Troy is an abused, kid, when he wakes up in Ponyville hospital with the mane six, he honestly couldn't hope for anything better
Troy is, or was, a ordinary 13 year old, aside from the fact that his family abused him, which, having a mum, dad, two older brothers and an older sister, is more hassle than a 13-year-old should have to put up with, so when he ends up in Ponyville, surrounded by six pastel coloured ponies, he honestly couldn't ask for a better present.
Rated t for violent scene's | Chapter with swearing will be marked with an asterisk*
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You know you’re having a bad day when you wake up in a hospital bed, you know you’re having a weird day when you wake up in a hospital bed surrounded by ponies who eyed you down looking concerned but before we get into that let me tell you who I am, my name is Troy...Schitzkid. I hate my last name. Anyways, it had been a normal day for me, wake up get yelled at by unloving parents, forced to do most everything before leaving for school where I still had to worry about my angry siblings, be forced to walk home with them but like always, I was far behind them and as I started falling really far behind, I rushed after them as we were crossing a road, getting knocked down out by a car.
I just woke up a few minutes ago and when my eyes adjusted, the first thing I saw was a blue, flying, rainbow maned pony with red eyes and a tattoo of a cloud firing out a red, orange and yellow lightning bolt. At the sight I nearly screamed, the only thing stopping me was the shock, so much shock that I couldn't speak.
I slowly adjusted my body into a sitting position and saw five other ponies, but it is too much to tell you all at once so I will break it down. To my left there was another winged horse with a light pink mane and tail, with 3 butterflies on her rear and teal blue eyes.
Beside the winged-horse I saw a unicorn, yes unicorn, with a white coat, her mane and tail a violet colour, both of which were fairly curly. Her eyes were blue with light blue eyeshadow above them, the unicorn had 3 diamonds on her rear and air of elegance about her.
At the foot of my bed was a pink pony, with a vibrant pink mane and presumably vibrant pink tail, I couldn’t tell as the bed obscured my vision, but what I could tell is that there was duct tape covering her mouth. She had no wings or horn, her eyes were a lighter shadow of blue than the unicorns.
Near the pink pony on the right side of the hospital bed was an orange pony who, like the pony beside her, had no wings or horn. The pony had three apples on her flank, emerald green eyes and blonde mane and tail, and on top of her mane was a Stetson hat, behind her I could see my school bag and coat…and clothes.
Right beside me on my right was a lavender unicorn with magenta eyes and a purple mane, with a pink highlight in it, that carried on till the end of her tail, matching up perfectly, on her flank, there was a pinkish star with 5 smaller white stars surrounding it. This unicorn was the first to speak, yes speak, with worry evident in her eyes.
“Are you ok? We found you in the Everfree Forest unconscious, you’re not to hurt are you?” she asked, panic in her voice, and while I was feeling like my mind would explode about how much impossible stuff was happening, I didn’t leave the question unanswered.
“…Ok, I’m going insane, A) yes I’m ok, B) what is Everfree? C) What upside down world have I stumbled upon?” I said, back against the wall, my head throbbing, likely from impact with the ground.
“Upside down…never mind, to answer your first question, Everfree is one of the most dangerous places on all of Equestria, it’s lucky we found you.” The unicorn told me.
“Equestria? Never heard of it.” I said, shocking all the equines.
“Truly? I thought everyone knew of Equestria, it’s the most dominant continent on Equus.” The white unicorn told me before my eyes widened as I realised something.
“Continent? Oh god, don’t tell me Equus is the name of the planet?!?” I said, half hopeful and half freaked out.
“Ah’m afraid it is pardner, why?” the orange mare asked in a southern accent.
“Dammit. Never mind, anyways, I’m Troy, and you are?” I asked the group, before the lavender unicorn spoke up again.
“Well, I’m Twilight Sparkle, this is Applejack, this is Pinkie Pie, this is Rarity, this is Fluttershy and above you is Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said as she went in backwards order of who I described.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you all, but, is there any chance you know how long I’ll have to stay here.” I asked the group, but before they could answer, a masculine voice came from the door.
“3 more days, and I must say, you have recovered amazingly fast Mr. Troy.” said a pony with a grey coat, green eyes, a black mane wearing a doctor’s coat.
“Oh, Dr. Boneless, hopefully you have good news.” Said Twilight.
“Some good news, some bad I’m afraid, the good news is that Troy, as I believe he said his name was, is practically fully healed, the hospital just need to make sure nothing was missed, the bad news is that when troy is dismissed, there will be no place for him to stay.” The doctor said, a frown on his muzzle, before he left abruptly.
“Well, he’s not wrong, I’m pretty much an alien.” I said, regaining the attention of the six mares.
“Then we need to change that, personally I have a spare guest bedroom, feel free to use my house as a place of residence, free of charge of course.” Rarity said, before Twilight chuckled.
“You generosity really knows no bounds, does it Rarity” Twilight said while she was chuckling.
“Well, I suppose I don’t really have much other choice, I can’t live on the streets and I think an orphanage is a little too much for me.” I sighed.
“Too much for you, whatever do you mean by that, darling?” Rarity asked me as I started to stretch my arms.
“Just some head issues, I would rather skip over them.” I told her. I wasn't entirely comfortable with it.
“If you’re sure darling, anyways, visiting hours are nearing their end, we must go, though some us will visit you, I have a feeling you may need it.” Rarity told me, as she and the others said their goodbye.
As they left, I stood up, noticing I had a patient’s gown on, my only regular clothing being my boxers. I walked over to my bag and pulled out a rectangular object, which I pressed a button on and a light emitted from the screen, as I looked to an icon on the screen that showed a green battery with a symbol in the middle.
“Charging? How the hell?!” I muttered as I saw it, before swiped or tapped my finger on it several times, as I noticed several things. “Amazing Wi-Fi but there is no networks at all here…”
Eventually I set the phone down and an end table beside the bed and climbed back in, before using the rectangular device called a phone, managing to get up a book to read as I passed the time.
True to their word, the girls had visited all three days, and I got to know somethings about them, like how Rarity was an amazing seamstress or how Twilight was the personal protégé of the princess of Equestria, though there was apparently no queen.
On my final day, all six of the girls showed and we left, me finally clad in actually clothing, though Rarity didn’t approve as they were the most torn and beaten things she had ever laid eyes on, she said that I was getting new clothes when we finally got back.
As for what my clothes were, the consisted of and black Adidas top, grey McKenzie hoodie and grey McKenzie tracksuit trousers, my shoes were simple blue trainers, the only thing that wasn’t torn was my favourite part of my clothing, my black fingerless leather gloves.
I didn’t pay much attention to anything other than the girls, but I noticed that we were getting a lot of stares, likely due to me as I couldn’t see another human around.
When we finally reached Rarity’s home, which doubled as a boutique, the girls said their farewells and told me that we would explore Ponyville to get me used to it tomorrow.
As me and Rarity entered, I heard a bell ring above as we stepped into a reception area, before we headed through a backdoor to a living room with a comfy looking couch, armchair and coffee table, behind the living area was a kitchen, and then there was a set of stairs that we went up and passed a room that I was told was Rarity’s, we then stopped at the middle room, with a door on the opposite wall directly facing it, with a room right at the end of the hall.
“Ok troy, this is your room, just across is where my little sister stays when she comes up, at the end of the hall is the bathroom, I’ll let you unpack.” Said Rarity as I stepped into the room.
There was a four-poster bed in the middle of the back wall, with blue curtains. Beside the bed on the left was an oak wood desk, at the foot of the bed was a chest and on the right was a stand of sorts for figurines. All in all, I liked the room, the slightly pink wallpaper was a bit off-putting but I ignored it.
Certainly, tomorrow will hold some fun, but for now, I need to sleep.
It took me a couple of seconds to realise where I was as I woke up, but then the memories from yesterday flooded back as I stood up, reminding me of the impossible few days I went through but now my head was clearer, it freaked me out a bit more yet only a little bit as I had some time to adjust to the strange set of affairs.
I walked out the room, and immediately headed for the bathroom, leaving my clothes in the chest. As I washed up, I noticed a cup with a note on it, some toothbrushes were inside the cup. the note said…
‘Troy, There is a blue toothbrush, it’s yours. Rarity.’
“Heh, good, wouldn’t want to spread germs.” I said aloud to myself, as my side itched.
I scratched at my side where I felt an itch and it felt as though I was picking at something, so proceeded to lift the bottom of my shirt to see an oddly shaped scar on my side, it looked like a ring in the middle, with fire coming out the top and what I assumed to be lightning coming out the bottom.
“What the hell!” I exclaimed in surprise when I saw that before I heard a reply. “Well, certainly close.” A strange and distorted voice said behind me before I turned the fastest I ever had in my life and saw nothing.
“Oh God, please don’t tell me I’m going crazy!” I whisper, before turning around proceeding to brush my teeth, trying to convince myself I was just still half asleep and hearing things. I wasn’t successful.
“Oh darling, you're awake…and still in those rags you call clothing, no offence. You should take them off.” Rarity told me and I immediately blushed, sensing that ponies didn’t need to worry about indecency due to the way they stand.
“No, sorry, but the short answer to why my anatomy makes it embarrassing.” I quickly explained, as Rarity, who immediately clicked on, blushed severely.
“Oh, uh, oh my, I see, I um, sorry!” Rarity blurted out, while I myself was looking away out of embarrassment. “But this means I definitely will have to make some new clothes, any, um, recommendations?”
“Let’s see, honestly I’ve always been a fan of flannel & plaid but then again I also really liked stuff like leather jackets and that, well, except for Jeans, especially denim, I HATE those things!” I told her while picking at my gloves.
“Well, then I think I will start now, better to have them done sooner rather than later, oh, and the girls will be here in about 2 hours.” Rarity told me.
“Ok then, but I doubt I will be in any new clothing then.” I said with a small smirk.
“Oh, never doubt the capability of yours truly, darling!” rarity told me, despite her smiling I could see in her eyes that she was daring me to try her. “I hope you will be able to entertain yourself in that time!!”
“I should be able to, don’t worry about it.” I said as I took out my phone, which had stopped charging. “Eh, why not some Tetris” I muttered to myself before I tapped the screen and it changed to something more colourful with blocks all over the screen
Roughly two hours had already passed and my phone had started its charging process again, don’t ask me why as I have no idea. Rarity was at the door talking to what I could only assume was the girls. I was soon proven right when they all came through, with some clothing being levitated behind them.
“Here are your clothes Troy, and as soon as you get dressed we can head out for Ponyville.” Rarity told me while ‘handing’ me my clothes, fortunately, after three days in hospital I had already found out about unicorn magic and such, so it wasn’t the most confusing thing I had seen.
“Thanks, Rarity…you wouldn’t happen to have a changing screen would you?” I asked, and to my surprise, Rarity simply pointed behind me and sure enough there was a changing screen there.
“Good, I’ll be done in a few minutes.” I said as I slipped my gloves off and put them on an end table beside the couch.
Instead of describing getting dressed, I will tell you what my clothing was. The T-shirt was a simple grey plaid shirt with a breast button pocket and black stripes, the trousers were black trackies, or since Equestria seems a bit American-like, sweatpants? Either way, they were really comfortable.
Rarity also made some simple white Hi-top trainers, but my favourite piece of the ensemble was the jacket because Rarity had taken my advice and used some leather, as in, made it a leather jacket with three zip pockets sideways.
“Wow, this is really, REALLY good Rarity, thanks.” I told my unicorn friend, who beamed brightly at me while the rest of our friends complimented her on what she had done.
“Why thank you, darling, to be honest with you, I wasn’t sure how it would look but I must say, you look amazing in it, it really suits you.” She told me and I chuckled, before grabbing my gloves and slipping them on, though something felt different about them but I ignored it, not noticing the small bit of light that was inside them for a brief second.
“Well, time to head out.” Twilight said while walking out the door.
“Wait up for the rest ah us, Twi.” Applejack said as I followed after them.
Soon enough we were out and about in Ponyville. From what I could see, it was like a large village. The houses certainly made it seem like one from long ago. We were only about 30 yards away from Rarity's house.
“Welcome to Ponyville proper. Shall l we start the tour?” Rarity asked, and I replied simply by nodding my head.
“Great, let's get going then.” Twilight spoke up before we continued on. Before long we came across a building that looked like it was made out of confectionery.
“What’s that building?” I asked, the design piquing my curiosity. Finally, pinkie pie finally spoke up, though, in hindsight, I wish she had not as I nearly had a heart attack.
“Oh, that’s Sugarcube Corner it makes lots of really really, really delicious sweets and OHHH you have to try one come on their super amazing it’s like your taste buds go on an adventure all by themselves like you won’t believe how good they are come on come COME ON!!!” Pinkie burst out without once taking a breath.
“PINKIE!!! Refrain yourself from those outbursts, you just scared our new friend, look at his face!” Rarity said in a rather irritated tone. She was not wrong as my face did indeed show my fright.
“N-No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting it, that's all.” I told Rarity. I slowly recomposed myself before asking the question I just knew pinkie wanted me too. “If they're as good as pinkie says then can we try one?”
“I don’t see why not.” Said Twilight and all of us headed into Sugarcube Corner. Inside were many ponies, the vibrant mismatched colours were a bit of a toll on the eyes at first. All of them started straight at me for a total ten seconds before dismissing him.
“Give me a second Troy-boy.” Said Pinkie as she slipped into the back and not too long after she came back out with what troy could only imagine were the owners of the establishment.
“Troy-boy? Well, that’s a first.” I said, not really talking to anyone but myself.
“That’s Mister and Misses Cake that Pinkie’s brought out. They own the place.” Rainbow told me.
The couple came over as the girls lead me to an empty table. Eventually, we sat in a table with the owners next us.
“Mr and Mrs Cake, meet Troy. Troy, this is Mr and Mrs Cake.” Pinkie greeted us. When she first said my name, I inclined my head towards the two as a sign of respect, when they were introduced to me, they did the same.
“Nice to meet you dear. Can we get you anything? A cupcake perhaps? The first one is always free.” Mrs Cake told me. She was shorter than your average pony and plumper. She had a blue coat and a pink mane that looked as though it was a confectionary topping, an oddly fitting choice of style. She had pink eyes, wore pink earrings and had three cupcakes as her cutie mark.
“We’re trying a new flavour, Dark chocolate cupcakes.” Mr Cake told me
“Oh, that sounds…well, you never know until you try. You said the first one was free?” I asked the two ponies.
“Yes, first one on the house. I’ll be right back.” Said Mrs Cake, who then went to the counter and got a cupcake. Meanwhile, I was talking to the girls.
“Good thing that’s free, didn’t think about the fact that I don’t know what Equestrian currency is, and that I almost definitely don’t have on me.” I mused aloud. Most of the girls laughed a little at that, rarity just shook her head with a smirk.
Finally, Mrs Cake came back and the moment of truth began when she handed…hoofed? Hoofed me the cupcake. I raised the Treat up to my mouth, and slowly bit into the cupcake. I was amazed at how good it was and couldn’t help myself when I almost shouted.
“That is the best thing I have eaten in my entire life.” Mr and Mrs Cake could not have looked more joyous if they tried in that moment. Knowing it would be the only time I would be able to try the delectable treat for the foreseeable future, I savoured my cupcake as the girls all decided to get one for themselves, except Fluttershy. Fluttershy ordered a vanilla cupcake.
“Allergic to dark chocolate?” I asked the mare, who simply nodded her head. Eventually, I finished as the girl's treats arrived and I was surprised when I saw six dark chocolate cupcakes. At first, I thought they had simply messed up Fluttershy’s order but a quick inspection showed she had her vanilla cupcake. When I was about to say something, Mr Cake just smirked at me. He had overheard that I don’t have any bits on me.
I was surprised. In my experience, having no money meant that you would be kicked out the shop. Of course I was with friends but still, I didn’t expect them to be so kind.
Me and the girls chatted for a bit, I found that more than anyone I was drawn to the stories Twilight had to offer. I did enjoy the tales of courage that Rainbow Dash told, The silliness of the ones Pinkie had to offer but I was fascinated by all Twilight had to offer.
Twilight told me of the amazing magical feats she had pulled off, well her friends added in the amazing bit as twilight was too modest. She told me of her assistant and brother Spike who was a dragon though he was only a baby one. I looked forward to when I would be able to meet him.
I was too caught up in a story of Twilights youth to notice three new ponies had arrived.
“I hope we aren’t interrupting anything.” A comforting, motherly voice said from behind me. I turned to see three ponies, all of whom were taller than the average pony, two seemed to be about the same height though the one in the middle towered over ponies, if I had of been standing we would be face to face.
The towering pony and the one who likely spoke was a white, as I remember Twilight calling them, Alicorn. She had wings and a horn. Her cutie mark was the sun. She wore lots of royal regalia and had pink eyes that just seemed to make everything feel alright. Her mane and tail were a rainbow of colours, though what was amazing is that they seemed to float. Twilight’s stories often recalled this figure and her name was Princess Celestia. In fact, I somewhat recognised all them from my friend's stories.
To Celestia’s right was a pink Alicorn called Princess Cadence. When I say pink, I mean pink. Her coat, eyes and even most of her hair were pink. There were also gold parts in her mane, which didn’t float like Celestia or the other Princess. She had a Blue heart as her cutie mark
On Celestia’s left was a dark blue mare, with same floating mane and tail, except instead of a rainbow of colours it was blue and black, with lots of twinkling white dots that looked like stars. She had the moon in the night sky as her cutie mark. Her eyes were an aqua colour. When my eyes met hers I felt a subtle jolt in my body and she looked as though the same had happened to her. She looked at me with her eyes full of sympathy.
I hadn’t expected to be in the presence of royal company but immediately tried to show respect by bowing. What I failed to take into account was that I was sitting down, I went from facing the princesses to having my face pressed against the ground.
“Ow.” Was all that left my lips before I stood up and bowed properly.
“Glad to see I can still knock men off their feet.” Cadence said jokingly, she sounded like a teenager, though there was a lot of compassion in her voice.
“Straighten yourself up Troy, there’s no need for that.” Princess Luna said, her voice was rather low for a woman, in my opinion, but something about it put me at ease more than Celestia did.
“Princess, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked,
“We came to see your new friend, not every day you hear about a brand new species after all.” Celestia told her student. “Oh, where are my manners, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Troy.”
“The pleasures all mine, your highness.” I replied before Luna cut in.
“Just Princess or Princess followed by our names will do. Speaking of names, I must say there’s something about yours I quite like.” Princess Luna told me.
“Thank you, Princess…Luna?” I questioned at the end, hoping I hadn’t gotten my princesses confused.
“Correct. I’m Luna, This is my older sister Celestia and the one who made the silly joke earlier was Cadence.” Luna said, making Cadence glare at her.
“That was a good joke, Aunt Luna.” Cadence pouted at her aunt before looking at Twilight and grinning. What I witnessed next was one of the cutest things I had ever seen,
Both Twilight and Cadence did a synchronised dance while chanting. “Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”
If it was possible to die from cuteness I would no longer be alive. I then turned to Celestia who promptly explained their reason for coming to Ponyville.
“Troy, I like the way you act, to be honest. Yet still, you are a different species that no one knew about and you have to be recorded. We will need to go to Canterlot but once we are there I can give you official citizenship in Equestria.” Celestia explained.
“Can the rest of you make the journey?” Luna asked my friends. All but Twilight nodded.
“I’ll need to let spike know first.” Twilight told us before her horn was engulfed in a purple aura and with a flash, she disappeared. She was gone for but a moment before there was another flash and she was back in the room. “Ok, now I’m ready.”
“Excellent, there’s a carriage waiting outside, let us go.” Celestia said and we all complied, when we stepped outside we saw a white carriage with gold accents. Two Pegasi who looked like guards were in front of it waiting for them.
I stepped into the back of the carriage after everyone else and the carriage took off, I looked forward to the flight.
I enjoyed the trip to Canterlot in the carriage. I was seated just across from princess Luna, everyone else was lost in conversation among themselves so I stayed quiet at the back though much to my surprise, Luna opened up the path of conversation.
“Troy, I have to ask, what’s it like being in another world? Millions and Millions of miles away from your family.” Luna asked and at the mention of family, I winced. I will admit, albeit not aloud, that I put up a mask. That mask had only one word to render the mask useless and Luna had uttered the words that broke the barrier between the real me and the version me I portrayed.
“The best thing to ever happen to me.” I said, looking out the back of the carriage. I hear what sounded like a gasp that had been choked back.
“Family trouble?” Luna mused, rather nonchalantly. I couldn’t help but smirk at her attitude.
“Call it trouble or punishment. Personally, I prefer abuse.” I said quietly. Luna heard me and judging by her reaction, so did Celestia. The princess of the sun and dawn’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly.
“What kind of…abuse.” She whispered the word abuse, as the carriage had quietened down and now our conversation would definitely be heard if we were to speak any higher than a whisper.
“Simply. Beatings, Neglect and my personal least favourite is the occasional torture shower.” The sarcasm oozed out my voice at the end. Luna seemed ready to say something in reply but never got a chance.
“YOUR HIGHNESS, WE HAVE ARRIVED!” I heard one of the guards yell.
“Ah good, then we should be landing in but a moment. Get ready for a bit of a wobble everyone.” Something about Celestia was revealed to me in that moment. It was that she was a bit of a jokester.
I first felt the carriage touch the floor before the entirety of it was thrown about haphazardly. We flew all over the place in the carriage and over the sounds of everyone screaming, I could hear Celestia chortling all the way.
Finally, the carriage stopped and we all crawled out with Celestia still laughing. I swear I saw Fluttershy behind a bush for a moment.
“I do apologise about that, my little ponies…and Troy. The opportunity was too much to resist.” Celestia said, smiling all the while. I swear I saw cadence roll her eyes.
We enjoyed the walk to the castle in relative silence, though there were a lot of curious and sometimes dirty looks thrown my way. One couple, in particular, put me on edge.
The stallion had a grey coat and black hair. His blue eyes hidden behind rounded spectacles. He seemed to be wearing some form of green jacket that looked ridiculous.
The mare had an off-yellow coloured coat and the same type of eyes as the stallion. She had a light purple and white mane. She was also wearing a rather stupid jacket that I could not describe as anything but similar to the stallions.
The reason I was put on edge was because as we walked to the castle they seemed to be following us. We were getting close to the castle in which I assumed the princesses took residence.
We finally got to the entrance to the castle and yet I seemed to be the only one who noticed how uncomfortably the couple had gotten. At first, I had simply assumed they were going in the same direction as us but that was clearly not so.
I tapped on Luna’s shoulder as she was closest to me and when she looked at me I simply nodded in the couple’s direction.
“Ah, me and my sister’s ears must be getting worse. Cadence, sister, we failed to notice some nobles.” Luna seemed to be mocking them when she said nobles, yet it appeared they failed to notice. The other princesses, as well as the girls, all turned around to face us.
“Oh, Jet Set and Uppercrust.” I admit I snickered at her name. “My absolute favourite ponies to deal with(!)” The sarcasm was strong in Celestia’s voice.
“Excuse our interrupting, your highnesses but we have to ask, on behalf of the whole the Canterlot nobles. What is that…thing and why are you allowing it into Canterlot?” for a reason still unbeknownst to me I swear Luna’s eyes flashed at their words. I was unsure of how to respond to their hostility but Celestia almost seemed as though she had anticipated it.
“That thing is a human. His name is Troy. However considering the display you’ve showed of Canterlot citizens is in such poor taste you may refer to him as Noble Troy. After all, he’s nobler than you.” That shut them up. Well actually in technicality it didn’t as their jaws were hanging wide open.
“Why, I quite like this.” A new voice spoke. “You should definitely do as the princess’s request you two.” Both of them suddenly seemed panicked.
“Yes. We apologise….N-Noble Troy.” Jet set uttered before both of them rushed off. It was then the owner of the voice from before made himself known.
A white stallion with a blue mane in a tuxedo walked up to us. He also had a monocle which I only noticed when he got closer.
“Fancy Pants!” Rarity seemed rather gleeful when he saw who she was. Everyone else looked relax. For a couple of seconds, I probably looked really disrespectful as I couldn’t control myself at the name.
“TROY!” Rarity admonished and immediately I straightened myself up.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it,” I said, only slightly regretting my actions. “You do seem rather nice, though.” I said in a bid to make up slightly for what I had done.
“Oh don’t worry about, I find the name quite humorous myself.” Fancy Pants said with a smile. “If those two give you trouble again and the others aren’t around but I am, don’t be afraid to give me a shout and I’ll gladly deal with them.”
“Thank you.” I said, smiling. I have to admit I took quite a liking to Fancy Pants.
“We need to go now, Fancy, we will see you later.” Said Celestia and we all bid Fancy Pants farewell.
We headed into the castle and after wandering through a few extravagant halls we arrived at the chamber to the main throne room.
“Excuse us a moment, everyone. We need to set up the chamber for the test.” Luna said and the princesses walked into the chamber, leaving me and the girls behind.
“I wonder what this test is.” Rarity asked.
“As long as I don’t have to do any maths, I’m happy to go along with it.” I joked, all the girls except Twilight chuckled who looked slightly miffed about me dissing maths.
Suddenly the chamber doors swung open and cadence walked out.
“The test is ready.” She stated plainly. “You have to go in alone, I’ll stay with the girls until we can come in.”
“Okay.” I said before walking into the throne room. I would never be prepared for what greeted me on the inside.
I stared around the chamber with my mouth agape. Behind me, I was aware the door had slammed shut. Neither of the princesses were facing me as they were too busy rummaging through an old battered chest.
The room itself was littered with what looked like torture devices, from the classic stretcher to what looked like a weaponized dentist chair, as if they weren’t terrifying enough!
“Uhh, w-what the heck is all this?” I asked nervously, a bead of sweat rolling from my forehead. Luna spun around remarkably quick, her eyes widened slightly as she stared around the room before short nervous chuckle left her lips.
“Oh, Oops.” She said. “These are all old things, don’t worry, we have no intent to use them!”
“I hope not!” I exclaimed. As cool as the stuff looked, I was not going to be going near any of it if I could help it. “But if all this isn’t being used for this test then what is?”
“This little device here,” Celestia started, pulling out a small sphere-shaped object from the chest, “Twilight designed it in case of any alien encounters. If I’m honest I didn’t expect I would ever have to use it in my life but I suppose even I can still be shocked sometimes.”
"What is it?” I asked, staring at the device. Suddenly without warning it lit up a magnificent navy colour. The device hovered out of Celestia’s magical grip and span a couple of times as though searching for something before it stopped and suddenly zoomed straight at me!
“Jesus Christ!” I yelled as I dived to one side, unfortunately, it did nothing to deter the sphere, it was like a heat seeking missile as it rocketed towards me. Time seemed to slow for a moment, and I noticed the shocked, worried looks on the princesses’ faces.
Luna was rushing towards the sphere to try and stop it. At the door to the chambers, the entrance was wide open as the girls probably heard my yell. Some of Celestia’s words came back to me as I saw the guilt on Twilight's face.
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU IF I DIE, TWILIGHT!” Was the last words that left my mouth before I felt the sphere impact with my stomach, resulting in the weirdest feeling of my life.
It merged with my body, I felt it doing laps around my entire being. I felt it rush past my organs, and that is when I was engulfed in complete darkness.
***
“Is he awake?”
“No, and-“
“WHAT WERE-“
“IM SORRY!”
“SORRY DOESN’T-“
I groaned, as I finally came to, I had nearly woken up multiple times yet fallen back into unconsciousness, from what I could remember. I was still in the chamber from earlier, nothing had been misplaced.
Both the princesses were there, Celestia looked upset and irritant however Luna looked as though she would kill the next person or pony who spoke to her. It was Luna who noticed I had awoken from my unwanted nap.
“Back in the land of the living?” I was surprised, despite her look of rage moments prior, she almost sounded as motherly as Celestia, yet if one paid attention they could still sense the anger in her voice.
“Fortunately, what happened?” I asked, noticing the girls were no longer present.
“Ignorant Twilight’s wretched device was a catastrophe!” Luna exclaimed and she looked ready to go on a tangent, however, the dawn princesses hoof stopped her.
“While it methods were…concerning, it ultimately caused little harm and examined every atom of your being.” Celestia explained and gave me a moment to digest the information. “We now know about anything that can cause you sickness and we also know what you are able to digest. We gave the printed list to Twilight and her friends.”
“Well, that’s good, though I have a question,” I told the princesses, “Where are Twilight and the others now?”
“Twilight is currently in the royal medical wing because someone doesn’t know how to control their temper!” Celestia informed me, in a rather agitated tone.
“It was her invention, I only delivered swift justice!” Luna was quick to defend herself, and she did so vehemently.
“You could have killed her!” Celestia exclaimed angrily, with a slight look of disappointment in her normally caring eyes.
“Lu-Luna? What did you do?!” I asked, concerned about the purple unicorn.
“I…” Luna suddenly seemed to realise her actions in full, in that moment despite the actual doing of the actions had happened long beforehand. “I blew up the ground near where Twilight stood. I hadn’t meant for a loose shard to impale her hoof, though.”
I blanched at the thought of twilight being injured in such a way that could possibly disable her. I finally stood up and decided that I wanted to see Twilight ASAP.
“You said the royal medical wing, right?” I asked, however, a look of confusion grew upon the dusk princesses’ face.
“No, left!” She said, and all I could think of in response was to stare for a moment.
“Left, right?” I asked if the direction was correct, starting to sense what was the source of confusion the conversation.
“No, left then through the red double-doors,” Luna said, and I couldn’t help but snicker before I took my leave to find the medical room. I hear the princesses calling after me as I hurried down the halls to find my friends.
Finally, I found the room and promptly entered, half-expecting Twilight to be hooked up to dozens of machines. Fortunately, this was not the case, a nurse was helping Twilight walk on her injured hoof.
All the other girls were sitting behind Twilight with looks of worry on their face, well, they were until they saw me. Immediately I was surrounded by six, worried yet relieved ponies all asking questions at once.
“One at a time!” I yelled, not loudly mind you, just loud enough so that they would hear me. They looked at each other and seemed to be mentally determining who should talk first.
“Ya feelin’ okay, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked probably the biggest question on the girls’ minds.
“I’m just fine, I’m honestly more worried ‘bout Twi here, getting impaled by a stone shard has got to hurt!” I said, hoping for the good news I was starting to expect about Twilights condition.
“Well, as her personal nurse, I’m happy to report that other than limping for a bit she will be fine. The shard was small and completely missed her bones, her hoof may sting from time to time but that’s the extent of the damage.”
“And we would like to apologise for causing it.” The dusk princess’ voice admitted from behind us. “We are sorry for our actions, Twilight Sparkle, we over-reacted.”
“Apology accepted, I just want to know WHY you over-reacted.” Twilight admitted herself.
“We are not sure ourselves, we just now that we’re not happy with what happened. Perhaps an answer to the question will be revealed later.” Luna mused, starting to wonder into her own world of thoughts.
“Oh, my.” Came the dawn princess’ voice. “Is that truly the time?”
It turned out that the events of the day had taken longer than any of us had realised, and soon all but Luna were yawning due to exhaustion.
“Well, you are welcome to stay overnight, as the trains will no longer be running and you all need rest.” Luna informed us.
“First a hospital bed, then Rarity’s guestroom bed and now a bed in the royal palace? Ami I just a glorified bed tester?” I asked jokingly, getting a chuckle from everyone.
***
The girls and I had all been shown to our bedrooms, though I had asked the guard to show me the way to the bathroom as well. (my room didn’t have one attached.)
I knew the way back and forward and was familiarising myself with it one last time when I realised something, I hadn’t seen Cadence since I entered the test chamber earlier.
Before I could freak out about the mare’s sudden disappearance, though, I heard her voice from inside one of the rooms. Despite the fact that I really shouldn’t have, I took a quick peek inside the room to confirm that it was cadence.
Cadence was there and so was a white stallion which looked a lot like the descriptions Twilight had given of her brother while telling her stories of living life as Celestia’s student.
I wish I had not peeked, though, as I saw them doing stuff that I will NOT discuss here or anywhere else!
So my first proper day in Equestria ends with me being mentally scarred for life!
“NOBLE TROY!” A voice thundered through my bedroom doors, startling me awake from my restful slumber.
“I’MNOTINTHEARCADEMACHINE!” I yelled out, visions of the dream I had been having moments prior prevalent in my head. “Uh, I mean who’s there?!”
“I’m a lieutenant in the guard. Gold Brace, at your service sir!” The voice, Gold, informed me. I quickly rose from my bed and searched for my clothing. They were hanged on the wall next to the door, freshly cleaned apparently.
“Give me a moment!” I shouted through the oak door. Quickly I dressed before I opened the door to see a red stallion, with red eyes and a blond mane with bangs. His cutie mark was a black shield that had been pierced by a shining white sword.
“Ah, good to meet you sir noble Troy.” Gold addressed me, his choice of words leaving me confused.
“Noble Troy? Where did you pick that up from?” I asked before my encounter with two specific annoying nobles returned to my memory.
“Nobles Jet Set and Upper Crust were ranting in the streets about you.” He stated plainly. Though I admittedly found the whole ‘noble Troy’ thing rather amusing I wanted to save it for Jet Set and Upper crust themselves. “Princess Luna asked that I come and escort you to the dining room for breakfast as you would have no idea where the room would be located.”
“Oh, well thank you, I appreciate it. By the way, just Troy is fine.” I told him as we both left the room and traversed the halls of the royal palace. It was slightly unnerving that at every corner a guard was stationed, observant as possible to detect any threats.
Soon we arrived at a plain door just barely tall enough for me to fit through. I opened the door and found everyone I had met so far inside. Cadence met my eyes and immediately blushed, she saw me hurrying away last night it seemed.
Unfortunately, I had to sit right across from cadence and next to her husband Shining Armor, as that was the only free seat.
“Oh good, you’re awake. I hope you rested well last night Troy.” Luna said to me and I just smiled back and nodded, not wanting to talk until I had eaten. For royalty, the breakfast was surprisingly simple, Cereal. Mind you, I would probably prefer it to anything fancy. As I sat down I placed my phone on the table.
We all sat around the table, enjoying our breakfast in relative silence. For a while, there was only the sound of crunching. I did rather enjoy the cereal, shame I had no idea what brand it was. Eventually, the quiet atmosphere was pierced when Rarity’s eyes shone and she hurriedly got up while addressing the table.
“Sorry everypony, but I forgot something terribly important in my room.” Rarity said quickly before galloping out the room.
“Ah wonder what’s getting her all fussy?” Applejack wondered aloud what we were all thinking, she looked around the table to see if anyone knew but everypony shook their head no. I just shrugged and went back to eating.
We continued to enjoy our breakfast when the most unexpected thing of all happened. The table vibrated for a second, scaring everyone, the next second the light on my phone went on. Finally, and worst of all, my ringtone for when someone was calling me started playing.
My ringtone was a rock song which was already pretty embarrassing while eating breakfast with royalty, but what made it even more embarrassing was that it was a song called ‘yer majesty’ by a band called Shinedown.
I quickly scooped up the phone and touched an icon on the screen that had a green phone on it.
“Hello?” I asked, and everyone stared at me like I was crazy before we all heard a voice talk back.
“Troy?! Where the hell are ya, man?!” A slightly gruff voice asked, it belonged to a friend of mine from earth called Jason Lee, he was the one who had gotten me the phone. He sounded worried about me, which I suppose was fair.
“That’s…complicated.” I told him looking around at the ponies all of whom looked quite shocked. “Listen, JL, I’m sorry for not being around this last week.”
“Week?! Dude, it’s been like 5 months!” His words kept playing over in my head, yet it took me til the tenth time before I actually comprehend what he was saying. I looked around and all the ponies looked either sad or shocked about the revelation.
“FIVE MONTHS?!” I yelled into the phone, scaring everyone. “NONONO, that can’t be right! It’s only been a week… Wait a minute, if it’s been five months how come you’re phoning me right now?”
“It was on the off-chance that someone would answer, didn’t expect your sorry ass to answer.” Jason informed us, and I swear everything went black for a second. “Seriously, though, If you still kicking, you might be better staying outta the way anyways.”
“Let me guess.” I could guess why, because it would anger my so-called parents and we couldn’t have that, oh no because they totally deserve to be happy!… I apologise for getting worked up.
“I knew ya would…but there’s also something bigger.” Jason got me stumped with that one, I had no idea would could possibly constitute me not returning home. “Ya don’t quite…exist anymore.”
“How could somepony not exist?” Twilight asked in a hushed voice, and I immediately put my fingers on my lips to tell her to be quiet.
“You’re legally dead right now, and you know what the systems like. Anyone who ain’t kicking, in the system they ain’t sticking. Freakin’ brutal man, just cause they need storage in the machine they wipe out every last part of a person’s life. Social accounts, bank accounts and even your frickin’ birth certificate. Deleted and incinerated.”
“So, I’m a ghost now?” I inquired, ghosts were a big thing in the city I came from, people who had their entire lives ripped away, no longer a citizen in the world. Only people who aimed for that was hackers. “Era of the internet, aka the era that’s a pain in everyone’s ass!” I exclaimed, smashing my head onto the table in frustration.
“Yeah, I feel ya. Listen, if ya do decide to come back, Sal’s will be the only safe place to go.” He told me, a friend of ours who worked in law enforcement named Sal. “It’s cause of this messed up system Sal couldn’t do anything about you know who, Sal despises the thing for it.”
“Got it, listen, if anyone starts asking for some reason, this call never happened.” I told him, I couldn’t risk my parents find out. Not that I expect my parents to have special world jumping powers but If I did end up back on earth they would hunt me down for sure.
“Got ya, listen, good to hear from ya but I gotta go now, that chucklehead ‘T-bone’, as he calls himself, is coming this way and ya know me and him don’t get along.” Jason explained to me why he would have to hang up, and I nodded before realising he couldn’t see me.
“Yeah, I get it, adios mi amigo.”
“...Adios.”
A beep sounded from the phone before the entire room was engulfed in complete silence. Suddenly the door burst open and Rarity rushed open.
“Oh, I do apologise for…Oh, did I come back at a bad time?” Rarity inquired when she saw us all, no one answered her verbally, but I got up and punched the wall in frustration, letting out an angry shout in the process.
“Oh, my!” Fluttershy exclaimed before rushing over and checking my hand, which fortunately was not badly damaged. “Are you alright, Troy?!”
“Yeah… I’m fine, just dead!” I let out a sigh of frustration before sitting back down. Rarity had a rather confused look on her face, likely from my choice of words.
“Um, could someone please tell me what happened?” Rarity asked and Twilight answered her.
“We’ll tell you when we know for sure. Troy, what’s 'the system'?” Twilight asked me. I sighed once more, looking up at the others around me, pondering what to say. I decided the whole truth was all that would suffice.
“A terrible idea implemented by privacy hating idiots who just want to control everything they see. The system gets your information plugged into it when you’re born and then the system tracks you for your entire life. No matter what you do it’s recorded on the system…I personally hate the thing, like many others. It’s nothing other than a breach of privacy, and not even for security reasons! People’s lives have been screwed with by the people who own the thing!” I ranted angrily.
“And...uh, what's a ghost?” Rainbow piped up.
“Someone whose details have been erased from the system, which means you don’t exist, hence the name. Unfortunately, the system is limited in memory, so those evil…vile bastards delete your profile and voila, you're now no longer a member of society, it’s impossible to get a legal job and if, for whatever reason, you become…disenchanted…with the local authorities, they are legally authorised and fucking encouraged to kill you on the spot!” I had heard gasps around me both times I swore, however, they all seemed to understand why and let me get the anger out of my system.
“That’s…terrible…” Cadence couldn’t seem to find the words to describe and thus her words came out rather blunt.
“Excuse me for a minute…or ten, I need to lie down.” I said, walking back to my room, Gold Brace rushed to my side to escort me.
As I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling two thoughts stuck in my head.
I might as well just stay in Equestria for the rest of my life.
“Done, another one knocked out of the system…I love my job!”
I felt a strange nagging feeling wash over me as if something had gone wrong while I had been lying down. It left a sick feeling in my stomach and I knew I couldn’t stay in bed so I rose from the originally inviting sheets and left my room.
I closed the door behind, but before I could continue to walk, I noticed something was off. A feeling of dread washed over me as I looked around the castle. Complete silence, not even wind could be heard and nothing living was in sight.
Desolate, that’s what it was. Without thinking I started sprinting down the halls, hoping to get to the dining area I had been in with the girls not too long ago.
It took a little searching but I finally found. out of breath, I placed my hands on my knees and bent over as I tried to regain my breath but as I raised my head up, I felt a strong force connect with my entire body knocking me down.
My eyes had instinctively shut themselves yet when I opened them again, I realised one thing, and that was that reality was being messed with. Everything had been set ablaze in those few seconds.
My eyes wondered up and I saw nought but a shadow moving of its own accord. It stared at me and I felt a burning sensation right where scar I had seen in Rarity’s mirror was.
“I wouldn’t go in there, burning Alicorn smells horrible!” The shadowy figure said, in the same voice that I had heard before. A sudden laughter came from whatever this abomination before me was but the laugh was all disjointed and was echoing, like a bad recording that had been corrupted.
I slowly got to my feet and glared at the ‘thing’, trying my best to look intimidating. He continued to laugh then finally his words hit me. ‘Burning Alicorn’, the words echoed in my head. I slowly walked towards the abomination, who only realised my approach at the last second.
Suddenly he fell to the ground with a large crash from the force of the punch I threw. I had thrown a right hook and without thinking immediately rushed into the dining room but there was nopony there, no signs of a struggle. If it hadn’t been for the flames you would have thought I had just been…dreaming.
“Ok, ya got me, I’m the little nightmare in your head.” The abomination told me. “Don’t worry about meeting me again, though, I was just here to make sure your little transition from the planet-of-the-apes to this god-forsaken prissy-pink-princess-pony hell didn’t kill you.”
“What the hell are you?” I asked, thoroughly confused by everything he was telling me.
“Call me what you like. Satan, God, an Angel, a demon, your mother-in-law or Susan, I personally don’t care. Now, if you excuse me, I need out of this world.” He said. bright red lights were on the shadow where the mouth would have been, resembling a terrifying grin. Suddenly the shadow lurched forward, yet before it disappeared, I heard the voice in my ear one more time. “Enjoy your parting gift.”
I turned around, looking for the shadow yet there was nothing there. Slowly the flames extinguished themselves and I could finally hear something, rushing wind. The world seemed to distort like it would if I was dizzy. A few moments later, the entire world came back into focus.
“TROY!” I heard Luna call, my name. I turned around and saw everyone was in the dining room once again. “Finally decided to come back?”
“Yeah, couldn’t stay in there forever.” Don’t ask me why I didn’t tell anyone about the thing, because I don’t have an answer. “So, hopefully, me leaving didn’t cause any problems?”
“None at all, my little human. Now if you don’t mind, I need you to go with Princess Luna for a short while to deal with something important and after that’s done you can all discuss what you’re going to do next.” Celestia told me, I looked in Luna’s direction and she nodded her head.
"Yes, it should only take 15 minutes at most.” Luna informed me before walking away without warning heading towards the door. I got to experience something amazing as Princess Celestia smashed her face into the table with a groan.
“She’s always like that. You had better hurry after her.” Celestia told me, so I turned and ran after Luna, who was waiting at the main doors.
“Ah, good. Well then, it is pertinent that we head out immediately!” Luna exclaimed, opening the doors with her magic. “Um, well this is…unexpected!”
That was the biggest understatement I had heard so far in this new world. Outside a huge crowd of ponies, many of whom adorned rather fancy clothing, seemed to be doing some form of protest.
At the front was a white stallion with a blonde mane and blue eyes. He was shouting something at what I assumed to be what I had heard referred to as ‘The Canterlot Elite’. Some held signs, others were demanding audience Celestia herself.
“I have never seen the nobles in such an uproar before, this isn’t the kind of thing they would usually subject themselves to in fear of what it would do to their image!” Luna’s surprise showed within her eyes, which then fell upon the leader of the whole affair. The shock disappeared immediately, replaced by a harsh glare. “Prince Blueblood, of course!”
“We cannot let some random creature simply wander these noble streets, a creature of which ponykind has never laid its eyes upon before, a creature that could harbour intentions of death and destruction” Blueblood shouted. I finally understood what the riot was about and even had an inkling of an idea how the nobles found out.
“NEPHEW, ELITE! I EXPECT AN IMMEDIATE EXPLANATION OF WHY YOU ARE TRYING TO ATTACK A CREATURE WHICH HAS SHOWN YOU NO HARM!” That was Luna’s response in an insanely loud voice, right beside me making me think I had gone deaf afterwards for a brief moment.
“Aunt Luna, you must understand this-“ He didn’t finish what he was going to say upon spotting me, instead he lunged forward towards me and yelled as loudly as he could at me, Though it was no match to Luna’s shouting!
“YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THESE TWO ARE?!” He yelled, pointing towards two ponies glaring at me that I immediately recognised as Jet Set and Upper Crust.
“Goon number one and Goon number two, right?” I asked, knowing full well that it would anger Blueblood, yet I found I couldn’t bring myself to care.
“HOW DARE YOU, THESE ARE TWO NOBLE PONIES! AND YOU HAD THE AUDACITY TO MAKE THEM CALL YOU NOBLE?!” I smirked at him, wondering if he would realise that I was finding his anger rather amusing.
“No, nephew, your aunt Princess Celestia made them call him that.” Luna said, stunning him for but a moment.
“So, what noble position do you hold?” I asked, more just to see his reaction than anything else.
“HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW, I AM PRINCE BLUEBLOOD, I AM THE GREATEST ROYAL EQUESTRIA HAS EVER SEEN AND I AM MORE NOBLE THAN SOME HAIRLESS MANKEY MONKEY WILL EVER BE!!!” So I seriously set him off, I will be honest that I had no idea he was a prince. “SO WHY DID YOU DISRESPECT NOBLES, WHY ARE YOU DISRESPECTING ME AND WHY ARE YOU LETTING YOUR EXISTENCE CONTINUE TO DISRESPECT PONYKIND?! DO YOU JUST HATE US?!”
Luna looked as though she was ready to pummel Blueblood into the ground now, however he struck a chord with his final question.
“No, I don’t hate you, or any other pony, because it’s not worth it to hate anything, except for maybe hate itself.” I told him, before walking away to escape the crowd of nobles who I could not be bothered to deal with. I turned around for a moment, seeing Luna back at my side. I stared at blueblood and though of my departing words. “Just for the record, if anything is insulting to ponykind, it is definitely you.”
I marvelled at the building Luna had led me to. It was simple, a small cottage-esque type of building. It looked so out of place in this city, where most of the buildings were made of more refined looking material yet I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy the style of the building.
“Well, here we are.” Luna told me while opening the door with her magic.
“What is ‘here’ exactly?” I asked, curious about the peculiar building.
“This is where all the official business involving marriages, adoptions and those who are coming to stay in Equestria is dealt with. While your stay will likely not be permanent, we should certainly have you established as a legal citizen of Equestria. It’s rare but some, like Blueblood as you saw, don’t take kindly to anything that isn’t from Equestria.” Luna informed as we made our way in.
“Wait, so the reason the elite have been kicking off is because their xenophobic?” I asked, wondering how such a thought became the centre of a group so high up in a place like Equestria. I admit, with a few exceptions, I did not get along with authority figures on earth so my view of the group had already been a bad start.
“I suppose that’s one way of putting it.” Luna said as her lips curled into a frown. “The elite have never been very good at being sociable to the common pony. Why they find so much distaste towards ponies and other creatures I may never know.”
“Hmm, that’s unfortunate. Definitely makes you wonder about them though.” I mused aloud, more to myself than the night princess.
“Yes, I suppose it does…Yet I have to so, you already seemed pretty decided on the elite before you met them. Though I suppose Jet Set and Upper Crust could have left quite a bad taste in your mouth…” Luna seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as I saw a pink unicorn with blue eyes and a fiery red mane coming out of a room near the back.
“Well, with some exceptions like you and your sister I don’t actually get on all that well with authority figures.” I mentioned, answering her query.
“Really? I don’t believe I’ve heard of anypony in Equestria that didn’t get along with their authority figures. Some other species there has been some issues with, yet they’ve always been minor and easy to fix or so Celestia tells me.”
“Yeah, well the majority of authority figures from personal ones to people like the majority of the police force were self-entitled jerks. They always also seemed to think they had ability to do whatever they want to others!” I was getting to the point where I nearly broke out into a frustrated rant when we heard a mare clearing her throat.
“Princess Luna, you said you needed to see me today?” The unicorn from before was now at the counter.
“Ahh yes, I’m glad you were able to see us today miss Heart. Any later and I fear the complications would have been unbearable!” Luna exclaimed with a nervous smile on her face.
“Oh? Well what is it you need of me? I assume it’s related to your friend here.” The unicorn spoke in a soothing soft voice, similar to Fluttershy’s yet without the hesitance Fluttershy usually has.
“You would be correct and it would be pertinent to note that this is related to citizenship as well.” Luna informed the mare.
“oh…OHH! Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sweet Heart, what’s your name?” She asked with a wide smile.
“Troy…Schitzkid…” I awaited a shocked gasp yet was pleasantly surprised when I heard none.
“Well, if you don’t mind mister Troy, could you come with me to the back? You too princess?” She asked us and we both nodded, practically in sync, eliciting a giggle from Sweet. “Follow me then!”
***
After 2 hours, many questions both related to the citizenship and Sweet’s curiosity and really awkward moment where I tripped and fell head first into Sweets lap, I was walking out of the building with a handful of documents and a plastic card that proved I was a legal citizen of Equestria.
“Well, they’re we are. We shouldn’t need to do anything else now to stop anything bad from happening in regards to you staying in Equestria.” Luna informed me with a beaming grin on her face.
“Yeah…Hey, Luna, what did you mean when you said the complications would be unbearable?” I asked and immediately her happy expression changed to one of what seemed to be a mix of anger and sadness.
“There is a law that me and ‘Tia are trying to abolish, yet the elite are, annoyingly, an essential part of the process and they don’t want to get rid of this law. It states that if any creature resides in Equestria for more than 7 days without any legal citizenship, they can be punished by death.” Luna’s words made me grimace as my thoughts went back to the torture devices I had seen before I had been knocked unconscious yesterday.
“Well, that’s…disturbing.” I couldn’t think of any other words to the describe the law, not that unjust laws were something I was unfamiliar with, I did used to live on earth after all.
“Agreed.” Luna said before she seemed to notice something to our right. “Well, it seems our wandering will not take us back to the castle just yet.”
“What?” I asked, following her gaze before I noticed the others at what appeared to be a restaurant. Cadence waved us over while the others waited before they looked at their menus. “Oh, nice.”
We talked about what had happened with the elite, causing Celestia to grimace before a rare look of fury appeared on her features. We talked about why they would do it until we all decided to ignore them for now and enjoy our meals.
When I mentioned Sweet to the others Cadence seemed to gain a rather…mischievous look on her face. Not to long after, Celestia asked to see the documents to make sure everything was in order, I passed them over then after a while she adorned a satisfied smile.
Yet, in this memory I feel a strange feeling unlike any other…or rather two. A longing for something hidden in plain sight and a cold ruthless nothingness that seems to shine through only as I remember Celestia’s smile, as though something unnatural and perverse was watching from afar. That devil, he said he was only there to make sure I made the trip safely yet I wonder…
So many questions, and now I’m questioning it all yet all I know is that perhaps, my appearance in Equestria wasn’t just a stroke of good fortune.
“Wake up, already!” An unearthly voice whispered in my ear, using an extremely aggressive tone before I felt my body being picked up, yet I could feel nothing. I was left afloat for a few seconds confused and trying to process what was happening when the voice spoke again. “Oh screw it, I was going to warn you but if you aren’t going to wake up you can figure this out on your own!”
Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my sides as if they were being torn apart before the rest of my body started experiencing the same pain.
***
“Ughh, I told you Sweetie Belle, do not ever go into the guest room without permission!” I hear the angry voice of rarity yell at someone outside.
“But I just wanted to know who your guest was!” This Sweetie Belle cried, from the sound of her voice she couldn’t be more than 11 at the absolute maximum, her voice was very squeaky and, for lack of a better word, innocent.
“That doesn’t excuse the antics you’ve been creating all morning! You need to learn that you’re not 5 anymore and you can’t keep constantly being an annoying pest!” Rarity yelled, and soon afterwards I felt frown form upon my face.
I heard the tell-tale sniffle, indicating that tears were about to flow and then came the galloping of hooves before my ears were assaulted by the dramatic wailings of a fashionista as she called out the fillies name and cries of ‘I didn’t mean it.’
I stepped out of my room, and my eyes met with dull blue ones. She had guilt written all over her face. I fixed her with a disapproving stare and shook my head before going after the distant sound of crying that was getting further away.
Granted, this ‘Sweetie Belle’ might just scream and run, being a young girl faced with a creature she had never met before. I had yet to meet a pony afraid of me however I had been preparing myself for it since the ‘nobles’ protests, because if reactions could be that extreme on that side then the same was for certain of the other side.
I wandered through the bustling yet not overly crowded streets, I had managed to catch brief glimpses of Sweetie. She had a white coat and a pink and dark purple mane. Her cutie mark appeared to be a shield which had a star on it which had a cliff note on it.
Two weeks have passed since I became a legal citizen in Equestria. Most ponies seemed unaffected by my constant appearance in town, must just treating me as though I was another citizen. Since returning from Canterlot the only pony I have spoken too was Rarity. The implications of my arrival in Equestria had finally fully taken hold in my heart. Don't get me wrong, I love Equestria and I hated my home planet yet there was still a jarring uncomfortable feeling from the whole ordeal. Even though I had been living in her home, I hardly even talked to Rarity. I simply wanted time to absorb the reality of my situation. Two weeks was enough time, though, I shouldn't have beem worrying them like i undoubtly had been the last two weeks yet it isn't like I was entirely used to people caring. The girls treated my arrival as though it was the worst crime ever committed, however, I would kill to be able to just stay in Equestria. It was far better than the world I once knew. Excuse me, I have severely digressed.
Up ahead I could see the filly meeting up with two other fillies. They seemed to be trying to console her before escorting her to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejacks farm. It seemed unnecessary to go after Sweetie, however, as I turned to leave I heard something that made my heart stop.
“…Uh…oh!” Was all that I could manage to say, seeing shocked and terrified faces from the ponies nearby. However it was not the roar that scared me, it was where it had come from.
It had come from behind me where Sweetie Belle and her friends had just run off to.
Without a second of hesitation, I spun around on my heels and sprinted into Sweet Apple Acres heading in the direction of the frightening roar. I sped passed the tree’s that were starting to become blurs as I got faster. At one point I nearly crashed straight into a tree, however, I had managed to use it to my advantage instead as just beyond it was a clearing where I could see the fillies. I used the base of the tree to get myself higher into the air and grab onto a branch that I could perch myself upon. I honestly don’t know how I knew to do that, it was just kind of instinctual, I knew to do it and how to. I didn’t have the time to worry about it, though.
From my viewpoint, I could now see the actual monster as I slowly stalked its newfound prey. I am unsure what the creature actually was, however, the outside looked like it was made of pus that had solidified yet it still left a trail behind it. I had to resist the urge to throw up upon seeing it.
I could hear the fillies screaming for help as the monster got closer, then I witnessed something I don’t think I will ever be able to forget. The, for lack of a better word, the shell of the monster cracked at the front before two revolting hands that were made of pus shot out trying to grab at the fillies and it was close too. I can imagine would it would have done to the fillies and there didn’t seem to be anyone coming to help.
The situation from the fillies points of view most have looked hopeless as they had nowhere to run or hide yet I had already decided that I wasn’t going to let the fillies get hurt. I leapt off the branch and shouted for its attention.
“Hey jackass, behind you!” I yelled and it seemed the monster understood me perfectly. It turned around after setting the fillies down, though it had coated them in a sticky substance rendering them unable to flee. I saw it’s pooling blue eyes that seemed to lack pupils and also seemed to be glaring at me. “If you’re gonna to go after someone, why not make it a fair fight?!”
The monster definitely understood that time as it charged at me with a surprising amount of speed considering how it moves. I’ll be honest, when I had tried to distract it from the fillies I didn’t actually know how I was going to fight it.
Suddenly it was upon me, ready to grab me and I presume to devour me. Yet, again as if on instinct my right hand shot forward, breaking parts of the shell and letting my fingers slide right into the disgusting gooey substance the monster was made out of. My hand clenched into a fist as if I was grabbing someone by their shirt and, with strength that still scares me to this day, I lifted the extremely heavy monster and chucked him right back into the clearing. It travelled forward at an unbelievable speed, crashing into a tree that was torn out the ground!
I was honestly terrified of the sudden strength I possessed, as it should have been impossible for any human to pick up something that weighed as much as the monster. Getting a hold of myself and making a mental not to talk to twilight and perhaps Luna later, I rushed towards the monster. Despite my aggressive disposition towards it I didn’t want to hurt it too badly. I understood that nature's nature and nature is extremely cruel.
I reached the monster and was relieved to see it was still breathing, however, I was going to have Fluttershy check it over just in case. I rushed back to the fillies and saw them looking at me with wonderment in their eyes.
“Wow mister, are ya ah pro wrestler or somethin’?” One of Sweetie’s friends asked, a filly with a yellow coat and a red mane that had a big pink bow in it. Her eyes seemed both auburn and pink, strangely. She almost seemed like a mini Applejack.
“Don’t be stupid AB, he’s obviously a mutant superhero!” A dark orange filly with a purple mane told her friend with a roll of her purple eyes before staring straight at me. “I mean what else could you be, right mister?!”
“No and No, I’m a human but I’m the only one on the planet as far I’m aware and I’ve only been in Ponyville a week so that’s probably why you haven’t seen me.” I explained to them before turning to Sweetie Belle, who was still cowering in fear as her brilliant emerald eyes stared straight into me.
“Y-you’re not going to hurt us, are you?!” She asked, almost in a whisper. I won’t lie, that hurt a bit yet I knew she didn’t mean it.
“No, I promise I won’t hurt you, ever!” I told her. “Besides I came out here for you anyway.”
That got their attention, as all eyes widened in shock before Sweetie asked me if I was being serious or not.
“Yes, completely serious. You know how Rarity was chewing you out for going to into the guest room? Well, I was the one using it.” I told them as I tore apart the goo which had encased them. I could now see that the other two also had shield cutie marks but the yellow filly had an apple on hers and the orange filly had a lightning bolt on hers. “So now that there aren’t monsters ready to eat us, my names troy, nice to meet you.”
“I’m Apple Bloom, this Scootaloo,” the yellow filly said, indicating to the orange filly before indicating at Sweetie Belle. “I think you already know Sweetie Belle’s name and together…”
“WE ARE THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” They all shouted simultaneously, with the energy only kids their age could muster. Apple Bloom’s eyes suddenly lit up as if she had just realised something. “Ya said you knew rarity, right? Does that mean ya know my big sis Applejack?”
“Yes.” I told her with a smile before standing up. “Right, well no doubt your sister will have heard the news by now so we should get to them as quickly as possible.”
“Yeah, yer right.” Apple Bloom agreed as she and the other crusader got up, however, Sweetie was rather begrudging to do it.
“You know Sweetie Belle, what Rarity said was just exasperation, she didn’t mean what she said.” I told her, yet she seemed rather reluctant to believe me. “I don’t agree with her outburst either but she must have told you that she’s been backed up on her orders lately.”
“Really?!” Sweetie asked, suddenly nervous for an entirely different reason. “Will the boutique be ok?”
“Yeah, backed up orders won’t affect the boutique but it’s been really stress inducing for Rarity.” I informed the little filly who seemed to be understanding what I was saying. “You don’t need to forgive Rarity straight away if you’re still annoyed with her though I’m sure she’ll be happier if you do.”
“Ok.” Was all Sweetie had to reply with. “I think I will.”
Finally, we had reached the town again and I could see the girls in sight. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash in particularly looked extremely relieved when they saw the fillies before their questioning eyes briefly wandered to me. The girls all took off at a gallop and inspected the fillies to make sure they were ok.
“…An’ just when we thought that monster was gonna eat us, Troy appeared behind it and made it leave us alone. He said ‘If yer gonna go after somepony, make it a fair fight.’” Apple Bloom excitedly relayed the story to the girls before Scootaloo jumped in.
“Yeah, and the monster turned around and charged at him but he just picked it up and threw it away like it was nothing. It was AWESOME!” Scootaloo cheered, however, I saw Twilights eyes widen slightly as though she was shocked and alarmed.
“Hey, Flutters?!” I called out to Fluttershy, who I saw looked relieved yet also slightly miffed, not that I was surprised considering how she felt about all animals regardless. “I checked it just after I threw it and I’m pretty sure I knocked it unconscious. When I checked it was still breathing but you’re the expert.”
“I know what you’re asking, I’ll go check. Hopefully, the poor dear isn’t hurt too badly!” Fluttershy said. “And afterwards me and it will have a long discussion about why you don’t eat ponies!”
“Okay, though you might want to bring a disposable bucket or something, the thing looks really disgusting.” I told her and she gave me a mini glare that made me shudder slightly.
“You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover!” She told me and I just smirked slightly before I shouted back.
“Solidified pus!” Was all I responded and already I could see her getting queasy as I heard a faint ‘oh’.
“Troy.” Twilight called my name, trying to get my attention. I spun around and met her eye.
“Twilight.” I nodded my head before we both spoke at the same time.
“Ughh…You sure this is safe Twi?” I asked the purple unicorn as she strapped the final set of wires into whatever the weird sucker things on my arm were.
“Well, I’ve never done a test like this on a human before for obvious reasons. A pony success rate survey was taken recently about ‘Magical Restoration or Integration’ scans and it achieved an 86.82% success rate.” Twilight rambled on about the different methods used in the test and how they affected they result. I just sat there and tried to take comfort in the fact that it was unlikely that I would be hospitalized for the third time in two weeks.
A series of jagged lines started appearing on what seemed like a never-ending piece of parchment being dispensed from one of the many machines. Twilight's eyes scanned over the readings I could never hope to understand before running off to another machine that seemed to be printing even more readings.
Twilight was studying the papers while the girls conversed and I sat silently, in case talking could set something off in a machine.
“…Unbelievable…” I heard Twilight mutter as her eyes widened in shock. “But that should mean…”
“Twi? Are you okay? You look like you’re about to-” Before I could even finish as if on cue Twilights hooves gave out from under her and she toppled to the ground. “-faint…”
It took mere seconds for the collapsed unicorn to wake up again, though as if she had merely fallen though she would have got up faster had that been the case.
“We…I…” Twilight struggled to find whatever words she was looking for before finally figuring out what to say. “You’re impossible.”
***
“So, what you’re saying is that I managed to contract magicitus?” I asked with a smirk despite the serious nature of what Twilight had just revealed to me.
“TROY! This isn’t a joke, the magical Laylines haven’t been open since Celestia and Luna were born! I don’t know how you set them off but their constantly open and flowing straight into some rift that opened when you appeared here.” Twilight ranted at first before just becoming quiet while a grimace appeared on her face.
“Hang on a minute, Twi, ah’m a little lost here with all your fancy lingo and whatnot.” Applejack told the Alicorn
"Right...The magical laylines are, obviously, magic." The girls and I all shared the same unamused look. "Or to be more accurate, it is the source of magic."
"OH, does that mean you and Rarities fancy light show thingies when you use magic are it drawing power or something?" Pinkie asked in her usual peppy tone.
"Actually, that's not too far from the truth. Like I said, the last time the laylines were open was when Celestia and Luna were born and just like Troy they had the energy flowing into them. That is how they became Alicorns" Twilight explained as she took a quill and started jotting down notes on the readings.
"Oh oh, does that mean we will get an Alicorn troy?!" Pinkie asked.
"No, Celestia and Luna were born in Equestria-"
"-Thus we are able to withstand magic in our bodies." The familiar soothing voice of Luna appeared from behind me, as the night princess stood in the doorway.
"PRINCESS LUNA, come in!" Twilight immediately started into her routine for the royal sisters, starting to bow while the girls followed suite as Luna raised her left hoof.
"Calm, such formalities should not be required in the privacy of another’s home. Personally, I feel it would be immensely rude to force you too." Luna said, her calm and serene smile never leaving her face yet her eyes...
"But your Highness, the reason we have to call you that in public is..." a dark blue hoof placed itself upon Twilight's lips, a soft 'shh' following.
"You and your friends are my saviors, do not worry yourselves with that which puts yourself into a rank. You are my friends, know that you need not treat me as anything more."
"I...If you insist princess." Twilight finally gave in as Luna made her way up to me, I offered her the empty set beside me and she gladly took it. Twilight trailed behind Luna then took her previous seat again.
"Now, as you were saying, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna implored the purple Alicorn to continue.
"Right, because the princesses Equestrian-born, they could contain the magic but still it changed them-"
"-And we became what you see before you now." Luna finishes for Twilight.
"Right, though I have a question." Rainbow spoke up. "If you and princess Celestia were made Alicorns by the laylines, and that was the last time they were active, then how in the hay is Twi an Alicorn?"
"She is connected to my sisters own magic force. Should my sister, due to unforeseen circumstances, come to lose her magic or...Well, twilight would as well." Luna informed us.
"Right, okay then but I’m still not seeing how this is a negative thing." I told them and the looks that met me sent chills down my spine.
“You haven’t started to feel the effects yet because the dimensional transposition you experienced tore a rift in the fabric of reality.” Twilight started. “It’s been pocketing all the magic but the rift has been closing as you adjust to the forces in Equestria so soon that energy will either implode in on itself hitting you full force with all the stored magic… or it will explode, which will more or less just be a tiny light show however the laylines would still be open and as they cause of the rift it would latch onto you causing the same effect as what would occur had it exploded, albeit over a longer period of time.”
“So, when I’m hit with the magic, what happens?” I asked, starting to dread the answer I would get.
“The best case scenario is that if your body could handle the magic then, while temporary, your body would go into a comatose state for ten years at least yet no hospital would accommodate you for that long, another thing those bastard nobles refuse to change.” Luna said, eyes narrowing as she recalled the most annoying ponies in Canterlot if not Equestria itself. "of couse, to sustain it would require some sort of magical connection." I scratched my side as it started to itch, forgetting the mark was there.
“And the worst case scenario?” I asked.
“Your body wouldn’t be able to sustain the vast amounts of energy flowing to you and you would not only erase yourself from existence but it would be quite likely you would turn at least half of Ponyville into a place where magic would only be corrupt, killing any who ever try and use it.”
“…Shit…” Rarity looked ready to reprimand me about my language but it was too late to stop it. “Shit shit SHIT!”
“TROY, calm yourself.” Luna demanded.
“Calm myself? How the fuck do you expect me to be calm, you just told me I’m a living time bomb!” I yelled at her.
“I SAID CALM THYSELF!” Luna yelled in the royal Canterlot voice, her language from her younger days slipping through, getting my attention. “You should still have more than a year before there is anything to worry about in regards to this development.
“However there is one thing you should worry yourself about. There are some very xenophobic laws in Equestria that my sister and I have been desperately trying to abolish yet those annoying nobles have stopped us from abolishing. At first, it was just because they could not stand change but now that the nobles know you and hate you, they are fighting tooth and nail to keep every law that could harm you.
“One such rule is that any new creature found to have magic MUST be pitted against a knight of Equestria. Most have died now, in fact, only one remains…my sister.”
That night I went to sleep with a heavy heart along with so much confusion and fear. I collapsed onto the bed in Rarities house and before I know it I was off into the dreamscape.
“Troy, look around.” A sinister unearthly voice whispered in my ears. With fear taking hold I complied with its instructions, my eyes opening slightly to see nothing but complete darkness.
“This is the reality of magic, all that it leads to this in the end.”
“Who the hell?” I muttered.
“Well, if you must know I am everything. And I am nothing.”
"..."
“Well you’re no fun. Come on, get up.” The voice told me and I open my eyes completely yet before I could get out the bed…no, it wasn’t a bed, it was too hard to be a bed.
“Too slow!” The voice shouted with what sounded like glee as I felt a hand grab my shirt and lift me into the air. I was greeted by a horrific sight. This thing, god knows what it actually is, had the body of a human but the head of a pony. Funnily enough, that wasn’t the creepy part about its appearance, it was the fact that the head looked like it had been stitched on.
“Welcome, you disgusting waste of space, to the closest thing to an afterlife there is. Nothing except some floating stone platforms, complete darkness…and me!” it said cheerfully yet it sounded somewhat threatening as well, kinda of like a what I would imagine an evil Pinkie Pie would sound like.
“Oh please do stop referring to me as ‘it’, I have a name.” It told me. “Troy…”
“What’s….your name?” I asked hesitantly, it could read my thoughts and it was honestly terrifying.
“My name is Hell, Your Hell.” It told me. “Though you can just call me Haley if you want.”
“Haley?” I raised my eyebrows at the name, it had not been what I was expecting.
“What, what's wrong with my name? Say what's wrong with my name!”
“I…What?” was all I could say to that. I surveyed my surrounding once more, however, they seemed to have changed though that could be me being confused by the darkness.
“Well, all you need to know is this,” ‘Haley’s’ eyes went from the normal pupils to tiny black slits. “There isn’t an escape.”
Suddenly, the hand holding me aloft shot forward and let go of my shirt, which launched me into the cold air. I tumbled down the abyss for a good minute at least before my back collided with a stone platform.
“Owwwwww…” was all I managed to let escape from my lips. That fall should have broken my back yet all I felt was a dull pain.
“I’M COMING FOR YOU!” The voice had yelled and yet it had also sounded like he was whispering right in my ear. I looked up and to my horror saw ‘Haley’ descending from the air with a blade that was set to hit my stomach. I tried to escape but it was all in vain as I seemed to be stuck to the ground. I looked back and at that moment I felt the blade cleave into me.
“AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed as my vision slowly started to fade until I only saw blackness that taunted me.
***
“AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I screamed as I sat bolt up in my bed. My hand shot to the cover and lifted the sheets. Fortunately, there was no evidence that I had been stabbed, it had just been a dream.
My alarm went off, scaring me half to death. My hand slammed down on it to stop the infernal racket it was making. I stepped out of bed and made my way to the bathroom to start the day.
As I wandered the halls of Carousel Boutique, my thoughts wandered to the nightmare I had experienced. As I pondered the dream, my thoughts slowly turned to Princess Luna who I had been told could enter ponies’ dreams. I smirked a little at the thought, it was just a one-off, though, I wouldn’t need her help.
I reached the bathroom and itched my side, expecting to feel the usual odd sensation of my finger ran across my odd scar I received upon coming into Equestria, however it was not there.
I lifted my shirt and saw the scar was still there but had moved. It was now near my left arm and some of it didn’t seem to be scarring anymore but rather a mark similar to the ones the majority of ponies seem to have on their flanks. This was a small section, however, the majority of it was still scarring.
My eyes traveled to its original location and I felt my blood run cold. There was still a scar but this was new. It was a message that had been torn into my flesh.
‘IT WASN’T A DREAM. YOU WON’T GET HELP. H.’
It didn't take long to figure out what the H stood for. I slowly lowered my T-shirt and simply stood there in the bathroom, thoughts racing about what to do. I had yet to tell anyone about the dreams because I thought they had been just that, dreams though now I’m starting to worry.
“Hello? Anyone in here?” I heard Rarity’s voice after there was a knock on the door.
“Yeah, just a moment please.” I shouted through the door, deciding with all the insane stuff happening that I should really get help. I stared at my reflection and my mind wandered to the fact that even though I wasn’t in bed I was still in a nightmare. “I’m so screwed.”
“That you are.” A disturbingly familiar sinister voice said. “Do not turn around.”
“Why?! What do you people want from me?!” I said as quietly as I could so that Rarity didn’t hear me and assume I’m crazy.
“Oh Troy, have you already forgotten our last encounter, I’m still impressed by that right hook. For someone who never learned how to fight others, your fist sure seemed to say otherwise. Regardless, I suppose I should be sure, has your dreams dissolved into something more hellish?”
“Yeah….yeah, I guess you could say that.” I told it, breathing shallow breaths.
“Good to know. I’m afraid I have news. Good or maybe bad or even somewhere between the two. My brother, Haley, as he revealed himself to you, is a fiend. Admittedly I am fairly unpleasant myself at times as is how we were made but Haley is something else.
“I brought you here as I made a vow, so many years passed that once every decade I would do something good as penance for something I regret to this day. I brought you here as my most recent act of goodwill but my brother has different ideas. It is Haley’s wish to torment all. He has chosen you as his new plaything due to your unique disposition. My brother has always had an interest in this world. You are right to be horrified by his head, I am afraid that he took it by force from an unfortunate stallion long ago in the dark age of Equestria.”
“Was the whole magic that’s going to kill me thing done by him?” I asked as calmly as I could. Despite his admittance to being less than wholesome, he seemed to be more agreeable than his brother.
“Ah yes, that. I gave a second gift to you, a mark that shall only appear as scarring for now. I told you to enjoy my gift last time, I meant the mark. I also said I wouldn’t talk to you again yet that proved to be false for reasons beyond my control.
“I think you’ll find your biggest challenge to be the nobles of Canterlot. I have to give the lout Blueblood and his family credit, even with my brothers help their deception towards the princesses until now has been impressive.”
“What?!” I exclaimed, shocked at the revelation and also worried about what I would mean for me if what he was saying was true.
“Oh right, I should probably explain. Actually, better to show you.” He said as is started seeing black spots in my vision until everything was darkness.
***
My eyes fluttered open and I looked down to see that I was surrounded by a weird blue glow.
“That glow is your spirit. We can observe time like this.” The voice explained as a gray unicorn with a blonde mane and blue eyes wandered past us. I looked around and saw that we were in a cavern yet there was something off. There were lit candles along the walls and the cave was cut far to clean, it wasn’t natural.
The unicorn was moving further into the cavern, yet instead of continuing on into darkness, the cave stopped abruptly at some kind of shrine.
“Oh great trickster, show yourself to me, I come seeking your aid!” The unicorn said, his tone demanding, as he reached the shrine.
“What is it, I was in the middle of something!” The voice of Haley said behind the unicorn. The sight that greeted us was Haley as I had seen him except one or two differences like the fact that Haley didn’t have fresh blood specks on him when I saw him.
“Trickster, I shall cut to the chase, I need help. I need your great power!” The unicorn told Haley, who seemed to be amused by the unicorn.
“Really? And what could you possibly need help with? You are a man of wealth and power!” Haley told the unicorn. “Make sure your request isn’t a waste of my precious time.”
“I assure you it isn’t. I need your help for my power doesn’t reach as far as the princess!” The unicorn explained to the demon.
“The princess? Please do tell me more!” Haley suddenly seemed far more interested in what the unicorn had to say.
“The princess has forgotten the ways we are supposed to act. She is spreading false, sickening notions that we are all equal! She is convincing the rest of the nobility in Canterlot and I can’t allow that! We must stay true so that Equestria stays on top”
“Perhaps I CAN help after all!”
***
Suddenly, we were back in rarity’s bathroom. I was still facing away from the demon behind me.
"That was Bluebloods ancestor?" I asked the demon.
“Yes. My brother helped because it helped him accomplish a goal he has long had in mind, however, his plans for chaos have been a slow path that, until now, I have ignored. Yet this world is part of my debt that I may not ever repay. I knew I would have to step in at some point, yet I had hoped to indulge his twisted plan just a little longer. We made a truce when we realized about our conflict of interest. Of course, I don’t worry about IF he will break it but WHEN he will break it.”
“Haven’t you already done that?” I asked.
“Turn around Troy.” He told me, so I turned around to see a man with dead eyes that lacked pupils. He had short well-kempt black hair and dark skin.
“My brother shows everyone he confronts his real form as a scare tactic, however, I am the opposite, no other mortal has laid eyes upon me in my real form. I am only allowing this because I need you to understand this. You are lucky, for all you have been given. Do NOT waste it.
“Like I was saying, he made Blueblood’s family extremely influential and those who allow themselves to listen to the arguments made seem to find that the arguments are unbreakable.”
“So I’m screwed?!” I asked, after witnessing the protest that had occurred I was worried about what it would mean if they would be so adamant about getting rid of me.
“No, I said they seem unbreakable, not that they are unbreakable. I can see so many things from my position, and I can tell how everything will play out for everyone…Except you, you’re an enigma, my dear Troy. Your future isn’t set, I don’t know how you will break my brother’s spell but you have to. This is the mission I present to you, complete it and the rest will all fall into place.”
With that he disappeared into a swirling black mist, however, I spied some parchment floating to the ground, upon inspection I saw it said ‘That Fancy Pants would be a good start, he seems immune to Bluebloods charms for reasons unknown to me.’
I rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into my pockets. I headed out of the bathroom and walked downstairs into the kitchen of Carousel Boutique where Rarity already was.
“Ah, Troy, are you okay? You were in there an awfully long time.” Rarity asked with a furrowed brow.
“Was I really in there long? I didn’t realize. I’m fine, just contemplating.” I told her, sitting down. She gave me a pitiful look that made me sick.
“Okay then, I have to go relieve myself, as it were. Excuse me, Troy.” Rarity said, getting up from the table and leaving to go to the bathroom. I was left with my thoughts. I had so many questions going through my head.
Who are these two demons? Why was I chosen to come here? What did the demon mean by ‘everything else will fall into place.’? And most importantly…
‘Fear men with power for they are at risk of corruption Fear men with nothing for they are desperate Fear the children, for they decide the future of us all.’
I could never quite remember where I heard that quote, yet now I was starting to see what it really meant, the first line at least. Power leading to corruption, never have I heard a more accurate description of Blueblood and his ancestor, except for perhaps ‘absolute plotholes’ (That I had heard Luna muttering as we had been walking away from the protests on that day.)
I was currently in Sugarcube corner, occasionally glancing left and right to see if any of my friends were about. Pinkie knew I was here because she was currently working the register and Rarity knew as well as I had told her where I was going before I left.
Now that I think about it, that was the first time I had wandered anywhere in Equestria alone. I was occupying myself with a game on my phone when I heard the bell ring at the door. My eyes shifted up as I heard a low beep on my phone, I had lost my game. My eyes lingered upwards as I recognized the three fillies who had just wandered in. they were the same ones I had met in the forest.
Apple Bloom went up to the counter to order from Pinkie Pie while Sweetie and Scootaloo looked around for seats before they spotted me. I smirked and waved at them to which they both responded with a wave of their own, however, Sweetie seemed slightly freaked out for some reason.
Apple Bloom returned to her friends, Scootaloo pointed her out to me and within moments the fillies were around my table.
“Is it alright if me an’ ma friends sit here, mister?” Apple Bloom asked with a confident smile on her face.
“Sure, though if you’re wanting to talk it will have to be quick, I’m just waiting on somepony bringing me my order then I have to go.” I explained to the fillies as I looked to the counter to make sure we could definitely talk for at least a few minutes.
“Well, thank ya kindly, mister-“
“Please, the names Troy.” I said quickly.
“Thank ya kindly, Troy. me and my friends all so wanted to thank you fer what ya did with that monster.” Apple Bloom told me and my smirk turned into a full smile.
“No problem, I just did what any decent person would do-“
“And what any normal person would undoubtedly be killed doing.” I heard a voice from behind me say. The actual voice itself made my blood run cold. “Then again, you’re no normal person, are you? Perhaps I was wrong, maybe you aren’t just a hairless monkey but a dangerous one as well!”
“Nice to see you here too, Blueblood.” I said, turning to face the pompous prick. He was wearing a cold smile with a fire in his eyes I hadn’t ever seen in anypony or any human in my life. “Tell me, what does it take to bring you away from your high and mighty way of life down to the folk who actually bother to do an honest day’s work.”
“How dare you, you ignorant peasant! If you must know, I am here following up on a lead which just so happens to be about you.” Blueblood told me. For someone who was getting help from the supernatural, you think he would be a least a little smarter. “I know about your little fight with that…thing in the forest. You are a clear and present danger to Equestria and I will prove it. We can’t let time bombs around decent ponies like those up in Canterlot.”
“Clear and present danger?” I raised my eyebrows at his words. “Right now, the only thing that’s clear and present is your lack of observational skills. You live in Canterlot castle, right? So tell me, how did you fail to notice the two literal gods living there?”
“You dare-“
“Yes, yes I do. See here’s the thing Blueblood, I’m using my brain right now, you know, the thing you lack. Now even with your prejudice, you couldn’t seriously think you were going to label me as dangerous based off of something any unicorn could have done, could you?” I asked.
“You are dangerous! The princesses had time to hone their powers! All powerful unicorns had time, even that overly-accomplished, overly-appreciated and overly-ignorant foal Twilight Sparkle. Speaking of that idiotic mare-“
“DON’T bring Twilight into this, Blueblood unless you’re planning on finding out what you would look like with a broken snout!” I told him, he may have authority to do more than what others are allowed to but if he thinks that authority includes insulting any of my friends, he is sorely mistaken.
“You dare insult me? I will have you exiled from Equestria for your behavior!” Blueblood exclaimed yet before I could answer I heard misses Cake speak up from behind me.
“Excuse me, Blueblood, is it?” Misses Cake asked him.
“Yes, what do you want? Make it quick.” I saw misses Cake frown at that.
“What I wanted is to tell you that you’ve been exiled from my shop, get out and I better not see you here again!” Misses Cake told him, raising her voice enough that everypony else in the shop could hear, not that she had to as everypony had already been focusing on the fact a member of the nobility, a prince no less, had entered into the small shop.
“WHAT?!” Blueblood screamed as his eyes turned to pinpricks and he gritted his teeth in anger. I had been expecting either misses Cake to tell him to get out again or for him to have another outburst yet neither happened.
“Excuse me Madame, but I’m afraid you have been asked to leave.” I heard Pinkie’s voice speak up and saw she had snaked her hoof around bluebloods and started dragging him out.
“Excuse me, you blind mare?! I am a stallion!” Blueblood was going into a full tantrum mood now as he nearly knocked a customer’s drink over as he flailed his hooves in a pointless attempt to escape Pinkie’s grasp.
“Of course, I do apologize Madame.” Pinkie said as she turned to drag blueblood out. For a second I could have sworn she winked at me.
“Hm, what a rude stallion. Totally undeserving of being called a prince. Here’s your dark chocolate cupcake Troy.” Misses Cake handed me my order and when I got it I bit a large chunk out of it, chewed for a minute and then swallowed.
“Thanks misses Cake, great as always! Did you see that whole argument?” I asked, feeling bad that I had to disrupt her work.
“Oh yes, from the very beginning. I must say, Troy, while I am glad you stuck up for yourself and dear Twilight as well, please pick your fights more carefully. There are some people you don’t want to annoy in Equestria and unfortunately, Blueblood is one of them.”
“Don’t worry misses Cake, even as a prince there are limits to what he can do.” I told her before turning to the three fillies who all had looks of awe on their face. “If he attacks me again, I intend to make sure he realizes that.
“Anyways, I’m sorry girls, I did want to talk but I had to go as soon as I got my order and I’ve got it now. If you really want to talk, I’ll be here at the same time tomorrow.”
“Aw, okay mister...” Apple Bloom said with a look of disappointment on her face.
“Thanks again, misses Cake.”
“Anytime, dearie!” Misses Cake said and I gave her a smile. On my way out I bumped into Pinkie who was coming back from escorting Blueblood.
“Oh, bye Troy. Actually, before you go, do I smell bad?” Pinkie asked and I gave her a confused stare.
“No, you smell fine Pinkie. Why?” When she heard she smelt fine she beamed.
“Oh good, I wanted to make sure cause I was taking out the trash.” Pinkie told me, eliciting perhaps more of a laugh than it should have, yet I hadn’t been expecting it.
“Haha, Bye Pinkie.” I said before leaving the shop and heading off to where I had been intending to go the entire time, Twilight’s library.
“Oh, Troy! What are you doing here?” Twilight asked when she saw me in the main room of the library.
“Well for one, I should probably warn you Blueblood is on the prowl.” I said and I heard Twilight groan.
“What does that lout want now?” Twilight asked with an exasperated expression.
“Apparently, he found out about the fact that I’ve been charged up with magic.” I told her.
“WHAT?!” Twilight screamed, causing me to cup my ears in pain. “How?!”
“I don’t know, he mentioned the fight with the weird monster thing that came after Sweetie belle and her friends.” I told her. “I didn’t think he could get away with just that alone, though, then on the way here I realized what he actually said…”
“What? Is it something we need to worry about?” Twilight was starting to panic, hyperventilating. Her eyes were shifting around the room out of habit.
“Calm down Twi. He called me a ticking time bomb…I think he knows about my, um, magic problem.” I told her.
“Oh Celestia no…” Twilight muttered. “That is the last thing we need.”
“Yeah, it isn’t good…but I think I know exactly how this will go down. He’s going to relay this information to the nobles and they’re going to use it to drive their point across about me and how I shouldn’t be allowed to stay here.”
“Most likely, it’s a working strategy but highly predictable, just like him.” Twilight said, sitting down and staring at the floor.
“So here’s my question, is there any way I can fix my problem…well, not fix but slow it down, make it less of a 'we’re all going to explode and die in hellfire' issue?” I asked.
“Well, I’m not sure I would put it quite like that. To answer your question, there might be a way but I need time to research.” Twilight told me, putting a small smile on my face as I turned to the door.
“Thanks, Twi. That’s all I needed to hear.” I said as I headed for the exit. “I’ve gotta go now, I promised Rarity I would help with some stuff around her house.”
“Okay, I’ll see you around Troy.” Twilight said.
“See ya.” I replied before leaving. Sure, that demon guy said not to worry but I wasn’t planning on mentioning him to my friends unless it was necessary. This way there could also be proof that might be able to be used against Blueblood.
This world has a cute exterior, but it can be extremely strange if you know the right people…or ponies rather.