Chapter One: Arrival

Soul In the Sword

Chapter One: Arrival

“Dammit, Liam! Get back to work!”

I opened my eyes slowly, taking a moment to let them adjust to the bright lights of the break room before rubbing them.

“Jesus, Bill! Can’t you just let me sleep!?” I yelled at the asshole that woke me up. “I’ve only been on break for…fifteen minutes?”

“Check the clock, dumb ass! It’s been almost an hour! Your break was supposed to be half an hour! I’m already being nice by letting you take an extra half hour!”

I sprang up from the desk, wide awake now, frantically looking around the room for a clock. Spotting the clock hanging over the only door in the room confirms what Bill just told me, it’s almost a half hour past when my break was supposed to end. I scrambled to get out of the chair I had been napping in, and ran to my locker to put on my uniform before starting work again.

Before I left the staff room, I stopped near Bill and finished getting my barista apron on. “So boss, what do you need me to do?”

“You can stop sleeping on the damn job, for one! Get out there and help Chelsea with cash! She’s getting swamped with customers!”

“Aye aye, sir,” I replied jokingly as I made my way out of the staff room and took my place behind the counter, stopping at the other open cash register. “Welcome to Star Shmucks, what can I get for you today, sir?”

“Yeah, my wife wants one of those mocho choco latte bullshit thingies.”

“Did she say what kind of latte she wants, sir?”

“How the hell am I supposed to remember what kind of girly coffee she wants?!”

This is going to be a long day…

I sighed as I clocked out for the day, having just finished up with the daily cleanup and putting away my work uniform in my locker. I made sure to wipe everything down and put all the various coffee tools where they were supposed to go. I stopped, looking around the store for a moment, hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything.

The last time I forgot to clean up, Bill gave me an earful and made me clean up the entire shop by myself for a month. Grumpy old bastard.

Bill and I tease each other a lot, but we get along fine. It can be difficult to not get frustrated with each other, with him being my boss, but he is a good guy at heart.

“You finished cleaning up back there, Liam?” Bill called over to me, holding the door open as I approached, shop keys in hand.

“Yup. I’ll see you tomorrow then, Bill. Have a good night.”

“You too, Liam,” he called as he headed to his car, leaving me to lock up the store for the night.

After I finished locking the door and testing it to make sure it was indeed locked, I headed for my car.

I am wiped…

As I got into my car, an old automatic, I stopped to rest for a minute, glad to be off of my feet. I closed my eyes and put my seat back, enjoying the peace and quiet for a moment before the inevitable drive back home would happen. I let my thoughts wander as it started to rain outside the safety of my big metal box.

Maybe I should try and look for a job elsewhere. I’ve worked at this Starbucks rip off for 2 years now and nothing has changed. My wages haven’t gone up much, the customers are terrible and the coffee isn’t even that good. I don’t even get an employee discount. Chelsea is cute, but that doesn't really make up for all the problems. Oh well, nothing I can do right now, I guess.

A few minutes more and I inserted the key into the ignition and turned it. Of course the engine wouldn't start the first time, but after a few more tries it did it's job, roaring to life.

“Huh, maybe it’s about time to bring the old girl back to the shop,” I said to myself as I put the car in reverse, slowly backing up out of where I parked. After clearing the parking space, I changed the shift to drive and headed for the exit of the small parking lot.

‘Bill really needs to expand this lot. It’s too crowded and we have had too many accidents in it. I’ve almost gotten run over here myself,’ I thought to myself as I turned onto the main road.

Ten minutes later, I turned onto the near empty highway and began my long drive home. I let my mind wander as I continued to drive down the near empty highway, enjoying the sounds of the rain.

Really though, what was Bill thinking? Naming the shop something like Star Shmucks is just asking for a lawsuit. Its nothing short of a miracle that I haven’t lost my job due to my employer suffering from a case of sudden bankruptcy.

My attention snapped back to the road as a pair of bright lights suddenly entered my field of vision, making me swerve to avoid the likely drunk driver that drifted over to the wrong side of the road. I lost control of my vehicle, sliding across the road and hydroplaning. I braced myself for the inevitable crash while attempting to regain control, alternating between the gas and brake pedals in a desperate attempt to regain traction. I was panicking at this point, my heart hammering in my chest and a film of sweat on my face. I don't remember crashing, only my world turning to white as pain erupted from my head and losing consciousness.

As I slowly regained consciousness, I became aware of two things. My head hurt like hell, and I wasn’t in my car anymore. I was lying down on what felt like grass.

Ugh, what happened? Did I crash? Must have, Im not in my car anymore. Was that a truck?

I slowly began to push myself upwards, feeling pain shoot through my body.

“Ow! Ok, first things first. How bad is it, doc?” I joked to myself, despite the pain.

I sat up and checked myself for injuries. The only noticeable injury that I could find was a small cut on my forehead which was bleeding a bit. Any other injuries seem to be minor scrapes and cuts, along with a number of bruises. My clothes were torn up a fair bit from the impact, tears and holes littering my shirt and pants.

“Pretty good, considering I was thrown from my car and off the road,” I said to myself as I slowly stood up, the scrapes and bruises making me wince.

“I just hope the person I hit is doing as well as I a-” I froze after turning around and discovering that the highway I thought I was thrown off of was gone, a small meadow surrounded by trees in its place.

Okay, either I got thrown farther than I thought, or I'm missing something here.

I took a few steps forward, not quite believing what I was seeing. My eyes went wide as I looked around, searching for the highway that I knew was just around the corner.

It has to be.

“Hello?” I called out as I started to head in the direction I believed the highway was in, wiping away the blood that was starting to drip slowly down into my eye. "Is everyone else alright?"

Damn head wounds. Even shallow ones bleed a lot.

My time camping with my father as a child taught me many things, one of which is that even shallow cuts on the head and face are a bitch to deal with, and that they bleed profusely.

“No one is responding. That's never a good sign. Well, if the first aid kit in my car is intact, I should be able to get this cut patched up pretty quickly.”

Trudging through the brush, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye that made me stop and look closer. My eyes widened and my breathing began to quicken, fear and the beginning of panic setting in. Less than 20 feet in front of me, there was a huge corpse, half eaten and now rotting. At that distance, it looked like some kind of massive lion, easily several feet taller than me and well over twice my size. Its back was facing me, allowing me to see a small pair of wings, one barely hanging on to the body by a small strip of flesh.

I stared at in in horror, not believing my own eyes.

“This...this is a joke, right? This thing shouldn’t even exist. Am I hallucinating? I must have hit my head harder than I thought…” I laughed nervously as I tried to come to grips with what I saw in front of me.

Then the smell hit me.

I gagged, nearly losing my lunch from the pungent smell of rotting meat, quickly losing that battle as fear and panic began to take control of my body and my thoughts. My eyes were glued to the grotesque sight before me and I swallowed the bile that had risen up in my throat.

“Well Liam, you aren’t in Kansas anymore,” I nervously chuckled, trying to distract myself from this unbelievable situation.

I took a moment to try to calm myself. This isn’t the time to be losing my head. I focused on steadying my breathing, inhaling through my nose and exhaling through my mouth. I was a bit calmer after a moment, and I felt that I should be evaluating my current situation.

“Alright. So, taking into consideration the fact that the highway is nowhere to be seen, the fact that I can’t see any buildings from here and the fact that i’m looking at the corpse of something straight out of mythology, I’m going to assume that i’m either in a coma and having a very disturbing dream, or…”

I looked around, trying to recognize anything as local flora. None of the plants surrounding me looked familiar, unnerving me further.

“Or...something has gone very wrong and I’m somewhere I really shouldn’t be…”

A new smell hit my nose, somehow overpowering the stench of rotten flesh and catching my attention. It smelled sickly sweet, like rotten fruit and dead plants. Gagging at this new, terrible smell, I got to my feet and looked around, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. As I was moving to leave, not wishing to see the corpse near me any longer, I heard a noise coming from the direction of the corpse. A low growling sound.

My head snapped in the corpse’s direction, cluing in a tad too late that if this thing was half eaten, something likely killed it and ate it, and that something might still be around. I stood frozen in shock as a creature that looked like it was made of wood stood atop the corpse. It growled as it slowly began to approach, snarling and barking like a rabid dog before it stopped a distance from me, head low and looking ready to charge. I was paralyzed with fear.

‘I can’t move. Every single muscle in my body is screaming at me to move and I can’t. Come on! I’m not going to die like this! Move, dammit!’ I was screaming in my head, unable to move no matter how hard I tried.

The wooden wolf took a step forward, breaking a twig under its paw and snapping me out of my fear induced paralysis. I turned and bolted into the forest, not caring which direction I was going, intent on just getting away from this creature. My lungs were screaming at me, inhaling and exhaling rapidly in my blind panic to escape. My sides burned as they begged me to stop, to take a break. I briefly considered stopping to check if I lost my pursuer before I heard a snarl which couldn't have been more than a few feet away.

Fuck that, I’m not stopping to be this thing’s lunch!

Tearing through the forest, I darted left and right to avoid trees that occupied my path. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, the nicks and scratched I received from the local flora didn't register in my mind as I focused on one thing. Survive.

I kept running, heaving and panting all the while. I could feel my legs get weaker and weaker, burning and threatening to give out from under me at any moment. Just as I was well and truly running out of stamina, I spotted a cave a small distance away.

Oh, thank God! I just hope that anything that might be living there doesn’t mind me intruding.

I ran into the cave as quickly as I could, desperately searching for a place to hide. The cave was cavernous and open with nowhere to hide, small rocks and branches of various sizes littering the floor, with little else.

Nowhere to hide. Oh God, am I really going to die here? Trapped in this cave, who knows how fucking far from my family and friends?

I spotted a skeleton hiding in the shadows of the cave as I walked further into the cave, previously obscured by the lack of light.

Am I going to end up like that?

Walking towards the skeleton, I took in its appearance. It looked like some kind of small horse with a horn. I laughed, the action entirely devoid of humour.

Heh, now there are unicorns? Maybe next, I’ll see a hyd-

My foot struck something and I glanced downwards. A large branch was at my feet, solid and sturdy. I stared at it, feeling determination begin to well up inside me, beginning to overpower my fear and terror. My survival instincts took over as my fear was quickly replaced with anger, the realization that I had to defend myself or die where I was sinking in.

No. No! I refuse to lay down and die like a dog!

I quickly reached down and picked up the branch, turning around and holding it at the ready, preparing to defend myself.

If this thing thinks I’m going to be an easy meal, it’s got another thing coming!

I could tell that the creature had entered the cave, the smell giving it away before the sound. The growling and snarling was becoming more audible as it got nearer. The cave was dark, but I had no difficulty in seeing where the wolf was, as its eyes glowed a sickly green.

The branch was gripped hard enough in my hand to turn my knuckles white. I was prepared to defend myself when the wooden horror attacked. Keeping my eyes on the wolf, we entered into a staring contest, the wolf glaring at me as it waited for me to show any sign of weakness.

“Come and get me, you overgrown pile of kindling!” I shouted as I charged at the wolf, branch held overhead and preparing to deliver a blow to the thing’s head.

Not expecting its intended prey to be fighting back, the beast took a step back in surprise and failed to move in time to avoid my strike, taking a solid hit to its head. A large chunk of its head broke off, its right eye no longer glowing. It yelped in pain, taking several steps back before glaring at me again.

“That’s right, you son of a bitch! Back off!” I continued to glare at the wooden monstrosity, surprising myself that I could do so much damage with just a branch.

If I can keep this up, I might be able to scare it off. Drawn out fights are never good and i’m already tired enough from my running to keep this up for much longer.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to scare off the monster. It charged at me, snarling and barking. Makeshift weapon at the ready, I made another overhead swing, but this time the creature was prepared for it. Before the branch could connect, the wolf leapt at me, opening its jaws wide and snapping them down on my only hope. My eyes widened in fear as the branch splintered and cracked in my hand, becoming useless. The momentum from the charge and the weight from the walking bush hanging off of my weapon knocked me off my feet, my back slamming into the ground with the monster on top of me.

Shit! This isn’t good!

The monster clawed and bit at me, easily ripping through my shirt and the skin beneath it with its thorny claws. It snarled in my face and snapped at me, trying to bite down on my throat and end my struggling. It took everything I had to make sure that it didn’t turn my neck into a scarlet fountain. In a burst of strength from the adrenaline rushing through my veins, I managed to throw the wolf off me and to the side. I scrambled to my feet, tears starting to rush down my face from the pain and the realization that this was a losing battle.

I really am going to die here, aren’t I? In this cave, in the middle of fucking nowhere!

The wolf quickly got back to its four paws, and prepared to charge again.

I’m going to lose my life to this thing…

As the wooden wolf looked like it was about to charge again, a bright light appeared behind me from deeper into the cave. The wolf took a step back, so I chanced a glance back at the source of the bright light. The light blinded me for a moment, but I walked forward towards the source of the illumination. I approached quickly, hoping that whatever this was, that it could get me out of my current predicament.

A sword?

A small sword lay against the cave wall next to the unicorn corpse, radiant and beautiful. The light that it bathed the cave in felt strong, yet caring and warm. Strange symbols were etched into the blade and a large diamond was embedded in the guard, making it look as if it were from a fantasy story.

“I might as well be in one, I guess!” I said to myself as I quickly walked over, reached down, and grabbed the handle. Upon gripping the weapon, an indescribable feeling passed through me. My entire body filled with energy and warmth, the pains from my wounds lessening and the strength in my limbs returning. I almost dropped the sword in shock, the sudden change in feeling startling me. I felt a small pressure in my head before I heard a feminine voice, commanding and powerful, echoing in my head.

I know not what kind of creature you are, but I see your pure heart and feel your resolve! I am the monster hunter known as Sunlight Spirals! I grant you my power and my sword! Use it to defend those who would be victims to the evil in this world!

The glow of the blade died down to a level that wasn't blinding anymore, though it was still bright. The cave seeming brighter than it should be, I glanced down at my body to see that I was also glowing brightly. The strange symbols on the blade were glowing and the blade was wrapped in fire, the heat intense yet not burning me. My wounds started to disappear, scabbing over and leaving faint pink scars in but a few seconds.

How is this possible?

A hesitant growl brought my attention back to the wooden monster, as I had almost forgotten that it was still here. It looked a little more apprehensive about attacking me, its easy meal no longer seeming quite as easy.

I lifted the short blade and turned to the wolf, the light from the sword bright enough that I could now see the entirety of the cave and its contents, the beast included. It looked almost afraid, seeing what seemed like living fire surrounding the blade and its intended prey glowing brightly. Levelling the sword at the monster, I took a step forward, taking great delight in the fact that my would be killer took a step back.

"What's the matter? Bite off more than you could chew?" I taunted the creature, the tables having definitely been turned. It glared at me with its one good eye and took another step back, clearly feeling very threatened. Good.

With the creature seemingly being made of wood, I expected the creature to be wary of the fire that surrounded me and my new blade, which is why what it did next surprised me.

It charged.

I took a step back, not at all expecting this kind of suicidal rush by the flammable creature. It saw my moment of surprise as weakness and leaped, its jaws open and drooling what looked like sap. Acting on what could only be instinct, I stepped to the side and swung the sword downwards. I struck the beast in the neck, a small crack and a yelp coming from the monster as the fire scorched it. The momentum carried the beast past me and to the ground, the hit seemingly doing little besides angering the creature and causing it to glare at me in hatred. It had quickly backed away from me, keeping low to the ground. As it made to retreat, it stopped suddenly and sharply turned its head around, looking at its back. A soft glow emanated from the wolf as I realized what had happened.

It was burning. Half of its back had gone up in flames, the flammable material having ignited from the brief contact with the weapon. I could only watch in morbid curiosity as the wolf dropped to the ground and rolled, attempting to extinguish the flames. The flames spread quickly, eagerly devouring the wooden fuel that it used to sustain its own life. Whimpering and yelping, the wolf looked at me. Its eyes seemed to be filled with pain and terror, silently pleading with me to help it. Hungry flames engulfed the rest of the beast, its head being the last part of it to disappear in the bright light.

The fire and light surrounding the blade and myself began to die down, getting weaker before dying entirely. A strong smokey scent permeated the cave, burning my nose and making me cough. I stared at the small pile of ashes that used to the wolf, trying to process what had happened.

I...I killed it...

I had ended another creature's life. It didn't matter that it had been an accident or that said creature had been trying to kill me, It didn't help the weight that had settled in my stomach. It had all became too much for me.

So I broke down and cried as it all hit me.

I cried for the creature that I had killed. I cried for my family, who would believe me dead and who I would never see again. I cried because despite being the survivor of that encounter, I felt weaker and more alone than I had ever before in my life.

I spent several more minutes crying before I stopped, wiping my eyes and standing up.

Okay, Liam. You are still stuck in this forest and crying about it all day isn't going to improve the situation. Pull yourself together, man.

Standing up, I made my way over to the unicorn skeleton. The bones seemed ancient, looking brittle and grey.

"Whoever you were, thank you. Your sword saved my life and I promise to take care of it."

It may seem silly, but I respect the dead. I respect the life they lived, the impact that they made on the world and the family that they left behind. Every life is precious, even though sometimes you are forced to end another's prematurely. I had wondered what it would be like to take a life for years. I had heard stories from war veterans. About the horrors of war and how taking a life changes something inside you forever. I had wondered how I would feel and how it would affect me, though I had always assumed the body would have been human. Even if it was just an animal, it was still a life. It was still a living, thinking creature with wants and needs. Though that doesn't matter anymore. It was dead and I was alive. Though it wasn't intentional on the corpse's part, this unicorn's weapon was the only reason I was still living.

"I...I suppose I should get moving..."

Slowly standing up from my sitting position, I looked down at the instrument of war that had saved me, now having the time to take in the craftsmanship. It was a beautiful thing, the blade was about ten inches in length and seemed to be made of a silver coloured metal that gleamed softly with the little bit of light that came into the cave. The blade's sharp point and spotless edge told of how well it had been cared for by its previous wielder. The guard seemed to be made of simple brass, the arms of the guard bending upwards towards the blade. The handle was covered in fine leather that gave just a bit when I gripped the handle. A large gem that looked like a diamond was set in the pommel, the same material as the guard seeming to have been shaped around the chunk of compressed carbon, with the very end having a rather nasty looking point.

Despite the situation I was in and how anxious I was about what my next move to survive should be, I couldn't help but wonder how a sword that appeared to belong to such a long dead skeleton could still be in such good condition. I was no blacksmith or metallurgist, but didn't steel rust? Doesn't leather rot and brass tarnish? While not important questions, my mind was grateful for the temporary puzzle to try and solve, though it seemed that the knowledge I wished for was not going to be gained in a dark cave in the middle of a dangerous forest. I tightened my grip on the handle of the sword as I slowly exited the cave, my eyes searching for any more threats. Seeing that there wasn't any obvious danger, I stepped out fully and my eyes continued to wander, looking for anything that looked like food or a body of water to drink from.

I had seen what I had considered to be impossible several times today. A thought passed through my head at that moment. An intrusive thought, not one that was made intentionally.

I doubt anything could surprise me at this point.

The universe, having seemed to have heard the thought and taken it as a challenge, chose that exact moment to test that. My arms moved to shield my eyes as a bright light took up my vision. Trying to blink the spots out of my eyes, I could only stare in a mixture of awe and fear at the beautiful but imposing creature that stood where there was nothing before. It looked like a horse, though a tad smaller. Wings adorned its sides and a long horn was atop its head, more than long enough to gore me with. It was at least 6 feet tall and its coat was a pristine shade of white, contrasting starkly with the darkness of the forest. Its mane was coloured in a way that reminded me of the sun and it waved as though in a breeze. A stylized emblem of a sun was emblazoned on its flank, the red and orange standing out from the light coat colour. The beautiful creature looked like it was close to panic, looking in the opposite direction I was in and moving erratically, its head rapidly swinging back and forth as if looking for something. I nearly froze when it turned around to face me, the pale purple eyes locking with my own. I took a step back and raised the blade, pointing it at the winged and horned creature in barely concealed fear. It glanced at the blade and its eyes widened before it took a tentative step forward, its gaze fixed on the blade as if it had forgotten I was even there. I could only stare in shock as the creature spoke. A clear, unmistakeable word.

"Impossible..."

Chapter Two: An Unintended Royal Welcome

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Two: An Unintended Royal Welcome

"Impossible..."

The sound of its voice shocked me, not expecting to hear it speak, sounding feminine and mature. I stumbled back and fell, landing on my rear and yelling in pain as I landed on a sharp twig and scraped my elbows on the rough ground. A gasp came from the creature as, what I'm now assuming is a she, took a step forward and held a hoof out tentatively, with what looked like a worried expression on her face, the sword seemingly forgotten.

"Oh my goodness! I didn't mean to startle you, are you alright?"

I tried to form a proper response, but my brain was still rebooting from the shock of hearing her speak. So I did the only thing I could at the time.

"Wha-huh?"

Her face changed to a look of concern as she withdrew her hoof and placed it back on the dirt floor of the forest.

"Oh no, did you hit your head?"

"I-I don't think so, no. W-who are you?"

A strange expression passed over her face for a moment that I couldn't quite place. It felt like suspicion and confusion, but the look left as fast as it came.

"I am...Princess Celestia, the co-ruler of Equestria, along with my sister. Forgive me for asking, but...you are not from here, are you?"

I froze as her words repeated in my head.

Equestria? Well, I guess that confirms what I already knew...I'm not on earth anymore...

"Are you sure you are alright? You seem to be a tad...disoriented."

My eyes met Celestia's, and then lowered back to the ground.

"I...I'm fine. Just a little confused. I've never seen anything like you before. What are you?"

Celestia's eyes widened, in shock or offense, I can't tell. Damn it, did I just accidentally insult royalty!?

"Sorry! I didn't mean to be rude! Please don't hurt me..." I raised my arms to my face to shield myself from whatever royal wrath I was going to receive.

"..."

That's weird. She isn't...hurting me?

I slowly began to lower my arms to see the expression on Celestia's face. Instead of anger or disdain, it was an expression of sadness that she wore.

"Why would I hurt you? You've done nothing wro-" she cut herself off as she noticed the sword in my hand, easily visible in front of my face since I was trying to shield myself from an attack that would never come. I hope...

"...Where did you get that blade?" Her gaze held an intensity that I couldn't describe as she kept her eyes glued to the sword.

"Huh?"

"Where did you get that blade!? Please, tell me!" Tears were forming in her eyes as she raised her voice.

Arms shaking from the sudden shift in demeanor, and caught completely off guard, I could only point a quivering finger back to the cave and give a weak response, still scared of being attacked.

"I-I-In there. The cave, next to the-" I gulped, and looked back to the ground. "The unicorn bones..."

Celestia's eyes widened before she ran past me, almost trampling me in her rush to enter the cave. I tried to stand, only to fall over.

Oh...adrenaline rush must be wearing off...

My second attempt worked much better than the first, using the wall of the cave entrance to steady myself. I entered the cave to see Celestia just...stare at the pile of bones in front of her. Her eyes spoke of immense sadness and grief, tears freely falling from her eyes as she turned her head to me.

"This one?"

I nodded slowly, unsure as to what was happening. Did she know this unicorn? Celestia's legs seemed to be failing to support her. She fell, lying on her stomach and openly wept, chocked sobs and sniffles coming from her slender muzzle.

"Oh...oh Sunlight...I had hoped..." Still sobbing, the winged unicorn threw her head back and wailed in anguish, the sound echoing through the cave.

"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! My greatest friend, I'm so sorry!"

There's no doubt. She knew this unicorn...

I stumbled over to Celestia, surprisingly steady on my feet. Standing next to her, I dropped the blade, knelt down, and wrapped my arms around her long neck, giving the grieving creature a hug as best as I can. She stiffened for a moment, before looking at me.

Those eyes. Those eyes were haunting. They say that eyes are the window to the soul, and her soul was suffering. How could...how could anyone deal with that amount of pain?

She simply laid her head on my shoulder and cried. I tried to soothe her as best as I could, stroking her neck and whispering that it's okay. I...I was afraid before. Afraid of her. This isn't some callous royal who cares nothing for others, but someone who needed someone there for her. Any fear I held for this beautiful creature faded when I saw how grief stricken she was over the death of whoever this unicorn is.

I lost track of how long we sat there for. It felt like hours, just listening to Celestia cry and sob, stroking and petting her neck and mane. My knees hurt, but it didn't matter. She obviously needed this. Eventually, she stopped crying and sobbing, but she sniffled every few seconds. Gently lifting her head from my neck, she looked almost...apologetic?

"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have had to see that. That wasn't...my best first impression."

I shook my head and looked to her.

"This unicorn was obviously important to you. Don't...don't apologize for grieving, for caring."

She turned her head back to the pile of bones and gazed sadly at them, hey eyes threatening to spill more tears. I hugged her tighter.

"Who was she?"

Celestia didn't move. It was several more moments before she answered.

"Her name was...Sunlight Spirals..."

My eyes widened. That's the name that the voice in my head called herself! That...that can't be a coincidence...

My widening eyes went unnoticed, as Celestia continued.

"She was...was my daughter, in a way. I raised her from a young age, took her as a student, taught her everything I could. I was...hoping to prepare her for the world of royalty, but..."

A chocked sob escaped as she struggled to get the words out.

"But she always hated it. She always hated the nature of politics and didn't see the point. Sunlight was always straightforward and blunt, and saw no reason for politicians to be the way they were...and still are..."

A few new tears streamed down her muzzle.

"One day...she left. She left the castle to become an adventurer. I didn't want to force something on her that she would hate, so..."

Celestia glanced towards the sword that I had dropped before, and another sob could be heard.

"I didn't want to send her out without doing what I could, so...so I made her that sword. I made it with my blood, sweat, and tears, so that it may ensure my daughter's safety, but..."

She started shaking, either from grief or fatigue. Or both.

"Clearly that wasn't enough..."

A few moments passed before Celestia seemed well enough to stand again, startling me with the sudden movement and making me break off the hug. Sniffling, she looked at me, still kneeling on the ground, and smiled sadly.

"It's...it's nice to have some closure. I always wondered what happened to her after she left the castle. I had heard rumors every so often about her, but after a while...there weren't any new rumors..."

Looking away, she shook again. I could see another tear escape, which she quickly wiped away with a hoof.

"What was she like?" I asked as she turned to face me.

"Sunlight was...Sunlight was unlike any other pony I have ever met in the thousands of years I've lived for."

What?! Thousands of years?! There's no way...is there?

Ignorant to my thoughts, Celestia continued.

"She was brave, reckless, independent, and intelligent. Sunlight didn't let anything stop her. Every obstacle was simply a challenge to be overcome, every problem was a new puzzle to solve. She had a gifted mind and was a magical prodigy. Magic came as naturally as her as breathing to you or I. Though she had little control over her magic at first..."

Celestia's eyes glazed over as if she were remembering some distant event.

"Cele...Princess?"

Celestia looked to me, smiling softly.

"Please, call me Celestia. There is no need for formality for somepony who comforted an old mare like me in her time of grief."

Her eyebrow rose as a more questioning and inquisitive look replaced her soft smile.

"Though I must ask...what are you? I've never seen a creature like you before."

She must have noticed the widening of my eyes and the sadness on my face.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

I didn't know how to answer that. Did something happen? Of course something happened! I'm...I'm all alone now...

"I'm...human. I guess that answers some other questions I had though..."

Celestia sat next to me and gently placed a wing over my back and pulled me closer, probably trying to comfort me.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me what happened. If it's within my power though, I will help with whatever is wrong."

I gulped and looked down, not meeting her gaze.

"It's...not that I don't want to tell you, It's just...I don't know where to start."

She laughed softly, the action causing the wing draped over me to move back and forth.

"The beginning is always a good place to start."

Heh..this one has a sense of humor.

"Well, I don't think I'm on the same planet I came from."

Celestia's eyes widened a tad and her eyebrows rose with them, though she made no action to indicate fear or suspicion.

"Why do you think that...oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! With all the excitement, I never asked for your name!"

She looked more than a little embarrassed. I laughed sadly. "My name is Liam."

"Liam? That's an odd name, but I suppose it might make more sense where you are from. Now, why exactly do you think you are on another world, Liam?"

I looked over to the charred remains of the wooden wolf and cringed.

"That...wooden creature. There is nothing like that where I come from." I looked at Celestia. She was looking at the same corpse that I had been.

"Timberwolves? Those are rather commonplace in these woods. You have never seen one before?"

Timber...wolf? Oh wow, that's a bad pun. Whoever came up with that should be ashamed.

"Heh, no. We don't have timberwolves in my world. We don't have...whatever your species is called either. You look like a creature straight out of mythology. A unicorn crossed with a pegasus, and those just don't exist where I'm from."

She giggled and put a hoof to her muzzle.

Why is that so cute?

"My species are called alicorns. You are partially correct about what I am. I, and those like me, embody all three pony tribes. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies."

Well that's interesting. Others like her, huh? I wonder how many there are.

I looked back to where I dropped the sword, and frowned softly.

I also wonder...what exactly happened to Sunlight, and why did her sword react like that when I picked it up?

"Uh, Princess?"

I looked back to her. She had an eyebrow quirked and was giving me a look.

"Uh, sorry. Celestia, could I see the sword again? There is something I want to test."

After I corrected myself, her smile came back, and her horn started to glow.

What is she...

Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I jumped slightly, startled by the sword being so close to me and...floating!?

"What the..."

Celestia giggled at the dumbstruck expression on my face and the sword floated a bit closer to me.

"Its name is Dawnbreaker. Go on, take it."

I firmly gripped the handle of the sword as the golden glow around her horn and the sword faded. It felt...odd. Almost like I could feel emotions coming from the sword.

That's...definitely not normal. What kind of sword is this?

I heard something like TV static in my head as soon as I thought that. It was so loud and disorienting! I dropped the blade onto the cave floor beneath me. Celestia looked at me in worry as I held my hand to my ear.

"Are you alright? What happened?"

After a moment, the static slowly started to go away. I let go of my ear and looked down at the sword.

"I don't know. It was like...empty noise in my head. That's not normal, is it?"

Celestia frowned softly, and looked at the sword with a hint of suspicion.

"No, it most certainly is not..."

I reached for the sword again, when a white hoof placed itself on my hand.

"You looked as though you were in pain. Are you sure you want to try again?"

I nodded, feeling as though there was more to this than I could see at first glance.

"Yeah. I've just got this feeling..."

I gripped the handle again and raised the sword in front of me. The static started again almost immediately, but it sounded almost like...like someone was trying to talk to me.

Ca...you...hea....me...Pl...hear....

What? Who's there? Who are you!?

The static was slowly fading, and the sword started to glow a bright orange.

Can...hear me? Come on....ridiculous!

"I hear you! Who are you!?"

Celestia wore a concerned look as she looked between me and the sword.

"Liam, maybe you should- Liam!"

My whole body started to glow the same orange as the sword and I slowly rose into the air, unintentionally pushing Celestia's wing off of my back.

"Liam! Don't worry, I'll stop this!"

The orange glow surrounding me grew brighter, until I had to close my eyes from the intense light. I could barely hear Celestia yelling something to me before everything went white.

I slowly opened my eyes, feeling a pain in my head.

"Celestia? What happened?" I groggily asked as I sat up.

There was nothing but pure white in all directions. I couldn't believe what I was I seeing.

There's no way this is...

"Finally. It's a good thing I thought to just forge a magical connection and talk to you this way."

I froze. That wasn't Celestia. It almost sounded like...

"Sunlight?" I asked, turning to look behind me.

There was a bright red unicorn standing there, with a mane the color of fire and eyes of gold.

"No, I'm the Olden Pony! Of course it's me! Who else's soul is trapped in this damn sword?!"

"You're...trapped in here?"

Sunlight sighed as she looked away from me.

"Unfortunately, yes. I made an enemy of some seriously evil characters and after I fell for some stupid trap, my soul was ripped from my body and shoved into this thing! I think...they said they wanted to use my power against Celestia. I couldn't let them do that..."

"But if they killed you, how would they be able to use your power?"

"Magic is...a very complex thing. Just because my body perished, doesn't mean my power is gone. A unicorn's magic is fueled largely by their emotions and their soul. I think they hoped that by destroying my body and weakening me, that they could overpower my magic with their own, and force me to obey them."

A dark grin crossed her face. I never thought a pastel horse could be scary, but that smile...

"They learned very quickly why that was a bad idea."

"What...what happened?"

The cocky grin that Sunlight now sported was less unnerving than the smile she had before, but it still carried a trace of maliciousness in it.

"I incinerated them. They tried to use their combined magic to subjugate me, but I pushed back. I'm amazed those weaklings had the power to trap me in the first place, considering how easy their magic was to overpower. Though I did have a direct link to them, similarly to the link I now share with you."

I gulped, assuming the worst.

"You're not planning to incinerate me, are you?"

She laughed. The sound was melodic and cheerful.

"No, Liam. I don't plan to hurt you. Quite the opposite, in fact. This wasn't a peaceful world when I died, and I doubt it's peaceful now, even with hundreds of years having gone by."

Sunlight's steps made no noise in this world of white as she approached my still sitting self, and she placed her hoof on my shoulder.

"I felt your resolve. You're a survivor, just like me...like I was. You can make a difference in this world."

I waited for the punchline, for her to laugh. That had to be a joke, right? Me? What can I do? I could barely handle one monster.

"How can someone as weak as me make a difference?"

She smiled softly at me and drew me into a hug, surprising me.

"I'll be right there with you, Liam. You can depend on me to help keep you safe. Besides, you're not as weak as you might think."

Gripping me tighter, I could feel something wet land on my back.

Are those tears?

"Only someone magically gifted could have woken me from my self induced slumber and wielded my blade with such efficiency. A weak creature would have been destroyed by my magic."

I gently returned the hug, noticing how soft her coat is.

"Why me though? Why would you...want to come with me of all people?"

Sunlight pulled back and looked into my eyes. She was smiling, but the trails of tears on her face were very noticeable.

"Because you've saved me, Liam! You've saved me from an eternity alone, saved me from rotting away in this cave and fading away into obscurity!"

Letting go of me, she backed up a few steps and saluted. Her expression reminded me of a soldier, stoic and stern.

"I was a knight of sorts before my death. I fought evil and protected the innocent. I can see your very soul, the same way you will be able to see mine, in time. I see your strength, your intelligence, your resolve. I see someone worthy to pledge myself to! I see a future warrior! I see a future leader! Liam, will you accept me, Sunlight Spirals, as your knight?"

I don't know why, but that question sparked something in me. A small flame that grew as I stared into her golden eyes, unable and unwilling to look away.

"Sunlight Spirals. I accept you, and welcome you as my knight."

The salute was dropped and the happiest expression I've ever seen spread across her face.

"Thank you, Liam. You won't regret this."

The white surrounding us started to darken, slowly approaching us. Sunlight seemed to notice and looked towards me again, offering a small smile.

"It seems as though you are waking up now. I'll talk to you more soon."

The darkness was so close now, just a few feet away from the two of us. Sunlight started walking away from me.

"How will you do that?"

She stopped, and looked back at me, still wearing that smile.

"You'll find out." She winked as the darkness swallowed us both.

Chapter Three: Wake Up Call

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Three: Wake Up Call

I groaned as I felt consciousness returning to me. My head throbbed with a rather intense migraine, and I felt like I had run a marathon. I could faintly hear someone saying something in the background, but between my massive headache and just having woken up, I couldn't tell what was being said.

I tried to sit up, slowly rising from the ground and crossing my legs. A white hoof placed itself on my leg as I looked to see who was talking to me.

"Celestia?"

Celestia sighed in relief as she saw that I was well enough to sit up and speak, the tenseness in her body practically melting away.

"Oh thank goodness! I don't know what that was, but I'm so sorry I couldn't help. Are you...alright?"

I looked down to the sword that I assumed had landed near me when whatever was happening to me had stopped.

That's odd...I can still feel the emotions coming from the sword like I'm holding it.

"I...I think so. My head hurts, but it's already feeling better."

She smiled softly at me, then glared down at the sword near me.

"I do not know what happened, and it hurts me to have to do this to my deceased daughter's sword, but I don't want anything like this happening again."

My eyes widened as I realized what she was likely planning to do.

Does she want to...destroy the sword?! But what about Sunlight?!

"I'll have to store this somewhere sa-"

"No!" I interrupted her as I reached for the sword that was out of my arm's reach.

My left hand glowed a bright red and the same glow surrounded the sword, and it flew to me, the grip landing perfectly in my hand. I could only stare at the sword that practically rocketed through the air to me.

Did I...do that? Was that magic?!

A sharp burning started to cover my arm, causing me to fall back and yell in pain.

"Liam!"

I rolled on the ground in distress as the burning pain increased into searing agony. I must have third degree burns after something this painful! I could feel Celestia trying to pull the sword from my grip with her magic, but the sword refused to leave my hand. I was screaming in pain.

Oh god, make it stop!

I felt a calming presence in my head. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could feel the emotions behind them. It was conveying a feeling of 'You are safe. Do not worry.'

After what felt like an eternity, the pain started to recede. I opened my eyes to look at what I thought would be a burned husk of an arm.

What the...

I could only stare in amazement at what happened to my arm. There was no pain anymore, and the arm didn't look too different from before. There was only one major change to it. The giant phoenix tattoo that now covered most of my arm was beautiful. Colored in various shades of red, with each individual feather lined with gold ink. It was...breathtaking.

I looked up to see Celestia's reaction, and she was as stunned and shocked as I was. Her eyes were glued to my arm with a look of awe spread across her face.

"Liam...what is that? What happened?"

I looked back down to the tattoo, and felt warmth spread through my body as I realized who did this.

"A gift. This is a gift from Sunlight Spirals."

Her eyes locked with mine as her face shifted into concern and just a hint of anger.

"What do you mean? Sunlight is..."

She chocked back a sob as she maintained eye contact.

"Sunlight is long dead! How could she have done that to you!?"

I looked down to the sword, and felt reassurance. Like everything would be just fine if I told her the truth.

"Sunlight isn't dead."

I wasn't able to see that darkened glare that she gave me as I said that, but her next words were loud and clear, spoken with absolute authority.

"Explain."

I raised the sword up to get a better look at it, watching as the little light that there was reflected off of its surfaces like stars.

"She's...her soul is trapped in her sword. When the sword knocked me out, I woke in a world of white. She was standing there, with a coat of bright red, a mane of orange, and golden eyes."

Celestia's glare vanished, replaced with a look of shock.

"That is...how she looked..."

She looked down at the cave floor in sadness.

"What else happened? There has to be more to this. How did this happen to her!?"

I could feel more emotions from the sword. Seems Sunlight wants me to tell Celestia exactly what happened.

"Sunlight fell into a trap. She said that those reponsible spoke of using her power against you. That by destroying her body and chaining her soul to her weapon, they thought they would be able to force her magic to obey them."

The alabaster princess' eyes glistened with tears as her face changed into one of pure fury.

"Who did this!? I will destroy them! Tell me!"

I looked at her, and saw the anger, the fury, and the desperation in her eyes. She wanted someone to pay for this.

"Sunlight already killed them."

Her expression didn't change much, but there was a hint of confusion now.

"How!? It would be impossible for her to access her magic and attack them without...a direct link."

As she spoke those last few words, her eyes widened in realization.

"They...tried to pick up the sword in their magic, didn't they?"

I nodded, feeling pride emanating from the sword. Proud of herself, or for Celestia figuring it out, I couldn't tell.

"They all tried to pick up the sword at the same time to try and 'subjugate' her magic, as she put it. Her magic was more than enough to overpower them, and she incinerated them where they stood. I can't imagine it was pleasant."

Celestia snorted and looked away, mumbling under her breath. It almost sounded like she said 'Good.'

She looked back at me with a much gentler gaze than before, seeming almost happy with the small smile on her face.

"Well, there isn't really anything I can do if they are that long dead, I suppose. I'm glad that Sunlight brought them to justice."

Looking down at my left hand, the sword still held in it, Celestia hummed softly as she appeared to be thinking.

"Liam...I can tell from your reaction earlier that your world either doesn't have magic, or if it does, it works very different from ours. Would I be correct in that assumption?"

I looked down to my new tattoo, tracing my eyes over the golden outline and trailing down to the phoenix tail that rested in the center of the back of my hand.

"No...we don't have anything like this where I'm from. This is beyond abnormal for me..."

Humming again, she looked into my eyes and took a small step forward.

"Liam, this might sound a tad odd, but would you...mind if I scanned you for magic?"

I quirked an eyebrow and looked over to the white princess as she was looking into my eyes with a serious expression on her face.

"Uh, sure. I don't know what you will find though, humans don't...we don't have magic."

I looked down at those last few words, not quite believing what I was saying.

If that's the case...what did I do to the sword? What else could it have been? That wasn't Celestia's magic, and it definitely wasn't Sunlight either...

"It shouldn't take more than moment or two, and you might feel a slight tingle, but it won't hurt."

I looked at Celestia as her horn started to glow and a golden light covered my body, almost pulsing in its motion.

"Fire when ready," I chuckled as the odd feeling continued to wash over my body for a moment before Celestia's eyes shot open she fell backwards in shock and surprise. At least, that's what I assumed it was, based on the expression on her face.

"Celestia! Are you okay!?" I ran over to help her up when she tried to get back on her hooves, her legs unsteady and wobbling.

"That's...that's not possible..." She panted as she looked at me in confusion, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, exertion, and exhaustion.

I can't tell if that's a good thing or not. Oh god, I hope I'm not about to die or explode or something else that would be detrimental to my health!

"Your mana pool...It's immense in size! It is close to rivaling my own! There's...no way..."

Her legs seemed to have steadied themselves as she looked into my eyes with a combination of shock and wonder on her face.

"Uh...Celestia, I don't know what that means. I don't know anything about magic."

She sat down, and patted the space next to her in an inviting gesture. I sat next to her as she put her wing over my back again.

"What that means is simple, Liam. You may not have magic on your world, but you are without a doubt a creature with immense magical potential. I've only seen a magic pool this size a few times in my long life. It doesn't seem possible for something to have a natural mana reserve of that size with no practice."

My eyes widened as she continued her explanation.

That's...there's no way! I'm just a regular guy, there's no way that I could...

I cut off that line of thinking.

What if she's right though? What if...what if she is telling the truth? What if I really can do magic?

"A creature's mana pool, or magical reserve, grows with both age and use. It's like any other muscle, it must be exercised and used repeatedly to gain size, strength, and control. Liam, I am thousands of years old, and I've spent a lot of that time in combat. I pushed myself to my magical limits almost everyday for centuries. Trust me when I say that a creature that is brand new to magic such as you should have a very small magical reserve, but you..."

Her eyes widened as she seemed to realize something.

"You...shouldn't be possible. That would make you somepony with magical potential that is only seen once in several millennia! The only ponies with anywhere near this level of magical potential in the last thousand years would be Starswirl the Bearded, Sunlight Spirals, my current student, and..."

Her expression fell as if she was thinking of something sad and painful.

"And one other..."

I placed my hand on her wither, rubbing it softly to try and comfort her. This was clearly a painful memory. Could it be...another situation similar to Sunlight?

"Are you alright, Celestia?"

She smiled sadly at me as she leaned closer to me, seeming to enjoy the impromptu shoulder rub.

"I'm...I'll be fine. Just sad memories of a student that I failed..."

I looked down a the sword still in my grip.

"Is it...Sunlight?"

She softly shook her head, looking towards the ground.

"No, just...I've only had a few students through the years, and I seem to have failed most of them..."

I reached my arm further and drew her into a soft hug. Her expression changed to one of mild surprise, though she relaxed a moment later and leaned into the hug, gripping me tighter with her wing.

"I'm sure that you did your best, Celestia. I know Sunlight doesn't feel like you've failed her." I said as a rush of feelings from the sword confirmed what I said.

"You might have lived a long life, but you aren't infallible. Everyone makes mistakes. It's part of being huma-"

I rolled my eyes as I quickly corrected myself.

"It's part of being alive. No one is perfect and we can only live and learn from those mistakes."

Celestia was staring at me with a look of surprise. Without warning, she hugged me with both of her fore hooves and gripped me tightly, crying softly.

"Thank...you. It means a lot that...somepony can understand and not...not judge me."

She held me as she cried softly, sniffling every so often as she shook slightly.

I heard a noise from the entrance of the cave.

Oh god, is it more of those timberwolves?!

Voices that sounded like young girls echoed around us, and while I didn't think they would attack us, I wasn't willing to take the chance. I slowly shifted out of the now slack hug, as Celestia had heard the voices too and had loosened her grip. I gripped the sword tightly as I waited for the voices to reach us, and then...deal with the situation accordingly.

I glared at the cave entrance, only to see a small purple unicorn poke her head into the cave entrance.

Her eyes widened as she saw who was sitting next to me. "Princess?"

I shot up from my bed, panting. Frantically, I looked around my room inside the Ponyville library, trying to find the powerful source of magic that I felt just moments before, waking me up from my slumber.

I sighed softly as I levitated the star covered bed sheets off of myself and stepped off of the bed, landing on all four of my purple hooves.

"Was that just a dream?"

I looked over to the corner of the room to see my number one assistant sleeping comfortably in his small bed, a small smile on his face as he mumbled in his sleep.

"Mmmm, Rarity. Give me another hug..."

I chuckled softly. Seems even in his dreams, he's pining for the white unicorn fashionista's affections. Spike had developed a bit of a crush on her since the day we first arrived in Ponyville a little over a week ago. I smiled as I thought back to that day. To the day I met my friends. The day we discovered that we are the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, and the day we saved Princess Luna from her darker side, Nightmare Moon. Her reunion with Princess Celestia was heartwarming. I wiped away a happy tear at the memory and let my horn glow with its usual purple aura, trying to feel out where the strong surge of magic came from.

"Oh no..." I softly whispered to myself as I realized just where the magic was coming from. The same place that we had traveled through to stop Nightmare Moon. The Everfree Forest.

That's not good. I better go gather the girls and investigate.

I giggled and softly clopped my hooves together in excitement.

"I've never felt that kind of magic before. Maybe it's an undiscovered magical artifact or something else that I could study! This could be the discovery of a lifetime!"

I said that last part a bit louder than I intended, and Spike turned in his bed, groaning softly. I waited a moment to see if I had woken him up before he settled back in, a smile on his face again.

"Oh yeah Rarity, just like that..."

I quirked a brow at the baby dragon and slowly walked towards the door to our shared room, more than a little confused about what Spike was saying in his sleep.

What the hay kind of dreams is he having?

I stood at the entrance of the Everfree Forest, waiting for the girls to arrive. I had to wake them up to give them the news that they were needed, and they were none too pleased. Except for Pinkie Pie, but Pinkie is just...Pinkie. That mare could find a way to be happy in any situation.

They needed some time to prepare, so I agreed to meet each of them at the entrance of the forest so that we could find the magical anomaly together. I had sat down next to a tree stump that had been cut down some time before Spike and I first arrived here, with my Element of Magic sitting on my head.

Where are they? They should have been here by now. Wait...is that...

A blue blur with a rainbow contrail was shooting towards me at a rather past pace. It landed roughly near me, kicking up a cloud of dust from the dry ground. I closed my eyes and put my hooves in front of my face to protect me from the dust.

I failed. "Ah...ahchoo!"

I sneezed and looked at the dissipating cloud to see who was the cause of that dust cloud, though I was already pretty sure of who it was.

"Rainbow Dash!"

She looked like she hadn't slept a wink, her rainbow mane messier than usual with dark bags under her eyes and her Element of Loyalty around her neck. The red lightning bolt seemingly symbolizing its wielder's impatience. Rainbow did not look like a happy pony.

"What? I came like you wanted me to. It's not my fault I'm too tired to care about my landing. After all, somepony decided she needed my awesome self here for...whatever the hay you want to do."

I groaned at the cranky mare's response before looking down the road for any sign of the others.

"Rainbow, did you see any of the other girls on your way here?"

Rainbow's eyebrow rose as she gave me an annoyed look.

"Nah, I was too busy trying to fly over here, since you told me that you needed us here as soon as possible. I didn't really pay attention."

Sighing again, I looked at Rainbow again.

Note to self, don't wake Rainbow up at night. She gets cranky.

I looked back at the road, spotting two ponies walking down the road towards us.

"Applejack! Pinkie! Over here!" I called as I waved my hoof, trying to get their attention.

Seems like they already noticed us though, since they were heading right for us.

"Well howdy, Twilight! Not that ah mind bein' woken up early, but mind explainin' exactly wut's goin' on? This is a little earlier than ah'd like."

Applejack yawned, and then smiled. Her Element of Honesty hung from her neck, the orange apple in the middle shining softly in the moonlight.

"Yeah! It was really hard to sneak out of the house without making any noise, because I could have woken up the Cake's foals and then I would have gotten into trouble, and then-"

An orange hoof over Pinkie's muzzle quickly quieted her, though she was still trying to talk as though she hadn't even noticed the hoof holding her mouth shut.

"Mmmmph! Mmm! Mmmhmph!"

"Pinkie, we get it. It's early an' we had ta be quiet, can ya please keep it down?"

Pinkie stopped after hearing AJ's slightly annoyed question, her ears flattening to her head and nodding frantically, causing her Element of Laughter to shake with her frantic movements. The baby blue balloon bouncing beautifully in the bountiful blackness of the night.

Heh...alliteration.

"Thank ya, Pinkie."

Applejack let go of Pinkie's muzzle, revealing a sheepish smile on the hyperactive mare's face.

"Sorry, AJ. I'm just so excited to go on another adventure with my bestest friends in the whole wide world! I felt like I was a super spy, having to be extra sneaky to get out without being detected!" Pinkie bounced around as she said this, her excitement plain for the world to see.

At least she's being quieter than she was before...

Rainbow smirked, looking at Pinkie with an amused expression.

"Pinkie, with the way you pop out of nowhere, I didn't think you would even need to try sneaking."

Pinkie opened her mouth to respond when a voice in the distance spoke first.

"Darlings! There you all are!"

I quickly turned my head to see the new arrivals. A white unicorn and a yellow pegasus were slowly walking down the path to the forest. The white unicorn was wearing a pair of brown saddlebags that had her cutie mark of a trio of blue diamonds emblazoned on it.

"Rarity! Fluttershy! I'm glad that you both could make it!"

"Of course, darling! I'm sorry it took so long for me to get ready, but I simply cannot go into some place like that dreadful forest without looking my best."

Fluttershy waved softly from behind Rarity, hiding behind her pink curtain of a mane.

"Um...hello everypony..."

She was smiling softly as she greeted us. I smiled and looked at the assembled ponies, feeling a warmth spreading in my chest.

These are...my friends.

"Alright, now that everpony is here, I can explain what happened."

I looked at Fluttershy's Element of Kindness, noticing the pink butterfly glistening in the light. Rarity though...

"Wait...Rarity, where is your element?"

Rarity looked surprised for a moment before opening her saddlebags with her magic and levitating her Element of Generosity from inside. A sheepish smile on her face, she put on the necklace holding the purple diamond.

"Oh my, I had almost forgotten! Thank you for reminding me, Twilight."

Okay, good. Everpony is here, and everypony has their Element of Harmony. I really hope we don't need to use these, but...

I shrugged off that line of thinking with a quick shake of my head.

"Okay, now that everypony is here and ready, I'll hopefully be able to explain without any further interruptions."

Rarity had the decency to look embarrassed at that.

"I woke up when I felt a large surge of magic coming from the Everfree Forest. I tried to scan its magical signature, but the only thing I could be sure of was that it was massive in power and felt unlike anything I've ever felt before. This seems to be a new kind of magic."

The wide eyes in the group was evidence that even if they didn't know much about magic, they understood how serious this was. Rainbow Dash just looked bored though, and waved dismissively.

"Oh come on, egghead. How bad could it be? If it's some kind of monster, we can just kick its sorry flank back to where it came from!"

I shook my head at her flippant behavior and leveled a serious look at her.

"Rainbow, I've been studying under Princess Celestia for a long time. I know more about magic than almost any other unicorn, let alone one my age. Not only is it my talent, it's my passion too. For me to not know what this is..."

I looked down as a slight feeling of dread welled up.

"This could be serious. This is something that Princess Celestia might be able to do, given the amount of mana required for such a spell, but I'm unsure if even she could do this."

Rainbow's eyes widened as the implication finally set in.

"Whoa..."

"Yes Rainbow. Whoa. This is a serious issue and we need to treat it as such."

The prismatic mare looked down and sighed.

"Alright, Twi. I'm sorry I wasn't taking this seriously. So what's the plan then?"

I looked to my friends and thought for a moment.

"I...I guess the first step would be finding the source of the anomaly. We need to go into the forest to do that."

A muffled 'eep' came from the timid pegasus.

"Do we...have to? The Everfree Forest isn't safe, even during the day...who knows what could happen to us..."

I smiled softly and trotted over to Fluttershy, placing a hoof on her withers.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. Between my magic and the Elements of Harmony, we shouldn't need to worry."

She looked up at me and smile softly, her expression calming greatly.

"Um...alright. I...I trust you girls..."

"Come on, let's go already! We're wasting time!"

I leveled a look at the blue pegasus.

"Rainbow, I just emphasized how serious this is. We can't rush into this."

She rolled her eyes and gestured to the forest.

"I get it, okay? I'm not an idiot. I believe you, we need to take this seriously, but we can't figure this out if we just sit here all night!"

I looked at the foreboding forest, and gulped. This might be more dangerous than I first thought.

"Alright...let's get going then."

We all entered the dark forest, hoping that nothing would try to make a meal out of us.

So far, so good. We haven't seen anything else alive on our way to the magical anomaly.

Maybe this will be easier than I thought.

We had entered a small meadow that was in the middle of the forest, feeling out of place even for these woods.

"Okay, girls! The strange magic originated from here! Spread out and look around and tell me if you see anything out of place, doesn't matter how big or small."

I got a chorus of acknowledgements from my friends as they went to look through the clearing.

Okay, first things first. I need to see if I can identify just what that magic was. It should be a lot easier now that I'm this close to it.

My horn glowed as I felt for a clearer picture of just what this strange magic is.

That's...odd. It's fading much faster than it should be. It's almost like its decaying at an accelerated rate to try and...

My eyes snapped open as I gasped.

"I was right! This was intentional!"

I heard a stomping of hooves rushing to get to me as my friends quickly approached.

"Twi! Wut happened!?"

"This magic is...whoever cast this spell was a master of their craft. Not only would it take an immense amount of mana to generate a spell of this size and power, but it's being forced to decay faster than it should! There should be a massive amount of ambient mana leftover from such a strong casting, but there isn't! The only way that could happen is if the caster intended to cover their tracks to avoid being found!"

I looked over to my four friends as my eyes widened further.

"This isn't good, girls..."

Wait...four friends?

"Girls...where is Fluttershy?"

Everypony's eyes widened in shock and scanned the clearing in an attempt to find the yellow pegasus pony.

"Ah don't see her! Rainbow, can ya try to get above the trees to-"

Applejack was just off by a loud scream that was coming from deeper into the forest.

"Fluttershy!" we all yelled at once and charged to where the scream came from.

She hadn't strayed far from the clearing. We found her quickly, but something was wrong. She was sitting down with her forehooves over her mouth and tears running down her face.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright!?"

Rainbow Dash ran ahead of us to check on her fillyhood friend and crouched next to her. Fluttershy didn't respond, though we could see that she was shaking as we approached her.

"Fluttershy?"

Rainbow tried again. Fluttershy didn't say anything, but she used a hoof to point behind Rainbow as she shook from a sob.

Turning towards where she was pointing, I couldn't help but feel bile rising in my throat as I gazed upon what spooked Fluttershy so badly. A manticore corpse was laying there, with rotten chunks laying near the body. It was mangled, with bone showing on numerous parts of the body. The head was mauled badly, though we could see the expression of fear that had been frozen on its face as it died.

Oh no...how did I not see that sooner?

The smell hit my nose like the Friendship Express. The stench of rotting meat and...something else filled my nose as I gagged. The others didn't fare much better, gagging and retching. Pinkie' face turned a shade of green that I didn't think was possible as she ran to a nearby bush and...expelled the contents of her stomach.

"She...she didn't...who could do this to another living creature..."

Fluttershy sobbed openly, hugging Rainbow Dash as the blue pegasus tried to hide the sight of the body from her friend by using her body.

"It's okay, Fluttershy. I bet that whatever cast that spell did this too. I'm gonna..."

Rainbow shook in anger as she glanced towards the mutilated and rotting corpse.

"I'm gonna kick its flank!"

I could only stare as Fluttershy suddenly stopped crying, and stood up. The look in her eyes would have been scary on anypony else, but on her...

Fluttershy looked ready to actually hurt something.

"Whatever did this...I won't let them do this again!"

Fluttershy actually raised her voice with her proclamation and the rest of us shared a similar look, determined to stop whatever cast this spell and started killing the wildlife in such a brutal fashion.

I felt another surge of magic coming from somewhere else in the forest as Rarity looked to me with fear in her eyes

"Twilight. You felt that too, right darling?"

I stared at the direction the surge came from and understood her fear.

That was...that wasn't even a casting! That was a projection of their power, a way to throw your own magical weight around to try and intimidate an opponent. It's a pretty common tactic for unicorns in battle, but...

I started shaking slightly as I started to realize just how in over my head I was.

That one surge was stronger than anything I could do! After that massive spell, whatever cast it should be too tired to project a magical aura of that size...

I gulped as I looked to my friends, unnerved by my reaction to what I felt.

"What kind of monster are we chasing..."

We had started moving closer to the source of the second magical surge after I had spent several minutes rooted to the spot, too scared to move. It had been Pinkie who snapped me out of my state, hugging me and telling me that I could believe in my friends.

'We can do it together,' huh?

I looked back at my friends and smiled softly. Despite the fear, I knew I was in the best hooves possible.

That's right...we can do this! Together!

"So Twilight, what was so scary about that second surge?"

I looked beside me to see Rainbow Dash walking beside me, a surprisingly serious look on her face as she stared straight ahead, ears swiveling back and forth to try and detect anything that might be watching us. I couldn't help but shiver as I remembered that overwhelming power.

"That surge was stronger than anything I could do right now. Maybe in a decade or two of magical study, maybe I could match that strength. To make it worse, that wasn't even a spell that I felt. It was pure projection."

"So uh...what exactly does that mean?"

A look of confusion briefly passed over her face before returning to the serious face that she was wearing since we found Fluttershy and that...that body.

"The best comparison I can think of would be...if a pegasus spread their wings in an attempt to look bigger. Its like posturing, trying to scare your opponent, but it's a bit different for unicorns. We project our power outwards in an attempt to scare an opponent off with pure magical power. It's not trying to make ourselves look bigger, it's showing just how much bigger than them we are."

Rainbow looked at me in shock as she realized what I was trying to get across to her.

"It's...that strong?"

I nodded softly as I kept walking, not wanting to stop and give any potential predators a chance to strike.

"And what's weirder, that second magic surge felt nothing like the first...wait...it couldn't be..."

I stopped for a moment at the realization and then continued walking after the shock of the idea wore off. My horn glowed as I tried to analyze the second surge of magic, only to have a third surge happen. The sudden feeling made me wince and almost stop trying to analyze the second surge, but...

This surge is the same as the second, but...it doesn't match the first one! Does that mean that there is more than one of them?!

I picked up the pace as I tried to get to the source of these new surges as soon as I could, no longer concerned about the second source of magic being the same one as the first. I picked up a second source of magic though, and it felt...very familiar. Was that...

"No! Princess Celestia!"

I took off in a dead sprint as I realized that whatever this thing was, my mentor and teacher seemed to be trying to stop it. I had faith in her, but I didn't want to risk her getting hurt. I could hear my friends shouting for me as I ran ahead.

She's too important to me...to all of us!

Another surge of magic matching the weaker of the two unknown magic sources could be felt, though this one felt more like a spell being cast. The energy was bright and warm, feeling almost like fire in the air. The sound of screaming could be heard up ahead as the entrance of a cave could be seen in the distance.

There!

I ran as fast as I could towards the cave, but it was still several minutes before I reached the entrance. I could hear voices inside. One sounded male, but...definitely unfamiliar, and...didn't sound hostile. The other was...Princess Celestia crying? My friends had almost caught up to me, calling for me to slow down, but I barely registered them as I looked at the cave entrance with worry.

I slowly entered the cave, turning a small corner and poking my head around it to see the inside of the cave. Something was inside it, sitting down with crossed back legs. Its blue eyes were glaring at me in...fear?

What is that?

My attention was drawn from the unknown creature and my eyes widened as I looked to the familiar form of my teacher sitting behind the creature and looking towards the entrance with a stern gaze that softened when I called out.

"Princess?"

Chapter Four: A Tense Introduction

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Four: A Tense Introduction

"Twilight?"

I looked to Celestia as she said what I assumed to be the new arrival's name.

"Celestia, you know her?"

Smiling softly, she looked to me and gently nodded her head.

"Indeed I do. She is my student, after all."

I looked back at the unicorn in the entrance, who only looked unnerved by my attention shifting to her.

So this is who she meant by 'her current apprentice,' huh? She doesn't look like much.

I glanced back down at the sword still in my hand before quickly looking back to the purple pony.

Though if Sunlight is any indication, looks are very deceiving in this world.

The unicorn's gaze was now glued to the sword and she had a look of horror on her face.

"You! You're the cause!"

Her horn glowed as a violet light engulfed my body and started to levitate me up and away from Celestia.

"Princess, get away from it! This thing is the cause of the magical surges I felt earlier! It's dangerous!"

Celestia's eyes widened in surprise and shock as she quickly stood. I could see her out of the corner of my eye, but couldn't turn my head to face her because of Twilight's telekinetic hold on me.

"Twilight Sparkle! You let him down right this instant! He is not an enemy!"

Twilight's eyes widened as well before turning to me with a glare and increasing the strength of her hold on me, causing me pain.

"What did you do to the Princess, monster!? Was that the spell you cast earlier!? Mind control!?"

Everything seemed to slow down around me as I grew angry from this complete stranger's accusations. Me? Mind control Celestia? I couldn't do anything like that!

How dare she...

Her grip tightened even more. I yelled out in pain from the magic that was nearly crushing me now.

"Well!? Answer me!"

How dare she!

I felt something, something that I can't fully describe. It was almost like a warmth rising into my chest, like my anger was fuel for a fire inside of me. I felt that warmth start to pool in my hands, feeling like I held them close to a crackling campfire.

"How dare you!"

The warmth in my hands shot out from me in a burst of red light that lit up the cave like a red flare and it broke whatever magical hold I was in, dropping me to the floor, landing on my back. I quickly shot to my feet, ready for another attack. I held my left arm in front of me, sword pointing at my attacker while my right hand was held further back, the red glow still surrounding it.

"Who do you think you are!? The first thing you do when you see something new is attack it and accuse it of committing acts of evil!?"

Twilight flinched from my shouting and the display of anger, but her glare didn't let up.

"What gives you the right to determine me to be a threat!? What gives you the right to attack me, you damn bigot!?"

Her ears flattened to her head, seemingly hurt by my words. Her glare softened slightly and had a tinge of concern and worry in it, like she was questioning her decision. The previous glare quickly returned after a moment. Her horn lit up again, and I prepared to strike.

"That's enough!"

The loud shout from behind me startled me, causing me to stumble and hold my ears as they began to ring from the intensity of the declaration. The glow around my hand faded as well. Twilight was similarly startled, the glow from her horn went out and she took a step backwards. Celestia walked in front of me and stood aggressively. While I am not an expert on equine body language, I could easily see how angry the white alicorn in front of me was.

"Twilight Sparkle! This creature, as I already stated, is not an enemy! His name is Liam, and he is my guest! I expect you to treat him as such! Do you understand me!?"

A look of what seemed to be fear crossed the smaller pony's face, and she opened her mouth to argue when Celestia stopped her.

"I said, do you understand me!?"

Sadness replaced Twilight's earlier fear as she glanced over to me. Her gaze remained on me for another moment before she sighed heavily and seemed to relax a bit.

"Yes, Princess..."

Celestia's posture relaxed as well when she heard those words, and she turned back to me.

"Liam, I am so sorry for th-"

"Twilight! What's goin' on?"

A new voice could be heard from the entrance of the cave before something, or rather several somethings, crashed into the purple unicorn from behind and sent her and her assailants tumbling into the cave, stopping a foot away from Celestia's hooves. It was...a pile of ponies?

"Eugh...what happened?"

A rainbow maned pegasus was holding her head in her hooves and groaning before she was pushed off of the orange pony that was wearing a hat.

"Consarnit, Rainbow Dash! Would ya git offa me!?"

I snickered at the pegasus' name and the orange pony's accent.

Really? A southern accent? Is that a stetson too?

A white unicorn sat up and frantically started to pat herself down, muttering to herself about her mane.

"Oh no, no, no, no! My coiffure! It took forever to style this!"

"Ow! Forget your mane! What about my head? Agh, that's twice in less than ten minutes!"

Rainbow Dash was rubbing her head with a hoof and wincing, seemingly having hit it after the orange pony shoved her off.

I could see a yellow pegasus sitting up and shaking her head before looking directly at me. She seemed to almost...squeak and then hide behind the white unicorn.

"Fluttershy dear, what's....oh. Oh my."

She had followed the one she called Fluttershy's gaze and when she saw me, hey eyes widened and her pupils shrank to an impossibly small size. It seemed that was enough to direct the rest of their attentions to me as they finally noticed who was in the cave with them.

"What the..."

The reactions were varied between them. The orange one looked at me suspiciously, Rainbow Dash's jaw fell in either shock or surprise, Fluttershy was still hiding behind the seemingly frozen white unicorn, and the pink one...

What the hell is she doing?

Hopping around the cave excitedly, the pink pony was either oblivious to, or uncaring of her friend's shock and surprise as she literally bounced around and babbled about how nice the moonlight looked in here.

Twilight had apparently recovered enough by that point, as she looked around groggily before spotting her friend hopping right towards me, not at all scared or worried. Twilight's eyes widened and she shot a hoof out.

"Pinkie, don't-"

"Ooooooh, what are you? I've never seen anything like you before! Where did you come from? Why are you in here with Princess Celestia? Did you do something bad?"

I couldn't keep up with her rapid questions and just stood there, not knowing what else to do or how to answer her. She seemed to have just noticed the sword in my hand and her eyes widened before a wide smile split her face and she starting zipping back and forth, staring at the sword and the tattoo on my arm.

"Oh wow, that's one shiny sword! Why would you need a sword though? That picture on your arm is really cool too! It's so shiny! Are you a soldier?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at that last question.

"Me? No, I'm not a soldier, just...someone who doesn't know what to do."

My voice was heavy with emotion as I spoke those words, and it seems that the pink pony picked up on it. She looked almost sad for a moment before she walked closer to me and placed her hoof on my leg and gave me a small smile.

"My name is Pinkie Pie. What's yours?"

I glanced over to her friends and saw that they all looked scared or concerned. It seems they thought that I was going to hurt her.

Good thing I'm not like that. I already feel bad enough about the timberwolf...

I looked back at Pinkie Pie and gently rubbed her head, and her eyes closed with a content and happy look on her face

"My name is Liam. It's nice to meet you, Pinkie."

Pinkie just leaned into my hand as I started scratching behind her ears, chuckling softly as her back hooves twitched softly and her tongue stuck out of her mouth slightly.

"Ohhhh yeah, that's the spot. That feels great..."

After another moment, I retrieved my hand from the poofy mane. I could briefly see her pout with a disappointed look on her face before I looked over to the rest of the ponies that were present. Their reactions were mostly the same as before with the exception of Celestia giving me a soft smile, seemingly approving of my meeting with the hyperactive pony.

"Princess, what is he?"

The orange one was still looking at me with barely disguised suspicion as she addressed the alicorn. Celestia looked over to me and started to explain.

"He is a...human, you said?"

I nodded.

"Then yes, my little pony. He is a human. I am not quite sure what exactly that means, but I can assure you all that he means us no harm."

The orange pony's expression only grew more suspicious as she stared at me with an expression that was just short of a glare.

"I don't buy it, Princess. We get dragged outta bed at this hour, told by Twilight that there was some kinda dangerous magic and then this weird critter just pops outta nowhere with a sword, and ya don't have the slightest feelin' that he might not be tellin' the truth about himself?"

Celestia looked rather annoyed by her accusations, and it showed on her face. It didn't deter the hat wearing pony as she shook her head before leveling her gaze back at me.

"I don't know much about magic yer highness, but I trust Twilight when it comes ta' stuff like this. He is the one who caused all that magic hooey, right Twi?"

Twilight's face was mixed with trepidation as she looked back and forth between her teacher and her friend.

"I...I don't know anymore, Applejack."

The newly dubbed Applejack looked at Twilight in surprise before dropping her glare and giving her an incredulous look.

"What do ya mean, ya don't know? You're the one who dragged us all out here, and now ya don't know?"

Twilight's ears pinned themselves to her head as she looked away with an expression of guilt on her face.

"It's...complicated, AJ. This creature is definitely magical, yet...I don't think he's the one who cast that first spell. His magical signature doesn't match that of the first spell. He did cast something, but it doesn't seem to have been anything harmful. He might be...no, he's definitely dangerous."

Shaking her head, Twilight looked Applejack in the eye and gave her a determined look.

"I trust Princess Celestia. I already scanned her for mind altering magic and I didn't find anything, so I know now that he isn't influencing her. If the Princess trusts him then...I'm willing to give him a chance."

Applejack simply stared at her for a moment before snorting in anger and walking towards the entrance of the cave, sitting down next to it. She wouldn't look at any of us, and I could tell that she really didn't like Twilight's response.

Why does she dislike me so much? I know I'm not exactly the norm here, but this just seems...beyond the norm.

Applejack's friends seemed to share my thought as they looked at her in something close to disbelief before Rainbow Dash just shrugged and starting walking towards me. She stopped at a slight distance from me, far enough that I couldn't touch her, and she waved in a lazy greeting.

"Sup? I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Eques-"

She cut herself off with a large yawn. her head shook in an attempt to shrug off how tired she was, and she chuckled before continuing.

"In Equestria. Sorry about that, this is later than my awesome self usually stays awake, hehe."

Well, she certainly thinks highly of herself. I wonder if she can back up those words.

I smiled at her and waved back with my free hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Rainbow Dash. If you didn't hear me earlier, my name is Liam."

"It's good to meet you too, big guy. Wow, you really are tall, aren't you?"

I laughed before looking around at the rest of the ponies. Now that I had a moment to stop and really look at them, they were on the short side. The only one who came close to my height was Celestia, standing at about six feet tall. I'm by no means short, standing at six feet and three inches, but these small ponies were only about 3 feet tall.

If this is how short most of these ponies are, I'm going to wind up being a giant among them.

The white unicorn was walking towards me with a hesitant expression on her face, like she expected me to do something to her or her friends.

"It's...nice to meet you, I suppose. My name is Rarity. While I'm not quite...convinced that you aren't a danger to us, as a show of good faith I could repair your rather...damaged clothing. Assuming you wouldn't mind, darling."

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this one. On the one hand, she seemed friendly enough, especially given the situation. On the other hand, she openly admitted to not trusting me. Hopefully I can change that soon. I get the feeling that I will be dealing with these ponies more than I may like...

"While I would like to accept your generous offer, I doubt any money from...where I'm from would be worth anything here."

She shook her head and gave me a small smile.

"No money needed, darling. As I said, I wish to make a show of good faith. You may be odd and your clothes are...less than stellar, but I don't feel like you would hurt us."

I returned the smile and looked into Rarity's eyes.

"Thank you, Rarity. It means a lot."

I glanced over at the last pony that hadn't introduced herself. I almost forgot that the yellow pegasus was there, she was so quiet. She seemed to want to look anywhere other than at me, and her eyes were darting back and forth. I would have almost described the motions as panicked.

"Hello, I don't think we met yet. My name is Liam."

I gave a smile that I hoped looked friendly enough as her attention was now solely on me. She gave a small squeak before fleeing behind Rarity, huddling up and shaking behind the white mare.

"Uh...are you alright?"

Rarity looked back at her and sighed softly before looking back to me.

"That's Fluttershy, darling. She's, well, very shy. Considering that we are in a cave in the middle of the Everfree Forest and most things here aren't very friendly, I'm not surprised that she's especially nervous right now."

She put her hoof to her muzzle as she seemed to be contemplating something.

"Hmm...maybe I should schedule an earlier spa appointment for the two of us."

I let my gaze wander to the ponies in the cave. Applejack was still sitting near the entrance, looking quite upset. Rainbow Dash was chatting with Pinkie Pie, the latter of which was bouncing in place. Twilight seemed sad after what happened with Applejack. Rarity had started talking to Fluttershy in a soft tone, the words too quiet for me to hear. Celestia looked...somewhere between annoyed and happy. Seems she didn't entirely like how this played out, but it definitely wasn't a disaster.

Celestia turned towards the group of ponies and smiled at them.

"Well, it seems it's about time to wrap this meeting up. Is everypony ready to go back to Ponyville?"

The group of mares all looked at Celestia as she asked this, and everyone besides Fluttershy and Applejack nodded. Fluttershy because she still seemed too scared to do much of anything, and Applejack because she was still moping.

"Yeah, I still need more sleep. I'm not used to staying up this late. I'll need to take a long nap later."

"Indeed. I do need my beauty sleep, after all."

"Oh! Oh! Maybe I can throw Liam a 'Welcome to Ponyville party tomorrow! Can't have everypony falling asleep in the middle of his party!"

"I...I guess. I'm sure that Spike will want to know what happened too."

Applejack didn't give a verbal response, she just gave another snort as she stood to leave, the rest of the ponies following her example.

Fluttershy kept herself practically glued to Rarity's side as we all started to make our way out of the cave. I trailed behind them a little, not wanting to crowd anyone.

She's...really skittish, isn't she? I hope this won't be the extent of our relationship.

I sighed as I exited the cave entirely, only to stop and gag as a familiar smell hit my nose. The ponies were all frozen near the entrance and were staring at...something in the woods.

Oh no...oh no! Not more of them!

My eyes shot open as I finally realized something that I should have thought of a long while ago.

Wolves are pack hunters...

The cave entrance was surrounded by them. Easily a dozen timberwolves were nearby, their glowing green eyes shining brightly in the darkness of night and their growling piercing through the otherwise quiet air. The smell was much stronger than last time, which made sense, I suppose.

This many? Oh shit, what are we going to-

I looked to Celestia with wide eyes and near panic in my eyes.

"Celestia, can you do anything to stop them?"

Still facing forward, Celestia gave an angry snort and stomped a hoof.

"No, I can't. I used too much magic to do much besides annoy them. Between teleporting here from Canterlot and trying to save you, my mana reserves are all but empty."

I could only stare at the back of her head in shock as her words set in.

There's...no way. This can't be how this ends, can it?

I looked at the group of ponies as they all seemed to be in a similar state as myself. Fear and shock were easily visible on their faces as they looked around them. I could even see a tear in Fluttershy's eyes. There was no way out. They had us completely surrounded. The only place to go was the cave, and that would just leave us trapped inside as we were...

No...

I felt that warmth again as my hand started to glow, along with the sword.

I won't let that happen...

I walked past the stunned ponies and raised the sword to face the closest timberwolf.

"I won't let you hurt them!"

A red aura seemed to completely encase my body as the phoenix tattoo on my arm glowed a bright orange.

Liam!

My eyes shot open as I heard the familiar voice.

Sunlight?

Yeah, it's me! Don't worry, Liam. I'm here to help you.

I smiled as I felt her desire to protect me and destroy the threat in front of us.

Sunlight..thank you.

I could almost feel her smirk as I thanked her.

Nothing to thank me for. After all, what kind of knight would I be if I just left you to die?

The wolves were getting antsy at my display of power. The growling had grown in volume as they realized that I was a threat, and that I would fight back.

Liam, Dawnbreaker has a few features that Celestia doesn't know about. A while back, I realized that I needed something besides a sword if the situation called for it.

The nearest wolf was stepping closer, head close to the ground and growling. It seemed it was planning to attack, and soon.

Like what?

Again, I felt her smirk.

Oh, just something with a little more reach. All you need to do is channel magic into the grip and will it to lengthen.

...what?

Channel your magic into the sword, It's not that-

The wolf deciding it had waited long enough and leaping at me had cut off whatever Sunlight was going to say and I could feel her panic at the situation.

Liam!

The sword was coated in red magic before I knew what I was doing, and I acted on reflex. I thrust the sword forwards, and wished to keep the wolf away from me.

The handle of Dawnbreaker extended into a long shaft that propelled the sword forward, right into the exposed chest of the leaping wolf. The wound burst into flames and burned as I hefted the skewered timberwolf over my shoulder and behind me. The wolf shattered against the rock wall and quickly burned to charcoal, the flames seeming to mirror my resolve in its intensity as it quickly ate at the flammable vegetation that the timberwolf was made of. The ponies were thankfully spared from the burning body of the wolf as they jumped to the side in surprise.

I flipped the spear around, once again pointing the tip of the blade at the rest of the timberwolves with a two handed grip, who now looked enraged. Seems killing their friend made them more than a little mad.

Oh, thank the Forge Mother! You figured it out! You have a knack for magic, that's for sure.

Sunlight's relief was palpable, and I could feel her pride at how quickly I learned to use Dawnbreaker's previously unknown feature. I could sense her smirk return and almost paled at the sheer malice that she was now directing at the timberwolves.

Now...are you ready to burn these worthless piles of wood to ash?

I nervously smiled as another wolf leapt at me, uncaring of the magic aura concentrating in the sword at its approach.

Ready as I'll ever be.

I tried to channel more magic into the blade as I thrust it towards the incoming wooden projectile. I wasn't expecting the sword to shoot a stream of fire directly at the timberwolf.

"HOLY-"

I ducked as the now burning wolf soared over me, yipping in pain. As it hit the ground, it shattered into dozens of pieces. I stared at the burning corpse for a moment before sharply turning back to the remaining timberwolves.

Well that was a hell of a surprise. Only ten timberwolves left...

Ha! I knew you had talent! It took me days to learn the Flame Jet spell, and you did it by accident!

Protect ourselves now, brag later!

Three more wolves had leapt at me while I was distracted, and I barely had enough time to slash one across the face, igniting it. The now burning wolf landed on me as its two friends starting to bite at me, one getting a solid grip on my right arm and pulling as hard as it could. I screamed in pain as I felt muscles tear and rip as the thorny teeth chewed through it.

"Get off me!"

I channeled what mana I could into my right arm and the wolf was ignited as fire wrapped itself around the arm. It yelped and rolled on the ground with its mouth burning, its eyes wide and scared. The other timberwolf jumped off me as I started to burn everything I was in contact with. I pushed the charred corpse off myself and tried to stand up. I looked down at my injured arm and saw that the wounds were bleeding badly, though the blood was sizzling and quickly evaporated, leaving an iron smell in the air. The wolves looked more than a little nervous now, though I doubt they had given up.

Liam, you aren't going to last much longer!

I winced as I lifted my injured arm and channeled more mana into my body, coating all four of my limbs in arcane fire while I waited for the wolves to strike again,

Oh, I can tell. This really hurts, and I can almost...feel my mana running out.

You're not only completely new to magic, but this is the first time you have used it. You're doing just fine, Liam.

I looked at the eight remaining timberwolves as a number of them seemed ready to attack.

I need to finish this, and fast. Do you know any way to take out a few of them in one go?

Yes, but...It's risky. Whether it works or not, you'll be entirely out of mana, and will probably lose consciousness. If that doesn't finish them off, then...

I quickly realized what that meant. My death. No...all of us. All of us would die if this didn't work.

I don't see any other way out. Do you?

Well...we could leave the rest of them behind and flee by ourselves.

I narrowed my eyes and growled.

That is not an option.

I felt Sunlight smirk at my response.

I know. I can feel how much you want to protect them. I wouldn't dream of leaving any of them behind, especially Celestia.

The wolves were inching closer, and I knew we were running out of time.

Sunlight, tell me.

Alright. I've...never taught anypony this before, but this I was planning to teach you when you had better control. This could get...messy.

My eyes widened as I felt the knowledge transferring directly into my head. I now knew how to cast this spell, wrapping my entire body in mana and igniting it, burning everything around me.

"Veil of the Phoenix..."

I did what I knew would cast the spell, covering my body in mana and commanding it to ignite. I almost seemed to explode in a bright flash of light as flames danced around me, the heat not being contained to just my body. When the light dimmed enough to see, I looked myself over. It was like a layer of flame coated me. It was hot, yet it wasn't burning me. I felt something on my back move, and I turned my head to look at the wings of pure fire on my back before facing the wolves again.

"Well? Who wants to be first?"

I had never felt more powerful in my life. The energy coursing in and around me made me feel invincible. The rational part of my mind reminded me that this was not the case, and that I needed to end this before my mana ran out completely. The wolves looked ready to bolt, terror clear on their faces as they watched the burning man in front of them.

Cowards...

"Well then, I guess you can all go at once."

I wrapped my wings around myself and formed a ball of fire directly in front of myself as I looked towards the wolves with contempt.

"Burn."

The fireball shot towards them as I whipped my wings open and a small wave of flame burned the grass in front of me as the ball of fire magic impacted the wolf and exploded. Four wolves were caught in the explosion and all but one were in burnt pieces. The only wolf to not be immediately destroyed was burning as half of its body was caught in the blast, and it staggered forward before falling to the ground, the burnt half of its body crumbling to ash. The remaining two wolves waited only a moment before fleeing into the forest, their terrified yowling decreasing in volume as they ran further away.

I looked around at the destruction and was stunned. Several trees were burnt husks, the grass all around me was charred black, and the nine bodies littered the area.

Wait...there are nine corpses, and two took off...where did the last one go?

A scream sounded behind me and I quickly turned around as the missing wolf was leaping at the group of ponies. It was flying straight at Fluttershy, the pegasus mare seemingly frozen to the spot in fear. Its maw was wide as it leaped, ready to bite into the poor pegasus upon impact.

"No!"

Once again acting on reflex, I reversed my grip of the spear and coated it in what mana I had left before raising it and hurling the weapon at the timberwolf. The spear buried itself in the wolf's side, pinning it to a tree. The magic surrounding me seemed to have burned itself out as it faded, and I stood there panting before looking towards the yellow mare.

"Are...are you alright?"

She just looked at me in shock and softly nodded her head, too stunned to do anything else.

"Good...I'm...glad..."

I fell backwards as my vision darkened.

Seems I pushed myself too hard...

Yes, but...you did it, Liam. You did it. They're safe.

My eyes closed as I lay there in the burned grass, and unconsciousness took me.

Chapter Five: Contemplation and Concern

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Five: Contemplation and Concern

I looked at what was a battlefield moments before, passing my gaze over the scattered timberwolf corpses and scorched vegetation.

"How..."

The bright flames had quickly burned through the timberwolves, the wooden monsters having no chance against the being whose flames seemed to embody righteous fury, burning the guilty to ash. I looked at the unconscious biped that lay in the middle of the now burnt clearing in front of the cave.

"What was..."

I couldn't form a proper sentence, my mind galloping at a mile a minute trying to process what I had just seen. I've always been a fantastic mage, learning new spells with ease and mastering them quickly, but...

"What is he?"

I had never seen magic like that before in my life. I knew a few of the combat spells that they taught in the Royal Guard since my brother Shining Armor was their captain, but those spells were nothing like this. Those spells were meant to stun and contain creatures using non lethal magic tailored to prevent harming the one being arrested or contained, but his spells weren't like that. They were lethal, designed to kill and destroy the target with prejudice. Only evil creatures used those kinds of spells, but...

If he were evil, why would he save us?

I glanced over at Fluttershy, the pegasus mare still frozen in shock from her near death experience.

Why would he save Fluttershy?

Hearing the crunch of hoofsteps on burnt grass, I turned around to see Princess Celestia approaching the prone creature with a look of worry and concern on her face.

Why is the princess so concerned about him? He's...evil, isn't he? Good ponies don't...kill others...

I hung my head as I thought back to when I first entered the cave. Seeing the strange creature armed, the source of the magical anomaly, next to my teacher...

Then why was I prepared to do the same to him?

Princess Celestia had quickly reached the unconscious anomaly and her horn glowed as she cast a spell.

"Liam!"

Her near panicked eyes rapidly moved from place to place, examining the injuries on his body. I recognized the spell Princess Celestia had cast on...Liam. It was a basic mana level detection spell, taught to most unicorns as foals so they can tell how much mana they had left in their mana pool. It was also used by trained medical professionals to detect problems in a pony's magic, in case of mana exhaustion or anything that would impair a unicorn's magic. Whatever the information the spell had informed the princess of seemed to calm her greatly as she let out a huge sigh and relaxed her posture.

"Oh thank goodness, it's just mana exhaustion..."

I slowly trotted over to Princess Celestia and stood next to her before trying to get her attention.

"Princess, what...what was that? What did he do?"

Looking over at me, Princess Celestia's eyes widened a bit before returning to her usual serene smile.

"He used up all his mana protecting us, is what he did. I know you are a bit suspicious of him right now, and I'm sure you have many questions about what just happened, but..."

She looked at Liam, her gaze changing to slight worry.

"We need to get Liam to Ponyville as soon as we can. He may have defeated those timberwolves, but these woods hold much worse, and I can't protect you all. I'll answer any questions I can when we return to safety."

Standing on her four slender legs, she looked back to me and smiled softly.

"Twilight, can you please lift our new friend onto my back? You girls aren't big enough to safely carry him, and I would rather avoid any further injuries."

This was really hard for me to accept. I couldn't wrap my head around it. The Princess knew next to nothing about this creature, and she wanted us to bring him right into Ponyville? What if he uses that dangerous magic on somepony? But...this was Princess Celestia asking me to do this. I couldn't just ignore what she asked me to do. I had to real reason to refuse, besides my own worry.

"Okay, Princess...I just hope you know what you're doing."

My horn glowed as I lifted Liam off of the ground before gently laying him on Princess Celestia's back. He had been much heavier than I expected, and I was panting with exertion after the surprisingly heavy lifting. His weight didn't seem to be too much for the princess to bear though, since she hadn't even shifted when I placed him on her back.

"Thank you, my faithful student. Come, let us leave this forest."

Princess Celestia trotted over to the tree that had the timberwolf pinned to it by the sword turned spear. Her horn glowed a golden color, and the glow surrounded the spear before she sharply pulled it from the tree, depositing the timberwolf corpse onto the forest floor. The sight and sound of the spear exiting something that used to be alive turned my stomach, and it took effort to not be sick. She held the spear next to her in a golden glow and held it near in her telekinetic grip. The Princess headed for the forest again, and we followed her.

"Is...is he going to be alright, Princess?"

Fluttershy had called out to Princess Celestia, seemingly worried about the biped. Everypony else was standing and had started to follow Princess Celestia's request to leave. She looked back at Fluttershy and smiled warmly.

"Not to worry, my little pony. He is just exhausted, and needs only rest to recover."

Fluttershy sighed in relief, before returning the smile.

"Thank goodness. I haven't had the chance to thank him yet."

Princess Celestia seemed happy about Fluttershy's response, and she nodded softly before turning back to the forest, walking into the foreboding sea of trees.

The walk through the forest had been surprisingly calm. Despite how nervous we were, nothing had come to try and eat us. Everypony had been quiet throughout the trip, not wanting to draw any attention.

"Let's get Liam inside and somewhere he can rest before I answer your questions, Twilight."

I opened the door to the Golden Oaks library with my magic, holding it open for everypony to enter before closing and locking the door behind me. Princess Celestia was gently placing Liam down on the couch in the center of the room, with the rest of the girls taking a seat on various pillows that were left for that exact purpose. After all, I'ts not very comfortable to be sitting on a wood floor for hours at a time when you are engrossed in a good book.

"I believe this is good enough. He isn't too injured, he's just exhausted." Princess Celestia turned to me and smiled.

"Now, what questions do you have, my faithful student?"

I looked at the ground as I tried to organize my train of thought, my mind a mess of questions and thoughts. One question jumped to the forefront though, and I asked before I could stop myself.

"What is he?"

The Princess' eyebrow cocked, and she sighed heavily.

"I do not know for certain, Twilight. What I do know is that Liam is not from this world."

Small gasps came from my friends. I wasn't...too surprised, but it still sounds odd to hear it said.

"I believe that, for whatever reason, he was taken against his will and brought here by someone, or something. When I found him, he was exhausted from running from a timberwolf. I doubt he was aware of what he could do, and my telekinesis startled him. He looked like he had never seen magic before."

My eyes widened as the implications became clear.

"But Princess! Every sapient species on Equus has some kind of magic! Everything on this planet has some kind of magic in them, how could he have never seen magic before...unless..."

Princess Celestia nodded at me, a serious expression on her face.

"Indeed. It means he comes from a place with no magic. What I'm more surprised about is..."

Glancing over to Liam, Princess Celestia's face took on a look of worry.

"What is more concerning is his magical potential. I did a reading of his mana reserve while we were in that cave, and..."

She was silent for a moment, before locking eyes with me.

"His mana reserve is massive in size. I have no idea how a creature that is brand new to magic could have a reserve of that size, but...it almost rivals mine."

My jaw fell when I heard those words.

There's...no way. No way could something that has never used magic before today could have a mana reserve that size! It's impossible!

"Princess, there's no way! Nothing could grow to have a reserve that large without either constantly pushing themselves, or living for as long as you have!"

A small nod was given by the Princess before she sighed and looked away.

"I know, my student. I worry about what could happen if he were to lose control. He hasn't had the time to learn to control his magic like most unicorns do. If he were to lose control..."

Princess Celestia visibly shuddered as she stared at the unconscious biped.

"It would be a devastating, catastrophic event."

I shivered at the thought of what such an event could look like. I felt like what Discord did would be considered foal's play compared to the destruction that would be unleashed.

"Princess, doesn't that mean...that we should lock him up? From what you have told me, he would just be a danger."

Princess Celestia's eyes narrowed into a glare as she looked back to me.

"Twilight Sparkle! I have already told you, more than once! He is not an enemy! He is new to his own power, and bears no ill intent! There is no reason to imprison an innocent creature because of what he might do!"

My ears pinned to my head at her shouting, and I opened my mouth to respond, but a small groan interrupted me. Liam was moaning and groaning in pain or exhaustion, and his eyes slowly opened as everypony present looked to him.

"What...happened?"

I slowly opened my eyes, a soft groan escaping from my lips. I could only stare at the scene in front of me. What used to be a dark, foreboding forest was replaced with a field of green that went on for as far as I could see. Looking up, I saw that I had my back propped up against a large tree, shading me from the sun that beat down from overhead. I felt a weight on my lap, and I looked down to an adorable sight.

Sunlight was laying on her stomach and resting her head on my lap, her eyes shut with a happy smile on her face. My hand was laying on her head, as though I had been petting her. She looked...peaceful. It wasn't meant to last, and my movement seemed to wake her as her golden eyes opened and looked into mine.

"Hello again, Liam."

She smiled warmly at me, her expression serene.

"Sunlight...what happened?"

Nuzzling into my stomach, Sunlight closed her eyes and made a sound similar to a purr.

"I'm not surprised that you don't remember. You had a magical surge when you pushed yourself as hard as you did."

I started to idly pet Sunlight, feeling how soft her mane was, and finding the action strangely relaxing. Sunlight started to purr louder and softly pushed her head upwards into my hand.

"Mmmm, that feels amazing. I'm sure you're wondering where you are right now. Celestia seemed to be bringing you somewhere safe."

I looked down at the all too cute unicorn in my lap and raised an eyebrow.

"How would you know that?"

Giggling softly, Sunlight opened her eyes again, though they were half lidded and seemed almost glazed over.

"When she retrieved Dawnbreaker from that tree with her magic, I could sense what was around her. They are moving through the forest right now, though it seems they will soon reach the exit."

Sunlight gave me a cocky smirk before nuzzling into my stomach again.

"Now Liam, you shouldn't be so rough with a lady, you know. Throwing me at that timberwolf like you did, one might mistake you for a ruffian of a stallion who is rough with his mare."

Her gaze turned almost sultry, giving me a smile that made me feel as though she were looking at me like a piece of meat. I'm not sure I entirely disliked it.

"Though I know some mares like that kind of treatment. I know I wouldn't mind."

I stopped petting Sunlight and turned away with a blush on my face. A small giggle came from the unicorn who seemed to relish in my embarrassment.

"I'm kidding, Liam. Don't take everything so seriously."

Seeing how I could get back at this prankster of a unicorn, I leaned forward as far as I could and whispered into her ear.

"I don't know, Sunlight. Maybe I wouldn't mind that."

A shit eating grin was on my face as I gently nipped Sunlight's ear, earning a small squeak of surprise and a blushing unicorn in my lap.

"L-Liam! What are you-"

My laughter interrupted what she was going to say as I sat up and resumed petting her, the unicorn not at all amused by my antics. Sunlight huffed and closed her eyes, an adorable pout on her face.

"That's not funny..."

Laughter dying down to a chuckle, I lightly ruffled her mane before going back to petting.

"Turnabout is fair play, my little equine friend."

A soft sigh was the only response I got for my comment. A smile was slowly growing on her face though, and she had started purring again. We sat like that for several minutes, not saying a word and just enjoying each other's company. The silence didn't last much longer, as a question came to mind that I felt I needed to ask.

"So...what now?"

Sunlight's eyes cracked open almost blearily, as though she were about to fall asleep.

"Now...now you learn to control your newfound power."

Shifting her position, I ceased petting Sunlight as she moved to lay on her back, her head still in my lap. Smiling up at me with a peaceful look on her face and her hooves folded over her fuzzy chest.

How can something so dangerous be so cute?

Sunlight giggled and held a forehoof to her mouth.

"Oh my! Cute, am I? And to think I had assumed you were joking earlier about accepting my offer."

I blushed again, but maintained eye contact with the flirtatious mare.

"You can hear my thoughts?"

"Indeed I can. We are in your mind, after all. The barrier between spoken word and thought is only broken by what you choose to say. In the mindscape though, your thoughts are much more open and are all but broadcast."

Finishing her statement with poking her tongue out, she giggled softly at my expression.

"Well that could become annoying...but what do you mean by 'learning to control your newfound power?' What would I need to do to accomplish that?"

Retracting her tongue back into her mouth, she nuzzled into my stomach again.

"It would be best to rest for a day or so before trying to do any kind of training. Your body is exhausted and still needs to acclimatize to the new power flowing through you. You could irreversibly damage yourself if you were to do the training I have in mind in your current state. Though..."

Sunlight looked away with a small blush and moved her forehooves aside, exposing her plush chest.

"Would you mind...petting me more?"

I could only look down at this adorable creature as she seemed to have an almost pleading tone in her voice. This unicorn who barely knew me seemed to have grown quite comfortable with me. This seemed like more than just appreciation for saving her from that cave. This was downright affectionate, and...I wasn't really opposed to it. Chuckling softly, I placed my hand on her chest and started petting her from chest to belly, smiling at the happy noises that Sunlight was making.

"You're quite soft...and you seem to be enjoying this more than I thought you would."

Sunlight weakly nodded as her hind hoof started kicking in the air like a dog. A bright blush was visible on her face as her eyes were almost shut in apparent bliss.

"Mmhmm, your hands feel amazing. I didn't think it would feel this good."

A small moan escaped her mouth and I paused in my petting.

"Should I...stop?"

Groaning in annoyance at my lack of petting, she looked at me with pleading eyes.

"No! Please don't! It feels too good, I never felt anything like that when I was still in my body!"

I cocked an eyebrow and gave her a suspicious look.

"I feel like this is crossing into inappropriate territory very quickly."

Her forehooves gently wrapped themselves around my arm and held my hand to her chest as she sighed softly and smiled up at me. The blush on her face was gone, replaced with a happy expression that seemed quite affectionate.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just...been so long since I've seen anypony, let alone...touched them..."

Sunlight's expression grew somber as she admitted this to me. Frowning in thought, I decided that if this pony just wanted some affection and physical contact, then I wouldn't deny it. I trusted Sunlight to not do anything outright inappropriate, even if I wasn't entirely sure as to why. I gently pulled my hand from her grip, which made her frown deepen before changing into a look of surprise as I gently wrapped my hands around her midsection and lifted her to my chest, her stomach resting against mine as her head rested on my shoulder.

"Liam, what-"

I had started to pet her, holding her to me with one arm while the other traced down from her mane to her back before repeating.

"You're...sure this doesn't make you uncomfortable?"

I shushed her softly as I held the contact deprived mare more firmly and leaned my head against hers as I pet her. The trepidation in her voice was clear as day. She truly valued my comfort over her own, not wanting to make me uncomfortable.

"Shhhh, just relax and enjoy it, you silly pony."

She shook a single time and then wrapped her forehooves around my neck, hugging me tightly. I could feel her shaking with sobs, and hear her sniffling in my ear. A wet spot was quickly growing on my shoulder as the crimson unicorn buried her muzzle into it and wept. I started to hum a soft melody as I continued to pet her, doing my best to provide the comfort that this mare had been deprived of for centuries.

"Thank you...I'm sorry I'm such a mess..."

Her words had been interrupted by sobs and she spoke with so much emotion that I felt myself tearing up as well. I rubbed my cheek against hers, and hugged her tightly.

"There is nothing to apologize for, Sunlight. There is no shame in feeling sadness or loneliness. We all feel these emotions, and you...you felt these emotions for a very long time. I'm proud of you."

Her sobbing grew in intensity as she hugged me tighter, her grip bordering on painful.

"Thank...thank you so much...I can't even begin to...to put into words just how much this means to me."

I smiled softly, despite the crushing grip.

"It's alright, Sunlight. You won't ever be alone again, not if I can help it."

Her sobs lessened and her grip slackened a bit.

"You...you really mean that?"

Nuzzling her cheek again as I hugged her with both arms, I could feel her tension melt away.

"I really mean it. You've saved my life, swore to be my knight, and...you gave me a friend."

Sunlight leaned back, looking into my eyes with a confused look. Tear streaks were visible on her face, and she looked exhausted.

"A...friend?"

Chuckling softly, I booped her nose with my own, causing her muzzle to scrunch up in the cutest way.

"Yes, Sunlight. You are my friend."

It was like a switch had been flicked, changing the sad and lonely mare into a happy and joyful one. Her eyes lit up and she hugged me tightly, giggling happily. Her voice sounded strained though, likely from the crying.

"Thank you! I'll be the best friend you could ever ask for! I won't let you down!"

My smile shrank a bit as she spoke.

"Sunlight, it isn't about letting me down or not. We will both likely make mistakes, but friends are those who will stick around even after those mistakes are made."

She sniffled once, and leaned back so she could look me in the eye.

"I...I'll remember that. Thank you for...being my friend, Liam."

Looking around, her expression changed to one of disappointment.

"It seems...our time tonight is nearing its end. Celestia and her entourage exited the forest a while back, and brought you to some kind of...tree building?"

A look of confusion passed on her face as she looked back to me.

"Whatever it is, it's in the middle of a town and it's safe. I feel that you will be waking up soon."

I saw the truth in her statement as I looked to the field, only to see an encroaching darkness that was getting closer every second.

"Well, it won't be long before we see each other again. Even then, we can talk outside of my dreams too."

Smiling softly at me, she nodded before hugging me gently.

"You are correct, my friend. I will hear from you soon."

The last thing I saw before the darkness engulfed us was the golden eyes of my newest friend.

My body ached. There really wasn't any better way to describe what I felt at that moment, the pain suffusing every part of my body and leaving me groaning softly as I returned to consciousness. I tried to open my eyes, and succeeded in opening them a small amount before looking around at the ponies who seemed to have taken a sudden interest in me as I became the center of attention.

"What...happened?"

Chapter Six: Answers

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Six: Answers

"What...happened?"

I tried to sit up, groaning in pain from how sore my body still was after everything that happened. I somehow managed to successfully sit up on the couch that I had been placed on and tried to remember what caused me to feel like this. I remembered fighting those wolves, though the memories felt fragmented. I remembered talking to Sunlight, and then...

Oh, that's right. Sunlight mentioned that Celestia was bringing me somewhere.

I weakly gazed around the room, taking note of the sheer amount of books decorating the shelves that seemed like they were built into the walls themselves. Speaking of the walls...

I guess she wasn't kidding when she said it was 'some kind of tree building.' It really looks like it was carved right out of a tree. Seems like this is a library, with all these books.

Looking around the room with half closed eyes, I could see Celestia approaching with a worried look.

"Liam, are you sure you should be up yet? Your mana reserves are still quite low, you could hurt yourself if you aren't careful."

I chuckled despite the pain and waved a hand in front of my face, wincing at the pain that flared up in protest of my movements.

"I'll be fine, Celestia. I'm not planning to fight anymore timberwolves any time soon. Trust me, I plan to rest for a while before even trying to get out of bed."

Celestia sighed heavily and placed a hoof on my shoulder. She quickly retracted it when she saw me wince in pain, but the concerned look she had remained on her face.

"Alright, but...let me know if you feel tired. The only real cure for mana exhaustion is resting in bed, and plenty of water."

I nodded at her and looked to the other ponies in the room. Most seemed curious about me, though a couple still seemed suspicious of me.

"Are all of you alright? No one injured?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed and flew into the air, lazily flapping her wings to keep airborne.

"Pfft, like we would get hurt by a bunch of walking twigs! We're too awesome for that!"

She smiled at me as she looked me in the eyes.

"Though you were pretty awesome too. I didn't know that magic could do that! That was beyond cool how you took out those timberwolves!"

"I meant to ask you about that, actually."

I turned to Twilight as she spoke.

"Princess Celestia filled us in on a few details, and honestly...I have a hard time believing her when she says that you have never seen magic before today."

Twilight looked down to her hooves with a contemplative expression.

"I've never seen those specific spells cast before, but there is one thing I know for certain. Those were high level war spells. As in spells meant to kill, and complex ones at that. Where did you learn to do that?"

Her gaze moved to me as she questioned me. I broke eye contact and looked at Dawnbreaker, resting against the end of the couch I was sitting on. I tried to concentrate on that feeling from before, that warmth. I wanted the polearm to come to me, and it responded. My left hand outstretched and pointing at Dawnbreaker, both began to glow red as the spear levitated shakily and slowly flew to my hand. I channeled some mana into the handle, and the shaft quickly retracted back into a standard sword grip, shortening the length of the weapon greatly.

That was...more than a little taxing...

I panted from the effort of using magic, realizing just how drained I really was. It seems Celestia wasn't exaggerating when she said I was suffering from mana exhaustion. I truly felt...almost empty. The feeling was both painful and disturbing. Celestia had gasped when I had levitated the now sword into my hand, and was now looking at with a disapproving glare.

"Liam! I just told you that you are suffering from magical exhaustion! That means no more magic! Don't make me repeat myself again, do you understand!?"

I jumped in surprise, wincing at the sudden movement, and looked into Celestia's eyes before gulping. I didn't want to find out what she was willing to do if I didn't listen to her.

"U-understood. I just...wanted to see if I could do it again. To make sure it wasn't just some...fever dream."

Her expression softened, and she smiled softly at me.

"I'm not mad, just...please don't risk hurting yourself more than you already are."

I looked down to my arm, suddenly remembering the large bite wound I had sustained in the fight with the timberwolves. It looked...like it had been burned shut, but looked quite clean at the same time.

"How did...my arm isn't injured?"

Celestia's eyes went to my arm and her eyes widened as if she had realized the same thing I had.

"I...It wasn't my imagination, was it? You did get bitten by that timberwolf, right?"

Her confused expression mirrored mine perfectly, before she did something resembling a shrug and smiled again.

"Maybe your magic closed the wound when you cast that last spell. Regardless, it is very fortunate that your arm is no longer bleeding."

I mean, she wasn't wrong. I wasn't exactly complaining about not bleeding to death, but it would be nice to know exactly why I was no longer bleeding.

"Now, I believe my student asked you a question. Would you care to answer it?"

Looking to the purple unicorn revealed how annoyed she was at being seemingly forgotten and ignored. Her forehooves were crossed and she was pouting in irritation.

"Ah...yes, she did ask me something. To answer that question Twilight, I didn't know what I was doing. The first spell was entirely an accident, and the second was given directly to me."

Twilight's expression changed to one of confusion as she uncrossed her forehooves and tilted her head.

"It was...given to you? By who? I know Princess Celestia didn't have enough time to teach you anything like that. Learning a spell that complex would take me weeks just to be able to try casting properly, and magic is my special talent."

Special talent? Oh well, that's a question for later, I guess.

"That's because the knowledge was placed directly into my head. I don't know how Sunlight did it, but she gave me the instructions and specifics of the spell."

"Sunlight? There wasn't anypony else in that cave besides you and the princess."

I maintained eye contact with the purple unicorn, understanding her confusion all too well.

"Sunlight Spirals is her full name. She said she was a knight."

Her eyes widened, and her gaze snapped to mine so fast I could swear I heard something crack.

"Sunlight Spirals!? The famed monster hunter who...went missing? She was known as 'The Phoenix.' No one knew what happened to her, but it was assumed that she was killed by something she was hunting."

My expression changed to one of shock as I learned something new about my friend and I glanced at my arm as I realized where the symbolism involved in the tattoo came from.

She was famous? I didn't realize that she made that much of an impact in the world.

Twilight looked down at the floor and shuffled her hooves nervously.

"That explains why your sword seemed familiar...I've seen it in historical records about her. Called Dawnbreaker, Sunlight had it enchanted with a large number of spells to enhance her own combat abilities. It's made of mithril, a rare metal that bonds to magical enchantments better than almost any other known material. It's...quite expensive, which is why historians hypothesized that the sword was likely made by someone of importance. There were a number of ideas of who exactly, but many assumed..."

She looked to Celestia.

"That Princess Celestia is the one who made the sword for her. She was an amazing warmage, and Dawnbreaker only made her that much more effective. Though..."

Looking back at me with slight suspicion, her eyes narrowed and she took a step forward.

"That still doesn't explain how a unicorn warmage that has been missing for six hundred years could use mind magic to deposit knowledge in your head. Even if she wasn't killed, she would still be long dead."

I looked down to Dawnbreaker and smiled sadly.

"Well Twilight, she isn't entirely gone. Those historians were right about one thing. She was killed. Some kind of cult tricked her, and trapped her soul in Dawnbreaker."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock and fear as I explained.

"Sunlight is why I was able to use that last spell. Without her, I doubt I could have done much against that many timberwolves, even with my new magic."

"That's...that's very evil magic. Soul magic used like that has been outlawed since Equestria's founding. That's..."

Twilight's eyed started to mist over, and a single tear ran down her face.

"That's horrible! I can only imagine how much pain she was in..."

Sniffling, Twilight looked at Dawnbreaker with pity.

"How did she keep her sanity? Nopony should be alone, let alone for that many centuries."

I placed my hand on the sword.

"I don't know, but...she's happy that someone found her. I can hear her thoughts, and she can hear mine. I think she is 'sleeping' right now, but we can also communicate in my dreams. She was...lonely, but happy that she had someone to talk to after so long."

I smiled sadly as I looked back to Twilight.

"I think...I think that while she wishes things had been different, she isn't unhappy about how things turned out. After all, she did pledge herself as my knight. I imagine that isn't a small thing."

Twilight's and Celestia's eyes widened and the purple unicorn took a few steps forward.

"She did what!?"

"Liam..."

My eyes whipped to and from the two ponies who were seemingly shocked by what I said.

"What? What exactly does that mean?"

Celestia smiled softly and looked right into my eyes. Her expression was calm and happy.

"Liam, if Sunlight pledged herself as your knight, it means she trusts you implicitly. Normally a knight's vow would end with their death, but this isn't a normal occurrence. Sunlight knows better than most that her pledge to you would last until...either you die or her soul is freed from Dawnbreaker."

I could only stare at Celestia in shock as I processed this new information.

Wow, that's...Sunlight, you really do see something in me, don't you?

"She really did something that significant? I..."

My gaze returned to the sword as the implications of the words that Sunlight spoke in my mindscape echoed in my head. I tried to tell Sunlight how grateful I was over our shared link and I got a small response, as though she were just waking up.

Liam? What's wrong?

Sunlight's voice sounded groggy, and I could almost see her wiping her eyes with her hooves as she sat up.

Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. Nothing is wrong, but...

Liam, I can tell that something is bothering you. Your emotions aren't exactly calm right now.

I sighed softly and ran a hand down Dawnbreaker's blade.

I just...did you know what your pledge meant?

Once again, I could feel how Sunlight reacted. Her eyes widened a bit before she looked down and blushed softly, seemingly embarrassed that I had realized just how big of an impact her words had.

...yes. I know what my vow entailed when I made it. Remember Liam, I have seen your soul. I have seen who and what you are. I see nothing that would make me second guess what I said and promised to you.

She looked up and I saw a fiery determination in her golden eyes.

I stand by what I said. I will be your knight and serve you until you either have no need of my services, or until either of our deaths.

I smiled softly and tried to convey just how much her support meant to me.

Thank you, Sunlight...

Sunlight smiled back, and laid back down. She closed her eyes, quickly going back to sleep.

Anything for you, my friend.

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and a single tear fell, landing on Dawnbreaker.

"Liam?"

Looking up into the concerned gaze of Celestia, I quickly realized the cause of her concern. To the rest of them, I had just been staring at my sword for several minutes before crying. I must have looked like a madman.

"It's nothing, Celestia. Just...confirmed something with Sunlight."

Wiping my eyes with my hand, I glanced around the room. A couple of the assembled ponies looked bored, while the rest seemed curious. In Fluttershy's case, she seemed concerned about me, but she looked away with another squeak when she realized I had noticed her staring.

"You were right. Sunlight knew what her vow meant. She doesn't regret it."

Celestia smiled happily and placed a hoof on my shoulder before moving her head towards me and softly nuzzling my cheek with her own.

"I'm so happy to hear that, Liam. While Sunlight can be stubborn, she is an amazing pony, and I can't imagine a greater ally for you in the coming days."

I quirked an eyebrow and looked onto Celestia's eyes with confusion.

"Coming days? Is something going to happen soon?"

Chuckling softly, Celestia held a hoof to her mouth.

"Oh, nothing of the sort, my friend. You will simply need somepony to teach you to control your magic and learn new spells from, and I can only think of one pony who might do a better job than Sunlight."

She looked over at Twilight, who seemed slightly crestfallen at not being the first choice to teach the alien magic.

"My faithful student, would you be willing to teach Liam more about magic when he has learned better control? Liam seems to have a knack for combat magic, and while I trust Sunlight to teach him what he needs to know, he will need someone to teach him what Sunlight cannot. Sunlight's talent was in her fire magic and combat spells. Your talent is magic itself, and you can easily fill in the gaps that Sunlight will likely leave. Will you do this for me, Twilight Sparkle?"

Celestia's voice took on a pleading tone near the end of her request. It seemed that she didn't think that Twilight would want to teach me magic. Understandable, given how we were introduced. After all, assault and accusations of using what I assume is dark magic doesn't exactly leave a good first impression. Twilight didn't seem to have the same reservations she did before our talk, since she started hopping happily around the room chanting 'yes' over and over with a large smile on her face. Her friends seemed to find this amusing, since everyone present had a small smile on their faces, even the otherwise grumpy Applejack.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! I would love to teach Liam magic!"

I looked at the excited purple pony and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well that was a huge shift in attitude. Before you didn't trust me in the slightest, and now you're literally jumping at the chance to teach me magic. Seems like a drastic change in stance."

Her jumping stopped and she looked sad for a moment before she locked eyes with me.

"Well...I don't entirely trust you, but...if Princess Celestia and Sunlight Spirals trusts you to that extent, then...I doubt you're even close to what I assumed you were."

I smirked and looked down at Twilight.

"And what exactly where you expecting?"

Twilight grunted in frustration before throwing her hooves up in the air.

"I don't know! Some kind of evil wizard, a destructive monster, something other than whatever you are!"

Chuckling softly, I looked down at Dawnbreaker before sighing softly.

"Oh, you have no idea just how destructive humans can be..."

That comment earned me a room full of curious and slightly concerned stares.

"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked with a hesitant stare.

"I mean that humans aren't exactly peaceful all the time. Most are good people, but some would love to watch the world burn. As a friend of mine once said, 'all it takes is one idiot to ruin it for everyone else.'"

Twilight seemed hesitant to ask her next question, gulping before opening her mouth.

"So...which one are you?"

I just gave her a confused look before I realized something and started chuckling softly.

"Liam?"

Looking at Twilight's confused face, I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing and winced from how much everything still hurt.

"Oh my god! I just realized! World burn! Fire magic! Holy shit, I didn't even mean to make that joke!"

I continued laughing for a few moments before the aching of my chest overcame the hilarity of the situation.

"Ow. Okay, no more laughing for me for a while. Well Twilight, I'm definitely one of the more normal ones. I had a standard job, with a standard house, and a standard life. I lived my life the best I could, tried to help where I could. I don't think the life I lived was particularly good or bad, but I definitely wasn't someone who went around hurting others for no reason. Not only is it illegal, there just isn't any point. I...I don't like hurting things."

I could feel myself tearing up again, and wiped the moisture away.

"When...when I first arrived in that forest, I was confused and scared. I didn't know where i was or how I got there, and I saw something that should have been impossible. I think it was a manticore, or it looked like the pictures I've seen in mythology books. It was dead and rotting."

A gasp interrupted me, and I turned to the source to see Fluttershy looking at me with relief.

"So you...weren't the one who killed him?"

Did they think I did that?

"No, he was that way when I found him. A couple moments after that, a timberwolf found me and chased me through the woods until I found that cave. I thought I was trapped, that I was going to die, but..."

Lifting Dawnbreaker until it was eye level, I smiled and spoke softly.

"Dawnbreaker was in the cave too. It started glowing when I found the determination to fight back, and then..."

My smile disappeared.

"Then it was over before I really knew what happened. All I clearly remember is striking the wolf with the sword, the wolf igniting into flames and crying in pain as it burned alive. I...i broke down. Celestia found me shortly afterwards, and I think you all know what happened after that."

Fluttershy's face had tears running down it, and she surprised everyone when she leapt forward and hugged me gently. I barely managed to move Dawnbreaker in time to avoid hurting her as she sobbed into my chest. Not knowing what else to do, I gently hugged her back and softly pet her mane.

"I'm...so sorry. Nopony should ever have to...to take a life like that...It must have been...so hard. There were...so many more outside too..."

I smiled softly at the shy pegasus and maintained the soft hug.

"It's alright. It...wasn't a happy experience, but it did show me just how powerless I would be without Sunlight. It showed me that I need to be stronger if I'm going to survive in this world. Besides, if there is one thing humans are good at, it's adapting."

Fluttershy sniffled softly and her crying stopped shortly afterwards, but she didn't let go of the hug. Twilight walked in front of the couch that I was resting on, and looked me in the eyes.

"About that. If you wouldn't mind, could you answer some questions I have about humans?"

I smiled as I continued petting Fluttershy's mane.

"Of course. I don't see why I couldn't."

Twilight smiled widely in response and her horn glowed before a quill and some parchment flew from her nearby desk and floated in front of her, surrounded by the same violet glow as her horn. She quickly scribbled something on the parchment before returning her attention to me.

"Alright, I guess I'll start off with the basics. What exactly do humans eat?"

I frowned softly at how I assumed they would take the answer. After all, it's clear that these ponies are entirely herbivorous, and they already had a less than stellar impression of me without adding 'predator' to the list of traits.

"Well...humans are omnivores. We can eat almost anything, with the exception of grass, hay, and quite a few kinds of flowers."

Twilight scribbled something down. Movement from another part of the room caught my attention as I saw Applejack walk over with a heavy scowl on her face.

"So let me git this straight. Ya eat meat?"

Twilight's scribbling stopped and she looked between me and Applejack before her eyes widened slightly, seemingly only realizing that fact now.

"I can eat meat. I can get enough protein from other sources like beans or spinach, so I don't need it."

Applejack's scowl deepened before taking an aggressive step forward.

"And how do ah know that ya won't eat a pony?"

I looked at Applejack's angry face and aggressive posture for a moment before laughing.

"Are ya mockin' me!?"

Waving a hand dismissively before chuckling softly, I could only smile at the question.

"Hell no, I wouldn't eat a pony. Humans are the only sapient species on our planet. Nothing else can talk or act like we do, so we tended to eat whatever we could when food was scarce. Only the most desperate and starving would resort to eating another person, and I see you all as far too close to human to even consider the idea. You're all obviously sapient and intelligent. I prefer it when my food isn't able to talk back."

Applejack's aggressive stance relaxed a bit before her face changed to an expression of mild confusion. The scowl returned as she snorted and started walking back to where she used to be sitting.

"I still don't like it..."

I doubt I was supposed to hear her muttering to herself, but I did.

Man, what is her problem?

"Applejack darling, must you be so stubborn about this? Liam did save us all from those timberwolves, after all. He was so dashing, like a knight come to save the poor damsels in distress."

Rarity fluttered her eyelids and swept a forehoof to her head in a dramatic swoon. Applejack only glared in response as she passed by Rarity.

"Ah don't see why yer so ready to defend him. You saw how readily he killed those timberwolves."

Rarity simply returned the glare with one of her own, and daintily stomped a hoof on the wooden floor.

"Well I don't see why you are so insistent on being rude to our guest. You've been acting simply dreadful, and you seem to get crankier with every new thing you learn about him."

Applejack stomped right up to Rarity and pressed her nose to the white unicorn's, looking even angrier than before. A feat I did not think possible before just now, for sure.

"What's so hard to git!? This critter is a meat eatin', violent, murderin' alien who could decide at any point that one of us would make a tasty snack and kill somepony!"

Recoiling with a gasp, Rarity's glare also intensified.

"He saved our lives, Applejack! He almost got himself killed protecting us! Unlike you, I recognize generosity when I see it! What could be more generous than giving your very life for others!? If you honestly think for one moment that such heroic actions don't prove somepony's trustworthiness, then maybe you don't embody your Element of Harmony as well as you think!"

Everyone but Celestia and Fluttershy gasped at the white unicorn mare's declaration. The yellow pegasus that was still hugging me was shaking, probably from the raised voice and conflict, and Applejack was turning an angry shade of red. No, really. Her fur started changing color to a bright red.

What the...

Applejack didn't say a word in reply, simply stomping over to the door before leaving the library, slamming the door behind her. I looked to the remaining ponies, seeing their looks of shock and surprise. None seemed to disagree with Rarity though, if the barely annoyed looks Rainbow Dash and Twilight shot her way was any indication. There was no real anger in the looks, just exasperation. Pinkie just seemed sad about the exchange, a sad frown on her face.

"Friends fighting isn't fun..."

Rainbow Dash looked towards Pinkie's sad face for a moment before blankly staring at Rarity.

"Really, Rarity? Low blow..."

Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash with a mildly offended expression.

"Well, I couldn't just allow Applejack to continue being so rude to Liam. He has done nothing to warrant that kind of behavior."

Looking at me, Rarity gave me a sad look.

"Really, darling. I'm so sorry that she treated you that way. Applejack can be stubborn, but I've never seen her behave like this before."

I sighed and looked at the floor.

"This isn't going to improve any time soon, is it?"

The white unicorn shook her head softly and sighed.

"I'm afraid not, dear. She can be quite stubborn when she wants to be. I don't know why she is acting this way, but I doubt she will change her mind any time soon. She's usually pleasant to be around."

I opened my mouth to reply, but I cut myself off with a sudden yawn.

"Oh geez. That was sudden, sorry about that."

Celestia, who had been quiet for the last little while, turned to me and placed a hoof on the arm that was holding Fluttershy.

"Liam, it may be time for you to get some rest. Staying awake later than you should won't help you recover any faster."

I nodded in agreement before softly patting Fluttershy on the shoulder.

"Come on Flutters. As comfortable as you are, I need to get to sleep."

Fluttershy squeaked, and I could see a small blush on her face as she pulled back from the hug.

"Did you...call me Flutters? And I'm comfortable?"

I smiled softly at the yellow pegasus.

"Yeah, you're pretty soft. As for the nickname, I thought it was cute. You don't like it?"

She blushed harder and averted her gaze.

"Oh no, I like it, I just...wasn't expecting you to give me a nickname."

Fluttershy looked back up into my eyes and smiled.

"I didn't get the chance to say it earlier, but...thank you for saving me, Liam."

I didn't get the chance to respond before Fluttershy gave me a soft kiss on the cheek. I did what anyone would do in that situation. I froze. Fluttershy giggled demurely and gently hopped off of me, heading for the front door.

"Wow...well, it was nice meeting you, big guy. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yes, I do believe that Princess Celestia has the right idea. I do need my beauty sleep after all. Goodnight, everypony."

I waved at the ponies that were leaving through the library's entrance, noticing that Pinkie was quiet and still seemed sad.

I hope there isn't anymore fighting between them. It seems to hurt more than just them...

Looking around, I could see that the only ponies left were Celestia, and Twilight. Yawning again, I started to lay down and get settled on the surprisingly comfortable couch.

"Well...I think I'll be going to sleep now. I'll answer more questions in the morning, if you have any."

Twilight yawned as well, and rubbed her eyes with her forehooves.

Ha! It's contagious!

"Yeah, you're right. I think I'll be joining you. I wish you a good night, Princess Celestia."

I quirked an eyebrow at Twilight's phrasing, while Celestia looked mildly amused. The purple unicorn looked at my expression for a moment before hitting her forehead with a hoof and groaning softly.

"I didn't mean in your bed, Liam!"

"Well, it's really more of a couch."

Another soft groan was my reward, with an increasingly amused looking Celestia trying not to laugh at her student's misfortune.

"Goodnight, Liam!"

I could only chuckle as Twilight quickly trotted over to the stairs leading to the next floor, entering through the door frame before softly closing the door behind her. I looked to Celestia, and smiled.

"Well...guess I'm off to dreamland. Wish me luck, Celestia."

Celestia giggled and laid down nearby, levitating a book in her gold magic.

"I think I'll read for a while before leaving. Sleep well, Liam."

"Thanks, Celestia. You too."

I could feel my heavy eyelids begging to be closed. I put up no resistance, letting my eyes fall shut and falling asleep moments after.

Chapter Seven: Dreamland

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Seven: Dreamland

I opened my eyes to see the same field of lush green grass from the last time I had been asleep. Once again, I was sitting underneath a large tree. Looking up towards it and inspecting it closer revealed a detail I had previously missed. It was a maple tree, tall and strong with its uniquely shaped leaves. Feeling a familiar weight on my lap, I looked down to see Sunlight laying her head on my lap again, my hand resting on her head as she appeared to be sleeping. This scene was almost exactly the same as before, bringing on a sense of déjà vu. Shaking Sunlight softly to wake her up caused her to groan softly before furrowing her brows.

"Sunlight, wake up."

Another groan was the only response I got before she sleepily opened her eyes and looked into my eyes. Sighing, she slowly stood and took a step away.

"Liam, why did you wake me up?"

I looked down, feeling guilty for disturbing her.

"Well...I did have a few more questions," I responded while scratching behind my head in embarrassment. Sunlight sighed softly before stepping closer, closing her eyes, and nuzzling my cheek. I used the hand that was scratching behind my head to gently rub her cheek, getting a happy horse sound in response.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel like you did something wrong. Go ahead and ask. I'm already awake, so I may as well answer some questions."

I let my hand fall to my side, and thought about what exactly I wanted to ask first.

"Well...you mentioned training before. What exactly would I be doing to train?"

Sunlight moved to sit next to me, and I lifted my hand from the ground to make room for her. Sitting down, she leaned on my side, and sighed in contentment.

"Well like I said before, you will need to wait a day or two for your magic to recharge. You might have a monstrously large mana pool, but you have no real control of your magic yet. Every spell you cast in that fight yesterday was clumsy, and used much more mana than was needed. In life, I could have destroyed every one of those timberwolves with plenty of mana to spare."

She looked up and into my eyes, noticing my slight sadness. I didn't realize that I had wasted so much mana. I could have avoided passing out entirely if I was better. Sunlight smiled and nuzzled my side, shushing me and leaning more heavily on me.

"It's alright, Liam. For your first time using magic, you did spectacularly. Nopony could have done better in that situation with your current knowledge and control."

I rested my arm on her shoulders, letting my hand hang near her fluffy chest.

"I'm glad to hear that, but...if there were more timberwoles, we could all have died because I was too weak to stop them." I looked down, and frowned softly. It was true, too. We all would have been their lunch if it weren't for how much mana I apparently have. Sunlight didn't seem to like my self deprecating talk, and softly smacked my leg with a frown on her face.

"Don't talk like that. You saved them and survived. There's no point on obsessing over 'what ifs.' That only stresses you out while producing no results. It's completely counterproductive."

I looked into her eyes, and saw the fierce determination that I had come to expect from her burning behind her golden eyes.

"I...suppose so. You're right, there's no point obsessing over what might have happened."

I looked forward and narrowed my eyes.

"It just means I'll need to be better prepared for next time. I won't let something like those overgrown piles of kindling continue to be a threat to me. I need to get stronger."

I looked back down to her and saw the look of approval on her face, the scowl she wore nowhere to be seen with a confident smile taking its place.

"So how do I do that? How do I get stronger, Sunlight?"

Sunlight nuzzled into my side again, enjoying the physical contact that she had been deprived of for hundreds of years, and sighed happily.

"The first step involves learning to control your magic, and being able to call on it at any moment. You will need to spend some time 'feeling' for your magic before you can start to have any measure of control. Then, you'll practice some basic spells like levitation, learning to manipulate your reserve of mana like a precise tool. Those exercises will help you not only develop control, but will also help you grow stronger. Magic is like any other skill. To improve, you must practice."

"Well once I'm rested up and feeling better, we can get star-"

Pain.

All I could feel was pain as the world spun once, then twice, then thrice before I slammed into the ground with considerable force. Even with my ears ringing, I could hear a loud voice yelling at a seemingly impossible volume, making my head hurt more than it already did.

"THOU WILL NOT HARM THIS PONY, DREAMEATER!"

I couldn't hear what Sunlight yelled back at my attacker, but I tried to move my arms to push myself up and found it to be very difficult. My limbs felt numb, and there was pain all over my body.

No...I can't let her...hurt Sunlight...

That feeling again. That determination. That fire in my chest. I felt that power surging through me as I started to stand, despite the numbness and pain. Turning my head revealed my attacker. She was an alicorn like Celestia, but her coat was a dark blue, and her lighter blue mane seemed like entire galaxies were contained inside it. The ringing in my ears began to subside, and I could hear Sunlight shouting at the new arrival.

"You even try to hurt him again and I swear on Celestia's name that I will kill you!"

The blue mare's face changed to one of confusion as she looked towards me. I was ready to fight back if I had to, concentrating what power I could into my body. I wouldn't be able to make any ranged attacks, but I'm positive that a punch given with enough mana to cast the Veil of the Phoenix would hurt more than enough. Noticing what I was doing, her eyes widened before her horn glowed and she shouted in alarm.

"No! Look out!"

A blue beam of magic came flying towards me and before I realized what I was doing, my hand rose and blocked the beam of magic, making it harmlessly scatter into blue light. The force of the attack was considerable, though I remained where I stood. Sunlight seemed to vanish for a moment before reappearing next to me with her horn glowing. The blue alicorn didn't do anything but stare at me in shock and surprise.

"A...dreameater stopped our magic!? Impossible!"

Hey eyes narrowed and her horn glowed again.

"Nothing more than a fluke. It will not happen again."

I laughed despite the pain and pointed a finger at her.

"I don't know what the hell a dreameater is, but it's not nice to attack people in their dreams. I don't know who you are, but I doubt you will have an easy time fighting both of us. Leave before you get hurt."

The nameless alicorn snarled at me and lowered her head as if she were preparing to charge.

"Thou dares mock us, foul creature!? Thine lies will not save thou from our judgement!"

I rolled my eyes and walked forward, passing Sunlight as I moved closer to the alicorn.

"Like I said, I don't know who you are. What I do know is that you are in my dream, my mindscape. This is my domain and I won't let some arrogant prick attack me and my friend."

Armor started to form around my body, and I knew what it looked like without seeing it. I did create it after all. A suit of steel plate armor, inspired by what the medieval knights of Europe would wear to battle, the thick steel feeling weightless in the dream. Dawnbreaker formed in my left hand as I glared at the alicorn before pointing the blade at her. Said alicorn's eyes had widened at the armor forming, and seemed more stunned than angry anymore.

"Im-impossible! Thou may be able to change thine form, but thou couldn't manipulate the dreamscape with that kind of control...unless..."

Her eyes widened in realization, and her horn stopped glowing as she straightened her stance, looking at me with a look that screamed 'disbelief.'

"Thou...thou are not a dreameater, are thou?"

I kept my glare and my sword up, not trusting the change in attitude to be genuine.

"Like I said, I don't know what a dreameater is. This is my dream, and you're an unwanted guest. I assume a dreameater is a nasty piece of work, considering how hard you were trying to kill me just a moment ago."

She sighed and sat down, resting her rear on the grass before shooting a sad look my way.

"Indeed. Dreameaters are foul creatures who prey on a pony's mind when they are vulnerable. They manipulate their victim into a state of calm to take down their mental barriers, and devour the dream of the pony when there is no resistance. They have...killed many a pony."

She dipped her head in a kind of bow, her ears flat on her head.

"Apologies, strange creature. We saw the peaceful dream, saw something we didn't recognize next to one of our subjects, and assumed the worst. Can thou forgive us?"

"So you just attack us and think a simple apology is enough? Don't be ridiculo-"

"Sunlight."

I interrupted her, looking towards the seemingly apologetic alicorn. I lowered my arm, and let it hang at my side.

"I can forgive you for the misunderstanding. It's not the first time a pony has assumed the worst and tried to attack me over it. I'm starting to think this will become a regular thing too..."

Sunlight was looking at me with surprise.

"But...she attacked you! In your own mind! She tried to kill you! That's unforgivable!"

I smiled down at her and ruffled her mane with my free hand.

"Clearly not, since I'm forgiving her."

The only response I got was a huff before she folded her fore hooves and looked away with a pout.

"That is way too cute."

Sunlight glared at me as I chuckled. She didn't seem to like being called cute, but I think there's more to it than that. I looked back at the alicorn who was looking at me with a hopeful expression and an unsure smile.

"Thou...forgives us?"

I smiled at her before discarding my armor, making it fade into nothing. Imagining a sheath for Dawnbreaker on my hip caused one to form, and I sheathed the sword at my side.

"Like I said, this isn't the first time. I doubt this will be the last time, especially since Twilight attacked me while I was sitting next to Celestia."

Her eyes widened and she took a step forward, causing Sunlight's ears to twitch in her direction and her body to tense up.

"Thou has met my sister? Why did she not tell us of you?"

My own eyes widened as I realized what that meant.

"Celestia is your sister? So you're...the other ruler of Equestria?"

She smiled widely and took a few steps forward.

"Indeed! We've only just returned recently due to...personal reasons, but we are the second princess of Equestria."

The royal alicorn gasped and held a hood to her muzzle.

"Oh no! We completely forgot to introduce ourselves!"

She bowed with her head low to the ground, the tip of her horn touching the grass beneath her.

"We are Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, Princess of the Night and of Dreams. Once again, we apologize for our assumptions. Though we must ask, how are thou so familiar with my sister as to be so informal with her name?"

I smiled as Luna raised her head and gave a curious look.

"It's nice to meet you, Princess Luna. My name is Liam. To answer your question, I met Celestia a few hours ago when I was chased into a cave by timberwolves. She didn't know what I was, but was kind to me. We talked for a while before Twilight found us, and she uh...made a similar assumption that you did."

Taking a few more steps closer, Luna had almost completely closed the distance between us. Sunlight tensed even more before I leaned down and gently picked her, making her squeak and blush as I hugged her to my chest. Nuzzling her cheek, I whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, Sunlight. I don't think she will try anything else."

Sunlight huffed softly before nuzzling me back, trusting in my judgement.

"Fine, just...be careful."

"Always."

Luna stood less than two feet away from me, looking at us in confusion.

"Forgive us for asking Liam, but if this is your dream, who is she? We doubt that she is a dreameater, but it does not explain why she is here."

I looked back to Luna, and only just now realized how tall she is. Her head came up to my shoulder, with her horn making her taller than me.

"This is Sunlight Spirals, my friend and knight."

I chuckled as Luna's confused expression grew even stronger.

"She was a knight before she was killed about 600 years ago. Her soul was...trapped in her sword by some kind of cult."

Luna's expression changed to one of sadness as she looked to Sunlight, the unicorn mare only hugging me tighter at the sad memories.

"Our condolences, Miss Spirals. That is not a fate we would wish on anypony. If thou would like, we could break the spe-"

"No!"

Both Luna and I stared in shock at the volume that had come from the mare in my arms. Sunlight turned her head to glare at Luna, and I could feel the air heating up.

"Why not? Would you not be happier to pass on peacefully, have your soul freed?"

Sunlight shook her head and placed it back on my shoulder.

"No...I want to stay with Liam! I won't abandon my only friend in a world where everypony just attacks him because he's different! I won't let him suffer that fate! I..."

She hugged me tighter and sniffled softly.

"I won't let him go through what I did...I won't leave him all alone!"

By now Sunlight was openly crying, hugging me tightly and shaking from her silent sobs. I still couldn't believe that this strong mare was so vulnerable, it seemed impossible.

Sunlight...

"We...we see. We will not force anything on you, Miss Spirals. If that is your wish, we will respect it."

Sunlight didn't verbally respond, but she nuzzled my cheek and gave me a soft squeeze.

"We...really are sorry about this. We look forward to meeting thou in pony to properly repay you for our actions. We doubt Celestia will resist the urge to bring you to Canterlot sometime soon. We will take our leave..."

Luna turned away and her horn started to glow a bright blue color.

"Luna."

She looked back to me with a sad look, which brightened a bit when she saw my smile.

"While it may have started off rough, it really was a pleasure to meet you."

A soft smile was returned to me before she simply disappeared. I started walking over to the large maple tree that I had been launched from, and found no damage to the tree or where I was sitting. I sat back down with Sunlight in my arms, and pet her head while she continued to hug me. Her sobs had calmed down considerably, and a small sniffle could be heard every so often as I whispered softly in her ear.

"It's okay, Sunlight. She's not going to hurt us, we're safe."

Sunlight leaned back and looked into my eyes, and...I had never seen anyone so scared before.

"Liam...she terrifies me. Her magic was so...so cold. It was stronger than almost anything I've ever felt before, and she wasn't even trying. I could tell she was holding back because she thought you were a weak dream parasite. If you hadn't managed to convince her that you weren't one, then..."

She hugged me tightly, shaking like a leaf.

"She could have killed us both, and I wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing about it!"

I was silent for a moment before responding, conviction clear in my voice.

"Then the answer is simple, isn't it? We get stronger, strong enough that even she can't hurt us."

Sunlight let go of me and leaned back, placing her fore hooves on my chest.

"Not even...Liam, that's incredibly unlikely. Luna is an alicorn, an immensely powerful creature that can level entire cities. She isn't some unicorn warmage that you can simply surpass."

I gave a cocky grin.

"Well, I might not know much about magic right now, but if what Celestia said is true, then my magic reserves rival her own. If I can learn more about magic, train more with magic, then I doubt there would be much of anything that could hurt us at that point."

"Liam..."

Her expression turned from scared to sad.

"You really do remind me of myself, you know that? I...I thought the same thing, Liam. I thought I was invincible, untouchable. Look where I ended up because of it..."

She looked to the side and a tear ran down her face. I brushed a hand against her cheek, wiping the tear away and getting her to turn back to me.

"It's okay, Sunlight. We have friends we can rely on, and even Celestia is here to help. We won't have to go through any of this alone."

A soft smile graced her face, and she sighed softly before resting her head back on my shoulder.

"Alright, Liam. I see your point. It's not like when I was alive, we can rely on others besides ourselves. It just feels so...odd. I'm not used to relying on anyone for anything. I always kind of just made my own way on my own power."

I chuckled softly and started to pet her mane again.

"Looks like we both have a lot to learn, huh?"

Sunlight giggled and hugged me firmly, but gently.

"Seems like it. Do you mind if I take a nap? I feel exhausted after all that..."

I could feel my own eyelids getting heavy, and I relaxed on the base of the tree as I continued to gently pet Sunlight.

"I think I'll join you, actually. Now that I'm sitting, I feel pretty tired too..."

"Alright...goodnight, Liam..."

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep in moments.

Chapter Eight: Breakfast and Starting the Tour

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Soul In the Sword

Chapter Eight: Breakfast and Starting the Tour

I groaned softly at the pain that shot through me as I woke up. Opening my eyes, I slowly sat up as I tried to ignore the pain. A sweet smell was in the air, reminding me of pancakes.

Geez, I'm in really bad shape, huh?

Succeeding in my attempts to sit my body upright, I let my legs fall to the floor and I stood. Yawning, I looked around the room and spotted the doorway that likely led to the kitchen. Every step towards the door reminded me of just how close I came to dying yesterday.

Never again...

Entering the door, I could confirm that this was the kitchen. What I wasn't expecting was the small purple reptile that was standing on a stool and was flipping something in a pan that was on the stove with a spatula. After a few moments of me staring at the small creature in confusion, it seemed to notice that someone else was in the room and turned to me, jumping in surprise when its eyes fell on me.

"Oh geez!"

A sharp sizzle was heard from the pan before the reptile quickly turned back to the stove, grabbed the spatula, turned the pancake over and revealed the slightly burned side.

"Dang it, that one was turning out so well too! Oh well..."

It turned the burner off with a small stubby claw and placed the burnt pancake on a plate that had several more pancakes sitting on it.

"Nothing I can do now, I guess."

It turned back to me, and gave a wide smile, showing of its sharp teeth.

A bite from this guy would probably hurt a fair bit...

"So I guess you're Liam. Twilight left me a note explaining a few things, but she wasn't very specific. All she said was that you're a human, and that your name is Liam. She must have been really tired to leave out details."

He, I assumed it was a he judging by the voice, put his short arm to his chest and puffed it out, trying to look bigger.

"My name is Spike, number one assistant to Twilight Sparkle! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

I stood in the doorway a moment longer before shaking my head softly and trying to get my thoughts together.

"It's...nice to meet you, Spike. You're right, my name is Liam. Though..."

I gave a quick glance over his body, making note of his reptilian features.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but...what are you?"

Spike looked at me with a confused face for a moment before laughing. Noticing my sour look, he stopped laughing and coughed into a claw.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, but I've never met anypony that didn't know what a dragon was before."

My eyes widened at his words.

"A dragon? Seriously?"

Spike looked confused, glancing at me before walking over to the counter and picking up the plate of pancakes.

"Yeah, I'm a dragon. Why do you sound so surprised to hear that?"

I watched as he went to a table that was in the corner of the room, seemingly doubling as a dining room as well as a kitchen. Placing the plate of pancakes down, he started walking towards the cupboards.

"I just...I've never seen a dragon before. I didn't think they were real."

Looking back at me, Spike just looked even more confused as he pulled plates and cups out of the cupboard, and opened the drawer underneath to grab forks and knives.

"Dude, where have you been living? Dragons are everywhere. They aren't exactly rare, you know."

Walking back to the table, Spike placed the three plates and glasses he had grabbed on the table and arranged the cutlery for each person that would be eating. I sat down at the table, and Spike did the same as I sighed and rested my elbow on it.

"Somewhere very far away..."

Spike seemed excited about something, and smiled happily.

"How far? Griffonstone? The Frozen North? Or..."

His eyes brightened and he smiled even wider as he leaned on the table, using his two arms to support him.

"Are you from across the sea!?"

A yawn drew both of our attentions to the doorway, where a half asleep Twilight Sparkle was slowly walking towards the table. Her eyes were half closed, and she had a bad case of bedhead.

"Why are you yelling, Spike? It's too early for this much noise..."

Twilight seemed really out of it. She didn't even glance in my direction as she sat down across the table from me, and lit her horn in a purple glow. A moment later, a pot of coffee floated over to her and she poured it into the glass that Spike had carried over for her. Neither Spike or I said a word, too concerned about the practically catatonic pony sitting with us as she just sipped her coffee without adding any sugar or milk to it.

I didn't take her for someone that drinks their coffee black. You really can't judge from appearances, I guess.

"You uh...you alright, Twilight?"

Twilight glanced over to Spike, her expression unchanging.

"No, Spike. I'm really not."

Spike chuckled nervously and averted his eyes from Twilight before stabbing a pancake with a fork and placing it on his plate. Twilight turned to the stack of pancakes and levitated two onto her plate before drizzling syrup on the small stack, leaving three pancakes left for whoever wanted them.

"Well, at least today won't be boring. You're showing Liam around Ponyville today, right?"

Twilight sighed heavily and took a bite of her pancakes, before taking a large gulp of her coffee, and swallowing both. Glancing to me before looking to Spike, she spoke.

"That's part of the problem. I don't know how the town will react, and I don't want to have to deal with an entire town panicking. Hopefully this doesn't end poorly..."

Looking back to me, Twilight saw that my plate was empty before levitating the three remaining pancakes onto my plate.

"You need to eat to recover properly, Liam. It will help you generate more mana too, so don't feel like you can't eat more than us. I remember the first time I had magic exhaustion, it took days of eating more than my parents to recover completely."

I stared down at the stack of pancakes before picking up the fork and knife that had been placed there for me, and looked back at Twilight.

"You're sure? I don't want to ask for more than I should."

Twilight smiled softly at me and took another gulp of her coffee before levitating the coffee pot over her glass and refilling it.

"It's fine, Liam. I might still have some doubts about you, but like Princess Celestia said, you're her guest. I'll do whatever I can to help you get better."

Spike glanced over to Twilight with a confused expression for a moment before shrugging and returning to his pancake, cutting a large piece off and fitting almost a quarter of a pancake into his mouth.

"Well...thank you. Taking last night into consideration, I honestly wasn't expecting this."

Spike looked even more confused now, glancing between Twilight and myself as he took another bite of his pancakes.

Little dude has the right idea.

I cut into the stack of pancakes, surprised at how soft they were as I easily cut through all three pancakes with little effort. I took the small jar of syrup and poured some over the stack before dipping the pieces on the fork into the syrup and taking a bite. My eyes shot wide open as the taste registered in my brain.

"These are..."

Looking concerned, Spike looked at the stack on my plate.

"What's wrong? Do they taste bad? I knew I shouldn't have used that older flour! I'm sor-"

"These are delicious!"

Spike and Twilight looked confused at my reaction.

"Uh, Liam? They're just pancakes. You haven't had them before?"

I eagerly cut off another piece of the syrup soaked pancakes and took a happy bite, relishing in the sweetness of the syrup and fluffiness of the pancakes. I made sure to swallow before replying. I didn't want to talk with my mouth full, after all.

"I've had pancakes before, ate them for years growing up. There are just so much better! What did you do to make them taste this good?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Spike looked to the side and laughed.

"They really aren't anything special. I just made them like I always do."

I chuckled at Spike's nonchalant attitude about it and cut off another piece of pancake, moaning in bliss from what had to be the world's best pancakes.

"Well whatever you're doing, keep doing it! You could make a career out of this!"

Spike blushed softly and scratched the back of his head as he chuckled nervously.

"Thanks, Liam."

Glancing over at Twilight revealed that she was more awake than she was before, her eyes no longer half closed.

"You feeling better with some coffee in you, Twilight?"

Twilight took another large gulp of her coffee before setting the cup down and looking over to me with a small smile.

"Much. Well now that I'm awake, let's go over the plan for today. We have a few things to get done today, so we will need to get ready for your tour later."

My face must have shown my confusion, because Twilight laughed quietly and took another gulp of her coffee.

"What, did you think that you would be spending all day in the library? Not a chance, mister."

My confusion only grew.

"Didn't Celestia say that I needed to rest? Wouldn't going on a tour of a whole town hinder my recovery?"

Turning to take another bite of her pancakes, Twilight swallowed before turning back to me.

"Your wounds seem to have healed, and since you're walking without help, I assume you feel better today. If that's the case, then some minor exercise won't hinder your mana recovery."

She took another gulp of her coffee.

"If anything, being around more ponies will help, since we expel small amounts of excess mana that we don't use. You'll be able to absorb some of the ambient mana, though you will still need to wait a few more days before using any more magic. You don't want to risk damaging your magic pathways. That could lead to you being completely unable to cast any magic."

I gulped in slight fear at the thought of losing the only thing that could help me survive. I just got this power, I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it.

"A-alright. You're right, I do feel a lot better. I was sore when I woke up, but that's dulled down to a small pain."

I looked over to Spike and gave him a smirk.

"Must have been the amazing breakfast."

Spike just laughed and waved a claw in the air.

"I get it, my pancakes are good. No need to keep going on about them."

Twilight and I chuckled as I took the last bite of my pancakes. Yup, still delicious.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

I looked over to Twilight, who quickly finished the last bite of her own pancakes, and drank the rest of her coffee. She gave a happy sigh and focused her attention back on me.

"Liam, I didn't get to ask you all the questions I wanted to last night. Would you mind if I asked a few more this morning?"

Smiling, I nodded my head and reached down to my glass before I remembered that I never put anything in it.

"Sure thing. I'll get some water before that though."

I grabbed the glass and started to stand before a purple glow surrounded the glass. I looked over to Twilight and saw that she was smiling, and her horn was lit in the same color surrounding the glass.

"Allow me."

I let go of the glass and sat back down as it floated over to the sink before the purple glow turned the tap, water quickly filling the glass. The tap was turned off when the glass was almost full, and it was levitated onto the table in front of me. I gave a small smile as I looked down at the glass.

"Magic sure is versatile, huh?"

Picking up the glass and drinking a mouthful of water, I looked over at Twilight's bemused expression before setting the glass back down.

"Alright, shoot."

Twilight quirked an eyebrow and gave me a look of confusion.

"Huh? Shoot what?"

I chuckled and took a gulp from the glass of water.

"Nevermind, it's just an expression. I mean go ahead and ask your questions."

The purple unicorn's horn glowed for a moment before a bright flash of light burst from in front of her. After blinking the spots out of my eyes, I could see that Twilight had somehow teleported a quill and a scroll, levitating them in front of her as she seemed to be reading over the contents. Twilight seemed to have noticed the mildly confused look on my face, and her facial expression became more neutral.

"I wanted to make sure that I had all my questions written down, since I didn't get to ask more than one or two last night. Where exactly are you from?"

Makes sense, I guess. She did say she had a few questions, but things got heated last night.

"I'm from a country called Canada. More specifically, I live just outside the city of Ottawa, which is the capital of the country."

Twilight wrote something about halfway down the scroll, maintaining eye contact with me the whole time. I must admit, I was impressed that she could write without looking at what she was writing.

"Alright, what is it like there?"

I chuckled for a moment and crossed my arms, trying to summarize as best as I could.

"Well, for a country's capital, there surprisingly little to do. It is mostly a politically centered city, with a large portion of the city working for the government directly. Parliament Hill is the seat of the government, where the Prime Minister and our other members of government spend most of their time."

Twilight once again wrote something down and glanced down to the scroll before looking back to me.

"Judging from the term you used, I can assume the Prime Minister is elected?"

"Yeah, though we have elections every four years. Prime Ministers tend to change often, since the public's political opinion changes regularly depending on the political climate and what the previous Prime Minister did."

The sound of scratching filled the room as Twilight once again wrote something down. Twilight glanced over to a clock that was hanging above the kitchen doorway, before turning back to me.

How did I not notice that there before?

"Well, we have enough time for one more question for now. What kind of technology do humans have?"

I chuckled at the question. No way does anything here even come close to Earth.

"Wha-what's so funny?"

Twilight looked almost angry, with a slight pout and narrowed eyes.

"Ahhhhaha...oh nothing, just..."

I took a moment to think about how I wanted to phrase this.

"Well...from the little I've seen, we are significantly further ahead in terms of technology. We didn't have magic, so we had to make do with what we could make. Do you know what a computer is, Twilight?"

"Yes. Equestria has one at Canterlot University."

I quirked an eyebrow.

Well that changes a few things. Maybe they aren't so undeveloped after a-

"It's pretty big too. Takes up an entire room the size of this library."

Nevermind.

"How much RAM does it have?"

Twilight's face lit up at my question, and seemed to space out while answering.

"Oh, it's just amazing! It has 16 kilobytes of ram and a hard drive that can hold almost a full megabyte of saved data! It's a marvel of engineering!"

I tried. I really did. Ultimately, I failed to stop the laugh that tore itself out of my throat, wheezing and heaving at how absolutely ridiculous this was.

"Hey! It's cutting edge technology! What the hay is so funny!?"

Trying to stop my laughter wasn't going too well, but I managed to control it just enough to respond.

"Sorry, It's just...that's so outdated by our world's standards!"

Laughing again, I didn't notice Twilight's confused and mildly angry face. I definitely heard her angry response though.

"Well then how good are your world's computers if ours is so 'outdated?"

My laughter finally started dying down, and I could talk relatively normally at this point.

"My personal computer at home had 16 gigabytes of RAM, and 2 terabytes for storage."

I started laughing harder at Twilight's dropped jaw as I told her just how much more advanced our computers are.

"Wha...but that's...that's not possible! A computer that powerful would be as large as Canterlot Castle! There's no way that you could have a computer like that in your home!"

Finally managing to control my laughter, I took a deep breath and then exhaled. Calmer now, I felt more confident in responding.

"Nope, its about as tall as a two row bookshelf and about as long as my forearm. Computers on our world have become incredibly compact and powerful. In fact, I have...had a mobile computer that was the size of my palm and could be used for just about anything. You could use it as a calculator, a map, a music player, and just about anything else that you could program it to do. It takes pictures too."

Spike stood up and placed his claws on the table, and his face showed pure childish wonder. Twilight and I both looked to him in surprise at the sudden movement.

"Do you have laser guns!?"

I chuckled at his excitement, and reached across the table and pat him on the head.

"No, unfortunately. We can make powerful lasers, but nothing portable enough to be considered a laser gun."

Spike looked a little disappointed, but still had a large smile and started muttering about laser cannons. Twilight looked back to me and seemed to have just now realized exactly what I had said.

"Wait, so...your species made computers the size of my hoof that are more powerful than Equestria's best computer, and it can take pictures? How did you manage something like that?"

"I wouldn't know, honestly. The knowledge I have about computers is from a few friends and some research on the subject. I was never too serious about it, though I know a few people who built their own computers."

Frowning, Twilight looked down and muttered something, seemingly disappointed in my lack of knowledge on the subject. I chuckled and patted her on the head, causing her to give me a small glare, though I could see a ghost of a smile on her face. Returning my arm to my side and looking down reminded me just how torn up my clothes were. Hopefully Twilight wouldn't mind if we stopped at Rarity's house to have them fixed. She did offer to, after all.

"So, Twilight?"

"Yeah, Liam?"

I looked up and back to Twilight, hoping that she would grant my request.

"Would you mind if we stopped at Rarity's first? I really need to get these clothes fixed."

Confusion overtook her face. She opened her mouth to reply before stopping, seemingly just realizing something.

"I don't mind, but...why do you wear clothes all the time? Wouldn't it be easier to just not wear anything?"

Oh. Oh boy. I'm really going to have to explain this...

"Well, uh...humans don't have the same protections from the elements that you have. We don't have much hair, and our feet are pretty soft, so we wear clothes and shoes to help protect us. There's another reason too, but..."

Twilight levitated her scroll and quill over with an excited look on her face, apparently happy to be learning something new. After a moment, she stopped and looked back at me with that familiar look of confusion.

"Wait, another reason? What would that be?"

I felt my face heating up a bit at the realization that I pretty much had to answer this question. Twilight wasn't likely to let me keep this a secret, considering her seemingly insatiable thirst for knowledge. I made my bed, and now I had to lay in it.

"Well...we also wear clothes to...keep certain parts of ourselves hidden. Parts that aren't exactly...meant to be showing unless you're...with a partner."

"A partner? Like a friend or..."

I looked away and awkwardly rubbed my arm.

"Like a lover..."

Twilight's eyes snapped wide open and she looked away with a slight blush on her face, having understood what I meant.

"Oh...uh..."

She coughed into the crook of her foreleg and quickly wrote something down on the scroll before teleporting both away in another flash of light.

"Well, uh...i can certainly see how that could be a problem. Considering how tall you are compared to most ponies, it's...probably best that you...yeah..."

I chuckled awkwardly and looked away, the burning in my cheeks dimming down.

"Well...should we get started on the tour, Twilight?"

She looked back to me, revealing that she was still blushing slightly.

Looks like she really isn't experienced on this subject. I should probably avoid talking about anything of that nature with her in the future...

"Uh...yeah, let's get going..."

The three of us walked towards the doorway to the kitchen when Twilight seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Oh! Liam, could you wait in the library? I want to talk to Spike about something before we go."

That confused me a bit, since I couldn't think of what Twilight might have wanted to talk to Spike about that I couldn't hear. I was a guest here though, and I didn't want to give these ponies any reason to dislike me, so I ignored what I wanted to say and just nodded before walking into the library and sitting on the sofa that I had slept on, completely ignorant to the conversation that was taking place in the kitchen.

I watched as Liam left the kitchen and walked into the library before sitting down on the sofa he had slept on the previous night. Sighing, I motioned to Spike to follow me further into the kitchen, not wanting to be overheard.

"What's going on, Twilight? Is something wrong with Liam?"

My eyes widened in surprise, and looked down at the young dragon.

"How did you-"

Spike interrupted me with an annoyed expression and folded his arms.

"It's obvious, Twilight. You bring a creature home that I've never even heard of before, and want to talk with me away from him. I also saw Princess Celestia last night when I woke up to get some water, so I know it's a pretty big deal. Spill it."

Sighing, I smiled softly at Spike.

He really is growing up fast. It's hard to remember that he isn't much younger than I am sometimes.

"Well...Liam is..."

It was hard to straighten out my thoughts, but after a moment, I coughed to clear my throat before trying again.

"Liam isn't from this planet, Spike."

Spike's arms unfolded and a look of amazement took over his earlier annoyed expression.

"He's an alien!?"

I moved forward quickly, putting a hoof over his mouth.

"Shhh! Spike, I don't want Liam to hear this, so please don't yell."

Spike nodded his head slowly, his eyes still wide. I slowly removed my hoof from his mouth and backed up a step.

"Yes, he's not from Equis. Something brought him here, but..."

"What is it?"

I looked down and avoided eye contact, feeling guilty about what I was going to say.

"He's...dangerous. His magic is very strong, but he has little control of it. I also don't entirely know if we can trust him, so..."

Looking back at Spike revealed a frown and a sad expression on his face.

"He's...dangerous? But...I thought I had made a new friend..."

Spike looked like he was about to cry. I hugged him softly, and tried to clarify.

"He's not a bad human Spike, he's just...completely alien. We know almost nothing about his race, or what he would do if he felt threatened. He's in a whole new world with races he's never seen before, and worst of all...he's all alone. Spike, I'd like it if you were his friend. I think that's just what he needs, in fact. I just wanted you to be careful. You're my number one assistant, after all."

Rubbing his eyes for a moment, Spike looked up to me with a hopeful smile on his face.

"Yeah, I am. You scared me there for a minute, Twilight. I thought you were saying that Liam would try to hurt us."

"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry, Spike."

He hugged me, and smiled.

"It's alright. I'll be as careful as I can, but I don't think Liam is going to try and hurt anypony."

I laughed, and hugged Spike tighter for a moment before letting him go and turning to the doorway.

"I think you're right, Spike. Now, let's get going! We can't waste too much time today."

Walking towards the entrance to the library, I couldn't help but feel a bit more at ease about this entire situation.

Maybe...maybe I can trust Liam...

Hearing hoofsteps from the entrance to the kitchen, I looked over to see Twilight and Spike entering the library. Both had smiles on their face as they approached me and the sofa. Smiling back, I gave a lazy wave of my hand.

"Everything okay? I thought I heard some yelling."

Twilight nodded her head and gestured to Spike with a hoof.

"Yup! I was just explaining a few things to Spike before we got going."

I looked away and down to Dawnbreaker, realizing I had left it behind for breakfast. I hope Sunlight isn't too upset about it. I had realized what had likely happened during that conversation.

Twilight must have been warning Spike about me. Now he probably doesn't want to be around me, since Twilight thinks I'm dangerous...

Something had placed itself against my leg, and I looked over to see Spike resting his claw on my leg with a smile on his face.

"Don't feel bad, Liam! Today is your first day in Ponyville, after all! I'm sure you'll make loads of friends!"

Smiling back and the young dragon, I couldn't help feeling grateful that even with everything that happened, at least someone besides Celestia was accepting me.

"Thanks Spike...well, let's go. First stop is Rarity's, right?"

Spike's face lit up at the mention of the white mare and he gave a goofy smile as he looked down to the ground.

"We're seeing Rarity today? I can't wait to see her!"

Is he...

Chuckling, I picked up Dawnbreaker, stood up, and reversed my grip on the sword, having the point facing behind me. It would look less intimidating than holding it as if I was expecting a fight. Walking towards the door, and hearing the hoofsteps of Twilight following behind me,

"Well...here goes nothing..."

I reached for the doorknob, turned it, and pushed. The door opened with little effort, and it swung outwards. It was bright outside, the sun shining down on the world from above, causing me to blink a few times to adjust to the difference in light. I walked over the threshold, making room for Twilight and Spike to exit the library, and they stepped out behind me.

Wow...

It was beautiful. The picturesque scenery was reminiscent of a medieval village, with thatched roofs and wooden walls. Ponies of all kinds and colors walked through the streets, though were weren't many out at this time of day. I stood there for a few moments, just appreciating the town and its beauty. It seemed so peaceful, with children walking with their parents, laughing as they went about their day. That peace was shattered when a mint green pony noticed me, her jaw dropping in disbelief. I looked over as Twilight sighed and shook her head softly, seemingly exasperated.

"Oh no..."

"What's wrong?"

She looked back to the unknown pony before softly pushing me with her head on my back, being careful to avoid jabbing me with her horn. I could only walk forward and look back in confusion at her behavior. Something about this pony made Twilight prefer to leave.

"Twilight, what is-"

"IT'S YOU!"

My head shot to the mint green mare, who was running towards me with a large smile on her face. She seemed excited to see me, but I know I've never seen her before. She leaped at me, arms spread and latched onto my chest, hugging me and nuzzling my chest with misted over eyes.

What the...

"Lyra! What are you doing!? Let him go!" Twilight shouted at the now named pony. She only hugged me tighter in response.

"I knew it! You are real! Everypony told me I imagined it, but you are real! I never got to thank you before!"

Not knowing what to do, I tried to hold up the unicorn mare as best as I could to take some of her weight off of my back, making sure to keep Dawnbreaker pointed away from her.

"What the heck are you talking about? Not that I mind hugs, but I've never seen you before in my life!"

She looked up at me, her smile slowly disappearing as realizations set in. In it's place was a face that showed sadness and disappointment.

"It wasn't...you?"

I gave an apologetic smile and crouched down so she could let herself down. After a moment, she let go and stepped down, wiping her eyes with a hoof and looking down to the ground in sadness.

"Like I said, I've never seen you before in my life. I just got here last night, and I've never been to Equestria before, so..."

Her head slowly rose up, and her face turned into what I imagine could be described as contemplative. A moment later, she looked back at me with a hopeful smile.

"Then maybe you know him? He looks very similar to you, he said his was Andraxus."

Andraxus? That's not a normal human name...

"No, I've never met this person before. My name is Liam, it's nice to meet you, Lyra."

Lyra's face turned to one of confusion.

"How did you know my na-"

She slapped a hoof to her head, making a surprisingly loud sound.

"Duh, Twilight yelled it when I...hugged the wrong creature..."

Still kneeling, I ruffled her mane a bit and laughed. Smiling softly at her to convey that I wasn't upset.

These ponies are absolutely adorable. I swear I'm going to die of cuteness overload.

"I don't mind, the hug was nice. Would you mind explaining why you thought I was this Andraxus?"

She rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, smiling in embarrassment and looking away to the side.

"Still...I shouldn't have assumed. Well, to explain why...it was a few years ago. I had wandered into the Everfree Forest in search of something that could help my room mate Bon Bon with her flu. I went too deep into the woods and lost my way, when a manticore attacked me. I ran further into the woods trying to get away, when I tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground. I yelled for help and closed my eyes, thinking I was about to die when I saw a bright flash through my eyelids. When I opened them, there was a creature that looked just like you standing in front of me, his claws crackling with lightning, and the manticore was dead."

Lyra shivered at the memory. It seemed like this event still scared her quite a bit.

"I thought he was going to kill me next, so I closed my eyes and waited. He pat me on the head, told me that I was safe now, and that his name was Andraxus. After dressing my injured leg, he told me to stay safe and teleported me to the entrance of the Everfree Forest. I ran home as fast as I could, and told Bonny what happened. She didn't believe me, saying that I must have imagined the whole thing and knocked myself out when I fell. I've been trying to find out anything I could about him or his species since. I...I wanted to thank him for what he did."

It was a fantastic tale for sure, but if I somehow got to Equestria, I suppose it makes sense that another human might have wound up here at some point. Strange how no one has heard of humans before if that's the case though.

Hmm...I feel like there's more to this than it seems...

"So this Andraxus...he looked like me?"

"Yeah, he looked really similar. He had the same kind of face, the same dark brown mane, he walked on two legs, and he had the same kind of claws that you do. You look so much like him that I thought it had to have been him."

I put a hand to my chin in thought. Humans are pretty distinctive in appearance, so if I remind her of Andraxus this much, then he must have been a human too. That makes me wonder how he got here, what he's done, and why Celestia didn't recognize me as a human if one has been here before. Clearly Andraxus wasn't a bad person if he saved Lyra, but...

"Well...thank you for the explanation. It certainly sounds like he is also human, but..."

Lyra's eyes widened and she smiled happily.

"Human? That's what his species is called?"

I nodded to her.

"Yup. I am a human, and if he looks that much like me, I assume he is as well. No reason to assume he isn't for now."

Standing to my full height, I looked back to Twilight who had been strangely quiet during all this. She seemed to be deep in thought, no doubt wondering along the same lines that I was.

"Twilight, could we continue on our way? I still need to get to Rarity's place to get these rags fixed."

Twilight didn't respond, still thinking.

"Twilight?"

Still no response. I tapped her on the forehead, snapping her out of her near trance.

"Huh?"

She looked up at me, and shook her head for a moment. Looking back towards Lyra for a moment before looking back to me, she smiled and gestured forward with a hoof.

"Yes, let's get going. There's a lot for you to see, and we only have so much time."

Lyra, jumped in front of me with and hopped in place, clearly excited about something.

"Can I come with you? You're only the second human I've met, and I'd love to learn more about you!"

I looked to Twilight, hoping that my tour guide wouldn't mind an extra passenger.

"Well...I don't see why not."

"Thanks Twilight! I promise not to get in the way!"

I chuckled at Lyra's enthusiasm, still amazed at how cute these ponies were.

Calling another mare cute? Should I be worried, Liam?

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, earning a confused look from Lyra.

Well hello there, Sunlight. Sleep well?

Very. I'm glad that you're feeling better, though you're recovering faster than I thought you would. At this rate, you should be ready for practice tomorrow.

That's good to hear. I'm just itching to learn more about magic. Oh...I think we should limit conversation while out in public. I think I'm starting to worry Lyra.

Sunlight giggled, and I couldn't help smiling. Her laugh was just too cute.

Agreed. No reason to make them think the only human in town has lost his mind. Have fun, Liam.

I could feel her waving at me as she retreated back into...my mind? I'm not sure exactly where she stays when she isn't talking to me, but I knew she had taken her leave.

"Sorry about that, girls. Now then, shall we?" I asked, gesturing for Twilight to lead the way, since I had no idea where Rarity lived.

Twilight nodded her head and began to walk down a street, Lyra and I following closely behind. Lyra seemed confused as to why I had gone silent, and decided to voice her question.

"What was that about? You seemed pretty out of it for a moment there."

I looked down to Lyra and continued walking, deciding it couldn't hurt to inform her of the basics of the situation.

"Well, you see the sword I'm holding?"

"Yeah, but...I didn't want to say anything about it. I assumed you must have your reasons for carrying a weapon, but what does that have to do with this?"

It took me a moment to respond, since I was trying to explain this in a way that didn't sound as dark as it really was.

"Well, there's a soul trapped in it. She's a kind spirit, wanting to help me improve my skills and help me where she can. We can hear each other's thoughts, though we can limit what the other hears. It's...definitely not a happy story, but I think she's happy right now."

Lyra stumbled at my explanation, thankfully catching herself before she fell, and looked at me with her jaw dropped and a scared look on her face.

"Necromancy?"

"I...I think so...but this happened a long time ago. I'm not familiar enough with magic to explain how it works, but I can tell you that she doesn't want to leave."

Lyra seemed satisfied with that answer and was a little more at ease from my explanation. We walked in silence for a while, with Twilight pointing out a few buildings along the way. The town hall, the post office, the local forge. Ponies kept staring at me as we walked. Some seemed scared, some seemed curious, and some just didn't care. None approached us though, and I didn't mind the stares too much and just ignored them as we continued on our way. The only memorable part of the trip to Rarity's house is when we passed through the market and walked past a stall selling apples. Applejack was sitting behind the stall with a smile on her face which quickly disappeared when she noticed me. I gave a hesitant wave and a nervous smile, and she responded by glaring at me and snorting. I looked away and frowned in thought at the hostile reaction.

"Yeah, this won't end soon..." I muttered to myself, though neither Lyra nor Twilight seemed to notice and we continued on our way.

Arriving at Rarity's, I couldn't help but gawk at the extravagant looking building, designed to look like a carousel. Seemed a little dark, considering the origin of carousels on Earth. Twilight looked back at me with a smile and gestured to the building with a hoof.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique! This is where Rarity lives and works, making clothes for anypony who needs her services as Ponyville's resident seamstress!"

"Well it's...certainly fancy."

Twilight laughed as she stepped towards the door and knocked on it with a hoof.

"I imagine that was her intent, yes."

"Come in, darlings! I'll be with you in a moment!"

I could barely hear the voice through the door, though it was clearly Rarity. Spike had a dopey smile on his face and I could swear hearts appeared in his eyes when we heard her.

"Rarity..."

Well if I wasn't sure before, I am now. Little dude is crushing on Rarity.

Twilight opened the door with her magic, and we all stepped inside the storefront. There were mannequins shaped like ponies scattered around the store in a visually appealing fashion, clearly positioned with the intention of grabbing any potential customer's attention. Dresses, suits, and some casual looking clothes were worn by the mannequins, showing the seamstress' skill in creating different types of clothing for different occasions. A couple small benches were set near the entrance, obviously meant for customers to rest while they waited. Rolls of fabric of all types and colors were stacked neatly on a shelf near what looked like a workbench of some kind. A medium sized platform that was elevated from the rest of the floor stood in the back near a flight of stairs leading to the second floor, bringing the feel of the building together. The entire store just screamed high class. I whistled appreciatively at the assortment and skill that went into Rarity's work and design skills.

I'm definitely impressed. This girl has some serious talent!

I sat on one of the benches, and Lyra took a seat next to me. Twilight stood nearby, and Spike just stood next to her with that same goofy grin.

"So how long do you think she will be?"

"Not long, I imagine. She doesn't tend to keep ponies waiting if she can help it."

I smiled. Rarity seemed to know her business. High class store, beautiful clothes, and punctuality. Nothing said 'professional' quite like that. Hoofsteps coming from the stairs quickly captured the entire room's attention as Rarity gracefully descended the stairs, seeming to effortlessly make her way down the steps. She smiled when she saw who was waiting for her.

"Hello Liam, Twilight, and...Lyra?"

Lyra waved a hoof at Rarity in greeting, and gave a large smile.

"Hey Rarity! I ran into Twilight and Liam and figured I could tag along!"

Rarity gave a small shrug and smiled down to Spike.

"And hello to you as well, Spike."

Spike's dopey smile somehow grew wider and he waved a claw.

"H-hi Rarity."

He really has it bad for her, huh?

"Well, I can make a guess as to why you're here, Liam. You want to get your clothes fixed as soon as possible, yes?"

I nodded, not surprised she guessed correctly. It wasn't that hard to figure out, since my clothes remained in their torn and damaged state. My t-shirt had several large cuts, and a few holes from where the timberwolves had bitten me. My pants fared little better, similar damage dotted across the fabric.

"Yeah. Since you offered, I figured this should be our first stop of the day. I don't exactly feel...comfortable walking around like this."

"I would assume not! Nopony should be walking around in clothing that is barely better than rags! Now, undress and I will fix these as quickly as I can. It shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes."

My eyes widened in surprise. She could fix them that quickly? Putting her quick work aside though...

"Um...do you have a changing room? I don't feel comfortable undressing in front of others..."

"Why ever not, darling?"

Twilight coughed loudly with a slight blush on her face. She motioned Rarity over, and Rarity moved closer towards her with a confused expression. Twilight whispered something in her ear, which made Rarity develop a slight blush of her own before she looked over to me.

"Oh, um...yes, you will need a changing room then, won't you? We do have a couple that we use for customers who prefer their privacy, so feel free to step behind the curtain."

She walked over to a curtain that had seemed to go nowhere, but Rarity moving it aside revealed a small room that was perfect for even someone my size to comfortably change in. I walked over to the room, and looked down to Rarity.

"Thank you. I know clothing seems to be....optional for ponies, but I'm grateful that you understand why I wouldn't feel comfortable."

Rarity was refusing to meet my gaze, still blushing lightly as she motioned for me to enter.

"Think nothing of it, darling. Customer comfort is something I pride myself on."

And she still maintains a professional attitude about it. Yup, she's definitely cut out for this.

"Still, thank you."

I entered the room and closed the curtain behind me. Sighing, I placed Dawnbreaker against the wall and lifted my shirt above my head before removing my shoes, tossing the shoes to the side and holding onto the shirt before removing my pants as well. I gulped in slight nervousness. Here I was in a fantasy land populated by tiny horses that go around completely naked, and now I'm getting changed in one of their clothing stores with several mares I've just met right outside. I could hear a quite conversation going on behind the door. I slid the clothes under the curtain and sat on the cold floor.

"Rarity! The clothes are right outside the curtain!"

"Oh! Thank you, darling! Feel free to come out if you wish!"

I saw a blue glow surround the clothes just past the curtain and they floated away. I sighed and looked down at myself. I wasn't out of shape by any means, but I wasn't exactly impressive either. Standing at six feet tall, I was barely 160 pounds and didn't have too much muscle mass. Clad in just my boxers, I decided that waiting here was preferable.

"I think I'll stay here, but thank you!"

"Suit yourself, darling!"

I heard more than one set of hoofsteps, one leading away, and another approaching the curtain. Obviously Rarity was taking off to fix my clothes, but was is Twilight or Lyra that was approaching the changing room?

"Liam?"

Twilight it is then.

"Yeah, Twilight?"

"Well, i just realized...that I spent so much time asking about your world that I didn't actually ask anything about you."

I blinked a couple times.

Come to think of it...she's right. She only asked me about my world, nothing about me as a person.

"Huh...yeah, that's true. Got anything in particular that you want to know?"

I heard what sounded like shuffling, and Twilight seemed to take a moment to think about what she wanted to ask.

"Hm...well, what do you like to do? What kind of hobbies do you have?"

"Well, I spent most of my time working, but in my spare time I liked to practice playing music."

"Oh! What instruments can you play?"

I scratched the back of my head nervously. Even if I was behind the curtain, this conversation did little to alleviate the embarrassment of being practically naked while talking to someone else.

"Well, I was classically trained in a few instruments, and learned a few others. I can play the violin, the cello, the piano, the guitar, drums, bass guitar, and a few lesser known ones like the ocarina and taiko drums. I also learned to DJ from my older brother, Kyle."

An excited gasp came from behind the curtain.

"That many instruments!? I so have ponies to introduce you to then! Vinyl and Tavi would love to learn some human music!"

When did Lyra come over here? I never heard her approach, but I assumed I was too invested in the conversation to really pay attention. This curtain also seemed to muffle a fair bit of noise, it was so thick.

"I'm looking forward to meeting some fellow musicians then! So what do you two like to do?"

Twilight huffed from the interruption, but seemed happy to answer my question.

"I spend most of my time with my friends, reading, or practicing magic. It's my special talent, after all!"

"And I like to play the lyre! That's my special talent! Spending time with Bonny is also fun! Remind me introduce you two, I'm sure you'll love the candy she makes!"

Candy? Well I definitely wouldn't mind trying candy from another world. I wonder what kind of flavors they have...

"Sounds good! I can't wait to try it! So, Twilight?"

"Yeah?"

I took a moment to figure out how to phrase my question.

"Uh...if magic is your special talent, is there a chance that we could figure out exactly how I got here?"

Twilight sighed, and I could hear that shuffling again.

"Liam, I...I don't want to say it's impossible, but...I doubt it. That spell was deteriorated beyond scanning by the time we got there. By now, all traces of it would be gone."

Looking down and trying not to let dread take over, I glared at the ground in frustration before looking back up at the curtain.

"Well...then I'll just have to learn enough about magic to do it myself then. I imagine spells like teleportation exist, and they would likely work either on line of sight or if you've been to the location you're trying to teleport to, right?"

"That's true, but...how would you know that? From what you said, you had no magic until yesterday and unless Sunlight told you, you would have no way of knowing that."

I chuckled, realizing that I was going to have to explain the concept of fantasy in a fantasy world.

"Well, while humans might not...most humans might not have magic, we have a lot of stories about the idea of it. We have an immense amount of literature and entertainment with the concept of magic, and we have spent hundreds of years theorizing how it could work. Honestly, it was a lucky guess."

Twilight hummed in thought, likely thinking something over.

"If you had enough magic then...I suppose it would be possible to teleport that far, but it would take more magic than even Princess Celestia has to teleport to another world, and we don't know how far your planet is from here."

"Wait, what?"

Oh yeah, Lyra wasn't aware of that bit of information. I guess she thought something like Spike did, that I was just from very far away.

"Sorry Lyra, I forgot to tell you. So yeah, I'm...kind of an alien?"

"Well...that's a little weirder than what I thought the story was, but I had already considered Andraxus being an alien, since nopony knew what the hay he was."

I sighed in relief. At least she wasn't making a big deal of it.

"Well, my being an alien aside...it's possible then?"

"In theory. Liam, I don't want to crush your hopes, but...the chances are extremely slim. Unless you could somehow gather several times as much mana as Princess Celestia possesses, you could either miscast the spell or just die of magical burnout when you arrive on your planet. assuming even that much is enough to reach it."

So...it's not going to happen then...

Sighing, I stood up and started to pace, agitated at the lack of solutions to this problem.

So even if I succeeded, I would just die. Not an option. No point killing myself just to get back to my world, so...

I stopped pacing as the realization set in.

I'm truly stuck here...

I wasn't alone, and I knew that, but it didn't stop the small amount of fear to creep in at realizing just how hopeless the whole idea was. It also made me fear just what exactly might have sent me here. If even Celestia couldn't do it, then what the hell did?

"Liam? Are you alright?"

Twilight's voice snapped me out of my musing, her voice sounding concerned.

"I...I will be. It's just...I'm on a whole new planet where nothing is familiar. I'll..."

I choked down a sob, unable to keep the emotion out of my voice.

"I'll...never see my family again...never see Kyle again...never see any of my friends again..."

"Liam..."

My whole body shook in anger and grief, gritting my teeth so hard they hurt.

It's just...not fair. Why me? Why did this happen to me!?

I could hear hoofsteps, though it was far enough that it couldn't have been Twilight or Lyra leaving, which meant...

"Liam! Your clothes are-"

Rarity stopped mid sentence, and I could guess why. Twilight and Lyra probably didn't look happy, and I'm sure she picked up on that. I wiped my eyes with my hand and made a decision then and there.

Whoever did this to me is going to pay. I swear on my life that they will regret it!

"Rarity?"

Calling her name seemed to get her attention, her hoofsteps getting closer before the bottom of the curtain lifted, sliding my clothes along the floor.

"Give them a try, Liam. I tried to keep them as close to the original, but I'm afraid your old clothes were too damaged to salvage. I made you a new set as close to them as I could."

Her voice was restrained and subdued, like she wasn't quite sure if this was a good time. I knew my clothes were damaged pretty badly, but...she just made a new set? There's no way I could repay her for this just yet. I had no money, and I doubt I could help her with her work.

"Thank you, Rarity. Just give me a minute and I'll be right out."

"Take your time, we will be here when you're done."

I heard several sets of hooves walking away. Seemed like they were all giving me some space, which I appreciated. Picking up and unfolding the clothes showed they were almost exactly like my old ones. Black pants, simple fabric, no special designs on them. The brown shirt was slightly bigger than my old one, but I was impressed by how close they were to the originals. Rarity indeed knew her work. I quickly put them on, wanting to get dressed as soon as I could. It was already a little cold, and sitting on the floor didn't help. They fit just like the old set, but like I initially thought, the shirt was ever so slightly bigger than the old one. It wasn't an issue though. Grabbing Dawnbreaker, opening the curtain and stepping out, I could see the three mares and Spike talking to each other near the bench I was sitting on before. The conversation quickly died down when they saw I had exited the changing room, and Rarity walked up to me with a gentle smile on her face.

"How do they fit?"

I leaned down and gave her a soft hug.

"Perfectly. Thank you, Rarity. This means a lot to me."

She returned the hug after a moment, just as gently as I was hugging her.

"Think nothing of it. I couldn't just leave you like that."

Laughing softly, I let go of the hug and stood up.

"I mean it. I'm going to find a way to pay you back for this one day."

"Liam, I'm not going to accept payment for helping somepony in need. Consider it a gift."

"...alright, Rarity. Thanks again."

Yeah, no. I'm finding a way to pay her back for this. No way in hell am I letting such a huge favor go unpaid.

Turning to Twilight, I noticed that her head was down with a sad look on her face, with Lyra looking slightly awkwardly between the two of us. Smiling softly, I walked over and pat Twilight on the head, causing her to look up at me in surprise. I gently ruffled her mane, earning me an annoyed look that quickly turned into a small smile.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah. You?"

My smile grew a bit.

"Yeah. I'm ready to learn more about the world I'm going to be living in from now on."

"Oh thank Celestia! You two were so depressing, I didn't know what to do!"

I laughed at Lyra's remark.

"Never change, Lyra."

Walking past her, I ruffled her mane too and stuck my tongue out at her. I could hear all but Rarity following behind me, and I felt a little better about this whole situation.

I'm not going to give up on going home just yet, but...no reason not to enjoy this world while I'm here.

"Have a good day, everypony!"

I waved back at Rarity, and placed my hand on the doorknob.

"You too, Rarity!"

Alright. Let's do this. Nothing stopping me but myself.

I opened the door and stepped outside, ready to see what the rest of the day had in store for me.

Author's Notes:

Geez, its been more than a month since I've updated. Feels like a lot longer, haha. I've been busy for the last month and things have been pretty hectic lately. It is my hope that I can update more frequently in the future. I decided to spend a bit more time on this chapter as an apology to you all for taking so long.

As usual, feel free to point out any typos, errors, or inconsistencies, and I hope you all enjoyed the first somewhat peaceful day for Liam in Equestria!

One last thing i'd like to say. If you enjoy Soul in the Sword, please leave a thumbs up. You aren't obligated to, but I've noticed that a great deal of you have favorited the story, but haven't left a thumbs up or left a comment. There isn't anything wrong with that, but new readers can judge a story based on the like to dislike ratio, and thumbing up stories you enjoy is supporting the authors that you like. It helps new readers find stories, and shows that many people enjoy the work. God knows that the people who dislike the stories are ready to thumbs down them with little hesitation. To those that have already left a thumbs up, thank you so much for encouraging and supporting me as an author!