright room with blurs of color surrounding me. As my vision unclouded, I realized the blurs were Twilight and her friends...my friends. I could see Pinkie Pie beaming in the corner of my eye.
“Morning sleepyhead.”
“Mornin’,” I mumbled, rubbing my face with my hooves. “Where am I?”
“You’re in a hospital,” Twilight explained. “You’ve kinda been out of it for three days.”
“Three da-?”
THUD.
Everypony looked over to where the sound had come from. On the other side of the window was a bird--a white phoenix.
Fluttershy was the first to comment. “Oh my, what a beautiful bird.”
“Could someone open the window to let her in?” I asked, as I noticed the bird had something in its claws.
“You know this bird?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she’s mine. Her name is Moonstar. I’m guessing she has a letter for me from Canterlot.”
The bird quickly flew in and dropped the parcel on my lap as Twilight opened the window, then quickly landed near my side. I opened the letter after petting Moonstar.
Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Hearths Warming Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 27th day of December and cordially extends an invitation to Prince Sun Light plus one guest.
The girls looked at me expectantly.
“Would you care to tell us what it says, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Apparently, I have an invitation to the Hearths Warming Gala as well as another for somepony. Anypony want a ticket?”
Everypony shook their heads.
I sighed and handed the extra to Moonstar. “Take it back, Moon.”
Everyone except Twilight looked shocked.
“Don’t you have somepony to give it to? A friend or a special somepony?” Rarity asked.
“Most of my friends are dead. And the ones who are still alive will most likely have plans that day anyway. As for a special somepony, never had one.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Ever?”
“Why do you all look so shocked?”
“Well, it’s just that we figured that a pony of your looks would have attracted somepony.”
I shrugged. ”Guess I just haven’t struck anypony’s fancy.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. Luckily, she was in the back of the room near Fluttershy, so nopony appeared to notice.
Yeah, yeah... You know it’s a line of shit. But I don’t want these girls to know who I really am. I don’t want them to think of me any differently.
“Well, well… Look who I have here.”
I silently swore as a white coated mare with a pink mane entered the room. “Hello, Redheart.”
The white mare smiled. ”I’m actually surprised to see you here, Sarge. How’s the wing?”
“My wing is fine, Redheart,” I said, slightly annoyed. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard my favorite patient was in the hospital, so I thought I’d check up on him,” she said before her face lit up. ”Oh, got something for you. I had wanted to mail it to you, but since you here…” Nurse Redheart walked out of the room and soon returned with a small package.
“Here,” she said, giving me the package. “It’s a scented candle.”
I nodded and noticed I had pairs of eyes staring at me.
“Wellllllll, what are you waiting for?” Dash asked impatiently.
Pinkie asked, “Aren’t you going to ask her?”
“Ask me what?”
I sighed. “Do you have any plans for the twenty-seventh? Because I have an extra ticket for the Hearths Warming Gala, if you want it,” I offered.
“As fun as that sounds, I have to work on that day,” she replied.” I better get back to work. It was good to see you again.”
Redheart left and the room went silent for a few minutes.
“She seemed...nice,” Fluttershy whispered.
“So, how did you and Ms. Redheart meet?” Rarity asked. “You two seemed close.”
“I got injured a few years ago and she happened to be on duty.”
Twilight started to glare at me.
I questioned her expression. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell her about what happened?” Twilight asked, annoyance clear in her voice.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play stupid. Why didn’t you tell her about the dreams?” she inquired.
“I didn’t think it was necessary,” I replied, shrugging.
“Not necessary?!” she repeated angrily, her eyes widened. “You collapsed on my floor and were out cold for three whole days, and you think that it was not necessary?”
I scooted away from her slightly. “Maybe?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and facehoofed, groaning.
“What dreams?” Pinkie asked.
I sighed. “I’ve been getting some screwed up dreams since I came here. Twilight thinks I should talk to somepony about them.”
“And he keeps refusing to talk to someone about them,” Twilight replied.
AJ gave me a questioning look. “Why haven’t you told anypony?’
I shrugged.
“They’re dreams. What harm can they do?”
Twilight’s widened with rage. “Gee, I don’t know… What if you were flying really high and you did what you did in the library? This could kill you!”
“Who the he-” I started to say as I noticed a filly starting to walk by. “-ay would I talk to, Twi?”
“You could always talk to Princess Luna,” Twilight suggested.
“Hehehe...Not happening.”
“Why not?”
“Well, for whatever reason, she hasn’t ever been able to get inside my head, and I’d prefer to keep it that way,” I replied. “And I’m sure she has more important things to deal with other than my dreams.”
“Yeah, well, these ‘dreams’ of yours are beginning scare me,” Twi said. “I could maybe understand if it happened every once in a while. But every night for the past couple weeks seems highly unlikely.”
“Well, who the hell am I supposed to talk to, Twi? The dreams aren’t all that bad.”
“I’m not so much concerned about the dreams as I am for your well-being,” Twilight responded. “Because I could at least understand if your brain just used these dreams as a coping mechanism for what you saw in Saddle Arabia. But you collapsing is dangerous.”
“And I’m not the only one who’s concerned,” she continued.” The others are as well.”
I sighed as I started to gaze out the nearby window. “I-”
To my astonishment, I saw a creature dressed in black clothes standing on a branch outside the hospital window.
A human?
The human appeared to be female and was wearing a black jacket with black jeans.The right sleeve of her jacket was rolled up and she had blonde hair that reached slightly past her shoulders, with a black cloth covering her right eye. Her skin seemed very pale, almost like porcelain. The one eye I could see appeared to be a shade of violet, but because of the distance, I couldn’t be certain. She smiled at me, and put a finger against her lips. She then turned and…
I saw the shaedravun mark on her forearm, just as she jumped off the branch.
“No!” I rushed toward the window.
The girls must have thought I was going to jump out the window, because Dash, Twilight, and Applejack grabbed me just as I reached the window. To be more accurate, AJ grabbed my tail with her teeth, Twilight grabbed my body with telekinesis, and after Dash saw me still moving, she grabbed my tail as well.
“The hell are you thinking?!?!” Twilight screamed. “Fluttershy, get a nurse before he kills himself!”
I reached the window, and looked below to find...nothing. No body, no blood on the ground, just… nothing.
I began to hear the drumroll as I moved through the crowd. The beat started to quicken as a man approached the lever. I started pushing people out of the way in an attempt to get to the gallows quickly. The executioner reached for the lever as I pulled out my left gun. I shot the rope as the man started to pull the lever, severing it. Upon hearing the gunshot, people started panicking around me, scattering in different directions. I started running for the gallows to get to Elicia. As I reached about halfway, I noticed that two guards were approaching me with swords drawn. Aniela appeared out of the crowd and knocked a guard out with the butt end of a rifle, spun around, using it to deflect an attack from the conscious guard, and put him in a chokehold.
“GO!” she ordered.
I sprinted toward the gallows. I saw a guard standing near the edge. I ran up the stairs to the right, and vaulted over the railing, I kicked the guard in the chest. Elicia was lying on the floor with her hands tied behind her back. I picked up a dagger from the guard I had just kicked in the chest and went to cut her bounds. I crouched behind her and a blade touched the left side of my neck.
Impa.
“And just what do you think you’re doing?”
I grimaced. “Saving a life.”
“She’s a killer. A criminal. She doesn’t deserve to live.”
“What did she do?”
Her dark red eyes narrowed. “She killed Link.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Were there any other charges to end in a death sentence?”
“That was enough.”
“This isn’t right. I’m not saying she shouldn’t be punished, she just doesn’t deserve to die in this way.”
“That’s not up to you. Now, I’m only going to ask you this once--drop the dagger.”
Elicia interjected, “Don’t listen to her, she’s-”
I squeezed her wrist. “I know.”
Impa raised the blade to strike me as I stood up, using my right hand to quickly draw the pistol from the right holster and turning around, I aimed at Impa’s face and pulled the trigger.
Impa howled in pain as the bullet hit her in the eye, taking several steps back. Red sparks were moving around the upper right portion of its face, particularly in the area around the eye I had shot, which she was now clutching.
“How dare you! I’ll see you imprisoned for that!”
I chuckled. ”No, you won’t, because you aren’t Impa.”
She removed her hand from her eye as her form started to change into a grey-skinned man with black hair and blood red eyes, similar to the demons I had seen in Kokiri Forest.
The demon’s voice changed to a much deeper one. “How did you know?”
“Your eyes were all wrong. Her eyes are red but yours are much darker than hers.”
It chuckled. ”How observant. Now my cover has been blown, and you need to die.”
The demon started toward me but was interrupted as he burst into flames. He started to scream in pain as the flames almost instantly extinguished. The demon looked as though it were in extreme pain as red sparks started to move around his entire body. I looked around to see what could have caused it, and saw that Aniela was standing on the left side of the gallows. She appeared to be holding something small in her right hand. I was guessing that it was the lighter I had seen her use earlier, and she used the lighter as the demon caught on fire again.
“Get Elicia. I’ve got this one,” Aniela said.
I walked over to Elicia and cut her binds.
“Thanks.”
The demon fell to his knees, as he began to laugh to himself. “Ah. Now I remember why your name sounds so familiar. We took out the Knights nine years ago. First, your mother and father, then we hunted you and your brother. Too bad he was too damn weak to control his own soul.”
Elicia sighed. “He really shouldn’t have said that.”
Aniela put the lighter in a pocket of her coat and swung her arm horizontally, saying coldly, “Ignite my passions, Firafox.”
Flames extended from her hand which turned into a golden sword with a black handle as the flames quickly died out. The blade was slightly curved and its handle was large enough that she could hold it with both hands.
How did she do that?
“Watch out!” Elicia yelled at me.
I looked up to see a two of the monsters running straight toward me My hand immediately went for my sword. As I started to draw my blade, two silver bolts whizzed over my head, the first hitting the demon that was closer to me in the head, the second the one behind him in the throat. A third demon pushed past the demon that had been shot through the throat as it gurgled on its own blood. It swiped its blade at me and I went to block the demon’s attack. It was stronger than I expected, shattering my sword and causing me to double back.
I looked at my broken weapon.” Oh, for fuck's sake !”
My assailant grinned as he decided to take a few more swings at me. I dodged the attacks but he spun around and attempted to stab me. I raised my left arm to defend myself. The blade went straight through my forearm and penetrated my shoulder. He then proceeded to pull me toward him and bite me, before a golden blade went through the back of his skull. Jimmy ran past me and pulled the golden blade out of the demon as it fell to the ground.
“Aniela, Catch!” he said, tossing the weapon to her.
Jim turned to me. “Let’s get that blade out of you. 3...2....1!”
My auto prosthetic arm went limp as Jimmy pulled the katana out of it. The blade turned to ash when it was removed.. I attempted to move my arm but to no avail.
Jimmy sighed as he handed me a dagger. “Here. Take this.”
“Zari va Yun!”
Aniela appeared to be finished with what she was fighting, as she had had stabbed the demon in the throat and spun around, rupturing its neck and causing blood to spray everywhere. She relinquished her grip on the blade and it disappeared.
“We need to leave...Now. Get Eli up.”
Jimmy nodded, walking over to Elicia and held out a hand to help her up.
“Where are we heading?” I asked.
Aniela walked toward the stairs. “The church...Alice is waiting there for you.”
“Stop right there, criminal scum!”
We turned around as guards started to enter the marketplace. Aniela jumped off the side of the gallows.
“Come on!”
After Jimmy and I jumped off the stage, Eli went to jump off as an arrow went through her right thigh.
“Son of a bitch!” she swore as she landed, falling to the ground. Jimmy immediately rushed to her.
“Run, Kyle! I got her,” he shouted, picking her up.
We started running for the church. Aniela reached the door first and held one of the double doors open for us. When Jimmy and Elicia entered the church, I heard the door close behind us, followed by a loud thud. I looked toward the source of the noise.
Standing opposite of Aniela was a hooded figure wearing a hockey mask with one hand holding a crossbow and the other on a beam that was locking the door behind us. I cautiously raised the knife in my hand and the figure in turn aimed their crossbow at me.
Aniela raised her hands. “Hey! Both of you need to calm down, we are all among friends here.”
“I’ll calm down when he lowers his weapon,” the figure stated, nodding her head toward me. Judging from the softness of the person’s voice, I would guess this person is female?
Aniela looked at me. “Kyle, please lower your arms. We really don’t have time for this.”
As if on queue, something pounded against the church doors. I lowered the knife and nodded toward them. “Well, seems that way is out of the question…I hope you have another way out of here.”
“Of course. Blood, if you wouldn’t mind?”
The woman wielding the crossbow, whom I assumed was Blood, nodded and walked off in the opposite direction.
“Kyle!”
Alice ran up to me and threw her arms around me.
“Thank the gods you’re alright! I could hear people screaming from outside.”
I heard something pound against the door as Aniela and Jimmy walked past us.
"That door isn't going to last forever. We need to leave. Maria, open it."
Blood nodded as she reached for a brazier hanging from the wall and pulled it down. The bookshelf next to it moved away from us and then to the left, revealing a staircase leading down the side of the church.
"Let's go," Aniela said.
I heard the door start to break down.
I grabbed Alice's wrist with my good arm, "Come on!"
Aniela went through first, then Alice and I, followed by Jimmy and Blood. As soon as everyone was through, Blood hit a random stone on the wall and everything went dark as the door closed behind us.
"Where did I- Ah, here it is!"
The darkness went away as Aniela flicked her lighter on. We proceeded to walk down the stairs.
"So, where are we headed?" I asked after several minutes walking.
Aniela turned her head. "We're heading for the Shaedra-"
Aniela's head snapped forward as we entered a room that had light coming from the ceiling with another hallway on the opposite side of the room. Something appeared out of nowhere, and lunged at her. Aniela dropped the lighter and caught the attacker, throwing them to the ground. Aniela flexed her right wrist, causing a small blade to come out from under her coat sleeve.
"Zari va yun," she hissed, stabbing it in the back of the head before flexing her wrist to retract the blade.
"Shaedravun Stronghold," Aniela finished her statement as she bent over to pick up her lighter.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Aniela cocked her head. "What does what mean?"
"What you said before killing that thing."
"I said rest in peace."
We continued walking and as I walked past the corpse, I got a better look. I saw that the assailant was another demon, like the ones who attacked Kokiri Forest and in the market.
"Wait."
"What's wrong, Kyle?" Alice asked, with a look of worry on her face.
I pointed at the corpse. "What is this thing?"
Aniela chuckled. "That...was a shaedra."
"A shaedra?As in-?"
"As in the things that Elicia told you about, yes. Normally, they shouldn’t be able to enter here, but these passageways haven’t been used in decades, so the runes on the walls that would prevent them from entering here are weak."
I continued to follow Aniela as Alice talked to Blood. I found out that she was Jimmy's sister, and though she seemed a little antisocial at first, she seemed like a relatively nice girl. Jimmy and Maria had been with the Shaedravun since they were twelve.Their mother was also a Shaedravun, but was killed in an ambush. They didn't talk much about their father.
Aniela stopped walking as we approached a large fortress. "We're here."
"Aren't there more of you?" I asked, confused as to why I wasn't seeing many guards. Torches appeared to be lit all around the cavern, but why no guards?
"They're around. Probably hiding. Jimmy, Mary, you should take Eli to the infirmary."
"I take it that the execution was stopped?" Morris asked
"Yes, ulzaterin. Windrider is in the infirmary as we speak."
Ulzaterin? And who's Windrider?
"Oh, dear. Is she alright?"
"She's fine. It was just an arrow through the thigh, nothing to serious."
Must be Elicia's alias, like how Palms is Jimmy's.
"That's a relief. You may leave," Morris replied, waving her off.
"There's one more thing, sir."
The old man sighed. " What is it?"
"I'd like to request that Kyle become one of us. Alice, too, if she so wishes."
Morris' eyebrows raised. "Are you certain?"
Aniela nodded. "I can vouch for him. I'm sure Eli, Maria and Jimmy can, as well."
Morris chuckled. "So that's where Blood Raven went."
Aniela turned to me. "So, do you want to join?"
"Do I really have a choice?"
"You always have a choice."
I thought about it and sighed. "Okay."
" Alright. I'll show you two where you'll be staying. I'll come get you in the morning."
--Timeskip: Next Morning--
Aniela led us into a room with Morris, Jimmy, Maria, and one other person I didn't recognize. He was a medium-sized hylian with brown curly hair with a cane. And he did not look pleased.
"I don't recall seeing this one before. Who recruited this man?"
Aniela replied. "I did. And practically everyone in this room can vouch for him, so shut it, Maxis."
Morris spoke, "Initiates, each of you has been selected to become shaedravun. Some of you came by choice, others by the ill will of fate. You have each shown great potential, but you have one final test before you can become true shaedravun. You must drink the blood of our enemy."
One of the other initiates scoffed, "Are you joking?"
"The Binding is not something you should scoff at, Mr. Hannock, considering that it can kill you," Maria replied.
The entire room went silent after she said that.
"Yes, you heard me correctly. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. You will have a chance of dying. If you were meant to be one of us, you'll live. If not, well...I'll pray for you," Maria finished as two shaedravun brought in a shaedra to a basin on the far side of the room. Aniela gripped it by the hair, and pulling its head over the basin, slit its throat. The shaedra’s blood poured into the basin until the body could bleed anymore. As it was pulled away, Aniela dipped a chalice into the blood. After filling the chalice with blood, Aniela handed it to Morris.
"Starve thy blade from the flesh of an innocent."
Jimmy spoke next, "Never divulge our secrets nor share the true purpose of our work."
"Always remain hidden-even in plain sight," Maria added.
"Do so until death. This is our creed- the laws which we shaedravun live by,"Morris stood there, waiting for something. “Now, who amongst you is prepared to take the first step?”
A hylian with long brown hair stepped forward. “I will.”
The old man smiled and handed him the chalice. “Then drink, Rill.”
Rill took the chalice with both hands and took a long sip before handing it back to Morris. A few seconds passed after he swallowed, and he started coughing. He proceeded to cough more violently, before falling to his knees as red sparks started moving about his body, and he began to vomit blood. He looked up as Maxis put the tip of the cane against Rill’s forehead.
“Zari va yun.”
There was a loud bang and Rill fell backward with a hole in his head. Aniela turned to me.
“You’re next, Darius.”
I was confused until I realized she was talking to a goron behind me.
“I cannot do this,” the goron said, terrified from what he witnessed.
Aniela walked toward Darius and pushed me aside. “You must do this.”
“There is no glory in this. I- I have a child!” Darius stammered, raising his fists.
“Don’t even thi- Oof!” Aniela started before Darius punched her in the jaw. Aniela’s mask shattered from the force of the punch, revealing her face. She had a black cloth over her right eye, and her left was a dark shade of violet. She removed her hood, and blonde hair fell down to her shoulders.
“I’m sorry,” Aniela said with little pity in her voice.
Aniela used her left hand to push his arm out of the way, flexed her right wrist, and stabbed him in the chest, “Zari va yun, Darius.”
“Who’s next?”
The room remained quiet as I stepped forward. Morris smiled and dipped the chalice into the blood. He handed it to me and I drank it. Returning the cup to him, I swallowed the blood. It burnt as it went down. I then felt an excruciating pain as red sparks started moving throughout my entire body, causing it to bend in ways it would not normally. I collapsed as my legs started to break and then fix themselves. I felt the same pain run through my left arm, as though blades had been placed in a fire and then used to carve into my skin. I looked at my left arm and I thought I saw something carving into the metal.
Why do I feel this? My arm is a fake!
I saw Maxis slowly limp towards me and twist his cane, causing something shiny to pop out and bounce when it hit the ground. He placed the tip against my temple.
“Zari va-”
Mary interrupted him by placing a hand on his forearm. “Wait, Maxis.”
"Oui, bien sûr ." I muttered sarcastically before taking a swig of coffee and placing the mug back into the table.
Twilight smirked, "Rugueux matin?"
Shit.
"Oui."
She chuckled, "I didn't know you spoke prench. When did you learn?"
"Took a trip down to Prance some months after I got back from Saddle Arabia. Learned the language on the way."
I finished my drink and trotted over to put the cup in the sink,"I'm gonna take a shower."
I walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs toward the bathroom. Grabbing a towel from under the sink, I hung it on the nearby rail and stepped into the tub to take a quick shower before heading to work. As I began to step out to dry myself off, the door to the bathroom opened and Twilight entered. I quickly stepped back into shower, almost slipping in the still wet tub.
"What the hell are you doing in here, Twilight?!"
A toothbrush began to levitate as Twilight replied, “ Brushing my teeth?”
“I realize this is your house and all, and you can do as you please, but couldn’t you have waited like five more minutes til I was dried off?”
She smirked, “Oh, come on, it’s not like I haven’t seen any of it before.”
"I don't see what the big deal is...It's not like I'd be seeing anything new."
I facehoofed.
“Will you just please brush your teeth and go please? I would like to start heading to work soon.”
Twilight continued to smirk and proceeded to brush her teeth as I grabbed the towel and began to dry myself off inside the shower.
“Sho, ave you talked to Cabence latey?"
"Not lately, No...have you?"
I heard her spit into the sink, "Apparently her and Shining Armor are dating now."
"That's been going on for a while now."
"What?!?!"
"You... didn't know?"
"Of course not! How the hell do you?"
"Shining and I had a lot of time to talk in Saddle Arabia. In one of our conversations, He asked me if I had a special somepony waiting for me back home, I said no then asked if he did. That's when he told me," I replied, before continuing, " I thought you knew."
Twilight spit into the sink again, "Arggh... I guess I'm just mad that you found out before me. I mean, I'm his sister for ponies sake. Granted you would have found out either way, due to Cadence being your sister and all...but still."
I chuckled while drying my mane, "Hopefully, he doesn't pull this crap if they get married and you only find out from the invitation."
"I'll kill him."
"Please, you? Kill Shining Armor? What are you gonna do? Lecture him to death?" I said, hanging up the towel before stepping out of the shower.
Twilight glared at me, "Hey!"
I grinned, "I kid, I kid. I'm sure you'd make an excellent mass murderer via lectures. Tell me, do they have any books on the subject?"
One of Twilight's eyes began to twitch,"I'm going to shove this toothbrush so far up your-"
I smirked, "Careful. Spike could be on the other side of that door. Who knows what he'll think just with you being in the bathroom with me."
She let out a sigh of annoyance, "One: He's not here. Two: Don't you have somewhere else to be? Like, Oh, I don't know... WORK?!?!"
"Well, I did, but then I got engaged in this invigorating conversation."
She looked toward the ceiling, as if questioning the heavens, "How are you not fired?"
"Guess being good friends with one of the boss' friends helps out a bit...Either that or I’m sexy as fuck.”
"Will you just go already? PLEASE?!?!”
"Are you sure you want that? I've got plenty of time to get to work. I could-"
"I swear to Celestia,if you don't get out of here-" Twilight said, raising the toothbrush for emphasis.
"Okay, Okay. See you later, Twi." I said, exiting the bathroom and down towards the library front door. As I stepped outside, I felt a slight chill against my coat.
As I walked down to the marketplace, I could hear somepony calling out to me.
“Sun!” I turned my head in the direction I heard the voice. A small white filly with a pink and purple mane was running toward me. As she approached me, she slowed down started breathing heavily.
“Can I help you?”
“Rarity wants you to come to the boutique right away. She says it’s important.”
“Rarity!” The filly’s voice echoed throughout the store.
“Coming, Sweetie.”
I heard hoofsteps a few seconds later as Rarity came into view. She had a pair of red glasses on, as well as measuring tape hanging around her neck.
“I did as you asked, can I go now?” The filly asked impatiently.
Rarity started walking down the stairs,“I suppose,but I-”
The little filly zoomed past me and out the door.
“I WANT YOU BACK HERE BEFORE SUNDOWN!” Rarity shouted sternly as she teleported right next to me. I winced as my left ear began to ring. Rarity noticed my pained expression, “Oh, darling, I am SO sorry. Teleportation was never my forte.”
“It’s alright. What did you want to see me for?”
“I need your measurements.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Measurements? For what?”
“Why, for your suit to the gala, of course.”
“You called me over here, saying it was urgent, over a fu-” I asked, annoyed, “Are you serious?”
Rarity looked at me quizzically, “Whatever do you mean?”
“You couldn’t have picked a different day, like say the weekend, when I don’t have as much to do or places to be?”
She just stared at me.
“What?”
“Darling, today’s Saturday, it IS the weekend.”
I repeated myself, “What?”
“See? December 6th, 1862,” She said, levitating a nearby calendar. I could clearly see that it was, in fact, Saturday, December 6th, 1862.
“Where did all the time go?” I thought aloud.
Rarity shrugged, “Who knows? Everypony loses track of time at some point.”
“Now If you would be so kind as to follow me?” She added, as she went up the stairs. I followed her up the stairs toward. I could tell that this was a workroom as we walked inside.
“What do you need me to do?”
“Just stand still and unfurl your wings.” She said, levitating a nearby clipboard and quill. The measuring tape hanging on her neck levitated as well and began to hover over to me. I spread out my wings as she circled around me like a bird of prey, stopping only to write any measurements she took. She measured the length of my torso as well as width of my waist, the bottom of my wing and slightly below my shoulder.
She looked over the measurements again, “ What do you want the coloring to be?”
I shrugged, “I don’t really care.”
Rarity brought a hoof to her chin as she stared intently at me- or perhaps she was just trying to visualize the coloring of the suit on me. Either way, it was starting to make me uncomfortable,”Perhaps green? No, no… That wouldn’t do at all. That would look simply awful on you.”
“Rarity.”
“I suppose black could work, but that would be so-” She paused for a moment, searching for the proper words to her thoughts, “ Normal for lack for better term.”
I sighed, “Rarity-”
“Hmmm. Maybe I could-”
“RARITY!” I raised my voice just loud enough to get her attention,”I. Don’t. Care. Just pick whatever you think would look best.”
She huffed, “You all are going to give me an aneurysm. On the one hoof, I have the girls who ask for six very specific dresses and on the other I have you who’s not being specific enough.”
“Twilight and the others asked for specific dresses?”
“Well, no. I was referring more to a previous… incident we had about a year ago.”
“I take it this was around the time of the Grand Galloping Gala?” I asked, remembering what AJ had told me a few months ago.
“Yes, Not one of my most memorable nights.”
“It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
“Yes, I suppose it did, but I also spent a majority of the night trying to find some shred of decency in a stallion.”
“Anypony I might know?
“Celestia, I hope not. I would not wish Blueblood on anypony.”
I groaned,” You wouldn’t happen to be talking about Prince Blueblood?”
She nodded,” Have you met him?”
I sighed heavily, “I’ve had the severe displeasure of being in the same vicinity, yes. What a prick.”
“That’s quite the understatement,” She gave a light giggle, “Now…”
A sharp pain pierced my brain, “Do Momma a favor and just die!”
I raised my hoof to my forehead, wincing as I felt a sharp pain in my skull.
I was in a bar with my face slammed into the counter and a cold iron barrel against my left temple. There was a loud bang, followed by the sound of glass shattering. I heard someone behind me to gurgle as pressure on my back.I turned around to see my assailant continuing to gag and clutch his throat as he backed away. A silver bolt was protruding through his fingers and a second bolt impaled itself in his skull.
“Is everything alright, darling?”
I found myself back in Rarity’s shop.I shook my head, attempting to clear my thoughts.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine. Just a headache,” I lied.
“Okaaay,” She replied, not sounding entirely convinced. She continued on the conversation we were having, ”What color do you want the suit to be?”
I groaned,”Rarity…”
“Will you please pick a color?” She begged, “It’s going to kill me!”
I sigh, “Just give me the standard black,I guess.”
“Are you sure? I’d be willing to do something a little bit bol-” Rarity’s voice trailed off after I gave her a look, “Alright, Black it is then.”
“Alright, we should be set,” She said, while jotting down some final notes.
“I’m going to go to AJ’s to see if she needs any help on the farm.”
“Goodbye, Sun.”
“See you later, Rarity.” -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After I entered Sweet Apple Acres, I walked about the orchard in search of Big Mac or Applejack, but I could not find either of the Apple siblings. After walking some more, I began to hear a sound. It almost sounded like mixture between a snore and a neigh. Following the noise, I was lead toward a snoozing (and standing) Applejack. She had one of the apple-haulers strapped around her abdomen and she was facing away from a tree so I could tell she was supposed to be in the orchard, bucking trees.
“Applejack,” I said, attempting to rouse her and got no response.
“Applejack,” I repeated a little louder and still, getting no response, I got a little closer
“APPLEJACK!”
Applejack’s eyes snapped wide open as she turned and kicked me in the chest.
I heard a loud roar as I knocked off my feet. A human male turned around as his body started to change. His left arm was extended toward a nearby wall, the muscles in the arm and hand started shuddering and expanding. All of the sudden, his enlarged hand wrapped around my torso and started slamming me into the ground.
“FUCK, IT’S GOT ME!”
“Crusher’s slammin’ Kyle!”
“Are you ok, sugarcube?
I blinked, as I raised a hoof to block the sun coming down into my eyes. “Sugar, talk to me.”
“I’m fine, just got a little winded. That’s all,” I responded, sitting up.
“Oh, good,” AJ said, before she started to nod off again.
“You ok?”
“Huh?” Applejack stirred and looked around before turning to me. Her mane was noticeably messy, even for her.Her eyes had bags underneath them.
“ Oh,sorry. I didn’t-,”She yawned, “I didn’t get a whole lotta sleep last night.”
Her head started to fall back down as she started to neigh in her sleep again.
“AJ!”
“Hmmm?”
“Alright, come on. We’re getting you to bed.”
“What? No, somepony’s got to buck these apples.”
“Yeah, and you’re not helping anypony by snoozing on the job.”
“But nopony else is here. Big Mac went to town to sell produce, and Granny’s out of town visiting some of our relatives in Appleloosa.”
“I’m here,” I said, raising a hoof.
“But today’s your day off! I ain’t gonna ask you to-”
“AJ, You hired me to help out where needed, and I can see that you need help right now.”
Applejack opened her mouth to protest before I placed a hoof on it, “Look...AJ, I know you don’t like others to do work for you, it’s one of the many reasons I like you. However, I’m going to be just as adamant about this. We can either stand here and argue all afternoon… or you can go take the nap you sorely need.”
She stood there with her mouth opened for a few moments before sighing, “Fine.”
Applejack turned around to start walking back home before I slid under her side “HEY!! What are you-”
I stuck my head between her front legs, “I’m just making sure you get home,” I said before sitting down,” Climb on.”
AJ sighed in annoyance but lifted her leg over my tail, “ I can walk, ya know,” S
I smirked, “Yes, I know that. Just making sure you don’t try to sneak off.”
“LOOK OUT BELOW!”
Oh, no. My eyes widened as a great force slammed us onto the ground.
“Ouch. That one hurt,” Rainbow complained before chuckling nervously, “Sorry,guys. Haven’t quite nailed that one yet.”
“Consarn it, Rainbow. The heck are you trying to do, kill us?” Applejack complained, pushing our assailant off of us.
“No, I was just practicing a new flying trick for the Wonderbolts and, uh,” Rainbow paused,” The sun got in my eyes…”
I rolled my eyes at Rainbow’s excuse as AJ helped me up off the ground.
“Welp, I’m gonna go now. Later, guys!” Rainbow said, taking off at great speed.
Applejack’s eyes slowly followed Rainbow path through the sky, “I’m gonna give her an earful the next time I see her.”
“But first..sleep,” I said, chuckling. To which she responded with a grunt but nodded. She started to stumble toward the house.
“Are you sure you should be walking?”
“I’m fine,” Applejack snapped, before sighing apologetically, “Really, I am. Rainbow rammin’ into us woke me up enough to-”
We both jumped as we heard loud cawing noises. As we looked around the sky, we saw a murder of crows flying north toward Canterlot.
“That’s… odd. Don’t birds generally head south for the winter?” Applejack questioned aloud.
“ I don’t know. I think it varies between species,” I replied, “ I’ll have to ask Twilight next time I see her. Or maybe Fluttershy knows.”
As we approached the house, Applejack spoke up, “I’ll go take a nap on the couch. If y’all need something, just come and ask.”
Later that day, I had gotten a decent amount of trees bucked as the sun had started to reach it’s peak. A filly’s voice had called out to me.
“Hey,” I turned to see AJ’s younger sister standing right behind me, “Where’s Applejack?”
“She’s in the house.”
Applebloom’s facial expression quickly changed from curiosity to worried, “Is she alright?”
“Yeah, she’s just resting,” I replied, nodding my head,” Is something wrong?”
“ No, she’s just been… a little jumpy lately.”
“She’s probably just tired. I mean, Hearth’s Warming is around the corner, so business is probably booming.”
Applebloom scratched the back of her head, “I suppose.”
I walked over to another tree to continue applebucking, while still carrying on with the conversation, “So what have you been doing?’
“Tryin’ to get my cutie mark.”
I smiled, “Oh, really? And how’s the search going?”
The little filly hung her head, “Not so good.”
“How so?”
“I don’t know. It just feel like we’re constantly wandering around in the dark all the time.”
“We?” I questioned, stopping for a moment to tilt my head.
Applebloom nodded, “Uh-huh. Some friends and I go out crusading for our cutie marks.”
Applebloom and I continued to chat as I worked, and she told me stories of previous “crusades” she had been on with two other fillies, a pegasus named Scootaloo and a unicorn named Sweetie Belle. We soon realized that the sun was starting to set, and we continued our, conversation as we walked. As we got closer to the house, I could hear a dog barking.
Applebloom cocked her head, “Is that Winona?”
“I don’t know. Let’s go see what she’s barking at.”
Upon entering the house, I followed the sound of barking and growling toward the living room. Applejack was still sleep, and looking around the room, nothing was in the room for Winona to bark at.
I reach out with my hoof to pat her head, “It’s ok, girl, there’s nothin-”
Winona spun around just as my hoof was about to touch her head and her mouth wrapped around my hoof. She released my hoof as soon as she recognized me and realized what she was doing before she bit down.
I trotted over to Applejack and attempted to wake her up.
“Hey, AJ,” I said, poking her with a hoof.
“Hmmm?”
“Time to get up.”
Applejack grunted and sat up.
“What time is it?” She asked, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
I glanced at a nearby clock, “7:21.”
Her eyes widened, “What?!?! Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”
I shrugged, “You needed your rest. I'm surprised Winona didn't wake you up with all her barking.”
“Winona was barking?”
Applebloom nodded, “Yep, You must have been pretty tired.”
“I better start cookin’ dinner,” Applejack said, “Are you stayin’?”
My stomach grumbled in response, “I’m feeling a little hungry, so I guess I’ll stay for a bit longer.”
I sat down on the couch, leaned back, and closed my eyes.
The aroma of apple-related food soon wafted through the house.
“SOUP’S ON, EVERYPONY!”
Applebloom hungrily rushed toward the kitchen.
I sat up and walked toward the kitchen. As I entered the hallway, I heard a door close behind me. Turning around, I saw Big Mac walking toward the stairs.
“Hey, Mac.”
Big Mac grunted.
“Long day?”
“Eyyup. Tell AJ to save me some food?”
“Yup.”
I continued heading over toward the kitchen. AJ was humming a tune as she finished placing food on the table. It looked like a soup of some kind. Applebloom struck up a conversation.
“So why don't you fly?”
“APPLEBLOOM!” Applejack reached back with her tail and smacked her sister in the back of the head.
“Ow! What was that for!?” Applebloom exclaimed.
“Don’t be rude,”
I chuckled, “It’s ok, AJ. It was a honest question, and one that was bound to come up at some point,” I grasped my left wing and looked over to Applebloom,” I injured my wing a few years ago and flying around can prove...difficult, especially this time of year.”
Applebloom cocked her head, “Difficult? But yer wing looks fine.”
Applejack fidgeted nervously, “Why don’t we stop all this yappin’ and get eatin’?”
I gazed down at the meal laid out in front of us. It consisted of a soup with apples and carrots. Something simple and warm.
“It looks and smells great.”
Applejack smiled at my comment, “Thank ya kindly.”
I sat in silence and ate my food whilst Applejack and Applebloom conversed.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and play? I want to talk to Sun about somethin’.”
“Sure,” Applebloom nodded and left the room. I soon heard hoofsteps going upstairs getting quieter. Applejack picked up the two empty bowls and walked over to me to grab mine.
“Sorry.”
“What do you have to be sorry for?” I asked, cocking my head in confusion.
Applejack sighed.
“I didn’t think she’d be so...brazen as to ask you something so personal.”
I chuckled, “It’s fine. She’s a kid. She’s just curious.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” She said, giving a small chuckle as she walked over to the sink, “Thanks helping out today, by the way.”
I scratched the back of my head. “It was nothing.”
Applejack started to clean the bowls, “Still...Thank you, I’m sure there was other things you could have been doing.”
I shrugged, “Like I said, I’m here to help.”
“Yeah, well... Big Mac and I can handle the orchard tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I said, getting up, “I should probably head home, it’s getting pretty dark.”
“Stay safe.”
I exited the house and walked through the orchard. As I reached the center of town, I felt a chill run down my spine as if somepony was watching me.
“Who’s there?!”
I turned around and found nopony was in sight, but was greeted by the sound of screaming crows.
More crows?
Deciding it was just my imagination, I turned back and continued to walk back to the library, though I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. As I approached the library, I saw that there was barely any light coming from inside, save for a dim light coming from Twilight’s room. I entered the darkened library.
I should probably check on Twilight.
I walked up the stairs to Twilight’s room and knocked on the door a couple times.
“Twi?” Gaining no response, I gently opened the door. The room was barely lit by a single candle on Twilight’s desk, who was sitting over by her desk with her head resting on her desk. I made an attempt to wake her up as I moved closer to her.
“Twi?”
“Hmmm?” She mumbled.
“It’s night time. Let’s get you to bed,” I nodded my head toward her bed.
She mumbled incoherently, “Mmmmm the muffin is in the wall.”
What.
I sighed, “Alright. Let's go.”
I leaned her back far enough to stick my head between her front legs so I could pull her across the room toward her bed. Gripping one of her arms for support, I slowly dragged Twilight to her bed. Once we reached the edge of her bed, I lifted the both of us a few feet off the ground and hovered in midair, gripping one of her hind legs so I could keep her suspended until I got her over the bed. Flipping over, I lowered the both of us down to Twilight’s bed and gently released Twilight into her bed. With Twilight now in her bed, I grabbed a blanket to cover her over with and walked over to her desk to blow the candle out. As I drew closer to the desk, I felt a slight chill coming from the window. After blowing the candle out, I reached for the window to shut it. As I attempted to shut the window, a swarm of black birds flew upwards. I reared back… and slammed the back of my head head on the ground.
“Owwww,” I grunted, sucking my breath in through my teeth, before looking to Twilight. She was still fast asleep, snoring softly.
“Third time today,” I muttered, whilst getting up and quietly closed the window and latching it shut before walking out of Twilight's room and into mine.
